Duckworks Scout

[Paul356]

More progress today, but you know boatbuilding: there's always something. I went to laminate the bottom, which right now has a long slit in the bottom. The two sides join the bow section at the front but not each other as they lay alongside each other heading back to the stern. This leaves a slit in the middle that will eventually be taped up. But I thought, at least for now, that I ought to glass the whole width as one, including glassing over the slit. Of course, that's when the "something" came up. The two pieces didn't lay quite flat next to each other. So that meant: 1, roll on the cloth, roll on some more epoxy, put on the peel ply, smooth out the peel ply, lay some plastic on top of the slit, weight down the boards, and hope the 'glas ends up laminating under the boards. I think it will work. Here's the result.

laminating bottom.jpg

This is my Plan B approach (see earlier). It's working out well with rollers to apply the epoxy, in spite of the short pot life of the fast hardner, so I'm looking forward to the arrival of the slow hardener later this week. I'm still excited about the build. I don't have too many more panels to join or laminate before I can start making them look like a boat; probably sometime next week. I'm sure many of you have seen Lonnie Black's Scout build on his Facebook page. I'm trying hard to make mine end up looking as sweet as his.

I also spent probably close to an hour today continuing to make lamination repairs to the very first piece I laminated, when I was still feeling my way. Moral of that story is that techniques get better with practice, but it sure helps to be able to do it right the first time. Yesterday, I had to replace cloth along the edges that didn't get enough epoxy the first time to laminate onto the board, and then today I sanded the new cloth strips fair with the existing cloth. I think it will work now to take paint or a clear finish coat of epoxy.

[Paul356]

Two more planks laminated today -- I'm finally getting my technique down, I think -- and I pre-coated the foam for the blades with epoxy thickened like honey. That foam is thirsty, and once the epoxy is on, it really doesn't want to roll out. It just soaks in. I ended up using twice what I thought I would need. The blades should be ready for glassing tomorrow. I will see if I can tackle some other small pieces tomorrow, too, to fill up the table. Laminating planks is most efficient if I can lay out 4 long pieces on my table at once. Otherwise I'm not using my limited space very well.

planks, foils.jpg

[Liberty53]

I bet those foil will be damn light and strong.

Cool!

-Derek

(I feel like I've built two sister ships to Scout. Scamp and the Portage Pram. Awesome boats )

[Paul356]

First I sanded the precoat on the foils smooth, using 120 on the random orbital, dialed down and a very light touch, and finishing off with touchups using 220 by hand. Then it was 3 layers of 'glas, plus peel ply, on the dagger board (far) and two layers of 'glas plus peel ply on the rudder. The next job will be to flip them and finish off the glass layers on the other sides. I may add a glass tape on the front or back edges, we'll see. I plan to finish coat with epoxy mixed with graphite. I cut out the seat pieces, which were on a CNC board, and did some work fitting the rudder cheeks. There's apparently a new seat construction method that isn't reflected in the plans yet. (Thanks, Scott at Duckworks, for the headsup.)


foils1.jpg

[Paul356]

Derek, Scout is supposed to be a lengthened version of the Portage Pram, so I'm glad to hear you like it. I've sailed in company with a Scamp and will again this spring, and I agree, it's an awesome little ship.

[Paul356]

The building jig makes an appearance! And the bottom is tacked bow and stern to the jig pieces. This is a stitch and glue kit, using zipties for the stitches.

Building jig.jpg

Bottom in place.jpg

[Paul356]

Then it's on to the first plank, second plank and transom loosely tacked in place. Everything is only half-tight at this stage; I won't pull it tight until all the pieces are in the boat and I can align them. One more plank awaits, in addition to all the internal structure. I found it took about an hour per pair of laminated planks to clean them up, redrill the stitching holes and stich them in. There is still a LOT of work remaining, as you can imagine, but this was really a fun day. More progress might be delayed. Life is going to intervene for a few days.

1st plank.jpg

2d plank.jpg

transom tacked.jpg

[dbp1]

Curious whether you've been keeping an overall time log, since you mentioned how much time each of the pairs of planks was taking you. Obviously, everyone takes a different amount of time, but it'd still be interesting to know!

[Paul356]

I am keeping a log, but I haven't toted up the hours recently, and log book is over at the shop right now. I'll try to provide a total at some meaningful milepost. I haven't kept a log before, but one of my friends who professes an interest in building a Scout asked me to do so.

[Paul356]

A couple more hours today saw me get the sixth and final hull plank tied in and the first longitudinal stiffener in place. The stiffener was pretty fussy work. It crosses the bottom/Plank 1 seam, so I had to pull some of the earlier zip ties and either put in new ones that either caught all three pieces or put in two ties in the same location, sharing a hole in part. Anyway...

All pieces are still on the loose side and will be until I get all the internal structure installed. Then it's tighten all the ties with an eye toward getting the boat fair with seams closed, ready for the first epoxy tacks. It will require some work and probably some additional ties and maybe screws into blocks in order to get the bow ends of the planks closed up and pulled together from one plank to the next.

Someone asked if I'm keeping a time log. Actual construction time so far, including making the work table, is 47 hrs. I don't know if that's a lot or a little. I'm not the slowest, but I try to move carefully. It is what it is. I am pulled forward by visions of sailing this boat soon. I really like the shape.

These photos show all six planks in place plus the first longitudinal stiffener.

6 planks 1.jpg

6 planks 2.jpg

[Paul356]

Now all the interior frames are in place, although not yet trued and tightened. I still need to build and add the dagger board box and deck doubler before that happens, but those pieces are ready to assemble now.

Here's a look at the framing from the stern. I asked Jacob to step in for scale.

inside frames and jacob.jpg

I really like the bow framing. All of this will eventually be covered by the foam-cored decking.

bow frames.jpg

[WI-Tom]

The hull shape (not the interior) reminds me a bit of a Bolger Cartopper. Thanks for posting your progress!

TOm

[Paul356]

Tom, it has a nice kick to it. What are you doing in Poland, anyway? I thought you were going to sail through Milwaukee one day??

[Paul356]

I did the initial work to install the dagger board box along the starboard longitudinal, inside the seat chamber. The parts (updated?) were not quite as described in the plans, nor was the construction, but this is what I inferred the intent to be, and it seems like this works. I will be adding some more glass and fillets once this initial work dries. As you can see, it took some creative clamping. The plywood on the outside of the box wanted to spring inward. If it's still springing post-clamp, I'll add a stiffener on the outside of the box near the top.

Daggerboard box.jpg

Then I turned to the seats. Each seat has 12 pieces! I was able to tack them together with hot glue for now. This is the second generation seat, and here, thankfully, the online manual has been updated. Many fillets and 'glas laminates are called for, which I can add as I go about other work on the boat. Hot glue tacks are the way to go, since the angles on the seats and the many pieces to juggle make use of clamps almost impossible. I mostly just held the pieces in place until the hot glue cooled.

Seats hot glued.jpg

[WI-Tom]

Tom, it has a nice kick to it. What are you doing in Poland, anyway? I thought you were going to sail through Milwaukee one day??

Teaching at an international school here--paying the bills, keeping my teaching career going. Sailing through Milwaukee someday would be great. I lived (briefly) on the south side near the yacht club, and urban sailing seems like it would be cool.

Tom

[dbp1]

The hull shape (not the interior) reminds me a bit of a Bolger Cartopper. Thanks for posting your progress!

TOm

Pretty similar dimensions (a little shorter, I guess, and a tiny bit wider?), but with modern materials/techniques, a lot more "cartoppable" than the original, if the <70lb hull weight is to be believed!

[Paul356]

Teaching at an international school here--paying the bills, keeping my teaching career going. Sailing through Milwaukee someday would be great. I lived (briefly) on the south side near the yacht club, and urban sailing seems like it would be cool.

Tom

Good for you. And when you're back in US and close to Milwaukee, just say the word. I for one certainly miss your trip accounts.

[Paul356]

I have been busy but there hasn't been much to see. I have been applying fillets inside the boat to all the plank seams, bulkhead seams and longitudinal seams. The fillets are almost invisible (so not worth a photo) and seem little more than a smear of epoxy, but boy, do they make the boat strong. The whole thing has gone from a flexible, squirmy zip-tied structure to something hard and solid. Yesterday I moved the hull off the table and set it on its side, as you can see in the photo, in order to reach inside and get the "overhead" fillets on one side underneath the strip you can see on top of the longitudinal. That way I could lean in and actually see what I was doing, as well as expect the wet fillet to stay in place. My next step is to lean the boat on the other side and finish off the alternate sides of those strip fillets. Then I will be pulling all the zip ties and sanding all of the fillets (at least all of the ones that will be visible in the cockpit and accessible in the lockers) in order to pull a full length smooth fillet everywhere, and then tape the hull seams.

Side fillets.jpg

While waiting for fillets to dry, I continued to work on the seats. They are, in a word, a pain. I mentioned each seat has more than a dozen parts, all glassed and filleted together, which means sanding numerous nooks and crannies. Then these complex shapes need to be glassed outside and partially inside. I wonder if I'll ever sit in one.

Progress in general is hampered by the short pot-life of the Raka epoxy, even with the slow hardener but especially with the fast. Next time, it's Silvertip or System 3, which will be worth the extra cost. Duckworks could do builders a favor and include something other than Raka in the kit, imho.

Enough griping and on to dreams of sweet sails. In moving the hull yesterday, I found it to be every bit as light and strong as advertised, even with just the first fillet tacks.

[Jfitzger]

This is the first of a three part series on building the Scout. I thought it might be helpful for someone building, or considering a Scout.




I've been following this thread with interest. The Scout is really close to what I've been looking for.

[Paul356]

Well, I'm way past 30 days, tho I have to say it was a hope of mine. Unfortunately, my last day in the shop until today was about 10 days ago, and because I need to follow shop hours on the days I'm free, I'm limited to 5 hours at most on a good day. Plus, there isn't much to report if I'm just sanding and sanding.

But today I had the shop to myself, so I spread out and applied the first layer of glass to the deck foam, on the underside. I was using a roller to spread the epoxy, as I have been on the plywood pieces, but the roller kept picking up the cloth. I switched to using a spreader, and that was the right tool.

Deck lam.jpg

I also got back to sanding fillets, using a combination of sandpaper around a rounded stick and a Dremel to grind off particularly sharp needles or reach into places where sanding was difficult.
Sanding fillets.jpg

At least I was able to remove all the zip ties a couple sessions ago.
Ties gone.jpg


Even with the preliminary fillets, the hull is amazingly stiff. I am looking forward to finishing the fillet sanding, adding the secondary coating of fillets, and placing the tape over the joints. Then I'll be moving forward more quickly again.

[Paul356]

On break for a bit. Off camping and sailing in the Core Sound 17.

[Paul356]

Back to the project after more than a month away. (The camping trip in the Core Sound was excellent. We explored the 10,000 Islands in Florida.)

I *finally* finished sanding the original fillets and now I am ready to apply the second layer of fillets and then tape the joints. Phew, lots of dust.

Done sanding for now.jpg

[Paul356]

I've moved on to gunwales. Each gunwale has four pieces to install: the foam core and the three plywood pieces that go around the foam (the hull forms the 4th side of the box). Just installing the foam core made the whole hull stiffen up. I was able to put inside plywood pieces on at the same time, as shown here, and later put the top and bottom plywood pieces onto the port gunwale in one operation. There is a modicum of fitting and triming required to get the foam and the three long plywood pieces to fit on each side. I will get the top and bottom pieces on the starboard gunwale in the next session while wrapping 'glas cloth around the port gunwale once it is trimmed and corners rounded. The inside of the hull needs some more sanding and then a final coat of clear epoxy. Once the gunwales are done, the two breast hook pieces go in, probably in two operations, and then the deck goes on. I decided to use thixo for the deck to make sure I get plenty of gooey goodness on the frame in order to squeeze in place well and also to form nice fillets for the deck hull joint around the edge. Then I think the inside will be done!

Gunnels.jpg

[Paul356]

I'm finally back at it and making some real progress. After the usual interminable sanding and then some fitting of the laminated deck piece, I was able to glue the deck in place. I used Thixo on the stringers and to lay in the fillet around the edges where the deck more or less "floats" against the strake on the hull to form the outside joint. Three tubes of Thixo later, it all worked well, with very smooth fillets. I'm glad I used the tube-stuff, even given the cost.

Here is the deck after gluing, with clamps where possible and weights to hold the outer edge against the hull:

deck being glued.jpg

And here is the result:

deck in place.jpg

With the deck glued in place, the already solid structure stiffened even more into a very solid unit. Before gluing the deck, the gunwales had a fair amount of flex, since there was really nothing providing horizontal strengthening. With the deck in place, no more flex.

I had been able to get the breast hook pieces in place earlier.

[Paul356]

Then, according to plan, it was time to take Scout out of the volunteer boat shop and bring her home. The shop was a great place to work when the weather was cold outside, but hours were generally limited to weekday "office hours." Now that it's warm out, I can work late afternoons, evenings and weekends at home. Although I plan to carry Scout on top of the car when finished, for this trip I used my little Harbor Freight trailer. It worked well, and it's nice to know I have that as an alternative if needed.
heading home.jpg

Attachment 136881

My shop is a wonderful space in the attic of our old garage. It's not the easiest access, but my wife and I got Scout up the steps, and there she sits. I have some sorting and clearing to do, but I'm glad she's there. I think the final outside painting will wait until I bring her (slide her?) down the steep steps, since it's likely some scrapes will ensue.

new quarters.jpg

Attachment 136882

[Liberty53]

Great Progess!

Love that Deck

[Paul356]

(Note pix restored above.)

Progress continues. I cleaned up the deck fillet and 'glas, then added tape on the fillet. I also added a fillet inside under the rail and added a tape. I have no clue how I was going to try to fillet and wrap the rail on four sides with a single piece of cloth as suggested in the instruction, working in part upside down. So I wrapped what I could, then tipped the boat on its side and added that final fillet and tape. Then it was sand, sand, until all of the fillets were smooth. Most of this was hand-sanding, since the power sanders would not fit in between the deck and rail. Some of the sanding...
sanding.jpg

Then a final couple of coats of epoxy brushed on to the tapes and another coat rolled on to the deck itself. I also installed the mast steps and mast tube. I think the inside is ready for paint!

Meanwhile, I had a chance to use the bandsaw at the boat shop, so I cut out blanks for the oars. I was extremely lucky and found a knot-free 2x12 8-foot plank of southern yellow pine at Lowe's. It cost only $14. Everything else at Lowe's was knotty "white lumber" junk. I was all set to head for the pricey custom lumber yard, figuring a pair of oars would cost me $60 or more for wood, when I spotted the SYP on the bottom of the stack. Sometimes, you just get lucky. There were only two of these knot-free SYP planks. All the other SYP was fairly knotty.

oars.jpg

Meanwhile it was time to turn over the hull and work on the bottom. This required filling the plank gaps, filling all holes and gaps, installing the skeg, and a smooth-sand. Then I draped a single piece of 'glas over the hull,

loose cloth.jpg

made it fit with some darts and by smoothing it,

fitted cloth.jpg

and finally epoxied it!

epoxied cloth.jpg

I was nervous about the epoxy lamination, but it went ok. It took about two hours and seems to be ok. I'll trim it out once it turns green, and then follow with some coats of graphite-thickened epoxy on the bottom and the two lower planks, and fill out the transom with clear coats of epoxy. I had thought to varnish the transom, but it doesn't look that great, frankly, and rather than introduce the problem of masking and varnishing, I'll just paint it the same color as the top strake. I plan to sail this boat, not look at it. Still hoping to finish up in <10 days for a little messabout. We'll see. Right now, I need to wait for some more resin to arrive from Duckworks, due Saturday. I'm sure liking the boat, tho.

[alfredparker360]

The Duckworks Scout, a versatile and compact watercraft, was the adventurer's dream. With its lightweight design and sturdy construction, it sailed through calm lakes and navigated challenging rivers, becoming the trusted companion for exploration.