Casting Bulb Slabs

First step was making a casting model from wood. Then the casting mold has been molded from the model by plaster.

When the plaster mold is dry enough for casting the lead it is set into a bed of sand. The feedthroughs for the S/S rods are made by using short water pipe pieces made of galvanized steel. The pipe pieces are fastened with wood screws and flat washers to the plaster mold.

 
For casting the bulb slabs I installed a very simple lead melting furnace.

And here you see the result of my first attempt. Not that pretty but usable.
Will covered with a thick layer epoxy anyway.

Working time been invested: 459 hours

Inserting The Last Two Keel Bulb Rods

In order to insert the last two keel rods exact in parallel regarding the other four,  I prepared a gauge as shown.

Shaping the Keel Foil

Over the winter time I will concentrate on working at the keel foil and the lead bulb.
On the photos you see the keel foil hanging in my shed for finishing the profile.

Working time been invested: 430 hours

Skeleton Almost Finished

The temperatures are falling daily. It is almost to cold for working with epoxy resin. The last Action in the greenhouse this year is fixing the sheer cleats to the bulkheads. The sheer clamp must wait until next spring.

 

Working time been invested: 417 hours

Scarfing Stringers

 

Working time been invested: 385 hours

Bulkhead Re-Alignment

Frequently the bulkhead alignment is controlled by guideline, plumb-line and tube level and readjusted by tension belts if necessary.

Shaping the Keel Foil

 

 

 

First Stringers Set in Place

Working time been invested: 256 hours

Glueing Keel Foil

In between, I dedicate myself again to the keel foil. I glue the stainless steel rods for fixing the lead bulb into the foil segments. After that I bring the foil segments for glueing into a specially prepared fixture in line.

Stringer Yield



The yield when cutting the stringers was very dissatisfying. I had bought the larch as best quality (for 1,750 € /m³) at a boat timber merchant.

 

After the wood has been cut into batten and the cracks and knots were cut out, I measured, weighed, calculated and the following turned out:

 

• Only 31% of the larch was useful to stringers. The rest is good only for the fireplace.
• The cost for the self-cut and planed 32x32mm ² stringers are  4.70 €/m!

Quite expensive!
I am currently looking for alternatives, because I still need about 90m 23x23mm² stringer.
 

 

 

Working time been invested: 220 hours

More Knots, Shakes and Splint than Expected

When sawing the stringers I recognize that the larch has more knots, shakes and splint than expected. I must cut the six meter long battens into pieces. Most of them just one to two meters long.

 Knot to be removed.

 

 Removed knots, shakes and Splint.

Yield of faultless material. Batten are just one to two meters long and have to be scarfed to 7.5m length later on.

Stringer

I wonder some time what timber I should choose for the stringer. Dudley Dix  suggests spruce. I decided to take sibirian larch. It has a higher bending strength and durability than spruce.
The larch I bought has a density between 659 kg/m³ and 796 kg/m² (720 kg/m³ in average) at a wood moisture of 12%.

Keel Foil in Progress

In between, I work on the keel foil on.

Bulkheads Aligned

All bulkheads have been positioned and aligned.

 

Working time been invested: 175 hours

Move to My Greenhouse Shipyard

Through the winter time I was just able to work little things in my basement boiler room. But now it should really start.
Today I begun to setting up the prepared bulkheads.