Dry Fitting first Ama Hull Panels

I got the bulkheads firmly attached and then moved on to the main ama panels.

These were wired together at both bows and then dropped as a envelope over the bulkheads.

Some of the bulkhead tabs required sanding to fit into the slots. The glass and epoxy had widened them.  Future builders may want to skip glassing the tabs as much of it is sanded away.

Things fit together pretty well and the outboard, unsupported stations dropped into place.  The stringers provide plenty of support for the bows at this point.

The next step is to taper the insides of the stringers where they meet at the bows.  I took a conservative amount off of these on the bench, but they are still wide enough to hold the panels apart at the deck level.

Task time: 6 hours

Total project time: 616 hours

Mounting Ama Stringers

Leading up to mounting the ama stringers on the hull panels, there were several tasks.

Scarfing the fir stringers.  Two scarfs per side.  25 feet each.

Rounding over the bottom edge to fit the CNCed bulkheads.

The stringer is 38mm vertically.  This was just enough heft to require some serious clamping to pull the curve to match the rocker of the shear.  I had to make up 25 of these reusable blocks to support horizontal clamping.

Stringers glued up with the horizontal clamps removed.   There was enough bend that the panel had to be set back away from the edge of the table.  This meant using screws to clamp vertically as most of my clamps don't have a deep enough throat to reach.  The holes will be filled with a syringe later.

Task time: 28 hours

Total project time: 625 hours

Milling Stringers

We spent a couple days ripping and planing stringers out of CVG Doug Fir and Sitka Spruce.

The stringers were ripped a few millimeters oversize.  I used a new Freud Thin Kerf Glue Line blade that did a really nice job.

The main hull needs 60 meters of 19 x 25 stock for three courses per side,  The ama requires 38 x 25 stringers and a 25 x 25 deck beam.  The ama is expected to take some pounding, so the timber is a bit beefier.

I was able to rent the use of the large Powermatic planer at the Northwest Maritime Center.  The planer allowed me to remove any saw blade lines as well at get the thicknesses down the the millimeter.  All of the stringers were run through together to ensure identical thickness.  Nice scarfs are dependent on consistent thicknesses. The stringers also have to fit CNCed notches in bulkheads and come out flush with the hull sides.

Task time: 15 hours

Total project time: 253 hours

Timber

I started collecting timber this week.  Dimensional lumber is required for stringers, sheer clamps, laminated beams and bulkhead reinforcement.

Russell sold me some gorgeous Douglas Fir that will cover the stringers and at least part of the sheer clamps.  The wood is old growth that was reclaimed from an old building.  It is truly incredible what was used for general construction at the beginning of the last century.

This is tight, fine, vertical grain.

We planed the twenty foot boards several times and then Russell trued up an edge with a power planer and jig so that I can start ripping these down in to eight pieces.

I was looking around town for some more stock.  It was quite depressing to see what is on offer these days even at premium suppliers.

The bits for lamination are not too critical. They will be ripped, glued and covered in carbon.

There are some very visible cabin bulkhead pieces that need to be furniture quality.  One of the attractions of Jzerro has always been the interior.  I can only hope to approach this work.