(Parallax) wrote in message . com...
"Andrew Butchart" wrote in message ...
I've built the Stevenson Projects MiniCup boat and have been quite happy
with it overall. You may want to check out the MiniCup FAQ at
http://www.byyb.org/pn/modules.php?o...y es&id_cat=9
or go to the http://www.byyb.org site and follow the links. There's also
some information on my own website - http://www.floatingbear.ca/

My own opinion is that although you could build the boat out 1/8" ply you
would have some loss of hull strength as well as having problems fastening
such thin ply to the stringers.

--
Andrew Butchart

http://www.floatingbear.ca



"Parallax" wrote in message
m...
Has anybody built this boat? Do you reccomend any changes.
Considering the age of the plans, are there any materials other than
1/4" ply that would be lighter?

I am interested in building two for my kids.

Thanks for the info.

Day 1.

Bought the wood, 10 pieces of 4' X 8' X 1/4" Luan underlayment (I am
building 2). This stuff is very light and nicely finished. Several
ppl told me to get Mahogany instead of Fir for the stringers, etc.
The lumberyard had limited amounts of Fir but strongly suggested an
Australian wood called Agathis which I got. This was more expensive
than I thought.

Before it got dark this evening, I managed to draw out on the wood the
sides and centerboard box for 1, and the bow decking for it but did
not have time to draw the curves. I am a little worried about cutting
the luan even with taping both sides of each cut because I have seen
similar stuff splinter (cutting doors).

Will try to finish the lofting tomorrow evening.

(Parallax) wrote in message om...
(Parallax) wrote in message . com...
"Andrew Butchart" wrote in message ...
I've built the Stevenson Projects MiniCup boat and have been quite happy
with it overall. You may want to check out the MiniCup FAQ at
http://www.byyb.org/pn/modules.php?o...y es&id_cat=9
or go to the http://www.byyb.org site and follow the links. There's also
some information on my own website - http://www.floatingbear.ca/

My own opinion is that although you could build the boat out 1/8" ply you
would have some loss of hull strength as well as having problems fastening
such thin ply to the stringers.

--
Andrew Butchart

http://www.floatingbear.ca



"Parallax" wrote in message
m...
Has anybody built this boat? Do you reccomend any changes.
Considering the age of the plans, are there any materials other than
1/4" ply that would be lighter?

I am interested in building two for my kids.

Thanks for the info.

Day 1.

Bought the wood, 10 pieces of 4' X 8' X 1/4" Luan underlayment (I am
building 2). This stuff is very light and nicely finished. Several
ppl told me to get Mahogany instead of Fir for the stringers, etc.
The lumberyard had limited amounts of Fir but strongly suggested an
Australian wood called Agathis which I got. This was more expensive
than I thought.

Before it got dark this evening, I managed to draw out on the wood the
sides and centerboard box for 1, and the bow decking for it but did
not have time to draw the curves. I am a little worried about cutting
the luan even with taping both sides of each cut because I have seen
similar stuff splinter (cutting doors).

Will try to finish the lofting tomorrow evening.

I am considering the sails now and although the plans call for
visqueen, what about the reinforced plastic tarp material? Any ideas
on sail material. The backyard yacht building site showed one with a
different rig than the "latteen" style sail, it had a stayed mast.
Anybody know anything about it?

The plans call for the two Al poles that form the top and bottom of
the sail to be the same diameter as the mast, why not make them a
little smaller?

Thanks,

David OHara

(Parallax) wrote in message om...
snip not have time to draw the curves. I am a little worried about
cutting
the luan even with taping both sides of each cut because I have seen
similar stuff splinter (cutting doors).

Will try to finish the lofting tomorrow evening.

I use a circular saw with a plywood cutting blade and have few
problems. Set the blade so that it just barely cuts through the wood
and you shouldn't have any problems.

FYI - I would suggest waiting to cut out the decks until you have the
rest of the hull assembled, a few people (including me) have had
problems with the pieces fitting at that point. Also, there is an
extra measurement you want to do on your fore and aft bulkheads to
make sure they match the side bulkheads at the correct location. A
few people (including me) have had problems with that.

Also, even though I used fir myself for my MiniCup, I have since
switched to spruce which is much cheaper where I live and works almost
as well.

Good luck with the project.

Andrew Butchart

(Andrew Butchart) wrote in message . com...
(Parallax) wrote in message om...
snip not have time to draw the curves. I am a little worried about
cutting
the luan even with taping both sides of each cut because I have seen
similar stuff splinter (cutting doors).

Will try to finish the lofting tomorrow evening.

I use a circular saw with a plywood cutting blade and have few
problems. Set the blade so that it just barely cuts through the wood
and you shouldn't have any problems.

FYI - I would suggest waiting to cut out the decks until you have the
rest of the hull assembled, a few people (including me) have had
problems with the pieces fitting at that point. Also, there is an
extra measurement you want to do on your fore and aft bulkheads to
make sure they match the side bulkheads at the correct location. A
few people (including me) have had problems with that.

Also, even though I used fir myself for my MiniCup, I have since
switched to spruce which is much cheaper where I live and works almost
as well.

Good luck with the project.

Andrew Butchart



Thanks for the advice as I had planned to cut out the decks tomorrow but will wait.

Day 2. Finished drawing the decks and cockpit.

(Parallax) wrote in message . com...
(Andrew Butchart) wrote in message . com...
(Parallax) wrote in message om...
snip not have time to draw the curves. I am a little worried about
cutting
the luan even with taping both sides of each cut because I have seen
similar stuff splinter (cutting doors).

Will try to finish the lofting tomorrow evening.

I use a circular saw with a plywood cutting blade and have few
problems. Set the blade so that it just barely cuts through the wood
and you shouldn't have any problems.

FYI - I would suggest waiting to cut out the decks until you have the
rest of the hull assembled, a few people (including me) have had
problems with the pieces fitting at that point. Also, there is an
extra measurement you want to do on your fore and aft bulkheads to
make sure they match the side bulkheads at the correct location. A
few people (including me) have had problems with that.

Also, even though I used fir myself for my MiniCup, I have since
switched to spruce which is much cheaper where I live and works almost
as well.

Good luck with the project.

Andrew Butchart



Thanks for the advice as I had planned to cut out the decks tomorrow but will wait.

Day 2. Finished drawing the decks and cockpit.

Day 3. Drew the bulkheads and transoms

I am only drawing one set of deck and bulk/transom drawings because I
plan to use the first set as a template to draw the second (am making
two boats). I did draw two sets of sides and cebterboard well sides.

(Parallax) wrote in message om...
(Parallax) wrote in message . com...
(Andrew Butchart) wrote in message . com...
(Parallax) wrote in message om...
snip not have time to draw the curves. I am a little worried about
cutting
the luan even with taping both sides of each cut because I have seen
similar stuff splinter (cutting doors).

Will try to finish the lofting tomorrow evening.

I use a circular saw with a plywood cutting blade and have few
problems. Set the blade so that it just barely cuts through the wood
and you shouldn't have any problems.

FYI - I would suggest waiting to cut out the decks until you have the
rest of the hull assembled, a few people (including me) have had
problems with the pieces fitting at that point. Also, there is an
extra measurement you want to do on your fore and aft bulkheads to
make sure they match the side bulkheads at the correct location. A
few people (including me) have had problems with that.

Also, even though I used fir myself for my MiniCup, I have since
switched to spruce which is much cheaper where I live and works almost
as well.

Good luck with the project.

Andrew Butchart



Thanks for the advice as I had planned to cut out the decks tomorrow but will wait.

Day 2. Finished drawing the decks and cockpit.

Day 3. Drew the bulkheads and transoms

I am only drawing one set of deck and bulk/transom drawings because I
plan to use the first set as a template to draw the second (am making
two boats). I did draw two sets of sides and cebterboard well sides.

Fri: Just made the joiner piece for the hull bottom. Couldnt find a
batten long enough to make the curve so first calculated the radii of
curvature and tried to draw the curves using a pen tied on a long
string. Apparently too much stretch in the string. Found a piece of
long thin stock at work and used it to draw the curve. Cut two of
them out (two boats) on a bandsaw and finished them on a table sander.

(Parallax) wrote in message . com...
(Parallax) wrote in message om...
(Parallax) wrote in message . com...
(Andrew Butchart) wrote in message . com...
(Parallax) wrote in message om...
snip not have time to draw the curves. I am a little worried about
cutting
the luan even with taping both sides of each cut because I have seen
similar stuff splinter (cutting doors).

Will try to finish the lofting tomorrow evening.

I use a circular saw with a plywood cutting blade and have few
problems. Set the blade so that it just barely cuts through the wood
and you shouldn't have any problems.

FYI - I would suggest waiting to cut out the decks until you have the
rest of the hull assembled, a few people (including me) have had
problems with the pieces fitting at that point. Also, there is an
extra measurement you want to do on your fore and aft bulkheads to
make sure they match the side bulkheads at the correct location. A
few people (including me) have had problems with that.

Also, even though I used fir myself for my MiniCup, I have since
switched to spruce which is much cheaper where I live and works almost
as well.

Good luck with the project.

Andrew Butchart



Thanks for the advice as I had planned to cut out the decks tomorrow but will wait.

Day 2. Finished drawing the decks and cockpit.

Day 3. Drew the bulkheads and transoms

I am only drawing one set of deck and bulk/transom drawings because I
plan to use the first set as a template to draw the second (am making
two boats). I did draw two sets of sides and cebterboard well sides.

Fri: Just made the joiner piece for the hull bottom. Couldnt find a
batten long enough to make the curve so first calculated the radii of
curvature and tried to draw the curves using a pen tied on a long
string. Apparently too much stretch in the string. Found a piece of
long thin stock at work and used it to draw the curve. Cut two of
them out (two boats) on a bandsaw and finished them on a table sander.

Fri. evening: Cut out most of the pieces from the luan. This project
will def. take longer than I thought. It is surprising how little
time I have to work on it. (3 kids and running a small business,
maybe I was unrealistic). It is going well anyway. Got the bottoms
glued and screwed to the joiners. How did ppl do things like this
before power screwdrivers, wow!

(Andrew Butchart) wrote in message . com...

snip
I use a circular saw with a plywood cutting blade and have few
problems. Set the blade so that it just barely cuts through the wood
and you shouldn't have any problems.

Ditto, no problems with 28 tooth 7" blade, but it may depend on the
ply you have.

snip
FYI - I would suggest waiting to cut out the decks until you have the
rest of the hull assembled, a few people (including me) have had
problems with the pieces fitting at that point. Also, there is an
extra measurement you want to do on your fore and aft bulkheads to
make sure they match the side bulkheads at the correct location. A
few people (including me) have had problems with that.


Aghhh! Me to. About 2' back from bow, the boat as I built it, is
about 1" wider each side than the forward deck panel. I might be able
to pull it in with a ratcheting strap, but I don't want to force in
that level of stress. Pulling in the sides may also cause the the
seams at the bottom chine to open a little.
I'll probably end up buying another sheet of ply, fitting it cut well
oversize, and triming down last of all. Lesson learned (hopefully).

I was flying along, but a new addition to the family put a halt to the
gallop for a while. Hope to get moving again soon, and be finished in
time for the summer.

Andrew has more practical knowledge than me (having finished his), but
any questions, let me know.

Best of luck,

Bookieb.

Just a tip. Anything that can be cut or left a little big and will not
be a problem shaping later, should be left as so. If you make all the
edges finish and tight, you will end up having to knock it down more
than the plan calls for later after turning and working around the
boat. I always leave ends long, edges unfinished etc, wait till you
are ready for finish, before you finish. Impatience and the will to
see something look like a beautiful boat will only cause anguish
later. I always tell folks, "yes, I am builing your boat, but you
don't want to see her now". Wait till she looks like a boat!
Scotty from SmallBoats.com

(Backyard Renegade) wrote in message om...
Just a tip. Anything that can be cut or left a little big and will not
be a problem shaping later, should be left as so. If you make all the
edges finish and tight, you will end up having to knock it down more
than the plan calls for later after turning and working around the
boat. I always leave ends long, edges unfinished etc, wait till you
are ready for finish, before you finish. Impatience and the will to
see something look like a beautiful boat will only cause anguish
later. I always tell folks, "yes, I am builing your boat, but you
don't want to see her now". Wait till she looks like a boat!
Scotty from SmallBoats.com

Scotty:

Sounds like good advice.

Day 4, I think. I had to buy a table saw since my neighbors didn't
work. I used it to cut the stringers and this went fairly well
considering I have never used a table saw ( I am not much for
woodworking). I only screwed up two stringers forgetting to set the 7
degree angle. Put the two stringers on the bottom pieces and this was
surprisingly easy. BTW, I am using that "Gorilla Glue" which is said
to be waterproof. It is strange stuff that seems to react with
moisture (you wet both surfaces prior to application) and it foams up
and fills spaces.