The first mistake was something I mentioned earlier. When gluing the chine log, I didn't quite get a fair line all the way back. On the left hand side of the board towards the tail, there is a small bump. You can see the bump in this picture here:
Another reason for the bump began when I first set-up the chine log. I noticed that the pre-cut notched for the chine log where a little small. So I took a piece of 60 grit sand paper and wrapped it around a paint stirring stick and open up the notches a bit. However, some of the notches were very shallow. When I glued the chine log, a few of the frames had the chine log just touching, rather than nestled into the notch. This also complicated the railing process. On the left side, the chine log was far enough away from the frames that it made it difficult to maintain the curvature of the rail and still mate the bead and cove strips to the frames. I was concerned the gap between the frame and the rails would create a weakness in the board, so I used some scrap pieces of rail to make a shim inside the rail. I covered it with glue and feel like it improved the strength. Plus, I figured it would give more wood to work with when I feathered the rail to meet the frame.
The nose of the board is a little funky. I didn't flex the bead and cove strips to meet the tip of the keel exactly, and thus the bottom planks end before the end of the rails. My joinery skills are not something to be proud of, so I kind of assumed I would be making a nose block for this board. I'm a little unsure how this affects the strength of the board and how much I should cut off. It just seems that a nose block won't have a lot of wood to latch onto and again will be an area of weakness.
Lastly, the big mistake. The tail of the board. There are multiple things that went wrong in the tail. First, I think the tail blocks needed to be trimmed. The board is a 6'4" but as laid out currently it measures 6'9". The blocks seemed long, but I assumed that was the length they were supposed to be. I think I should have trimmed down the tops nearest the keel.Second, when I glued the blocks on, I used 5200 instead of tightbond. Reading further in the instructions there was a part that mentioned using tightbond over 5200 so that the white of the 5200 doesn't show through. Well, my board will definitely show through. Call that tail mistake number 2.
Next, I failed to pay attention when I was gluing the frame to the bottom planks. There is a small split in the bottom planks that runs right through where the tail should be. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that when I glued the tail blocks on, the 5200 squeezed out through the split. I need to figure out a way to either fill the gap or shape the tail so that it doesn't show. Lastly, I also over shaped the tail blocks. I had just bought this great new hand plane. I was shaping and creating and having a good old time. I felt like a true craftsman. Unfortunately, I got a little carried away. I shaped the blocks to match the line of the keel. However, I forgot that the rail pieces needed support. So the tail pieces are way too thin at the point. My guess is that it shouldn't be that big of a deal. The board looks as though it should be pretty thin in the tail anyways if you follow the line of the last frame. I'm just nervous that I will create a pointed tail that will proceed to remove chunks of my heel everytime I ride it. My friends and I used to surf an old board called the Hamish, shaped by a local San Clemente shaper. We all have matching heel scars from that one so I'm trying to avoid recreating the same scenario. I'm open to suggestions on how to fix the tail. I was considering making tail blocks. I think I saw a picture on the Grain site with tail blocks, again I'm just nervous they will be weak and possibly snap off. Hope the pictures help make all this more clear. The tail is a mess, but I'm hoping I can work out some good solutions.
5 comments:
Chris,
Great that you are blogging your Home Grown kit build. We are always psyched to see that!
I am gonna post some comments to your post about problems you had. Some of 'em are easy fixes - some not so easy. I will put a separate comment for each issue. Hope it helps.
Brad
Unfair Chine Log
How to avoid it: When installing the chine log, eyeball along it to ensure that it is fair. It is best if the outside of the chine log is in vertical alignment with the point where the frame rail-curve intersects the notch, but if that alignment makes the curve of the chine un-fair, then you would rather that the chine log was pushed out from the frame. This gap can cause other issues later but you would rather deal with that than have a board that has an erratic rail.
What Can Happen to Cause It:
1.) If the keel is not set dead straight, the frames will be out and in from their intended positions causing the board to have a bump on one rail and a corresponding dip on the other.
2.) If you don't take time to eyeball along the chine log when setting it, you may get kinks in it.
3.) If you over-steam a section of the chine log, the fibers can collapse and create a kink where the strip creases.
How to fix an un-fair rail: There are a couple of things that you can do.
1.) if the kink is not too pronounced, you can leave it and when installing subsequent strips, get them on-line (meaning snug to the frame) as soon as is possible. When you shape the board, you will have a thin spot where the hump of the kink is, but if it is 5/32" or better, you will be fine as the strips above it will be full width within two courses, and there is chine log behind to support the rail.
2.) If sanding would make the rail too thin, then you can try to beef the area up behind the railstrip by trimming the frame, and laying another strip in behind the first on top of the chine log. Make it snugly fit.
3.) If it is really bad and you want to reposition it, you can melt the titebond with a hot putty knife. I don't recommend this because the fumes can be bad (a respirator with the proper filters is required) and you can scorch the wood with the hot knife if you are not careful.
Hope that helps
Gap Between Rail and Frame
How to Avoid It: Set all rail strips so that they contact the frames. This is easier said than done.
What Can Happen to Cause It:
1.) The chine log may have been set out from the frame end (see previous comment)
2.) There may be glue in the cavity formed by the strips and the frame or by the starter strip and the chine log. Don't let this happen. Clean up after every strip.
3.) The frame may be sharp and flat (like at the nose of some boards) which makes it difficult to lay the strips down. For flat frames, you can trim part of the inner tip off the cove-side of the rail strip so that the strip can lay flat more readily. This marginally weakens the bond between strips so glue well and carefully in these places.
How to Fix Gaps: There are two possible issues; lack of bond to the frame, and potential to sand the rail too thin where it is out from the intended shape.
There must be bond everywhere. Once the rail is nearing completion, some 5200 can be filleted in with your finger to fill the gap and make the bond. If you feel that there is an inherent weakness in the board at any spot (like where sanding may make the skin too thin) you can glue small backer strips into the board to support the strips. Shave some scrap down to fit snugly and load it up with glue. Clamp it well against the skin.
Funky Nose
How it Happens: Bottom or top planks too short, casual commitment to the joinery where rail strips meet, inadequate clamping or gluing.
How to avoid it: It is a good idea to arrange the planks that are sent in the kit as they are marked. Usually they marked at the seams so you can glue them up in the right order and marked as "top" and "bottom". We often ship shorter ones for the outer parts of the panels so using those in the center would make the panel too short.
It is also a good idea to mark the bottom panel with the position of the front of the frame so that it will be clear when setting it with 5200.
When fitting the strips at the nose, you can lay the first in long, then, when laying in the corresponding strip on the opposite side, dry fit it over the first, mark one with the other, and cut it so that one butts into the other. When you flat off the rail strips to install the top, you will probably trim right down to the top of the first strip, so you really only have to fit one (maybe two).
How to Fix It:I think in this case, a nose block would be a good idea. If you hate that idea, there are a couple of potentially cool variations you can do.
1.) Install the nose block before the top planks. When you shape off the top and nose, you will end up with a contrasting color down the rails and across the flat at the front of your bottom planks, but the top planks will extend over it in a graceful curve that follows the rail.
2.) You could clean up the seam at the front of the bottom planks and glue in a (at least 1/4" thick) piece across only the bottom. If you then carefully cut on either side of the joint of your rail and install a filler of the same contrasting color as the bottom piece, it would look like a contiguous piece - 'specially if you had a "stringer" that ran down the center of the top that was the same width as the nose piece. Wicked.
Some people like a "chevron" style of nose block which you see on long boards mostly it seems, but I think these look too busy if you make them from laminate. They can look pretty classic of solid contrasting wood but they really need to be in proportion to the board otherwise, it can look a little overpowering.
Swallow Tail Messed Up
How to Avoid It: The proper way to install the tail blocks in the Home Grown Kit is to:
1.) Mark the length of the board on the bottom planks (measure from nose along keel and mark perpendicular to keel) and mark the center line as well.
2.) Install the chine log using the center line mark to ensure that the chine log lands an equal distance from the center on both sides.
3.) Lay the tail blocks over the chine log with the forward inner parts snug together (they should be cut nearly square to facilitate this) and the trailing edges running out over the chine log. If the point where they cross the chine log is out past your length mark, cut the trailing part of the keel away - even right up to the last set of frames if necessary. If this is not enough (it should be) then trim the forward parts of the tail blocks where then bump up against the last frame.
4.) The tail blocks will still be out over the chine logs. Mark the tail blocks along the same line as the outer edge of the chine log and mark the chine log where the forward side of the tail block crosses it. Cut on both these lines, remove the bits of chine log you cut off, and fit the blocks in again. The tail block should sit flat on the bottom and the chine log should end right at the front of the tail block. Glue 'em in with Titebond. Almost all these seams will be visible so make sure everything is tight.
What can Happen to Cause It: The tail blocks could be installed with no trimming (would cause a gap where they meet, and would make the board too long). There could be no planning for how the rail strips are going to meet the tail block.
How to Fix It: The principle problem here is that the tail blocks are entirely in the wrong place. If you don't mind having a longer board with a more pinched tail, then you could leave them as is because everything else is pretty easy to fix.
If you want to make it 6'-4" again, then you could either remove the blocks (Hot putty knife? Danger.) or build them up from the inside and just trim away the offending portions. This would take a bit of tricky joinery as you would have to make new blocking that matches the curve on the forward edge of the tailblocks. If you are really five inches over, then (if you want to get radical) you might trim off the offending five inches first. Clean off the 5200 where it is squeezed out at the front of the blocks, then match some other blocking to that curve - or even trim the curve flat with a sharp chisel to make it easier to mate to. After the top goes on, you would shape the tail, which would expose the inner blocking in some areas. The seams would be visible so you need to make them tight.
The only reason that the tail looks so knifey is that you are carrying the line of the frames so far back (an extra five inches). When the board is shorter, they will be taller. But they usually do not get much higher than the first or second strip. You don't need to worry topo much about the strips wrapping onto the top of the blocking because the board's top will be taking up most of that (not the case on our other fish whose rails have to be carefully installed at the tail).
As to the crack with the 5200, you have little choice but to clean that out with a sharp chisel and fit a "graving piece" in. If it looks very obvious, then capitalize on that by making one on the opposite side of the tail so that it looks like a symmetrical detail. I suspect that most of this crack will disappear if you shorten the board back to 6'-4".
As to tail and nose blocks - don't worry about them snapping off. After you cut the board, slide in adequate internal blocking to provide support to the skin and gluing surface to the blocks, then glue them on using clamps and if you have no other way, masking tape. When the board is glassed, these will be bombproof.
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