Hank's Merrimac

Oldsparkey · Post by **Oldsparkey** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:10 am

I don't know about the rest of the folks but I keep a towel with me or close at hand for what it is worth. Most of the time I just keep track of where I am on the wood by the drops of moisture that mark my progress.

75 , that is a blast from the arctic for me , time for a long sleeve shirt.

Chuck.

Kayak Jack · Post by **Kayak Jack** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:36 am

Old GI trick of taking salt tablets. Can't buy'em any more, so take a drink of water, then drink a glass of water with a teaspoon of salt dissolved in it. then drink some more water.

Also, take a bandana, hold opposite corners so it is in a degree right triangle. Roll the tip up, and tie the band around your forehead. This will catch the drops of sweat.

What elevation are you at for temps that cool?

Post by **jem** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:42 am

And watch your BP creep up.

Hank · Post by **Hank** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:48 am

I'm about roughly a mile from the surf on the ocean side of the peninsula the tip of which is the City and County of San Francisco. My house is on a hill and is probably a couple hundred feet above sea level. To give you an idea of the climate, Pacifica's annual festival is called the Fogfest.

While I'm here, I'm starting to think about making the frames. Is there a recommended thickness for the ply from which they are cut? I was just going to buy some 3/8 from the local lumberyard. Will that work?

- hank

Post by **jem** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:54 am

for temp frames, 3/8" will be just fine.

Kayak Jack · Post by **Kayak Jack** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:46 pm

OK, Hank, gotcha. "One of the coldest winters I ever spent, was one summer in San Francisco." Mark Twain

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 5:45 am

Hank,

75 is about our max winter temp here mate. Nights and early mornings generally get a fair bit cooler than that.

On the hot summer days - 100 plus, I will go through about 4 to 5 litres of water, just trying to keep up with what I loose through sweat. Dehydration is a very dangerous thing here - as is heat stress. I haven't worried about the sweat dripping on the ply. I usually am too hot and bothered to even care. Haven't had ny problems with it afecting anything yet.

I usually wear a cloth boonie hat when working in the shed on those days. It has helped to soak up the sweat. When it gets too wet, I hang it out to dry and put another one on. A towlleing ht would be better but we can't buy them anymore. Probably just a well. Robin reckons I look like a wanker in one.

Hank · Post by **Hank** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 5:48 pm

I made some progress on the build. Here are some snaps:

First the sawdust and wood shavings from cutting and shaping all the planks. For scale that's over a foot across and at least 4 inches deep at the center.

The planks in all their glory. It's a boat! All I have to do is fasten them together, right?

And finally a snap of the tools I've used so far in the process.

When I was perusing the plans I noticed that the Merrimac is completely symmetrical. There is one upper piece, one middle piece and one bottom piece. So when I lofted the pieces I drew them all on one sheet of plywood (actually I drew two of the bottom piece. Then when it was time to cut them out I piled all three sheets on top of one another, and cut them in half lengthwise leaving the bottoms separate from the sides. To cut out the bottoms I put one half sheet under the piece with the bottoms drawn on it, clamped them together and then cut out two pairs of the bottom pieces. The sides I did similarly except that I had four halves stacked up and cut out four middles and four tops at once. This way all the pieces are the same shape, if they're off they're off in exactly the same way. I hope that will ease the assembly process.

In the first post in this thread I showed a picture of a sticker that was on the wood. In the picture of the planks you can see a bit of the circle where the sticker was. There is some residue from the adhesive still on the wood. Do I need to worry about getting it off there before I start applying the epoxy? And if so, does anyone have any suggestions on what might work do get it off?

- Hank

Post by **jem** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 6:06 pm

lightly sand it. If still there, a little scrubbing with a little acetone should do the job.

Kayak Jack · Post by **Kayak Jack** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:12 pm

If you don't find acetone, lighter fluid will help too. Any light weight hydro-carbon solvent. BEWARE: All of these are highly flammable. Fumes drift off in all directions. DO NOT work near a source of ignition. Pilot lights in water heaters, furnaces, dryers, etc. are especially sneaky. Don't light a match or a cigarette lighter either.