NB Siskin

[Steve Goddard]

Right most people will have realised by now that this blog is just a copy of my own blog site and that I normally copy my posts here after they've been on my site for a couple of weeks. I've got so behind now that I'm going to bring this blog bang in line with my other one and keep it that way. So there's actually going to be a couple of entries in this one so I hope that it's not too confusing

I've just got round to starting a new post. Looking at the last one I realise that it's simply ages and ages since I wrote the last one. There have been so many things going on that a: I've not really been able to spend as much time at the boat as I would like to have done b: I've had no time to sit and write a blog. Oh well lets at least lets get it down now

Right one of the big jobs we've tackled is the heating. With winter coming on I really wanted to get some proper heating into the boat so that I can keep the inside at a decent temperature and more importantly stop any excessive temperature swings inside which can lead to issues with the wood work. The range is all piped up and all that needs to be done is to fit the Thermaskirt which I'm using instead of radiators. In reality all that needs to be done is to sort out some woodwork to mount the Thermaskirt on and a couple of runs of pipework underneath the tug deck.

The wood works pretty simple. On the stbd. side I've got to box in the main water feed from the tank so I've decided to make the other side match and to bring them out to the same dimension as the gunwales. This will give me a bit of an opportunity to put in some under gunwale furniture if I want to at a later date. The boxing is simply a 125mm upstand of 12mm ply with pockethole screws holding it down to the floor. It's actually really stable and doesn't need any other support which is good. I've actually painted the front face matt black so that it blends in with the Thermaskirt. for the top I've moulded up some more rosewood as a capping. One problem was that I hadn't really thought this out when I was doing he panelling under the gunwales and it would have been better it I had stopped the panelling where the capping went rather than taking it to the floor because if you butt up to the face of the board it looks odd because of the moulding. To get over this I've routed a little groove at the right height for the capping to slide in and with the skirting in place the end result looks pretty good.

With the Thermaskirt in place down both sides of the saloon and one side of the bathroom David runs the copper pipe round under the tug deck and we're ready to fill it up and give it a go. The range gets up to temperature really quickly and the skirtings are remarkably hot in no time. Given that outside is brass monkeys (look at the picture of the stern fenders) the inside of the boat gets cosy and warm quickly and because the heat is well distributed there are no hot spots. Everybody who's been on board since the heating been on have been really impressed with how well the heatings working. Couldn't resist putting the kettle on the stove just to make a cuppa. I could live on board now .

It's not been all stop on the back cabin either. Rex and I have got all the lining done on the range side and all the lining under the gunwales on the bed side. It all then come to a grinding halt as we've no material. I've decided to do a twist on a traditional back cabin and to use proper hardwood rather than scumble but the big decision is what wood to use. After a lot of checking around to see whats available and a couple of trips to woodyards to see what stock they have we settle on Padauk. The bulkheads and cabin sides will be veneered ply and all the rest will be solid. It's a pretty impressive pile of timber when it all arrives and it looks absolutely phenominal.

The first boards to go up are the engine room bulkheads, Same procedure as always. Measure up the bulkhead, transfer it on to a bit of hardboard (or in this case some 4mm MDF which came over the veneered boards), play around with the template until it fits properly then transfer it to the board and make the final cut. Then if all is well it should fit perfectly which of course it does . Then its do it all again on the other side. With the bulkheads up I can start to see what the end effect will be and I really like it.

Rex and I get the side linings up as well but as it's so late I don't get a photo but they are something special Will get a photo next time.



Well Christmas has come and gone and the New Year is just round the corner so in an attempt to avoid terminal turkey overload I've retreated to my study and am determined to get the blog up to date.

There's been quite a lot of work done on Siskin since the last post but you wouldn't necessarily know it just looking at the pictures. The main thing is that the sidebed side liners are now up and everything has had three coats of varnish which will keep it stable until I get the framing on and can finish it properly. It will need at least another three if not more. With the sides up the cabin looks bigger for some unknown reason and best of all nearly all of the hateful foam-spray is now hidden. That in itself is a major bonus.

I make a start on the rear bulkhead on the range side. It's 18mm solid padauk. It's a bit of a nightmare to get the planks fitting well as it's all compound angles and of course every board is different. Trimming the end grain is a nightmare. It's as tough as old boots and simply will not cut clean even with a low angle block plane. Rex has a brainwave. It turns out that there is a 12″ pedestal sander under a pile of stuff in the store above the main workshop so we dig it out and a quick trip to Axminster to get some abrasive and we're in business. Man what a difference I can make the slightest adjustments to the ends of the boards easily and quickly and it doesn't take too long to get them cut, fitted and then biscuit jointed together. They look pretty good held up with a clamp . The framing for the soap 'ole is the next challenge

Rex in the meantime has been working on getting the table cupboard bulkheads cut and fitted. We're making them out of 12mm birch ply which you may think is a bit thin but given that they will be clad in 12mm padauk they will be more than adequate. Again it's one of those "simple" jobs that just take ages but as I've found to my cost with the shower bulkhead it's imperative that they fit perfectly so you don't get any distortion when they're fixed in place. With both bulkhead up the cabin suddenly has a real shape.

While Rex has been working on the bulkheads I've been making a little " foot box" to go under the counter for the foot end of the sidebed. It's simply 18mm birch pocketholed together. Of course it's even more fiddly than the bulkhead as there's not a right angle anywhere that it touches and to make life difficult I'm rather too large to fit comfortably under the counter. Still when I've got it templated and cut out I can give it a coat of primer and a couple of coats of satinwood prior to fitting. The pocket holes will have plugs in them and painted over when it's fitted so they won't be visible. When I come round to fitting it it's slightly out at the top front corner (about 2mm) when I've fixed it down properly. Fortunatley there is a little fillet to go over that corner to conceal a cable run so it wont be seen PHEW as I didn't fancy trying to fix it as it would have been a major job.

I'd planned to do a bit of work on getting the bulkheads finished over the Christmas holidays and took all the bits home so I could machine up the timber and laminate the bulkheads. I got the first bit machined up and then bugger me the drive belt on my thickness planer broke. That's the second one in 31 years things just don't last like they used to. It's a standard belt but of course finding somebody who has on AND is open between Christmas and the new year proves to be a fruitless task. So I've ordered two (one for a spare which undoubtabley, if I last as long as the first belt, I will then be unable to find). I guess they'll arrive after new year. Still I've got one piece machined up so I can at least get that glued to the bulkhead. As it's a little bit banana'y I need loads and loads of clamps to make certain it goes down straight but it works.

Now here's my first new year resolution. I will get a weekly post on the blog Honest.

Lets hope we all get some good boating in in 2013

Edited October 15, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Steve Goddard]

One week on ......Well near enough

I’m not that far behind getting a post done within a week. As it is the week was a little bit short because of other commitments but we’ve made some good progress again.

My first job was to finish off the bulkhead. It’s all a bit deja vu laminating up plywood. Takes me back to doing the conversion sheets. There’s only one side of the bulkhead that needs Padauk on as the inside will be painted. I’m back to the same situation again where I don’t have quite enough Padauk to do the whole of the side so I need to put an additional piece of ply where it won’t be seen (behind the fireproofing at the side of the range) which makes it a bit more complicated but at least it means I’ve got some decent edges to work to . With all the Padauk cut and shaped it’s time to glue up and throw it in the vacuum bag while the glue sets. A quick run through the sander and the jobs a good ‘un. Well it is from my point of view but although I’ve fitted the Padauk exactly to the bulkhead ply the cabin sides are at an angle to the bulkhead face so it no longer fits properly so Rex has a merry time refining the Padauk so the bulkhead fits properly again . After that I can drill some pocket holes to fix it up, get a holding coat of varnish on the Padauk and a coat of primer on the bare ply, then a coat of satinwood a day later and another coat of satinwood a day after that

Next up is the weatherboard. Normally this would be a bit of ply but I’m making it out of solid Padauk. I’ve selected a pair of planks which match well in colour and grain so it’s just a matter of cutting a few biscuit slots and then glueing the two planks together. I love my panel clamps as you can always be certain that whatever your gluing up will be flat and straight. You still need loads of other clamps just to get the joint tight but it’s easy as you don’t have to worry about the boards moving.

Rex is beavering away on the panelling around the soap ‘ole. It’s an interesting job as the angles are all funny which makes the joints quite time consuming to cut and get tight especially on the chamfers but as always Rex’s joints are nice, neat and as tight as a bull’s ….. in fly time . Although it’s not quite finished I couldn’t resist putting it up mjust to see what it’s going to look like and I do like the look of it

I’m working on the stbd. bulkhead at the same time. I’ve already cut the bottom part plank so that it lines up with the bed box and the plank on the range side and put a nice little bead on the bottom to soften the edge. Then it’s just a case of sorting out the planks above it so I set the chop saw up to cut the side angle and cut a little wedge of plywood to set the angle for the cabin side on the disk sander and it’s then reasonably quick to cut and fit the planks. The only small issue is that some of the planks have not cleaned up properly when they’ve been machined up so I need to run them all through the sander to get them flat and the same thickness and can be fixed back properly. All that needs to be done now is to biscuit joint them and glue them up. (BTW I have made the little bit for the top just didn’t have it in the photo). The MAJOR plus point about this is that the very LAST of the sprayfoam is now (or will be when the bulkhead is fixed up) covered hobloodyray

Edited October 15, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Steve Goddard]

I’ve failed on two fronts between this and the last post.

First of all I didn’t keep to the new year resolution of a post a week, so that didn’t last too long

Secondly I had all the stbd. side rear bulkhead cut and fitted in the last post. I got it all thicknessed the same, and glued up. It looked magic until……. it exploded . The workshop was obviously too cold for the glue and just as I was gluing the last (curved) piece in place I obviously got one of the cramps a little bit skew and the whole bloody thing just fell to bits. Although the glue had (in theory) had enough time to go off the cold weather meant that it had simply degraded and had no strength at all. So now I’ve got to start the glue up all over again.

It’s also getting more and more difficult to get to the boat because of personal commitments and I feel at the moment that the fitout is starting to stall a bit. Hopefully I’ll get back into a position soon that I can really spend some time and kick it back into high gear.

One job that I did manage to get done was to get the weatherboard fitted. The deckhead needed to be cut back round the hatch so that the weather board fits with the hatch surround. A reasonably simple job with a flush trimming cutter in the router and a bit of ply stuck to the steelwork with some double sided tape. The tulipwood cuts really well but it seems to make an absolutely enormous volume of chips. I was picking them out of my clothes and hair for the rest of the day and trust me I don’t have much hair . With that done the bottom of the weather board needs to be cut to fit to the swim. Now this is where you suddenly realise that life would be so much easier without a tapered swim as the fit at the bottom has to be one of the most complicated fitting jobs I’ve ever done as it slopes in every possible direction. The only way to get it anywhere near right is to template it on some 12mm mdf. It takes me quite a long time to get it near enough to allow me to transfer the measurements onto the weatherboard proper. The main cut is a real pain as the only way to get at it is to mount the weatherboard in the vice and then stand on the bench to make the cut. As you can see the saw is at a really awkward angle as well and you’re trying to keep the blade going down a line on both sides of the timber that are not square to the timber or even parallel. Great fun . Still I manage not to mess it up and some time with the block plane and a chisel soon has it fitting like a good ‘un.

The next few days seem to be taken up with varnishing and painting as the weatherboard needs varnishing with an external varnish. I’m using International Schooner Gold which should be good given the price it is. It does give a nice finish but I’m really having difficulty as it seems to form the odd bubble on the surface which means it needs rubbing down and recoating. Not good. The galley doors also need more coats and the new table cupboard bulkheads needs painting AND varnishing. It all takes ages.

Still Rex and I get the table cupboard bulkheads fitted anf fixed which is great as it’s the first time that the back cabin is not just one big space. We’ve also got the timber for the construction. Rather than using a softwood (it’s not really ever seen) we’ve got some nice Sapele which we cut and machine up so we’re all ready to start that soon. On top of that Rex gets the table cupboard front (which will in fact be a door) sorted, but more on that next time.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Steve Goddard]

Good grief how hard can it be I’ve been trying for ages to figure out what has changed on my blog server as all of a sudden I can no longer upload any pictures more than 2meg and given that most of the ones from my phone are just over it has meant that I couldn’t get any pictures up and a blog without pictures is like roast beef without horseradish. It’s now taken over a month for the guys at the data center to figure out what has happened and that plus the fact that I had missed a couple of weeks due to other commitments its been a long long time since I posted a blog so this one will be a doozy

Right this is going to get busy. A little job that has been hanging around for a while is a leak on the top pipe off the oil cooler. It looked as if somebody had troweled the braze on and despite the fact that there was a mountain of it the joint still leaked. First thing was to make a little jig to hold the pipe in the right position before I took it to pieces so that it would fit when I silver soldered it back up. Then it was a case of melting the braze pulling it all to pieces, cleaning it up and soldering it back together. Amazingly it all fits when I’m done and no more leaks



Next woodworking job is to build the framing for the furniture. It’s all out of Sapele as that’s a lot cheaper than Padauk and if the truth is known its a lot easier to work with. The framing is pretty simple with the only difficult bit cutting the frame to fit over the swim under the side bed which is a nightmare as it changes in all three dimensions but it takes quite a bit of time to to get everything set up so that the bed board will fit in both the open and closed position. Still enough clamps and straight edges gets everything in place before final fixing.

I’m putting a run of thermaskirt down the stbd. side under the sidebed so theres a run of ply let into the frame so that the thermaskirt is flush with the front of the furniture. I’ve also put some decent holes in it as I hope that there will be enough heat get into the locker behind to stop any musty smell and damp. At least that’s the plan.





While Rex is otherwise engaged it’s time for me to tackle the doors on the galley cupboards. There all made and varnished so in theory it’s just a case of hanging them. Truth is that this takes a lot longer than I would have thought as a: they are all different b: they all have different hanging methods so it’s a lot of measuring and then fixing the mounting frames, fixing them on the slides and adjusting them to the right position. Let just say I didn’t get them all right on the first attempt . However the effort is worthwhile and the galley looks a lot better.



I’ve still got to sort out handles and put a couple of bits of trim round some raw edges and build the top cupboards but the galley is now substantially complete .

While I’m in the conversion there are a couple of other jobs to finish off. The top of the boxing for the pipework needs varnishing and fixing down properly. After a little bit of thought I decide not to counterbore and plug the screws just in case I ever need access to the pipework behind the boxing so I’ve used brass screws with exposed heads. just one thing I am NOT polishing them

The last little finishing touch is to mount a couple of nice Art Deco wall lights in the saloon and wire them in. They fit really well

The next wood worky job is to build the bed board. It’s 19mm padauk boards biscuit jointed together with 19mm framing on the face. We’ve been having some difficulty with glues (remember the exploding bulkhead) so we’re using tons and tons of screws all of which need counterboring and plugging. It’s then lots of glue and cramps and we have a bed board.

When the glues dry we cut in the hinges and mount the board in the bed ‘ole. A little bit of adjustment and it fits both up and down. Job done or so I thought except a week later the whole board has bowed out in the middle. Bugger .

What we need to do is to make the back of the bed board longer to straighten it up so we decide to route some slots in the back of the board, clamp it a little bit the opposite way to the bow and then glue some tight strips into the slots and hope that it pulls it straight. Imagine the relief when it does work.

.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Steve Goddard]

I’ve had to break down the outstanding work into several posts as it would read like War and Peace . Looking at whats outstanding I reckon it will take me another couple of post to get up to date.

With the bed board finally straight and sorted I can get it hinged onto the bed ‘ole furniture. As a design point I’ve decide not to have drawers in the furniture but to have access into the space underneath by having lift out tops. this will give us a bit more storage (albeit more difficult to get to) and because I’m going to slat the tops rather than the traditional solid we should end up with better ventilation. At least that’s what I hope. One thing that is for certain the bed board should be sturdy enough as it weighs a ton.

The tops for the furniture are pretty simple slatted tops. The slats being glued and screwed onto the bearers. This brings us back to the glue. We’ve tried all sorts of glues making little test joints up and then seeing how they fail and without exception they fail on the glue line showing that there is simply no penetration into the padauk. We’ve tried all the solvents imaginable to see if we can clean the surface oil off long enough for the glue to penetrate and still to no avail. As a last desperate attempt I get hold of some West System Epoxy which they reckon will glue oily woods. At £18 for 250ml its bloody expensive, it’s like woodworking with Aradite but it does perform much better than any of the other glues though it’s still not perfect.

 

Next up is the table. Again this is made out of 19mm padauk with 19mm padauk framing. This really really has to be strong and straight so again theres lots and lots of glue, screws and clamps. In fact we pretty much use all the cramps in the shop. Still when we remove all the clamps it looks as if we’ve got it. Only time will tell.

Next up is the framing and cupboard doors above the bed ‘ole. The center of the doors is made from some of the offcuts of the veneered plywood that we uses on the bulkheads let into 19mm padauk framing so that they are flush with the outer frame which is also 19mm padauk. We’ve learnt the lessons about joints so there all as big as we can make them with as much glue areas as we can get and then reinforced either with screws or little stainless brads. It really is a belt and braces thing.

The back cabin is really coming on now and starts to look like a proper space which is really nice. The next job for me is simply to get more varnish on the woodwork and some paint on the exposed lining under the gunwales, in the bed hole and inside the furniture. The contrast between the dark reddish timber and the Crushed Calico paint (honest thats what its called) is amazing. For the first time I think that this could actually work

Edited October 15, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Bob18]

Just a couple of thoughts Steve.

Would drilling a numbe of small, angled holes (at random directions) into the padauk help by giving a sort of random glue dowel work?

Or, what about a sawn (or other roughend surface) on the padauk help. (butonly where you want to glue)

[Steve Goddard]

Bob We've tried mechanically roughening the surfaces, cleaning the surfaces with cellulose thinners to remove the oil, dowels, biscuits, screws, nails etc. Infact every suggestion we could find for gluing oily woods.

 

If you get decent mechanical strength across the joint the glue will hold (just about) buts its not a really strong joint as it will fail on the glue line if you try hard enough to make it fail. I think that the only way to get a servicable joint is to make certain there is something spanning the joint to provide that additional strenght.

 

Just as well we've got most of the padauk joinery done now

[Steve Goddard]

Looking back it would seem that I actually got quite a bit done while I couldn’t update the blog. We’re still way away from progress to date

Next thing I got on with was the range shelf. The support structure is 3 x 2″ Iroko with a pretty simple frame put together with half joints and screwed to the back bulkhead and the side of the table cupboard. As always of course there’s a deal of messing about as the ends are parallel but every thing else is at odd angles. Simon cuts out some 1/8″ plate for the top from a template I made out of some of the MDF that came wrapped around the last lot of veneering (waste not want not) and surprise surprise it actually fits. I think I’m getting better at this boat building lark .

The finishing touch is a little padauk moulding to go round the edge. It’s one of those nice little fiddly jobs that I really like doing especially the little round bit at the table cupboard end. Pity you can’t see it better a little better.

Phil Speight is back down for a week to do the top bends which are a nightmare of little diamonds however the weather puts a bit of a kybosh on painting outside even in the poly tunnel so Phil makes a start on the back cabin. Now you will have noticed by now that ~Siskin’s is not quite your traditional back cabin or even close to your traditional back cabin colours and this causes Phil some head scratching and soul searching as he’s not at all certain how it is all going to work out. However after liberal application of some of my finest scotch he sort of agrees to give it a go my way with some additions that he thinks will help.

Well as always the end result is just stunning and it really does work SO

well on the rich colour of the padauk. I’m simply blown away when I see it on the bench and even more gobsmacked when I get it back into the cabin. It is simply just how I imagined it but better .

Wood work doesn’t finish just because Phil is down. There’s lots and lots of little jobs to catch up on, sorting out the side bed slats, trimming inside the bed ‘ole, making the shelf that supports the table when it’s down etc. etc. etc. so the week goes pretty quickly even with frequent visits to watch Phil

 

the last little job of the week is to make some little brass striker plates for the door catches so that a: the wood doesn’t get knackered and b: the doors don’t rattle. Don’t you just love it

Edited October 16, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Barry]

That woodwork and paint in the back cabin is simply stunning!

[Steve Goddard]

That woodwork and paint in the back cabin is simply stunning!

 

Barry

 

Thanks I'm glad you like it. I know I do

 

Steve

[Steve Goddard]

Building Siskin is becoming much more enjoyable. Perhaps its because I really can start to see that the end is in sight, albiet still a way away or perhaps its just that the weather has finally improved and its actually enjoyable being outside .

One thing that has become apparent for a little while is that we’re not going to have enough padauk to finish the job. Bugger. Not to worry there’s some nice big planks left up at the woodyard so it’s only a matter of picking one up. A quick call to organise and oh 5h1t the’ve sold it all as it wasn’t moving and to rub insult to injury they sold it all cheap. Given the amount that I bought just a couple of months ago you would have thought that they would have rung me first to see if I was interested in any more

A troll round the Internet and I eventually find a guy in Kent who has a couple of planks (no not from Whitmores, that would have been just to much). he’s got a plank that’s just what I need, 12″ wide, 2″ thick and just over 9′ long. It looks really tatty till it’s planed up and then it’s magnificent

While Rex is in the back cabin fitting the little cupboard behind the weatherboard I’ve taken up a new career and am now making guitars, however I don’t think Fender have anything to worry about. It’s actually the steering step and it’s made out of a bit of 2″ thick iroko from a plank Rex had hanging around which was 17″ wide a big bit of wood With the step all shaped and fitted I give the bottom a couple of coats of Osmo oil to seal it before fixing it down onto the steel step. Another step forward if you’ll excuse the pun

Rex has got the little cupboard finished behind the weatherboard. Phil had already painted a little knobstick rose on the door which we had made earlier so when everything’s up the cupboard looks finished. All that’s left is to fit the catch and the cabin light switch.

I’m now making a start on the door posts for the doors between the back cabin and the engine ‘ole. The doors will be plain and painted in the engine ‘ole and veneered and panelled inside the back cabin so the door posts have to be half painted and half padauk plus the fact that we don’t have a bit of padauk so were back to gluing bits of wood together to make the posts. Given that the glue takes 24hrs to cure I can only get one post finished a day. Oh well there’s other stuff to be getting on with.

Rex makes a start on the panelling on the stbd. panels in the back cabin and I make a start on lining the slide and the weatherboard. Sorting it outs a bit fiddly as per normal nothing is square because the slide hole is tapered and the deckhead rises towards the stern. Still it’s a nice little fiddly job that is very satisfying to get right. With the timber all cut and fitted it’s time to get a couple of coats of varnish on the back before drilling and tapping the steel to fix everything up.

While I’m doing this Rex has been cutting and shaping and fitting the curtain beam across the deckhead. It’s really a fiddly bit of work as it’s all curves and angles and funny joints. It takes quite a while to get everything cut and fitted and the biscuit jointed ready for assembly. We have to make holes for the controls which will have little nylon bushes in which should not be a problem except that nobody in the shop has drills that are the right size. A trip to Axminster and two forstner bits of the correct size are obtained. Now explain this the two bits were over 7 quid each or I could buy a box of 5 for 17 quid (which of course did not have the correct sizes in). It simply does not make sense

There’s been other progress as well. Simon’s been busy making the middle pipe for the range and modifying the range shelf so the range is secured. We’ve also shortened the legs so that the range sits at the correct height in relation to the steering step. Fortunately there’s a nice little ridge across the legs at more or less the right place so cutting the legs off equally is pretty easy and believe it or not it doesn’t rock when its done . With the range in place the cabin is really starting to look finished

 

Edited October 16, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Barry]

Those clamps are interesting. They look like G clamps but using the same operating principle as a cartridge gun.

 

What are they called please Steve? And can you remember where you got them?

[Jerra]

Those clamps are interesting. They look like G clamps but using the same operating principle as a cartridge gun.

 

What are they called please Steve? And can you remember where you got them?

Not exactly the same but have a look at

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/quick-action-clamp-6-152mm/57645

[Steve Goddard]

Not exactly the same but have a look at

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/quick-action-clamp-6-152mm/57645

 

Barry

 

They're available in lots of places

 

 

http://www.axminster.co.uk/solo-solo-speed-clamp-with-metal-jaw-pad-prod905667/

http://www.sfsintec.co.uk/solo-speed-clamp-150mm-6-pack-of-1-903-p.asp

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/COX-6-150mm-ONE-HAND-SOLO-SPEED-TRIGGER-RELEASE-CLAMP-/290909944991?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item43bb957c9f#ht_1528wt_905

 

They're very useful because you can get more for the same money than other types of rapid clamps but you need strong hands to get a good grip

 

Steve

[Steve Goddard]

Well I’ve looked at the last post and it was over a week ago but I don’t seem to have many pictures of progress huuummmm…

So what have I actually done. Well a lot of small fiddly bits, put the Siskins back on the cabin sides this time with weed hatch tape behind them as the spacers were not working properly and damp was affecting the paintwork which is not a good idea, sorted out the pigeon box, done all the wiring for the light switches etc in the little cupboard behind the weather board, ordered batteries, inverter, easyview and the rest of the stuff to finish off the electrics, varnished all the paneling for round the slide etc. etc.

One of the big jobs however was to get all the heat shield around the range. Above the gunwhale I’m using an expanded ceramic material which is used for lining kilns. It’s set into a little frame so that when the 16g steel is screwed over the top of it it will not flatten it and reduce its effectiveness. It’s quite easy to work with but is one of those materials which don’t arf make you itch.

Round the range itself I’m also using some ceramic but this time its rigid and 12mm thick. Its actually used for lagging fire boxes in diesel fired steam cleaners and is rated at 1250°c so should be OK.

I templated up the three sides and then had some 16g steel cut and folded to go around the ceramic to protect it. You can’t really see it in this picture which shows the ceramic but it makes a really nice neat job. I’ve bunged a thin coat of red oxide primer on and have now got to find some heat resistant paint the right colors to finish it all off.

When all the panels are fixed back to the wood work it really does look a nice and neat job and it means that the whole of the wood work around the range is protected. Good stuff

Simons been beavering away as well making a little step over the gearbox tail. We need this to give us the threshold for the door between the back cabin and to tidy up around the back of the engine. Before he can start I’ve got to remove the oil lines which go from the gearbox to the oil cooler as they will need re routing. Of course I can’t reuse the existing lines so I decide to order in some more fittings and remake the lines. Imagine my surprise when I discover that the 3/8″ brass solder nipples are over 3 quid EACH. I don’t remember them being that expensive before

The difference that the step makes when it’s done to the look at the back of the engine is amazing, It now looks finished Another step (sic) forward (reused pun alert)

Edited October 16, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Steve Goddard]

Huummm need to break this post into two parts as its complaining that there are too many photos.... Strange

 

Well its all been a bit hectic (again). Lots of things happening which have kept me away from the yard for quite a while but progress is still being made in fact there are so many people on Siskin at times its a wonder she doesn’t sink

So who’s doing what?

Well Simon’s remaking parts of the controls as they were only every temporary. This is a lot more difficult than I would imaging, especially on the gear rod. The issue is that the rod has to be straight but the roof is definitely not so getting all the holes and brackets to line up so that the movement is nice and smooth takes a real lot of fiddling around but at the end of it I’ve got a really nice smooth gear change which actually looks decent as well.

Davids making a start on sorting out the combi by getting the domestic batteries into the space in-front of the engine. Man but is it a tight fit but with a little bit of messing around with the fuel tank vent pipework they eventually go in although for a moment it looked as if it might not work. Phew . Then we have to lift the deck plates up again to run the cables underneath. Bugger they’re really heavy and pulling them out of the boat is a real struggle.

Rex has been busy making the door linings for the back doors. There made out of marine ply with utile paneling as Phil is going to try to grain them to match the padauk. That’s going to be something to see . When they’re done its up to me to fit them. They’re held on with 5mm machine screws tapped into the metal doors and a load of Sikaflex to seal between the steel and the wood so that they’re no chance of water going in between and causing problems with the wood rotting. A nice brass silent hook finishes them off and now I can lock up the boat without having to use a bit of steel across the doors

Rex has also started on the doors between the back cabin and the engine room. I’ve bought some really clever hinges that allow a door to swing both ways (if you’ll excuse the expression ) and set up a little test piece to see how they work. It really is quite difficult to see how they work but they will allow the doors to fold back into the engine ‘ole flush with the bulkhead and also to open into the back cabin so it covers all eventualities

 

Neat hey

 

Edited October 16, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Steve Goddard]

The next job is to make a start on plugging all the screw holes in the back cabin. There are literally hundreds of the things. Normally this is a job I hate with a passion as you always seem to end up with glue all over the place trying to get some on the plugs before you knock them in. Change of tack this time, I’ve got some chair repair glue which is thin enough to be able to apply with a syringe and is designed for exactly the type of joint that a plug makes. It really works and is nice and clean although the syringe and needles in the washing up sponge after I’ve cleaned them out cause some comments

I’ve also made up some little plinths to mount the berth lights on as there is not sufficient clearance behind the lining to fix them because the come right on one of the recessed panels. A nice little job which takes a surprising amount of time to get right as the mounting holes are so close to the cut out it has to be super accurate. Still they look really nice when they are done.

So thats all the good stuff however there have been a catalog of problems.

The first (and most embarrassing) was I took a dive into the cut trying to save my new (and expensive) battery drill which I had knocked off the boat. Apart from my pride it also buggered my phone which was a lot more expensive that my drill. I rescued the drill which works after drying it out and have now organised a new phone (and a totally waterproof case). I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve fallen in the cut for over 40 years.

The next thing to go wrong was the bed board (again). The bloody thing will just not stay straight and has a 3mm bow in the middle. I love the appearance of the padauk BUT it is a real pain in the arse to work with. The remedy this time is to let a strip of 35mm x 6mm brass strip along the edge of the bed board. The brass was over 50 quid so it had better work. With the strip cut to length, drilled and countersunk we can machine a little rebate in the edge of the bed board, pull it a little bit over straight with a couple of cramps and a strong back, bend the brass in the fly press the wrong way and screw it all together. When the cramps come off it looks and stays straight. Hopefully it will stay that way. if not I’ve just about run out of ideas

The last failure is with the sexy hinges for the engine room doors. When we hang the doors they work well enough and the doors perform as I want them too but there is just too much slack in the hinges and you cant get a decent fit on the center. Damn. In the end we simply replace them with ordinary butt hinges and swing the doors into the engine room. Good news is that the port door still hinges flush back to the bulkhead so there is easy access. Anybody want to buy some nice hinges

Edited October 16, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[Steve Goddard]

I’m not even going to try and explain why I’ve been so bad at keeping up with the blog. It’s just happened.

There has been a lot of progress since the last post with stuff happening all over the place. I’ve finished off all the 24v wiring in the back cabin and got the roof lights and the berth lights installed. The lights look really good but they are not particularly well thought out in the installation stakes. In fact I would go as far as to say they are pretty pants. A little more thought on the practicalities of how you would actually fit them would really be useful. Still they’re in and working which is the main thing. The berth lights are quite bright but I may need to put some brighter LED’s in the roof lights.

We’ve also finished the doors into the engine room despite the issues with the hinges. A couple of ball catches finish the job off. Now all that needs to be done is to paint the engine room side of the doors.

Phil’s back again to finish off the back cabin decoration and to paint the top bends. he’s actually manged to find a copy of an original drawings for the paint scheme on a C and C boat which takes a lot of the guess work out of the job but does bring up an interesting conundrum (see below). With the top bends painted and a couple of little changes to the fore-deck colours it all looks rather splendid.

The conundrum is that the drawings clearly show a fouled anchor at the front of the bend. Now everybody thought that that was just a Barlow’s motif but it would seem not. I’m sure it will start a lot of discussions

Phil also grained and painted the back cabin doors so it looks pretty finished with the doors open. Just need to get it finished varnished and fit the bright work.

A little while back I bought a can off ebay (for once at a reasonable price). It’s a bit battered missing a couple of handles and the paintwork is shot but it has nice proportions so it’s out with the scraper, wire brush etc to get the paint stripped so Phil can take it back with him to Scotland so he can paint it at his leisure. A nice mindless bit of repetitive work . With a couple of new handles made out of some copper soldered onto the lid and handle it looks just right.

 

David and I have also been ploughing ahead with the combi and batteries. I’ve hoisted the domestic batteries out of the space and put some 1.5mm rubber sheet underneath them and made up some hardwood restraining blocks to hold the batteries secure.

With the leads all numbered and the temp sensors fitted to the batteries this bit is done. I pop the master switch on and head out of the boat for a well deserved cup of tea to be greeted by Phil who casually says “Whats all that smoke coming out of your boat”. Damn I head back into the boat expecting to see lots and lots of charred wiring but the batteries and inverter are all working fine. The problem is that with the shoreline disconnected there’s no 240 v to the heating controller and it resets. As soon as I connect the batteries the inverter cranks up and the range fires up. Only problem is that I’ve got the chimney capped so it all backs into the boat. Still its better than and electrical fault.

As Dave’s boat is in the tunnel getting painted I’m now on the outside of the stack and as I’m walking over I notice that there is a perfect reflection from the Siskin on the cabin side on the top bend of Jamie’s boat. Perfect

I’ve decided that I’m going to have a go at making the chimneys and pipes for Siskin. A little bit of of geometry and I think I’ve worked out the shape for the chimney so I knock up a paper template to see how it fits and surprise surprise it actually fits properly first time. Armed with the template and a drawing for the pipes I head off to Charlie Watts to get the stainless cut and rolled. Watch out for riveting it all together

The last major bit of wood work in the back cabin is the floor. I’ve got some really nice Kwila flooring which will compliment the paduak nicely. The fixed bits of the floor need to be planed down to 9mm thick so that when the lift-able panels are fitted they will be level. Its a really fiddly job fitting round the table cupboard but it turns out to be a nice looking job when its finished. I ‘ve made up the lifting panels in one piece and will cut it in half when its all done just to make life easier. The floors all done now and it’s only a matter of getting them oiled

The last two little bits really make me think that I’m getting near the end of the build. I’ve now got a CIN number from the RYA and an index number from C&RT. Whoo Hoo soon be survey time.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Steve Goddard

[matty40s]

after following this avidly for a long time, (although not as long as Julyians), I can't wait to see siskin in the flesh.....

[Steve Goddard]

Rule one of blogging. If you dont do it on a regular basis then you wont do it (or something like that) Yet again lots of time has passed without updating the blog and the longer you leave it the harder it becomes to start.

As you can imagine lots has actually been done since the last post. The big “admin” job is that I’ve had a BSS check and passed with flying colours. Well to be honest if it hadn’t then there would be something very very wrong with the way I’ve done things.

The last major electrical task is to fit the generator. I made up a template to a: make certain it would fit and b: position the mounts correctly. With the mounts welded down to the floor plates we can lift the gen set in and get it bolted down. I’ve gone for a DC generator as a: it’s a lot easier to connect as you don’t have to worry about multiple mains supplys b: it’s variable speed so it’s quiter and more fuel efficient c: it’s dead easy to control via the Masterbus system.

I’ve made some little changes to the exhaust manifold and welded a stainless steel elbow to the bottom of the manifold so that the exhaust comes out tighter and the gen set can be mounted lower. Theres and awful lot of gumph goes with gen set, water lock and silencer, mud box (why oh why wont gen set manufacturers allow you to skin tank cool a gen set), syphon break, lift pump, fuel filters and what seems like a whole lot of electrical control gubbins. (Pictures to follow)

Theres a couple of long days getting everything in, modifying the floor plates and connecting it all up. We can’t get the water inlet in yet (I’m not drilling a hole in the bottom of my boat while its floating ) so we toss the inlet pipe out of the side hatch to try it out. The gen set fires up at the first push of the buton . A few minutes with the PC and I’ve set it up to start when the batteries get to 40% discharge and turn off when fully charged. I just need to figure a way now of ensuring that it only comes on during the day. Shouldn’t be too hard. Dry dock is booked for the 27th to get the inlet welded in.

Simons been hard at work riviting up the pipes and chimneys. I really would have liked to have been involved but there is so much else to be done it didn’t make sense to have two of us working on it. When he’s finished I mask up and spray them with etch primer and black gloss and the end results are stunning even if my photos aren’t. The titch pipe causes a lot of envy around the yard but I’ve always said that it’s better to have a nice small one (don’t go any further with this) . The back cabin chimney is really nicely proportioned and elegant and the little pipe for the range in the galley is nice and simple.

I’ve been busy on the woodworking from as well starting on the high level cupboards in the galley. I’ve made the ends out of rosewood and the shelves are birch ply with rosewood cappings where required. One of the things that was worrying me was what I was going to do with the bare ply wood on the cabin side as I did not have enough rosewood ply when I lined the cabin side. Fortunately I kept the offcuts and wonder of wonders they are big enough to to fill in between the shelves. Result

With the shelves in and everything varnished up it’s time to fit the front frames and the doors which Rex and I fabricated some time ago. I like

Another job we’ve tackled is the door linings on the front doors and the side hatch in the galley. We’ve made these out of bubinga and they are a simple design with a fielded paned in the center and stop champhers on the paneling. I hate this job as it involves the use of lots and lots of Sikaflex and no matter how careful I am I always seem to get the bloody stuff all over me. Two tubes of Sikaflex later and the panels are on and I can spend the next couple of days trying to get the stuff out of the hairs on my arms

I’ve also made some little triangular shelves near the side hatch. They are totally useless to put naything on but they are a nice little finishing touch . All I have to do now is the hatch linings and we’ll be close to finished on the woodworkside in the galley.

 

[Kae]

Beautifl level of detailed perfection.

 

Love seeing the boat come together, gives me a lot of inspiration to improve and update Dilly

[Steve Goddard]

^{Well perhaps I do have a little bit of an excuse for not writing the blog . For some bizzare reason I could no longer get any photos downloaded off my phone. This has happened before when my PC “updated” itself “for my protection” and it was a bugger to get fixed then. This time I really struggled and in desperation I eventually updated the phone to the latest OS. When I had done this I at least got an error message which made some sense. It seems that the latest iPhones actually have a chip in the cable which lets the phone know it is a genuine cable . As I had bought some cables off eBay which were not original (cheaper and a lot longer ) it seems that these were the cause of all the issues. I really am beginning to wonder why oh why I ever bought an Apple}

^{Anyway the big news is that Siskin is on the water. Chris and I have just spent a nice couple of weeks leisurely boating from Brinklow to Coventry and then back to Debdale where I’m keeping the boat over winter while I really finish her off. The weather was great (most of the time) and as we were not in a rush it was a relaxing break.}

^{However in order to get ready for that there was an awful lot of stuff that needed to get done and a load of very very long seven day weeks. A bigish construction job was the bed which pulls out from under the tug deck. It’s a pretty standard construction with 18mm ply base, 2 x 1 battens and a temporary 12mm ply headboard. As the head of the bed is towards the stern of the boat I made the base 40mm higher than the foot of the bed so that with the boat trimmed up properly the bed is horizontal . I can state from experience the bed is great.}

^{Before the bed went in however I needed to get some more ballast in the bow to get the trim right. I decided to get some steel ballast (well stainless steel actually) from Bill at Man Buck. It’s a bit expensive but its great for trim as it’s really dense so you don’t have a lot of volume. What you see on the tug deck is 500Kg and is in the right place to trim the boat laterally, however it was not enough to trim it longtitudinally so I had to get another 250Kg but the boat sits about right now.}

^{Next job was to get the boat into the dock so that we could fit the inlet strainer for the generator. Every thing is double welded to prevent leaks and we’ve put a couple of bits of guard to protect it. I also took the opportunity to reblack the hull so Siskin looks nice and tidy (for a bit anyway)}

^{Theres a frantic scrabmble in the engine ‘ole to get everything sorted to a point where it can be used. I’ve drawn up the engine panel in CAD and got it laser cut out of 1.5mm stainless at a local company. I just love this as you can seethat although its got some complicated cut outs everything just fits first time. Given that its £40 including the material you can’t go wrong. A couple of coats of etch primer and then a couple of coats of gloss and then mount the switched etc and the jobs done in a couple of hours RESULT .}

^{I’ve already made the side of the cupboard which will hide all the electrical gubbins and where the panel is mounted AND got it painted so its not a long job to get it mounted. The top front of the cupboard is a screw off panel as there is nothing behind it which needs getting at on a regulat basis and the bottom has a door in it so that you can get to the breakers and fuses. It all looks a bit good when its together.}

^{Last bit of woodwork before we go is a coal box for the back cabin so that you can get in and out of the back doors. I don’t know but it just looks a bit more classy than the Heinekin crate (other crates are available) with a bit of ply tie wrapped onto the bottom which I had been using. It’s basically 18mm ply with a nice padauk step on and with it painted up to match the paintwork in the back cabin it looks really nice.}

^{With all this done it’s time to shift all the crap (sorry tools and materials) which has accumulated in Siskin over the past few months. There’s car loads to go home and by the time I’ve chucked it all into the workshop theres practically no room to move in. Where does it all come from and more to the point why the hell do I want to keep it.}

^{It would be nice to report that everything worked perfectly on the shake down but that was not the case. No big showstoppers but a few little niggly bits. The most annoying is that the solenoid valve on the loo water inlet leaks and so if you leave the pump switched on the loo bowl slowly fills. Not what you would expect from a 500 quid bit of kit. I also need to fit a non return valve to the cooker diesel feed so that that does not drain down and need bleeding if it is not used for a while and sort out why we don’t get hot water in the shower but apart from that everything works really well}

^{The plan is to spend winter over at Debdale. There a bit of woodwork to do (doors for the bathroom, finish the bed properly, box in some services, make a dog box etc. etc.) which I will do at home and then take over and fit on the boat but the plan is to be REALLY finished by spring of next year. Now where have I heard that before}

 

^{Modified to try to get the font right Steve}

Edited September 26, 2013 by Steve Goddard

[davidg]

I should point out I turned the inlet strainer for the generator round when I saw it was facing the wrong way. That's what you get for letting welders fix it on.

[Mendip-Locks]

Would like to read this blog, but all the photo links are broken?

[Kae]

Would like to read this blog, but all the photo links are broken?

 

The website went offline a couple of weeks back, hope everythings OK?