Cutting Stringers Without Ruining Everything
I’m fitting the stringers, carefully cutting both ends to the right length and angle while building in a few fail-safes. I’m also finding 2mm copper wire much better than cable ties for holding things together.
There are many ways I can mess up while I’m working on the boat.
One of the most nerve-wracking moments is when I have to cut something to fit perfectly and I cut it wrong - but I don’t have material in the workshop to make another one.
And that’s the story with these stringers. They are all 12m long, but the top one is 11.6m and lower one is even shorter. They have to be cut at the perfect length and the perfect angle on BOTH ends. So (as usual for me!) I have several fail-saves built-in in the process: first, the stringers are 12m and I’m fitting them with one end barely above the required length- so if I mess up the cut I still can move it and cut again (this time properly- hopefully!). But if I mess up so badly that I cannot re-try - I still have an option to downgrade the stringer to the lower one (yes, that’s why I’m starting at the tops!) - which are shorter and allow for another round. And since bottom ones are shorter- I have more tries in them.
For now only bow ends are done on this hull - now it is time (not to) mess up the other end. Only then I can breathe. They fit nicely into the bulkheads and seem to be well shaped but I’ll epoxy them in ONLY after another several checks. Because that’s the other way I can mess them up- by fitting them incorrectly.
But don’t worry, that’s not the last time I can mess up!
Btw, 2mm copper wire is so much easier to work with than cable ties. And so much stronger! What you see on the photo is about 1kg of copper wire (minus stuff already used on these two stringers. It was enough for bottom hulls so it should be good for the top as well.
#tiki38 #theseanation #buildingwharram #allelectricboat
