Fitting Bulkheads Without Losing the Plot
I wrestled with a bulkhead that refused to stay aligned once the screws went in, then found a slower, more controlled way to squeeze the epoxy joint properly. The next bulkheads went much more smoothly with clamps, timber and a little hard-won experience.
Last hours before the Shabbat were rather stressful as I started to fit bulkheads- and (of course!) nothing worked! :)
Ok, nothing is a bit of a stretch. At first glance everything was ok, port hull’s bulkhead nr 6 was properly vertically and horizontally aligned- but as soon as I started getting screws in (to make sure both surfaces are properly squeezed together and with no gaps) all hell broke loose. Suddenly nicely positioned and stable bulkhead decided it is time to move - firstly off vertical (because why not!) and then completely down. Another couple of tries later still no results and both bulkheads, lower and upper, are already in epoxy which will start to cure any time soon!
Tried to think clearly, used couple of bits of solid timber to support bulkhead in correct position and slowly squeezed using screws which were not completely in. After checking some 20 times I started to get screws more and more tightened very slowly to avoid any rapid momentum building up which, on a huge arm which the bulkhead creates could unbalance it again (force is acting on short arm, but moment of inertia on the other end acts on huge arm comparatively speaking!). Finally managed to get nice, even squeeze of microfibre mix from between two surfaces, proving both are well pressed against each other without any unnecessary gaps and bulkhead is secure, still vertically and horizontally aligned.
After that, I left the rest of the bulkheads for Sunday.
And today, after lesson learned- I have made sure I can secure properly the bulkhead in a correct position with tight fit before I started with epoxy and then screws (creative use of clamps and bits of wood!). It went much faster and smoother.
I’ll try to make a longer video of fitting the main upper bulkheads from time lapse videos I make - without the most troublesome as I didn’t put the camera on :(
But there’s more problems than the above - but this caption has apparently a length limit!
#tiki38 #theseanation #buildingwharram #allelectricboat
