Solidifying

 I've been dancing round the challenge of getting bulkheads 4 through 7 and  the seat longitudinals installed and glued. Howard Rice, who has had a hand in building more than 80 SCAMPS, suggested building cb case and longitudinal as a separate component. I tried this, but managed to get the inner side of the case a couple of mill off. Those self tappers, it is easy to miss your pilot holes. Took me a a day of stuffing round to get it all to sort of line up. 

Dry fitting is reassuring, but it throws into sharp relief the problem of how to get glue in all the joins and assemble the structure. It requires slotting multiple unweildy pieces together simultaneously, with glue in all the joins, and all at the right angles. The SCAMP Camps have lots of hands to do this step, single handed is a bit trickier.

I did a lot of internet scouring, and planned a process that would give me time to make small batches of epoxy and be reasonably careful with levels and angles and clearing up.

I made a gig to hold #7 in place, then another to hold #6, then #4, then I fited t the centreboard case longitudinal and #5. I  was able to check as I went with a nifty little right angle that I picked up at at WBA Swap meet. I think it belonged to Alan Chinn, one of the founding fathers of the WBA. It is a very handy tool, I hope Alan is pleased it is seeing another boat true into the world.

This morning I started working through my list. At the end of a long, intense day, the structure looks much the same as it did when the parts were dry fit, but it has all taken on a sort of solidity. No going back now.

It all went fairly much as I hoped. A few moments of excitement, one when Maggie jumped onto the sole which had beads of epoxy laid out ... I had a vision of the cat stepping in epoxy, then licking her paws, then having to be rushed off to the vet.

Maggie does like sitting on the SCAMP... I will have to be very careful in future when gluing.

The other oops was when I was getting tired, and hurrying to mix the last batch if epoxy. I put the hardener syringe briefly in the resin container... hmmm. I  guess  will see if I have ruined a couple of litres of resin tomorrow. 

Hopefully I won't have to do any more marathon efforts like today again on this boat.  A good feeling, a hurdle surmounted.