Pull the tarps off

 Well.. pulled the tarps off.. first time since January and raised the shelter, dry fitted the sides again with the stern panels.. still some sanding and finishing.. but its coming together.

Making the Ship's wheel!

So, about ten years ago.. when I first started the boat building project, I had gathered some cherry wood out of the back yard from limbs that  I had cut off an overgrown cherry tree and had planned to make them into a ship wheel with a new lathe. I churned the spokes and then sealed the end with wood glue and packed them away in a box with shavings for a future use.

The center of  the wheel was a piece of birch that had been sourced when a neighbor cut down their tree. 

The spokes sat in the box, as other projects took precedence.

 The original wheel was a little larger in diameter than I wanted for the Mystnx project, so I needed to cut down the spokes.

To make the wheel, I drew the outer rings using a compass, I then sectioned off the circle in increments of sixty degrees in six sections. the idea is the sections screw together in offsets. I made a "templated" out of a single section to cut the other sections. I also used a forstner bit to drill a hole that was sized up to the spokes. 

In the center, to secure it to the Teleflex I added a billeted aluminum low profile steering shaft adapter with a keyed center, designed for Teleflex steering from Hardin Marine -https://www.hardin-marine.com/p-13342-billet-aluminum-34-low-profile-steering-shaft-adapter.aspx securing it with three bolts from the back side and epoxy it into place.  I filled the holes with  wooden plugs. 

After dry fitting the wheel spokes with the segments and the hub,  I then attached it to the morse steering and made sure it rotated evenly . I used Titebond III, to secure the whole wheel.

I made a centre cap out of cherry. I enlaid a metal plated in the centre as a decoration. I started with a sheet of copper coloured aluminum, and then transferred the celtic compass rose work. I lightly etched the design out and then Karen used her fordom jewelry tools, and engraved it further.

If you etch it enough, you can work through the copper to bring through the silver aluminum. The cap fits in place using friction with a rubber grommet to hold it in place.

Milling the wheel spokes

Creating the center hub

Assemblying the spokes

Center cap

Final:

Hurricane Boat Anchor has arrived!

 Got some cool boating stuff today. A special USA made anchor from Hurricane Boat Anchors... Its got amazing holding power and some cool capabilities. The most impressive is that it works in 2:1 scope!

This is quite an advantage as many anchors need 5:1 scope or more. This allows for anchoring in deeper water with less line - also less swing.

Getting some progress done on the boat, a little more than a week ago, got the aft cabin panels cut and sealed with epoxy, today I cut and dry-fitted the framing. So happy my oak laminate roof beams seem to fit perfectly.. the jig is working really well..

I did make a slight error.... I accidently made two left panels -- So I had to start over with one side.

 

New Year - New wood!

 Picked up some more 3/8 (9mm) BS-1088 Meranti. I've been getting Dragon Brand in the past.. But I got a new type.. TFT Wood Experts Diamond Certified imported into the U.K. from Indonesia. They seem like a pretty solid outfit.

http://www.woodexperts.com/content/home-page

I noticed it has fewer but thicker plies(5 versus 7).. It looks decent on the end grain and the and the face veneers look better. Tech specs on paper look pretty solid. I was able to get it at the 2018 price by showing my paperwork

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Laminating side roofbeams

 Made another form, the laminate the side roof frames, produced a frame and compared it to the template. It lines up well!

Added bow frames

 Also added a little more bow framing to help support possibly a bow mounted boarding ladder...