Building 23' catamaran. Build updates

[stevemid]

I got my kit delivered today. The kit includes 54 2.4M X 1.2M (4’X8’) panels; 37 make up the shell of the boat; there are 9 bulkhead panels and 7 furniture panels. A Panel consists of an inner core of lightweight balsa encased in a layer or two of fibreglass. A computer controlled router very accurately cuts out the parts of the boat from these panels prior to shipment. The panels are manufactured so that the can be joined together along the long edge, and therefore components of any length can be precut.

[GBC]

Someone's going to be busier than a one armed wallpaper hanger with crabs.......I hope she's everything you want.

[Humdinger]

Looks a good thing 2x60hp or 2x70hp would be nice,how do you get the builers plate to regester it being a over seas kit???? out of interest.

you don't need a builders plate unless you are going to sell it . and to my understanding it can be signed by the builder

[julian1]

not sure where your getting the Suzuki DF60 weight from ? the new lean burn model is only 102kg's

[stevemid]

not sure where your getting the Suzuki DF60 weight from ? the new lean burn model is only 102kg's

You are absolutely correct! I was putting together a spreadsheet of 40-50-60hp 4 strokes for comparisons. I don't know where I pulled that figure from. But my apologies to anyone I've misled. Julian1, thanks.

[stevemid]

Waiting for my fibreglass and high density filler to be drop shipped from FGI…..I built a stand today for the 200L drum of resin. ATL wanted $184 for their stand but I paid considerably less ($25). The problem was how to get a 270kg (523 lbs) drum on to the stand!

[cormorant]

I'm going to enjoy this build.

Couple of things . Insurers hate bulk resins and flamables . Just check you are covered. I can't see a

Buy and use digital scales ( in a plastc bag) for all resin measurements and weigh straight into mixing container as you tap the 44. If it starts geting cold keep resins warm for consistant mixes. Use chaep kitchen timer so it will countdown to when a mix is past it's best.

Keep or make a seat box mold or someething non strutural from the beginning so everytime you have some leftover mix and offcut cloth you have somewhere to put it and not waste it. Use it to re-enforce areas of smaller molds.Have a fan blowing fumes and "glue"powders/ fibres away from you .

And one the wife will never let me forget - before you start seal the concrete floor as resin and other stains are permanent.
Last one - fumes from the chemicals make your skin very sun sensitive so beware of sunshine after working.

I stil haven't worked out if you have to champher ( speling) andy non 90 deg joints before you start?
How much buoyancy foam will it need and is there already places for it?

Can't wait to see the jig setup ( laser leveled ) and work started .

[stevemid]

I'm going to enjoy this build.

Couple of things . Insurers hate bulk resins and flamables . Just check you are covered. Done, but haven't heard back yet. I thought this was going to be a problem

Buy and use digital scales Done, although West supplies smaller decanting jugs for resin and hardeners with metered pumps that dispense the correct ratio.

Use chaep kitchen timer so it will countdown to when a mix is past it's best. Good idea!

Keep or make a seat box mold or someething non strutural from the beginning so everytime you have some leftover mix and offcut cloth you have somewhere to put it and not waste it. Use it to re-enforce areas of smaller molds.Have a fan blowing fumes and "glue"powders/ fibres away from you . Really good idea

And one the wife will never let me forget - before you start seal the concrete floor as resin and other stains are permanent. What to seal the floor with? I was thinking of laying down construction grade plastic, but that will be slippery.

Last one - fumes from the chemicals make your skin very sun sensitive so beware of sunshine after working. Didn't know that. I did work at McConaghy Boats for 6 months or so to learn the basics, safety etc.

I stil haven't worked out if you have to champher ( speling) andy non 90 deg joints before you start? I think I know what you are asking. I'll attach a picture

How much buoyancy foam will it need and is there already places for it? Everything that the boat is made of is panels that are sealed, encapsulated balsa; like the Titanic, you can't sink it.

Thanks for the many many good suggestions here. Thanks!

[stevemid]

Build Update: I finished gluing the last of the panels today. Hurrah my first milestone! This is a picture of the panels stacked all over the shed. So far I've only worked a total of 11 days on the panels so far. I can glue 9 panels at a time but because I am working alone, I can't lift (stand up) 9 panels. So I glue one day then cut out major components, and stand them up against the wall the next and drag the completed lot to the left and add as many more panels as I can, This usually means working a long day (8 hrs) followed by a short day (3 hrs). So not counting trips to Bunnings, etc. I'd say I have about 58 hours invested in actual boat building so far.

One picture shows the detail of the clamping system for the zjoins. The join itself is only about 12mm on opposite sides of the panel in the form of a "Z." however the edges are finely machined for a great fit. I'm using 70mm pine battens for clamping with 45mm MDF screws spaced every 150mm assembled build jig. The screws go straight through the join and will have to be filled. The clamping system works a treat and there will be little fairing along the join lines.

I must say the quality of the product from ATL Composites in Brisbane has been excellent. Several of the panels did have the joins and the routering out of sync, however, they shipped 4 replacement panels the next day along with 5L of resin for my trouble. That is service!.

[top_deck69]

Hi Steve,
Only just started following your thread. Good to see you've got all your panels glued up
I'm not sure if in your research you came across the following site. http://buildacat.com/bblog.html

I highly recommend you read the parts on outglassing and how to eliminate any issues with a little planning. I don't want to put a dampener on your project just trying to help out a little

I have no relation or knowledge of the CAT being built other than what has been posted on the website.

Hope to see many more updates
Regards
Ben

[stevemid]

Hi Steve,
Only just started following your thread. Good to see you've got all your panels glued up
I'm not sure if in your research you came across the following site. http://buildacat.com/bblog.html

I highly recommend you read the parts on outglassing and how to eliminate any issues with a little planning. I don't want to put a dampener on your project just trying to help out a little

I have no relation or knowledge of the CAT being built other than what has been posted on the website.

Hope to see many more updates
Regards
Ben

Hi Ben, Yes, as a frequent sailor up the coast in winter I have followed our friend from the Coastal Passage in his building process. Probably more when I was dreaming about building than for practical advice as a work-in-progress builder. Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely go back and read up on his outgassing issues.

Steve

[Jarrah Jack]

Amazing Steve, I'll really appreciate reading this thread. Handy you're got such a good shed. What sort of resin are you using, it looks to me like west system. I've used gallons of the stuff in my furniture manufacturing.

[stevemid]

Amazing Steve, I'll really appreciate reading this thread. Handy you're got such a good shed. What sort of resin are you using, it looks to me like west system. I've used gallons of the stuff in my furniture manufacturing.

Yep, it is West System. Got with the panels from ATL.

[Nathan Tuskes]

great build thread so far. From my rebuild i can definitely say some of thethings that are said above are very true. buy the biggest industrial fan youcan to help with airflow in your shed anything to remove filler dust and fumesis great when your not masked up. Be conservative when you first start offmixing fillers etc, when your at the end of your build you’ll get to within50mls+mixed up in one hit, hit sure saves time and money on wastage, their surewas a bit when i first started to get use to setting times and amounts.

[stevemid]

Hi Nathan,
Yep, I was surprised how fast the "slow" hardener was going off. I was mixing 100 ml resin batches and it was going off in 18 minutes.(32 degree day) I quickly learned to spread out the mix in a 35 cm square tray lined w poly. also hanging out for winter and cooler temps). I read that West System have a Tropical hardener which must be really slow. infind the high density glue powders the most irritating. Always use the Sundstrom air and particle mask when mixing that. So far I've only been mixing small batches and gluing two panel edges at a time. I've had a couple household fans going for that.