I learn something from every thread on this MB.
I’ve been struggling with fin placement for a while now.
Never thought of it this way.
Router in my futures boxes… then shape the tail to fit.
Kidding, of course.
Looks like a fun project. Wish I had the motivation to do
something similar with an old board at my neighbor’s house.
Here’s my latest take from the “desk loft”. This is 11 inches back from the rear of the fin bases. Never mind my crappy photoshop skills in getting wings drawn in. It seems a tad long, maybe need to go with 10 inches back. Anyway, time to get out some long sheets of paper and tracing the board, try and be more accurate. Oh, point-to-point still equalled 2 7/8 more or less at 11 inches back.
You know, that looks pretty good. In addition to doing a nice job on the graphic itself. You’re right, I think that’s a little more drawn out than it probably was originally, I’ll bet it was pulled in more.
So, maybe make it a bit shorter, maybe deepen the vee in the swallowtail, basicly you have a clean sheet of paper here and you can go with whatever looks good to you.
Jeez, just about time to start cutting…
doc…
"Jeez, just about time to start cutting… "
OK, so I was given an impromptu day off today so I decided to dive right in. A picture is worth a thousand words to me and I have always found the photo threads the most helpful so I apologize in advance for the number of pics. It will take a few posts to get it all in.
First off I cleaned off all the old wax and and sticker glue. The nose still looks horrible because of the shoddy repair job where it looks like they didn’t even sand the laminating resin at all. Cleans up pretty nice.
The I found the mid point between the stringers in two different places so I could connect the dots and draw in a temporary center reference line.
Then I took a piece of doorskin and traced out the outline for later use.
After fiddling around with the fins a bit I realized more of the glass underneath them had delammed than originally thought. I guess the previous guy cut away some glass, messed around a bit, quit, and the poor board got shuffled around enough to bang the fins a few times. So rather than try and shove some glue or epoxy up under there I decided the fin area needed new foam and glass too. So I measured out where to cut the glass on the bottom and got busy with the utility knife.
My father-in-law is always giving me tons of seemingly useless dollar store tools each year as stocking stuffers. This little guy worked great at cutting into the really thick glass where the rails were wrapped. I could even use it as a straight edge scoring tool. Work great because there is a good amount of roll in the bottom. Going perpendicular across the stringers was easy. Slow and steady though with this and the knife.
Modern art…
Now it was time to cut the center section out between the stringers. I figured a way to transfer the measurement from the bottom to the deck. The deck had more glass on it still. I wanted to run the saw through the top so the downward cutting moves of the saw would not pull the glass away from the old foam as I got near the end of the cut.
After I ran the saw up the side of both stringers I carefully cut a line across the glass on the deck in between them, plunged the utility knife through deck and bottom foam, and completed the cut with the $1.00 hacksaw. Then I clean up the slot end and stringers sides with the sanding block in preparation for glue up of an new piece of foam.
I took my first piece of surplus foam, traced out the lines to cut, cleaned up those lines with a straight edge. This pick is after a few passes with the planer to get close to the pencil lines.
After several adjustments with my long 2x4 40 grit sanding block it’s just about ready for glue up. I’ll attach the add on stringers to this piece of foam.
I laid my two remaining big pieces of surplus foam on top to make sure I would have enough. Looks good.
Almost done uploading pics, whew!
There will be about 11 inches of new “blank” to work with, more than enough.
A good view of the previous owner’s bonzerfication attempt. Note contrast with the rolled vee of the rest of the board.
Next work day will be glueing in the center foam section and adding the stringer extensions. I just have one question - what type of glue? Elmer’s white, carpenters, two part epoxy???
Out-freaking-standing. Not only will I say I couldn’t have done better myself, I might even say I might not do as well myself. That one-hand hacksaw does a nice job, taking it down to where the knife just riffles through, no?
Now, it’s time to add on to those stringers. I think that little hacksaw will be the ticket there too. If you want to just cut the old ones on a diagonal, say a very long diagonal, that’ll be fine. Then put in your new pieces of stringer, your center piece of foam ( I’d use Elmers white or carpenters, it’ll be easier to deal with when you shape the foam than epoxy) and then attack the sides.
Heee- you’re doing very, very well
doc…
Thanks Doc. While I was working on it I was thinking to myself, who the heck would go through all of this?
I’m going to glue in the foam piece first, then glue the stringer extensions to that, with a little high-tech scarf joint I came up with. I’ll reveal that later. I can’t do the stringers first because unlike the drawing you did, there isn’t any existing foam on the sides to glue it too.
This is a great thread
perfect example of planing before exicuting
and minor adjustments along the way
I’ve never heard of a “verneer saw”.
Doc recomends one …
I got paid for two repair jobs today…cash in pocket I go to Home Depot…Found a “Buck Bros 12”/'16 pt. Veneer & Laminate Fine Tooth Saw" . It’s a bit big but I can see where the fine tooth blade will come in handy. Only $9.97 plus tax !
No problem…
Now you tell me! Actually I did see Doc’s recommendation and picture but I figured where in th3 heck will I get one, I don’t want to wait on woodworker’s dotcom. Now maybe I’ll stop by HD and see about one, I still have some glass to cut.
Jeez- got home from the ladyfriend’s last night, so I held off 'til this morning to reply…without checking what has been posted in the interim - so
Real good - looking forward to it…
ain’t sufficient.
First off, Ted’s doing very well with that little hacksaw, so I dunno if I’d suggest changing horses in midstream, as it were.
On the other hand, you can never have too many tools. Unless, of course, you’re one of my female associates, who may well argue the point - especially as applied to me. And while I hadn’t seen a Buck Bros saw, I do have a couple of their ( old ) chisels and plane irons, which are superb. Lots of old hand tools out there, most far better than what’s made now. I’d be curious to se what it looks like, especially as Home Depot has some damned odd names for tools sometimes.
And if anyone else has a yard sale and/or flea market tool problem, lets just say I can feel for ya…
doc…
Text book thread!
Star performance here!
Resin not glue imho for attaching new bits, I have had bits break off with white glue as I was shaping the new foam contours… but hey YMMV…
surfer_dave - still the best avatar!
You know, I am thinking about using some two part epoxy glue, maybe the gel kind instead of elmers or carpenters. The reason is that when I cut away the foam and cleaned it up with sandpaper, the stringer still isn’t down to the wood. There is the original glue/resin and microbits of foam. To get down to wood I’m afraid I might damage something else in the process, maybe end up rounding the edges of the stringer. So while the new foam piece is porous, the stringer is not. And as I recall from woodshop and being a carpenter for a while, you need a porous surface for regular glue.
(chuckling) Yep, I definitely agree - that boxing kitty is the cookies.
About the only thing that’d deal with the foam/glue/smeg on the stringers might be a good, sharp paint scraper. And then with stringer wood being relatively soft, you run the risk of taking away wood…and being as thin as stringers are, I dunno if you can afford that, y’know?
Plus, there’s enough compressability ( or is that compressibility?) in the new foam that it shouldn’t be a problem when putting in new wood at the original width. Especially with a gel glue.
doc…
Now, by a kind of surprise ( rainy day with precious little else to do ) I was at the toy stores: the local Used Tool Store ( scored a new steel cutter for my big, beautiful Rockwell 653 planer, steel, sharp… ) and the local for-real tool supply ( a finish hammer, nail pick and nail sets for the girlfriend’s son, who just bought a house ) and I stopped by Home Despot -
While the Buck Bros veneer saw they have really isn’t ( it’s actually a flooring saw - at least that’s what The Old Man called 'em) …and ya know, it’s pretty good for what’d come up on a job like this:
Good score - they are handy little devils.
They were originally used for cutting out sections of tongue and groove hadwood flooring, right in the middle of something, without tearing out a whole lot of other stuff. They could be used to cut at either end of the piece to be removed, then maybe cut right down the middle and take it out or just split it out.
As I said, good tool for the purpose, plus other things, and a good price…
doc…
