A bit of an update

Work has once again got in the way so progress has slowed somewhat. Since my last post frame #1 has been completed, and I have acquired the timber for the deck beams for the remaining frames. I have cut out deck beams for frames 4 & 5, marked out the floor timbers for all remaining frames, created patterns for the gussets for all remaining frames and finally started cutting out the first stem piece.

Hopefully this coming weekend will see me glueing up Frame #4.

Glueing of Frame 1

This photo is my prepeartion to glue up Frame 1. 

I start off by transferring the pattern to my work bench as per the instructions from Glen -L.  I then layout the frame pieces and make any adjustments to the pieces to ensure everything fits properly.  I then screw chocks all around the pieces.  This is done using offcuts of ply.  I screw these directly into my workbench.  This workbench was specially made for the process of building the frames, and I have absolutely no worries about drilling, cutting & screwing this bench top as required.

I have all my tools layed out, and all un-nessecary clutter cleared away.  If you look closely you will see that I have laid out all the screws and nails,  The tools have been wrapped in glad wrap to keep the worst of the epoxy off.  All parts are layed out, marked out (extents of glue application areas), and pre-drilled whereever possible.  For the gussets, I mark and drill the holes in the gussets, then after applying the glue and positioning, I drill one hole through into the frame and then bang a nail most of the way home.  Then do the same with a second nail.  At this point the gusset can't move so I drill all the remaining holes and then nail them all.

All the screws for the floor timers are "soaped" up to make them go in easy, all holes predrilled with a proper "screw" drill that makes the holes the correct diameters for the shank and threaded portions.

I have taken to weighing my part A & B of the glue to ensure I get an accurate mix.

You can also see a box of rubber gloves.  I often change gloves at least once ot twice during a gluing operation.

You will also see a mirror.  This is so I can see under the floor timbers and gussets to scrap away the excess glue.

End result is that the glueing operation generally goes very smoothly, and I have no surprises.  I in-variably forget some part of it, but because I do all this prep, missing one thing is no biggy.

Raptor Brads

I received a sample of raptor composite brads today. I spent a good hour trialing them in my brad gun. The suppliers have been adamant that they will only work properly in their guns, something that was at least in part bourne out by my tests.

Shooting into ply it works perfectly, really happy with the result. However when I tried to shoot them into ply and sapelle the result wasn't so good. In most cases they only penetrated between 3 and 5 mm

I have a few more experiments to try, but I think I will have to either not use them on the first layer, or buy their gun.

Waiting to find out what they cost.