The Iron Man Cometh!

So last year I was dating a girl who got her 2nd DUI, so she had to stop drinking, which pretty much made me have to stop drinking (Pulp Fiction, anyone?).  Anyway, I found myself with a surprising amount of energy in the evenings and I wanted to do another epic costume (first one was a complete Jack Sparrow, including overcoat and goatee extensions).  One night a couple of years ago, my buddy and I were staying up late watching how-to videos on Youtube and we came across a guy who made an Iron Man costume out of craft foam.  Completely blown away by this, I did some research.  By September, it was time to start thinking about getting started on a costume, so I delved into an Iron Man MKIV.  For the Iron Man freaks out there, there's a whole world of difference between the different models, kinda like a Mustang or Camaro from the 60's vs. the 70's.  

Anyway, I downloaded the pepakura software and then grabbed all of the files from the various contributors at TheRPF.com and cleaned out both Michael's and Joann Fabric of 6mm craft foam (1/4" for those who aren't up to speed on the metric system).  Armed with a razor knife (break off tip style), a hot glue gun, a Sharpie, cutting mat and some patterns printed out after scaling them to my size (the designer was 5'6" and I'm 6'2", so the software lets you scale things so you don't look like you threw your armor in the dryer for too long).

Starting to look like a dead body...

Right arm finished with hinge installed...

Well, Halloween came and went and I didn't finish it.  I kept working on it diligently until the mess in the living room became too much for the ex (funny how I was so supportive of her stuff).  Now, a year later, after having moved on (literally), I'm back at it again.  I've refreshed my memory about where I was in the whole thing and am ready to dive back in.  Notice that this coincides rather nicely with the fact that I can't do anything outside on the boat project because of the friggin rain.  It was time to start thinking about epic costumes, and even though I'm a huge proponent of starting projects (not necessarily finishing them), I couldn't waste the hundreds of man hours and dollars already invested in the IM project.  So I dug the Hefty bags out of the storage unit that had all of the parts stuffed inside, stripped down to my briefs (sorry, no pics of that.  UGH...  I need to do some pushups), and started realizing that the numerous parts, made up of 288 individual pieces that have been hot-glued together, could be hot-glued together.  The strategy is that I'd rather have to strap on three large pieces than thirty small ones.  I also can see the quality of the seams of the joints of said parts improve as I progressed, so I'm going to get some paintable silicone and fair the seams.

Five separate pieces that will end up as one.  I think the sink drain arc reactor is a nice touch...

This assembly will probably end up hanging off of suspenders...

May not end up being all one piece, but you get the idea...

The brace and the back will definitely be glued together.  The spine will be glued at some point and probably velcroed the rest of the way...

After that, I'm going to use Styrospray 1000 from some friends in Houston to turn my mushy foam into stiff plastic armor.  I don't want to trash this thing wearing it one night.  I've got a lot of costume contests to win to make up for what I've already dumped in to this project.  I'm not Tony Stark for goodness sake!  One of the guys that does a tutorial on Youtube tried break dancing in his IM costume and the operative word there was definitely "break".

I probably need to mention that besides blowing some minds at work (my boss is a comic freak) and on Halloween night, I want to spend an afternoon wearing my costume down at Seattle Childrens with the kids who have cancer.  I'm always looking for karma points, and I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon if it brightens some sick kids' day.  I'll get into my sailing circumnavigation for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society later...

Rudderly Ridiculous...

So, how the PNW (Pacific North West) became a mecca for boat building, I'll never know.  All I wanted to do was fiberglass my effing rudder this weekend and it's raining...  In August!  I managed to get a little done between downpours without electrocuting myself...

I was able to fair both sides to a decent foil shape, and make them symmetrical.  Then I mixed up some of a sailor's best friend, Marine-Tex and filled the voids in the cheap-@$$ plywood I bought.

Tomorrow, I'll see if I can catch a break and do some touch up sanding, then epoxy a layer of fiberglass on at least one side with some West Systems I've been hauling around...

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For a moment the other night, I thought I was going to upgrade and buy the plans for the take-apart Passagemaker dinghy that CLC sells at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, because I really like the look of the rig with the jib.  It screams "PIRATE" at me, which is what this is really about after all...;)  Anyway, I came to my senses because I thought that a boat that's 50% longer will be at least 2X the expense to build, rig, etc.  So my plan is to build the Eastport pram and then see if I can sell it for what building a Passagemaker will cost...  That way, somebody gets a good deal on a nice dinghy, I get the experience to build a smaller version first, then I get to apply the aforementioned expertise to the second, larger boat, and I get my easily transportable pirate ship after all!  Kind of reminds me of that guy who started with a paper clip and kept uptrading (is that a word?) until he finally got a house...

NOTE:  By the way, the stick chair got a huge amount of attention at the move the other night!  I had people taking photos of it and asking me to show them how it folds up and testing it themselves...;)  I think that, much like childbirth, once I forget how painful it was, I'll make another one!

Stick Chair, Not Stickley Chair

So, after my second cup of coffee, I decided to give the chair assembly another go.  Even sober I assembled it wrong the first time and got bonked on the head a couple of times.  Trying to maintain my composure, I decided to try using some Amsteel I had lying around as an easier and more flexible version of the threaded rod.  This went much easier.  I was easily able to thread it and then cinch it up tight with a bowline and a couple of half hitches.

It's actually quite comfortable.  The damn intermediate pieces create a psuedo-curve that is easy on the back.  The way you bring the ends together torques the whole assembly into a surprisingly ergonomic seat.

All I need now is to bring home the acorn nuts and washers I bought (sigh...), and my hacksaw at work to lop off the extra all thread.  HINT:  When cutting any threaded rod, thread on a nut before you make the cut, then when you back off the nut, it dresses the threads up for you nicely so you don't have to fiddle with a file.  After the final hardware is installed, I'm going to give it a serious sanding to round off all those 90° corners.  Maybe I'll scribe some feet onto the legs, but nothing too fancy.  These will look awesome down at the beach!  I do have to admit that even though "Some Assembly Required" are my three favorite words, assembling this damn thing was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life...;)

Of course, never being satisfied with just following the plans, I started looking at the assembly with an engineer's perspective.  The plans called for 1.25" thick stock, but I used 1.5" 2x2's (don't ask), which meant my chair was 20% wider than it should be.  I started thinking about removing a stick or two, but then I realized that it would make the gathered ends too narrow for comfort.  The additional width actually makes the chair look almost like a love seat or at something a tad more substantial than your standard folding chair.  I like it.  I'll leave it, and I'm probably going to install a cup holder on the starboard side...;)  Now, I just have to decide if I'm taking it to the movies in the park Saturday night.  They're playing one of my all-time favorite movies - Princess Bride.  Now where did I put that t-shirt?

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Sawdust & Glory...

So, yesterday I jumped into the shallow end of the woodworking gene pool.  The Mutineer desperately needs a new rudder.  As you can see from the pic below, it's seriously delaminated.  Also, one of the many previous owners used a regular steel bolt to keep it from kicking up instead of either a stainless one or rigging the uphaul/downhaul properly.

Can you say delamination?

I began by laying out the rudder, aligning the straight leading edge of the rudder against the factory edge of the plywood.  I "lucked out" in the fact that the plywood is about 1/8" thinner than the rudder.  Once I put the fiberglass and epoxy on both sides, it should be just about perfect.

I've even got enough plywood left over for another rudder!

Here it is all laid out.  Since I didn't remove the tiller/cheek plate assembly, I scribed a perfect half circle with the tape measure after finding the center point.

About to pass the point of no return...

 The orbital jig saw didn't come with blades, so I bought some fine toothed ones, but they had a different mounting style, so I had to resort to cutting curves with my circular saw.  I set the depth to just thicker than the plywood and ran the saw back and forth to plow out enough swing room to cut the curve.  Not the most ideal situation, especially since I've got an oversized circular saw for cutting deck posts from back in the day when I had a construction company.  Ready for the belt sander!

Maybe I'll make a longboard while I'm at it...

 So here's where I got to when the only belt I have for my belt sander broke.  It's really difficult to figure out everything you need on Friday night after work for the whole weekend on an island with only a grocery store that's really just a glorified vending machine.

Note the layers of plywood allow me to see the contours of the foil shape I'm going for.  Also, the thickest part of the rudder is supposed to be a third of the way along the chord from the leading edge, which is why the rudder is asymmetrical.  I've still got a lot of sanding to do, but when I'd gotten to this point on both sides, the leading and trailing edges were close the original rudder.  That means I'm almost there and will be ready for fiberglassing soon!

Would look cool just varnished...

I swept up all the sawdust right before my neighbor, with whom I share the driveway with, got home...;)

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P.S.  Since I was already covered in sawdust (I love that!), I decided to tackle another project that I've been wanting to do for months, a Kentucky Stick Chair.  I found some plans online and bought some treated 2x2's the other night before heading home.  Along with some all thread rod and some acorn nuts and washers, I'm good to go.  Normally, I would setup stops and do this mass-production style, but I'm only making one chair, just to see if I like it.  The fact that it's made of wood and folds up like a kinetic sculpture is really cool.

Stock photo from plans

  

My fine cabinetry habits kicked in and instead of measuring each stick, I measured on and used it as a template for each successive stick.  The holes for the threaded rod were also done template style to make sure it all lines up perfectly.

Some assembly required...

Here, all the pieces are ready for assembly.  The threaded rod gets progressively harder to feed through the holes as you add more sticks.  I also discovered that you should install the two center rods first, since it has the most overlap, hence the most friction.  After at least three attempts, both on the driveway and the back of the pickup to save my back, I gave up.  Figuring out which holes line up with which for 25 sticks is not something that should be attempted after a six pack.  I gave up and headed for the showers, knowing when I'm defeated.  I may have lost the battle, but tomorrow, I'll win the war (even if it kills me).

Looks easy...

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P.P.S.  What I've neglected to share is that all of this activity is actually just preparation for the real project at hand, a nesting/take apart Eastport Pram from Chesapeake Light Craft!  The Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival is held every year for my birthday.  After years of drooling on floating pieces of art, I'm going to bite the bullet and buy some plans at the show.  I'm pretty jazzed about it.  I've already got some epoxy and hardener.  I'm planning on laying out the drawings on thin plywood, then cutting out templates to make two boats total.  At worst, I'll keep the second set of panels unassembled.  My dream is to someday host an event where kids build a dinghy with a parent or guardian over the course of a few months and then we have a big BBQ and sailboat race in the park where everyone gets to splash their boat.  Summer is a very precious commodity in the PNW!

Have you ever seen anything sexier than that?

Not to get too ahead of myself, but the way you make this a nesting dinghy is that at some point you cut your beautiful new boat in half!  There are two bulkheads that are above the waterline of the loaded boat, so theoretically, both halves float!  They even sell the compass rose inlay!  I'll definitely be looking for some boat show specials...;)

These are normally built out of very expensive marine grade plywood, but there's really nothing terribly different about it than normal, void free plywood once you've encapsulated it in epoxy and varnish.  1/4" oak plywood is very reasonably priced at the big box store and I can use dimensioned red oak lumber from there too to make the gunwales out of instead of expensive mahogany.  I'll save my quarter sawn white oak stash for making furniture.

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So, today it's time to tackle that blasted chair assembly again.  Wish me luck.  I think I'll try to assemble it in the folded position so that each piece's orientation is more obvious.

In The Beginning...

So, it's been a while since I've posted anything on a blog, mostly due to recovering from the sailing magazine incident that somehow landed me here in Bellingham, WA. Now that things have settled down, I thought I'd start posting my life and times again. A rolling stone gathers no moss... My first foray back into the true sailor's life was the purchase of a Chrysler Mutineer 15. It's already got the pirate built right into it...;)

Mine is what they affectionately refer to in the sailing world as a "project boat". Meaning it needs a lot of work to get it either working, pretty, or both. I have worked in the marine industry for 10 years and one of the truest axioms is "There's nothing more expensive than a cheap boat", meaning that you end up paying the difference in rigging, paint, epoxy, fiberglass, etc. At least you can put it on your own payment plan, though...;)

 So far, I've replaced the dodgy standing rigging with Amsteel. I'll post pics of that later. BTW, I live on Lummi Island and the boat is in the parking lot at work on the mainland, so I've been able to work on it for an hour or so after work, but then have to run to catch the ferry home.

 Today's project is to make a new rudder. The original one is sadly delaminated, so I bought some epoxy, fiberglass and a decent piece of plywood, which I will sand down into a proper foil shape. Not going to be a true NACA foil, but I've done enough foils in the past to get a decent approximation, plus I've got the original to work from.  The symmetrical layers of ply will help me get the contour lines even.

Some people ask me why I'm crazy enough to live out on Lummi Island.  It's a hassle, it's expensive, etc.  As a sailor, there's something very intriguing about taking a boat to and from work every day.  I'm have an island getaway every night after work.  It's very peaceful and the views are spectacular.  Here's a pic I shot just last night on my drive home.  You can see Mt. Baker and the Twin Sisters from just South of the ferry landing.  As a side note, I watched the owners of this nice little IOR sailboat grab the mooring ball while under sail.  NICE!  That's what I do when for fun and to impress my guests when I'm skippering a charter in the Caribbean.

P.S.  Part of my job description is running the rigging shop at a local chandlery.  On a daily basis, I do the same stuff, rope to chain splices, double braid, Amsteel, etc.  However, yesterday something new popped up.  A customer wanted a stop knot permanently installed at the end of his anchor rode.  To make this magic happen, I had to "invent" a splice.  The customer was delighted and so were some of my coworkers...;)  The anchor was 40# and looked like something out of Mad Max.  I definitely want that anchor on my boat when the Zombie Apocalypse happens...