Before the storm
Before the storm
First there was a massive cleanup from building Mark’s Dart #3. Old plugs getting chopped up, scrap getting tossed out, floors swept. That’s Gavin above, chopping up an ice chest top cover plug.
We started cutting core and painting stuff Nov. 5th. 2012 Within a couple days we were pulling out our first parts. What’s showing here are bulkhead, footrest and mast cradle molds in various stages of part creation.
Bulkhead getting “shot”. This is the bulkhead that holds up the front of the cockpit under the companionway door. We call it the “ring bulkhead”.
Foot rests before paining backsides. Tim/Tom tell me that the foot rests are the hardest parts of the Dart to make. They involve a lot of fine detail, with very small margins for error. I can attest that we’ve scrapped a lot of foot rests getting these things right.
Gavin and Tom finishing off a bulkhead. All of the clear parts have to be sanded. This is because later they will be bonded into the hull and painted with gel coat.
Actually, they’re not sanding. Tom’s running a cutoff saw trimming the edge and Gavin’s running the vacuum to keep his path clear so he can see where to cut.
So far we now have.. Full sets of bulkheads for two Darts. On the shelf molded, trimmed and sanded, ready to install.
Two sets of footrests. Also complete and ready to install.
Green angle’s all made up and ready. Tim made these up while we were counting inventory.
Inventory has grown. As we learn more about what actually goes into these boats, the inventory shelf space grows to hold all the bits. We have a table where we store boat parts that we don’t have shelf space for. During the Dart #3 build, the table overflowed.
That’s what we have complete, now we’ll have a look at what’s currently on deck. Keel spar and chainplate anchor molds. They have just gotten their gelcoat sprayed on them and the first set should be stacked and “shot” tomorrow.
Compression post brace mold, I’m thinking waxing will start on this in the morning.
Sliced up Cherry and Maple veneer for floors and ice chest lids.
Ice chest lid mold in line for tape and gelcoat.
1/2 inch thick stack of glass being infused to be used as mast step core insert material.
This is where we sit tonight. Just small stuff getting built. Lots of paperwork and lists being generated behind the scenes. Beating up the poor vendors trying to find better ways of getting parts for the boats. In a lot of ways, its a lot like the calm before the storm.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012