Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Yeah, I've got to get the keel laid just so I can say I have a boat now. Don't want to loose my right of passage...LOL

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Don't want to loose my right of passage...LOL

Yeah it's bad enough just to have been tossed out of the Starcraft club!!

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Yeah it's bad enough just to have been tossed out of the Starcraft club!!

LOL.. Yep... At my age, I hope this is going to be my last boat.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

With my old boat now gone, I assembled the build form again. This time I put the bow facing out the main garage door and I have plenty of room to cut the frames. I'll also have a lot more room around the front of the boat so I can get in and out of the shop.

I wont add any time for this.

 

[-Jim-]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Glad to see you are making some progress. I hope you can post lots of Pics as you go.

Good Luck!

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Well here I go again. I got to thinkin about the Chevy Tahoe being 3 years old now and my age and my retirement age and the new boat weight and haulin junk and pickin up materials ... well you get the picture. I called the dealership today and told them to find me a truck. I'm thinkin a 2500HD crew cab with a 6.6L diesel, 4WD and a nice cushy interior for road trips.

We'll see what they come up with tomorrow.

More space in the work area now:

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

I ain't been slackin... I put the build form on strong backs and casters then lowered it back down to it's original height. Works great! I still have to sink a couple of red heads into the deck so I can bolt it down when I need it to stay put.

I'm still waiting on my new TIG welder. I finally got my MIG spool gun straigtend out. I had to buy a SGA 100 remote power supply but now I can run any of the Miller Spool Guns from my 212 welder. The 212 has a direct connect for the 3035 gun but mine was trashed. The SGA and the new Circuit board were the same price so I went with the SGA and disconnected the internal board. Everything works the same except I have a separate wire feed control for spool gun.

Haven't found the truck I want yet but I'm looking. I might go on the hunt Thursday. I get Veterans day off.. I'm the only Vet in the entire company.

I ordered up a Argon/Helium gas mixer today. I figured it out and it was cheaper in the long run to get the mixer, use less current and TIG all the structural joints. Spray transfer MIG is O.K. but TIG is a lot stronger. I probably wouldn't go that route in a shop that was trying to make money building boats but I will with my own.

Thare ya be... the latest update..

 

[jonesg]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Jody from weldingtips and tricks bought an everlast tig and did a thorough 4 part video review, its a great watch even if you use a miller.
He really explains things well.
Its nice to see a bona fide expert testing a chinese welder with an open mind.

part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u4Efn1twUo

part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXa1Pxcr_Ww&feature=related

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3vBH59VF0s

part 4
can't find it but its in there somewhere.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Yep, I'm a member of Jody's website. He's done some great stuff. I bought the Everlast 60amp plasma cutter first just to see how well they were made then I jumped in and bought the 250EX.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

I have the 60 amp plasma too, now I am the master of metal.!
Also have a horiz power hacksaw but plasma is like a hot knife in buttah.
If you build two I'll send you a couple of extra electrodes.

 

[bobkyle2]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

you have wicked skill man..

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

The new TIG welder arrived on Monday. I set it up last night and ran some beads on scrap. I like it.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

The wall of flame,,,

The welders are actually stored in the other part of the shop when not in use. The tanks stay where they are at least for now. The shop is under constant revision as I discover things that work and things that don't.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Just a quick update - I've been getting my welding skills sharpened and dialing in the welders and accessories. I put in a 4000.00 +/- metal order yesterday and I'm waiting on it. The T bar is the hold up and I don't see any need for making them deliver twice. It's not like I have to have it today or anything.

I'm going to get the 1/4 ply for making templates on Saturday and may get some work done on the boat this weekend although I think I'll probably be cleaning up the yard after this last little round of storms that blew through. I'll take pic's if I get any boat work done.

 

[sprintst]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

This is going to be cool...

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

I scratched the idea of making templates. I don't think there's going to be a second one of these in my life time and the plans are good enough that I can loft them directly to the material. If it doesn't work out I can always fall back to templates.

Here's the Al order that I placed:

4) 1/4 x 48 x 96 5052-H32 @ 238.35 ea. (Frames 1 thru 4)
4) 3/16 x 48 x 96 5052-H32 @ 174.25 ea (Transom and frames 5 thru 7)
1) 3/8 x 24 x 120 5052 -H32 @ 249.25 ea (Chine)
12) 1/4 x 1-1/2 x 144 6061-T6 flat bar @ 12.25 ea (Various applications)
9) 3/16 x 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 x 300" 6061-T6 T=Bar @ 39.75 (Stiffners)

The order is supposed to be ready by Thursday and hopefully I can get it delivered Saturday (12/18/10).

Last Saturday I picked up a roll type tubing bender at Harbor Freight. Don't waste your money, this one is going back. My brother is loaning me his hydraulic tubing bender for the rails and transom step when I get to that point.
I also got their compact pipe bender which is actually not too bad for the price. It would have no place in a production shop but the little bit of test bending that I did showed a lot of promise.

As I mentioned before, I've equipped my welding gear with a gas mixer and I'm now mixing Helium with Argon to get better penetration at lower amperage. Testing shows that it really reduces the strength loss in the heat affected zone (haz) of 6061-T6. Instead of a 50% loss it's somewhere around 35% loss. It cost about 2,000.00 to get it all setup but I think in the long run it will be worth it.

So that's where we are right now.. I'm itching to get started. I got suckered into one last Merc V-6 Hot Rod outboard for a customer, I should get it delivered this weekend then I'm free and clear to get cranking on some Aluminum cutting and TIG welding.

FYI, I've been toying with the idea of making this an outboard and putting a new 250 Yami on it. I've also looked into Yanmar and Volvo-Penta diesel systems. I checked with the designer and he doesn't see any need for hull mods. With the outboard I'd build and offshore bracket with a sponson. These are just things that I'm curious to know about, I'm not going to make a decision to change things up unless I know it's the right thing to do.

I also dropped the idea of the new truck right now. My Tahoe will be paid off by the time I finish this thing and I'll get a truck then.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Hoooo Rah.... The first load of Aluminum arrived today. Everything on the list in the last post arrived on a flat bed this afternoon. It took a little coordinating to get it here but it's all here and so.... Today marks the first day of construction. The date is December 21st 2010. Today also marks the winter solstice and is the shortest day of this year. It is a Tuesday and it was raining all day except for when the metal arrived and then it was clear and stayed that way until I got it all put away.. There's an good omen for ya..!

Here's a picture of the plans laid out on a sheet of 3/16 5052-H32. The plans are wrinkled from the folding but my 1000 watt halogen work lamps fixed that in about an hour.

Side note: If you're using halogen lights around blue prints make sure they have UV filters on them or your plans lines will fade and dissappear. Also, don't weld around your plans or leave them in direct sunlight.

I opted out on making templates out of 1/4" ply. I hate carbon paper tracing because it never comes out right for me. Instead and since these plans are full sized, I lofted them directly to the metal. You really do have to loft them because you only get one half. These plans are set up so one half is with a 12 deg bottom and the other is with a 6. It's not that difficult, just take some reference measurements and transfer them and you're done. Here it is ready to double check, (notice I didn't say cut). I'll double check the layout tomorrow and if all is good I'll see if I can cut this stuff.

I also made the decision to go with a Yamaha 250 4 stroke outboard vs. the Jet. There are several special interest groups that are pushing to dissallow jet boats on several lakes. Several rivers have already been put off limits.

The majority of boats being manufactured by custom boat builders are now all being sold with outboards and there are conflicting stories as to why. The most common reason is the forseable restrictions but the runner up was because of fouling.

I now no longer consider the delta pad necessary so I don't have to re-engineer the bottom.

 

[sprintst]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

It begins...

 

[Triton II]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Fantastic to see the aluminium arrive SS. Can't wait to find out how the cutting goes. Good luck - there's nothing quite like a well designed and solidly built plate alloy boat!

TII

 

[sschefer]

Re: Glen-L 21' Canyon Cruiser - Aluminum

Ask and you shall recieve..LOL..

Work day 2 - Wednesday night 12/22/10 about 3 hours including clean up.

I cut the transom out tonight. I first double checked my layout and did a couple of diaganol comparisons to make sure that both sides were identical.

The cutting. I bought a non-ferrous metal blade for my Skill Mag-77 and then setup a straight edge with the correct offset. I made the one cut across the the top and it was a bear to keep it running straight. Don't get me wrong, I've framed a ton with this thing but that's what its best at.

I was trying to avoid using my Festool finish saw but I figured what the heck, give it a shot. Yeah, dumb me, there's a setting on it for Aluminum up to 1/2" and I had the right blade but forgot I bought it.

So here it is, the most accurate manual cutting system ever designed. Ya know, if you don't have one of these and you want to build a boat like this, you might consider saving for one. It'll set you back a chunk of change but it's worth every penny.. Here it is. The saw sits on a track and slides. The edge of the track is set dead on the cut line and you litteraly cannot make a bad cut.

Here's an example of how perfect the cut comes out -

Here it is all cut out and cleaned up. I use WD-40 as a lube. It works great and cleans up easier than PAM cooking spray.

I was feeling a little puffed up so I hung the transom on the form. It's just sitting on a couple of drywall screws so it's not exactly square or anything. That will happen later -

One of the things I discovered pretty quick was the amount of chips that fly everywhere. I think I'll put a fresh bag in my dust collector and use it. You can't really sweep the stuff up because it gets all bound up in the broom. A vacuum is the best tool for the job.

Oh yeah, cutting aluminum with the Festool is like cutting butter with a hot knife. I have the plasma cutter and it will come in handy I'm sure but you if you invest that money in a Festool system you'll be better off.