I know a pretty good number of builders in various stages of building a NE Dory. Would like to hear from anyone building a Dory and what you are doing on it right now. What has gone well, what would you have done differently?
If you dont mind, include your name and email ID to contact you if anyone has questions!
Thanks
Curt curtdennis@msn.com 830/997-8120
Curt-
I am pretty far along and things have gone pretty well considering this is my first effort. My hull is complete except for the rails. My build is out in my unheated garage (I live in northwest Michigan so it's pretty darn cold) so the rails and final coats of epoxy are going to have to wait for spring. I've used shop lights to heat things up a lot but don't have enough for the rails.
I am keeping busy finishing the seats/thwarts, mast and yards, and putting together the trailer. The rudder and tiller; dagger board and box and mast step are also completed and waiting for installation.
The one thing I would do differently is do a better job when filling the laps near the bow. I knew I had gaps there and taped it carefully but still got quite a bit of glue run through to the interior. Nothing a card scraper can't fix but I could have prevented it. All else looks pretty good.
Best,
Dave
dpeterson3@charter.net
I did a hull back in November in Annapolis and am working on little projects now. I am in a cold latitude too so am working on thwarts, rudder, centerboard, spars, etc until spring comes and lets me go back outside. Have made a corner of living room a woodworking shop. Not marries so no one to complain.
Have learned about spokeshaves and planes, spokeshaves in particular. It pays to get a good one and learn how to sharpen them. Which generally means freehand sharpening since the sharpening guides you can get dont handle the short blades in a spokeshave. all the edge work on rudder, centerboard and seats have been done with a spokeshave.
I did some work on the rails (warm day) using a block plane and it made short work of that task.
The main thinkg I would have done differently had I had the time in the class would have been to tighten up all the wires to a much greater extent before the first epoxy went on. that would have prevented a lot of drips which took a lot of time when I got home, and stress, to get rid of.
I'm still trying to get all of the major hull work done. I did things a little out of order--I'm doing the rails before I finish filling the laps, since I didn't have anyone available to help flip the boat when I was ready. I can't see this creating any problems since the laps are almost completely glued anyways. I mixed the epoxy a little runnier than I should have and it flowed under the tie wires. Fortunately the tie wires stayed mostly clear of the epoxy and I got them out without any difficulty. I just have to go back and top off all the laps when I flip the hull to glass the bottom.
Fortunately I took great care to level my saw horses before I started, so gluing the laps solid in one go didn't create any problems. Also, I only wound up with 4 drips even with runny epoxy, and those were around the puzzle joints where the CNC process eroded the edge of the panel slightly. I'm really glad I took the time to fiddle with the wires. I did break a bunch, but I expected that. Home Depot carries 18ga. copper wire ($4 for 25'), and one spool of that was more than enough to replace all the broken wires.
Here's the gallery, with the progress so far. And if anyone needs to contact me, its colin dot shelton at gmail dot com. With symbols replacing the words obviously (stupid spambots).
-colin
Great notes guys!
I have a heated garage (build area) so I'm lucky in that sense...need to have completed by March..taking it to Maine for the summer of camp hosting...here is my build order...I need to compare this to the order in the plans.
Love the gallery pictures, Colin...looks great..here's mine:
WHAT’S DONE:
Hull assembled, outside lap joints filled and sanded smooth
Glassed inside
Bow built up with epoxy
Transom cleaned up
Thwart seats glued and cut..seat supports installed
Rear seat boards cut out
Trailer assembled…bow eye location determined, need to install wiring/lights
Here's the order I may use..changes as I go..wanted to install daggerboard trunk before glassing bottom...that seems hard to do.
BOAT UP:
Mast step: Cut leather, enlarge hole, assemble, ease corners, install, remove, epoxy, sand, varnish
Daggerboard trunk: Epoxy inside, assemble, sand, install, remove, epoxy outside, sand, varnish
Rear seat boards: sand to shape, chamfer, make mounting brackets, install, remove, epoxy, varnish
Thwart seat boards: chamfer, make mounting brackets, sand, install, remove, epoxy, varnish
Bow eye: Install and remove
Sand inside completely
Repair fillets
Blue tape outside to catch drips from outer rail installation
Install outer rails
Install inner rails
Sand rails
Epoxy inside completely and top of rails
Varnish bulkheads, top of outer rails, , and transom (do name plate?)
FLIP BOAT DOWN:
Glass the bottom of boat
Install skeg-glue and fillet
Epoxy bottom and bottom of outer rails
Paint bottom
Varnish bottom of outer rails
FLIP BOAT UP:
Paint inside
Install daggerboard trunk
Install mast step,
FLIP BOAT DOWN:
Cut hole for daggerboard
Epoxy around daggerboard trunk
Epoxy screw heads for daggerboard trunk and mast step
Build spars, rudder, mast partner
I have about 56 hours in now. Rails complete. Seats assembled and sanded. Will epoxy the hull tomorrow, first of 3 coats
I finished my Dory in November. Everything went pretty much as outlined in the manual, except I did seveal steps out of order so that I didn't have to turn to hull over so many times. I did modify the tops of my saw horses so that they were 6 ft long and covered them with carpet. This made turning the hulls a much easier task because you could actuall roll the boat without much lifting. The neighbors and my wife approved of this trick.
Hi All,
I'm awaiting my NE Dory kit, having ordered it this past weekend. I'm excited to get going! I've wanted to build a CLC boat for some fifteen years...now I'm finally going to do it. I couldn't work my schedule to get up to Annapolis to do a Dory class, so it's a home build for me. I spent the weekend clearing and organizing the garage to make space, picked up some odds and ends at Lowe's that I thought I might need, and will be shifting a portion of my shop(on the bottom floor of the house) into the garage for the project.
I'm in Atlanta, so I expect I'll be able to get started as soon as the kit arrives, assuming we don't get yet another freeze. In the meantime I'm perusing build logs and photos and planning the mods that I know I'll want(scuppered inwales, possible floorboards, etc).
I haven't ordered the sail kit yet(trying to spread out my costs a little) but I think I'll be getting the lug rig. I'm accustomed to sailing a 24' Seafarer masthead sloop - switching gears as family life has gotten busy and I no longer have the time to make the drive up to Lake Lanier as often.
I too looked forward to the Dory build for years...good for you!
You likely know there are both first time builders (me) on this forum, and some very experienced builders too.
You may already have my contact info and build journal, but here it is...would you mind shooting me your contact info?
Curt Dennis email:curtdennis@msn.com, 830 997 8120, cell: 817 456 2878
Boat Build Photo Journal: https://picasaweb.google.com/114717787929554738224/BuildingWoodenBoatCLCNortheasterDory?authkey=Gv1sRgCKCBzczm_aKs2wE#
Hi Moonchaser :)
I meant to add my information at the end of my post and must have gotten sidetracked. I'm like a magpie right now...oooh, shiny! at every new picture and buildlog I find!
I don't have a build log up yet, but will likely post it to a website I use for all my various ramblings(link below).
Jennifer Derby - email: rhainyne@gmail.com 949-463-3439
http://www.swirlingcurrents.com