Corky's Build

[Corky]

OK here's what I've been thinking about there's actually two things on my mind with this build...And I'm looking for opinions good or bad on what I'm thinking...

First up is how to fasten the rigging to my 1x3 U channel floor supports...For strength the bolts need to fasten through the side of the U channel that's a given but....
I see some builds just use the emt tubing across the bottom and make up a strap to fasten it to the channel... I was thinking about using an 1/8th inch steel angle for my bottom support...Since the height of my U channel is 1 inch I was thinking about using a 1x1 angle,welding the emt rigging to that and installing it on the corner of the U channel...It's light enough to not be a concern with adding too much weight and it would seem to add more structural support than just running the emt on top of the channel...

OK everyone give your opinion...What doest thou think ???




The second detail I've been pondering has to do with the wiring... I'm adding nav lights...A single led bow light and the white led stern light on the top of the cage in the back...I'd like to conceal the wiring as much as I can...And here's the reason why I'm bringing this up at this point...I'm thinking about running the wiring inside the gunnel...There's plenty of room and I could easily use that as a passage front to back...And even possibly run the stern light wiring inside the emt hoop back there to totally conceal the wiring...

Is there a downside to doing this ?? Am I missing anything that would prevent me from doing this ??? Thanks everyone for any input on these questions...

[kent]

Corky,
Your thoughts on the wiring..... did that back in 1990.... You may want to stop-by and eye ball things.... some you may like... some maybe not... the door is always open for you to visit.
kent

PS: My Lycoming sits on rigging mounted to the stringers just as you are thinking.

[Corky]

Hi Kent, I'll take you up on your offer !! I'd like to see your boat and how you've built it....I'll PM you and get the details and we'll get together for a visit...Thank you very much for the invite...

[Papee]

I put the tabs on the rigging and drilled and through bolted to the runners

on the wiring, I have disconnects to allow the cage to come off or to take the whole rigging out in one piece the only wires that need disconnected are the front and rear nav lights. The rest comes off with the rigging.

[Papee]

I didn't try to drill straight through, just marked across with a straight edge and drilled both sides.

[Corky]

I had a few productive days so I'll post the progress...First off I dressed the weld seam between the rear tray and the transom...I also dressed the weld seam on the tray itself to make it look seamless on top...Here's the pic...

[Corky]

Next up was the 1x3 floor bracing...I welded these in on a 5 inch increment...The reason I picked that spacing is because the front bow radius area of these channels got cut on the 5 inch marks making the bracing lay down very nice following the floor closely...Here's a few pics of the rear section...

[Corky]

And a pic of the front section...Every relief cut gets welded on each side of the cut...This is where the contact area of the bracing gains it's strength...Installing and welding these braces in took about 8 hours... It looks and seems so simple but it really burned up the time...

[Corky]

Next order of business was the forward wall braces...These were made from the 3 inch structural channel also...The floor bracing runs from the main support to the wall's welded seam..The upright wall bracing was also the 3 inch structural channel...What I did was match the wall contour perfectly for a super strong wall support...Check out the fit on each side...

[Corky]

Here's a view looking down from the gunnel across the support...The bottom weld where the wall upright support meets the floor cross brace is double welded and very strong but I do have a gusset to go in that area{Made from a piece of the 3 inch channel} I'll post pics of it when I get it welded in...There's a top cap to go on also..

Edit: This pic shows the relief cuts in the main braces and the welds on each side...Note how nice they follow the contour...They were installed with the relief cuts unwelded to conform to the floor bow radius during install......The local boat builder suggested to leave the cuts open and simply weld it this way claiming there was no benefit to backwelding the cuts if done using this technique...

[Corky]

Here's a few overviews of the front bow section with all the bracing in place...Man, am I glad that's done!!

[Corky]

At this point the 3 inch structural channel phase is history and it's on to the gussets,inside wall backwelding and the decking...I need to get my aluminum angle this week for the deck bracing...I'm trying to build this boat only using the 3 sheets of 5x10 1/8th inch aluminum which leaves virtually no waste if I'm figuring this correctly...

Once again I burned up 2 spools of wire and a tank of shielding gas......I can see where a tank about double the size would be in order if I did this all the time but I'm almost there now so I'll just fill it again...Now I see why these hulls cost so much between the materials and labor...

[Corky]

I was thinking about where the water was going also...There's a passage under the upright wall support up front...I did'nt want to have that floor brace run out tight against the wall because if I ever grazed off anything and it pushed a little I was afraid the brace woud poke through the wall on the outside... {I keep building this thing like I'm going to enter in a demo derby !!} Also in the back the 3 braces are angle cut to allow water to get to the bilge pump...

[springfishin]

hey corkey, your rig is looking sweet! what is your target weight on this hull? where did you get your aluminum from?

[Corky]

Before I forget or maybe I already mentioned it. Get some 020 wire for when you start putting together your rigging. It's worth it,less burn through and it's much easier. I didn't get a tip for it I just used what was on.

Yes, good point Papee I've read the need for the smaller wire for the EMT...The 220v welder I'm using now has the .030 {steel}mig wire in it and welds the thicker metals with ease{the aluminum spoolgun has ,035 wire}...... I do have a 110V lincoln mig welder that has the .023 wire in it and I can set that one very low for thin metal welding...That's the welder I'll be using for the rigging...At this point the bigger welder is going to be left as a dedicated aluminum welder for now...

I picked up my aluminum angle for the deck bracing today getting ready for another busy weekend coming up...And that is the last aluminum pieces needed to finish the hull !!!

[Corky]

hey corkey, your rig is looking sweet! what is your target weight on this hull? where did you get your aluminum from?

Hi Springfishin,

To be honest I didn't have a target weight in mind it was all about making sure the hull would withstand years of rocks along my trips...From the sheet weights,Channel bracing, and the gunnel this hull is going to come in a little heavier than some builds here's a quick break-down that's real close on the weight

3 sheets of 5052 1/8th inch aluminum: 264 lbs
3x1{modified}structural channel : 42 lbs
30 feet of gunnel railing: 25 lbs
4ft sch 40 2" pipe: 5 lbs
1 1/4x1 1/4 angle:7 lbs
welding wire: 10lbs

total estimated hull weight: 343 lbs

That's the real world numbers no sugar coated light weight estimate... It'll be interesting to see just what{if anything } I've sacrificed on low speed planing ability or top speed for the sake of what should be a very sturdy hull when it's time for a performance check...

I was going to buy the aluminum from Eastern metal supply but for some reason they were giving me a hassle with the shipping and final pick-up point so I ended up getting all the aluminum from a local supplier... Fazzio Steel and metal supplies{Pottsville, Pa} for everything but the extruded gunnel...The extruded gunnel rail was purchased at Snyder Boats{Millersburg, Pa}... I actually ended up cheaper with everything in the long run going this way gauging off of the Eastern quote...

[springfishin]

thanks for the info. i'm looking forward to seeing yours in the water.

[krwsr]

Stellar job Corky! I know you must be chomping at the bit to get it powered up!

[Corky]

thank you Ken...I'm slowly realizing the hull will be completed very soon...It really has'nt "sunk in" that I'm almost over the hump on the hull building ...I have to be honest this hull build has consumed my thoughts for quite a while and I'll need to take a deep breath when it's finally done...


I had some time to do some welding on the inside wall-to-floor seam...I'm at the point where I run about 8 to 10 inches and need to reposition to keep going...As I've said before the weld quality keeps going up with more experience...I'm very confident on how watertight it'll be....Check it out...

[Doozit20]

Builds coming along nicely keep up the pics. Great work...