It is impossible to predict the time needed to self build a boat. Quite simply because Einstein's law of relativity applies to it. First, there is the time for reflection before starting, which can go on forever. Then there is the time for fine-tuning, planing to the millimeter, sanding, errors, omissions, adaptations...
But above all, there is a phenomenon that no one talks about, it is the disappearance of tools and the time spent looking for them. We put them in one place but they move on their own, because when we turn around, they are no longer there! It is then necessary to seek everywhere where the pencil, the eraser, the set square are hidden, all of which sneer while waiting to be found. Well, that's how it is with me ; elsewhere in the world, I don't know.

开云体育

^{Interesting. To start this. It is almost philosophical.}

^{Are you a sailor builder or a builder sailor? What do I mean?}

^{I had clients special in the smaller boat range, where this was evident.}

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^{A granddad was building a beautiful boat, almost too nice to go sailing with it. In the end, he gave the boat to his grandchild to sail the boat. He built it because he liked creating something with his hands.}

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^{A surgeon came to me. Mister, when I buy a kit for the SC 435 can I build it in four weeks? Because I want to use it in my holiday next month. Okay, he builds the boat in four weeks.}

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^{A postman was one of my first clients. He was buying an SC 435 plan. He had to use the living room to build the boat. His wife was giving him four weeks, otherwise, she would kick him and the boat out. He made it. I could go on.}

^{Some projects ended up on the rubbish heap, but not many.}

^{I do not design only boats; I have also built 13 of them.}

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^{I understand the frustration of many builders. Looks like a never-ending story. But you have it in your hands! And more so, use first your brain and then your hands.}

^{I say, when you think you have 90% of your boat finished, there is only the final 90 % to do.}

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^{This sounds negative, it is overdoing but an excellent thing to start with. Most important, prepare your project as best as you can.}

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^{For the wood, glass, and epoxy composite system you need not many tools. But if you have to buy them, for a bigger project, buy the best quality tool you can afford.}

^{For example, you can buy a cheap, wobbly jigsaw or, say, a Festo jigsaw with ceramic saw blade guides, a powerful engine, easy to adjust settings. After a short learning time, you can saw easily with an accuracy of say 1 mm without a lot of chipping on the cuts, which means, almost no sanding after the piece is cut out. This saves you days of sanding work. Other tools you should look for the best are sanding tools.}

^{I use still my ORKA flatbed sander with a sway radius of 5mm and good speed control. Sanding paper Aluminum oxide paper. For most work, grid 80 is a good choice. All other tools you will have already.}

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^{As a reminder, do not change the design. I know how to design in the wood/epoxy composite system. I know what works and what does not. Any change in the basic design will change the character of the boat. And also makes the boat unpredictable to build. I can see this here sometimes, and some will end as a hangar queen as we call this in aircraft development, or a boat that disappoints in use. I give anyway a lot of freedom to individualize the boat.}

^{Make yourself a clear plan of how to start and build. Order, if possible the whole material to build the basic boat in one go. If you have to order items, order them in time. It is frustrating when you have to wait for Epoxy not ordered in time.}

^{One of the least liked works is sanding. A euphemism to call it that, I know. So eliminate any cause to have to sand. Pre-impregnate the plywood panels with Epoxy and sand them before you make the first line. This saves weeks of sanding on the boat itself. See the video}

^{? Here is the example to impregnate all bulkheads for the P 7 power boat. To sand in between to remove the upstanding wood fiber. I put the flatbed sander on the plywood and guide the sander only. No pressure is needed, and no extra heat will be generated to block the sanding paper.}

^{Other examples. I prefer to apply the glass cloth horizontally. Meaning for a KD 860 only one glass cloth connection line. Vertical, it would be 10, which are difficult to sand.}

^{Epoxy needs no pressure to connect parts. Use screws to hold parts in places where necessary to outline pieces. For the bigger parts, plastic nails, clamps, tape on small boats, are sufficient. Every screw means, for instance, 10 to 15 minutes of work to remove, fill the hole, and sand to fit to the structure. Sounds not much? Let's look. An 8,5 m long boat will need every 200 mm a screw to fasten, say to the chine stringer. Meaning 43 screws. Multiply with 10 minutes = 430 minutes, a bit more than 7 hours. If you need only to connect the panels, you need 6 screws. 6 x 10, meaning 1 hour. Compare.}

<sup>Yes, I also know the problem of having 10 pens in the workshop and can not find one. But reduce this to a minimum and it helps to finish your boat in a shorter time.On the other side, there must also be time for a chat and a beer

Bernd</sup>

Photo: SC 435. This is the boat from the postman taken 1980

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Confucius said: when you check many times, you waste time, but when you don't, you waste a lot more ! Here is a little tool that saves me a lot of time. There are blades of all widths and it is easy to saw to the correct depth with a small mark made with tape. As for my grandmother's knife, it makes very regular little joints....

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