Building a RowMe in New Jersey

[jpvernon]

Well,...with plywood and lumber supposedly coming on Friday,...I just ordered the fastening kit from Glen-L.
No turning back now.

[hoodman]

That's going to be a fun project!

[jpvernon]

That's going to be a fun project!

I agree Matt!
I just redid one of my bathrooms. It was an immense job and I've never tiled a wall before.
However,...I watched a few youtube videos and now, friends are amazed that I did the work.
I can tell you one thing, I now have a DEEP appreciation for all you tile guys out there.

Hoping to setup a camera and take time lapse pictures. We'll see about that.
I'm confidant that I can do this.

I built a treehouse about 15 years ago. I used a book on treehouses, and modified a design to work between two trees.
I sent a picture of the finished project to the author of the book with my thanks.
13 years later, I found that the author had updated the book and included my design, also giving me credit.
http://bit.ly/2dP3QrB
Pretty cool huh!?

[jpvernon]

Marine Plywood and lumber was just delivered.
Should be able to start cutting plywood tomorrow.
The fasteners kit is scheduled to arrive Wednesday.

Pretty exciting stuff!

[rleete]

I built a treehouse about 15 years ago. I used a book on treehouses, and modified a design to work between two trees.
I sent a picture of the finished project to the author of the book with my thanks.
13 years later, I found that the author had updated the book and included my design, also giving me credit.
http://bit.ly/2dP3QrB
Pretty cool huh!?

Always nice to see one's efforts recognized.

I share your "can't wait to begin" excitement.

[jpvernon]

Hmmm,...one of the pieces of lumber I received today is 14 ft long. Gives a great perspective.
I can still see that I'll be okay with a 12 ft row boat in my garage, the idea was to build a Zip after the RowMe.

The Zip is 14 ft,...and while one side of my garage can handle that length (I think), the other side cannot. Above ground oil tank in garage.
I'm going to have to worry about that problem when the RowMe is done and sitting on a trailer.

Wow,..am I getting ahead of myself or what.

[rleete]

The zip is 14'4". So you're already short.

On the other hand, it says it can be shortened by 10% by respacing frames. That gives you 13'6", which might barely fit.

I say you start planning for a garage addition.

[vupilot]

My Zip on the trailer requires a 19ft long garage to store it. However with removal of three bolts i can remove the entire trailer tongue and just need the 14'-4" plus the over hang of the motor off the transom so about 16-1/2' in that case would be possible. In sure youll find a way. Looking forward to seeing your RowMe progress.

[jpvernon]

Cut out all the pieces from the 3/8" plywood, and from one of the 1/4" sheets.
I screwed up one of the 3/8" sheets,...so I have an order out for another sheet.
But, if that's my biggest mistake,..I'm fine.

With the fastening kit coming on Wednesday,...the plan is to:
- Epoxy coat the pieces before assembly. (except the seats for now,..don't want to waste epoxy if I decide to replace with mahogany)
- Do the butt joints
- Wire together the panels and the seat uprights
- Size up the seating,..and decide if I want to go ahead and cut mahogany seats instead.
- Proceed with the build instructions.

Regarding the epoxy coat and the fillets,...I may have to delay since our temps have been in the 30's-40's at night.
We sometimes get a warm spell (Indian Summer) in New Jersey.

I've found that my jigsaw does a great job on the plywood,..as well as on the lumber.
Being I don't have a band saw or a table saw, I tried to use my circular saw on the lumber.
But I don't trust myself for precise cuts, which was why I switched to the jigsaw.

Didn't take any pictures yet,...but once all pieces are cut, I'll take a few then.
I'll say one thing,...I admire all of you out there that traced and cut out all the frames for the bigger boats. Wow!

[hoodman]

Sounds good! You'll be able to use the scraps from your bad panel for something useful. Perhaps later on in the build.

[jpvernon]

Last plywood piece cut out last night, and it seemed to be the trickiest. The transom knee.
I traced the outline using two sheets of carbon paper. One facing down, the other facing up.
When I tried to do the mirror image, I had the toughest time trying to line it up properly.
I finally gave up and came up with an easier solution, at least for me.
I cut out the left side, then used that cutout as a traceable template for the right side.

Although I said this was the last plywood piece,..in actuality, I'm waiting for a 3/8" replacement sheet.
I'll also receive the fastening kit today,...but it'll have to wait until the last plywood sheet arrives.

[jpvernon]

Started assembling the butt joint. Got one done, and only stripped two of the screws. Used Jason Burke's method of removing stripped screws.

[jpvernon]

Question:
So I did one butt joint where it joined 2 pieces of 3/8" plywood, with 3/4" screws. No problems there. Yeh!

However, the RowMe has 1/4" side panels and calls for 1/4" butt joints on one diagram (the plywood layout usage diagram). However, on the other diagram, it calls for 3/8" plywood butt joints for the 1/4" side panels. (say what,....why the discrepancy???)

The Fastening Schedule calls for 3/4" #8 screws @ 2 inches apart and 1" from edge of panel.
It's been a while, but I think I still know how to add fractions. If I join the two 1/4" pieces with 3/4" screws, obviously I now have a bunch of screws sticking out the other side of my panel 1/4". And since I've followed the plywood layout to maximize board usage, I don't have anymore 3/8" scraps that can be used as butt blocks instead of the 1/4". and even if I did use 3/8" butt blocks to join the 1/4" panels, I would still have ~1/8" sticking out the other side.

??? Any comments, ideas, speculations???

One thought was to cut, shave, or sand the screws down to just under 1/2" before installation. This would be a huge pain.
BTW,...the plans don't call for screws shorter than 3/4", and Glen-L doesn't sell anything shorter than 3/4".
I really don't want to sand down the screws sticking out of the plywood since I'd be afraid of sanding down the plywood panel as well.

[rleete]

I just recently did a lot of reading on various ways to join panels, so I understand your confusion.

The way I understand it, the screws are supposed to stick out (usually on the inside). They are then ground/sanded flush. This is to eliminate the tapered point of the screw, which doesn't have the holding power of the straight portion.

But, with modern epoxies, the cured strength exceeds that of the wood panels. Therefore, the use of screws is only to facilitate clamping of the panels while the epoxy cures. So, it is my opinion that screws need not be used at all, provided the joint is properly clamped while the glue sets up. I would not hesitate to eliminate the screws altogether. I will not be using any in my splices.

As to the thickness, I believe the butt joint reinforcements are supposed to be the same thickness as the panels being joined. There are various diagrams on the web specifying the amount of overlap, which varies somewhat.

[jpvernon]

I just recently did a lot of reading on various ways to join panels, so I understand your confusion.

The way I understand it, the screws are supposed to stick out (usually on the inside). They are then ground/sanded flush. This is to eliminate the tapered point of the screw, which doesn't have the holding power of the straight portion.

Thanks for the response rleete! I get what you're saying,...and will move ahead.
However,...there are three reasons I'm doing the RowMe build first.
1. This is practical and can be used with or without a motor.
2. To make sure I make any mistakes up front before I tackle a tougher and bigger build.
3. I wanted to get the hang of reading the plans and understanding what they're telling me to do.

It can be confusing to see call-outs for different things.
Glad I can ask the question here.