Eclipse

Click on the thumbnail images to enlarge

Other Eclipses This site has other build projects on it and a link to the designers website.

Any questions or comments email me at howard@wardred.co.uk

Rudder Stocks back from the welders. still jigged for 12 mm spacing and positioned in the multipurpose rudder router jig come stock position and centralising jig

The kink in the middle is from clamping too hard in the workmate. Prior to planing I routered progressively deeper bullnose slots along the length of the foil to guide the depth and make planing easy

One pair of matched rudders, planed and sanded. Final shaping to match the foil curve gauge will take place after glass and epoxy coating. (14 July 08)

60 hours of hard labour and I now have a dry place to start the build (23 July 08)

September 19th I now have a ladder with frames and will start planking as soon as the stem is fabricated. Having a heart attack has slowed me a little but I am now getting back up to regular work

Now October 12th and both sides are planked to the knuckle. Smoothing the glue lines is happening when I am bored with sticking planks on, I am also gearing up to plank the underwater "U"section

24th October, the curvy stern and closing the top are left to do and of course the keel, stem, and skeg which I will do as pairs.

Also needed are new trestle supports as the beer barrels aren't tall enough for me to reach the top.

November 14th, Fully planked! The green polythene is a condensation shield it stops the drips from the ceiling. The pointy bit is shaping up at the front and not visible are a pair of keel frames on the bench at the back. there is still loads of sanding to do to get fair curves.

December, January and February. The weather even in the polytunnel has turned too cold to work in let alone set epoxy, so I have now turned my hand to building the smaller parts like the Keels and the Beams. In the larger picture you can see the Keelshoes that will be fitted after sheathing with glass and epoxy.

The contraption in this picture is the Heated Polytunnel which I can lower over the recently glued and screwed components to warm them enough to set the glue. Not a miracle of science but aided by a 2 KW fan heater at one end the temperature can get up to 26C

The Mast beams solid centre is about to be cured in the heated tunnel with the skeg blanks on top.

The tunnel is big enough for the rear beam and the keels and has made winter working almost practical.

When the camera and I get to the polytunnel together I will insert here a picture of a pair of 99% finished rudders glassed, faired and painted in a white holding epoxy until the final finish is applied. (24th March 2009)

Ha! got there at last, found the pictures and remembered how to insert them in the website now if I could just discover where I left the other snaps !!

Unfortunately I found some work fitting out and rectifying a South African Catamaran which stopped me doing mine but gave money in return. When I returned to the polytunnel in late June the Temperature were hitting 50c in the afternoon. I started sheathing in the mornings on cloudy days but when the sun came out it caused problems with the epoxy going off in minutes so cloudy and rainy days were good for me, progress was slow.

Eventually the hull was glassed, the keel and skeg glued on and the job of sanding started.

Hand sanding with a board but also using a DA connected to an old dyson to keep the dust at bay. Can't recommend the dyson enough, rubbish at carpets but good for boats.

Job of the moment is finding dwells on the surface then filling and sanding flat so you can't feel the edges. When I am happy I shall epoxy coat with white to stop the UV from degrading the sheathing until I am ready to work on it again.(Oct 24/09)

Friday 30th October 2009.

Just the other one to go.

_________________________________________________________