Popping the Mold

Today was another banner day. I have been busy all week and unable to get down and take pictures of the bulkheads installed but I guess they are in there as today we split the mold. Here is a picture of the mold before splitting. They have installed the tracks on either side so that once the mold is split, the two halves can be rolled out of the way.

A hydraulic porta-power is used to split the mold. Here you can see there is about a 1" gap and the hull is beginning to be seen as the side is moved out.




Air pressure to ports strategically placed around the mold help to insure a uniform release.




Just a little more pressure on the porta-power and with time, more of the hull becomes visible. Someone remarked that we were giving birth to the hull and in many ways, they are right. It sure has been a long gestation period.

Here is a shot I took from the bow looking aft. You can see the molded in bow thruster tube. There really is a strong sense of excitement now among the team. There were a lot of smiling faces today.

And finally the mold is moved away and we can see the beautiful shape of the hull. There are a few areas that will need touch up, but all in all, it was a very successful layup. There will be a few beers consumed tonight in celebration.
And here the mold is completely out of the way (starboard side only). Tomorrow they will move the port side out of the way and the hull will be moved to our production site in Anacortes to begin the serious part of installing systems, superstructure, interior, etc. A lot of work still to do, but this is a major milestone.

These guys really get into their work......!!! I couldn't resist snapping this picture of two of the team preparing the fuel tank mold for layup. They really were into it.......litterally.....

Ready for Bulkheads and Floor

The crew was mostly off to lunch so I had a chance to get some good shots of the inside of the hull. As you will notice, the stringers are molded in making the hull and stringers one piece. The areas where the port lights and hawes holes go are of solid (not cored) fiberglass. In the left picture you can see where the two sea chests will be. The wide keel is also very evident in these pictures. I was hoping that the bulkheads would be in place, but I think that may not happen until tomorrow. On either side you can see the bulkheads staged for installation. These were vacuum infused on a flat table and then precision cut on the CNC machine. If all goes well, they should be able to be bonded in without any pre-trimming being necessary. We have our fingers crossed. Below is the forward lower floor being infused. They are nearly finished and by tomorrow it should be ready to bond into the hull.

The Laying of the Keel

Today is a big day, one that we have been anticipating since the beginning of our project. It is the first day in building the boat. If it were in olden times, it would be considered the "laying of the keel". Today we infused the hull.

In previous postings you have seen the mold with the dry stack of materials being installed. Over this past weekend, the infusion lines were laid into the mold on top of the glass mat. Then the "bag" was placed in the mold. It is more like covering the mold with a huge piece of Saran wrap. The bag is sealed all the way around the top of the mold and infusion "ports" are placed at strategic places in the mold.

Hoses are connected to the ports and a vacuum is placed on the bag. Through other ports resin is drawn into the mold and under vacuum it climbs up the mold, being infused into the glass mat and coring material. The whole process takes about 2-3 hours to complete the infusion process. The progress is carefully monitored to insure that the resin is infused equally and that there are no voids in the layup. You can see all of the hoses in the picture at the right and above.
You can see the maze of lines. If you look carefully in the pictures, you can see the resin line as it has moved up the mold. These pictures were taken about 2/3 through the infusion process. Tomorrow they will remove the bag material and all of the hoses. Then the first bulkheads will be bonded into the hull. This gives the hull rigidity and are necessary before removing the hull from the mold.

NW 42: Progress Report

Hull in process of having inner layers of mat installed. Note stringers to be infused integrally to the hull.

Stern sections showing stringers and aft bilge area of the wide keel.








Another look at the stringers; one has been covered with mat, the other will soon be covered.








The hull is nearly ready to have the resin infused into the fiberglass mat, Kevlar, and Corecell coring material.

NW 42: Progress Report

The gelcoat has been applied in the mold, the first layers of glass are in place and the Kevlar (dark yellow color) is visible in the forward section.

Workers are placing Corecell coring material into the mold prior to the infusion process.








Corecell is placed over the Kevlar. Kevlar is on the outside to protect the hull in case of a grounding.