Capsize recovering

Next time my trimaran is upside down something went wrong   😉

Update timelapse video workshop webcam

And I did some more vacuum infusion, like the aft cabin deck and the V-berth bottom for in the bow.

Update of Fram’s webcam video (time lapse)

Another Milestone

I can say I now have a lot of experience with making airtight vacuum bags. As a matter of fact, within this project this is big hull vacuum bag number 9 and I thought it would be a piece of cake. After all, it is not just a vulnerable foam hull but a foam hull with an airtight internal laminate. And the joins of the Port and Starboard halves are covered with a glass tape. So no worries about air tightness. I thought ……..

After some more changes in the bag and improvements of the hull integrity in the past two weeks it had to happen.

Last weekend, despite the fact the vacuum bag was still not perfect the infusion started at 3.00 PM in the afternoon. There were a few precautions taken to be able to solve possible problems during the infusion and this has worked out satisfactorily. Only the end counts and despite the troublesome preparations it was again a success, a big relief and another milestone in the project. After a evening and night watch during the cure of the resin I went home at 5.00 AM the next morning, tired but with a good and happy feeling.

Click in the video to see how it went.

Furthermore I made a new photo galery in www.fram.nl with the flow prediction simulation and photo’s of the resin infusion process. Please click here or in the simulation image below.

Opening of the renovated Maritime Museum Amsterdam

Opening Het Scheepvaartmuseum 1 oktober ’11 from Het Scheepvaartmuseum on Vimeo.

Here is the video of last weekend, turning over the F39 mainhull

In some countries there seems to be a problem to play this vid on YouTube. If so, than try this link. (be patient, it is a 26Mb file)

Update of workshop webcam video

Here is a new update of the video from the workshop webcam.

Video of infusion

Below the video of the infusion of the second main hull half.

The webcam video has been updated too. Click the image on the top right corner of this page or click here.

Foam main hull half finished.

Progress of the F-39 build is going quite well. Although I’m building in my spare time for quite some years now, the estimated average building hours by Ian Farrier seems to be quite accurate and I’m still on schedule with this.

Last weekend the second main hull half has been foam stripped. The method of vertical foam stripping is one of the great inventions of Ian Farrier and after finishing 6 hulls it is still a pleasant job to do. At first it looks an intimidating job, but after the third strip or so one knows how it works. I’ve added the dry fix method, whereby the joins are being V-shaped with a small router and filled with a bog of microballoons afterwards. My first goal with this technique was the insurance of getting an airtight foam hull that besides of the sandwich core is also the airtight mould for the vacuum infusion. The extra benefit is a clean job during the fitting of the vertical foam strips. However, there is a small weight penalty in comparison with a glue method of epoxy or a PU glue.

I don’t know the thermoforming qualities of other structural foams, but CoreCell is quite easy to bend with a heat gun. Even a very tight radius of say 2” is possible without burning the foam, which in my case has a thickness of 15mm (5/8”) The foam strips are consequently 405mm. (16″) wide, so three strips out of one 4’x8’ foam sheet. I started with using Philips screws but now I’m totally sold to the T20 screws, which are much better to re-use without damage to the screw head. A pity I didn’t discovered this earlier in the build.

In a few weeks I expect to vacuum infuse this hull part and I will report the list about that (for me) exciting event.

Meanwhile have a look at this YouTube video, made by the workshop webcam, to watch vertical foam stripping in practice. Even for such a large part as the F-39 main hull it’s an easy one man job.

Webcam update

I’ve added the latest activities (foam planking main hull) to the webcam movie.  Enjoy!