Fitting a keel to a wood/epoxy Dix 43

These things take time, so its best to start the program early and work on the keel shoe long before its required, that is what I did anyway.

I was fortunate that a very talented guy named Eroll was sharing the premises I was in, Eroll was the master steelworker, he set things up, then his son Jeremy did the main part of the welding under Erolls supervison.

Jeremy is on the left, he was assisted by Mike and Alfred.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The keel shoe on its own weighed one ton, I then had to add five tons of lead to bring it up tothe required weight, as I said,starting early gave me time, it was two years in the end.

The keel bolts  number fouteen (14) then there are four (4) diesel fuel access pipes as well, totals eighteen (18) holes in the boat which have to match the keel exactly.

The day of the lift Ian was there to give me a hand.

The moment of truth, yes they all fit in their related holes!

My mother Doreen, she is now some ninety years old, it was my late father Robert Henry,  who took all the pictures.

Out of sight but always there was John Holmes, who helped with the line handling and took charge when the propping  of the boat was required.

The next day Ian and myself poured epoxy into the keel bolt stud holes to make sure they would never leak, then with the cap plates and nuts tightend up the boat was left overnight for the epoxy to set.

We launched the boat the next day, that's John standing on the aft deck!

Note, this keel has never leaked a single drop of water.

The boat is now for sale, contact me for detailed Word document and inventory.

Roy

Plywood and kit boat suppliers

Things we do?

Okoume marine plywood, Superform bending plywood, flexible veneers, thin plywood, epoxy, and a line of suitable powders to make epoxy fillers and pastes from.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

We also sell boat plans and supply CNC kits to most of the plans we offer.

Delivery national and world wide is a speciality.

Roy

Today is Heritage Day in South Africa

So we have a day off and lots of sunshine, its said to be a National Braai day, that is a barbacue to some.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Sailing around Hout Bay is a real pleasure when we have nice weather.

Looking back at Hout Bay and from Chapmans Bay.

Druma our dog was a fine sailor also.

This is the very nice view from the deck of the Hout Bay Yacht Club, Castle Beers are being discounted while the RWC is on!

Roy.

Thin plywood, a three ply just 1.8mm thick

We can make this (so can you) if we use our special flexible veneer sheets, which are just 0.006 mm thick ,then cut panels to 60 cm square we can press a nice 60 cm x  60 cm three ply up.

All veneer species are special imports.

Note, due to the different stock veneer thicknesses from species to species, the finished panel may be between 1.8mm to 2.5mm.

The finished panel is reasonably flexible and is also moisture resistant.

The materials are all imported, this includes the special glue, which is applied with a foam roller.

The work require  hand cutting of  the veneer sheets to size, then the application of the glue on  all four contacting faces.

The special jig then needs clear plastic sheeting applied to ensure the ply faces do not bond to the jig.

Then the veneers need loading to the jig and the pressure is applied, this is all done by hand as small orders do not support expensive machines.

You can of course press the board yourself but do you want to?

We use a moisture proof  PVA glue imported from Germany.

MONDAY, 1 MARCH 2010

Thin Plywood in Cape Town,a new product from CKD Boats cc

This thin ply sheet above is in African Mahogany, we also have white and pink beech, white maple, cherry,teak ,we can post anywhere pending the size of your order.

Now ex stock and a three ply in American Cherry, grade A pre sanded faces with no slicer marks!

This product should be perfect for model makers.

Roy

Special price offer on our Mirror dinghy kits

They are available ex stock and we can ship country and world wide.

The worlds first CNC cut  Mirror is laying on the driveway, it was assembled by Peter a top boat builder, it measured just fine.

The boat was assembled then fitted out and it was ready in time for the Mirror Worlds in January 2015, which was held in South Africa this year.

They are on a special offer right now, on the basis that they are discounted holding the post production cost of just R9990.00 ( plus Vat if you are a local resident?)  there is no Vat on exports.

That price and say to the UK is only GBP499.00 plus shipping, which we can arrange easy enough.

To the USA it would sell at just U$715.00.

Subject to the  exchange rate on the day of payment etc.

Roy

Hillman Imp cylinder head bronze guides and oil control seal set

The first set has been machined, we will soon have them ex stock.

The set in the picture has a buyer in the UK, more sets will be ready in a day or two?

Make that a week!

Roy

Superform bending plywood

We have been importers of bending plywood' s for around twenty years now.

simply the best quality and its waterproof as well.

We import 3mm, 5mm and 8mm in a 2.44mtr x 1.22mtr sheet size and with the grain going either long grain or cross grain.

The next generation of bending plywood will be pre veneered on one face with exotic wood species like White Ash.

Seeing is believing,


Contact me for more details and stockists.

Roy

Didi 38 kit to Johnston Atoll

This came about some years back and before the US Army closed down the base and returned the atoll back to nature.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

The idea was to supply just the boat hull and deck kit with the related wood and epoxy, in the end we sent the customer the entire boats worth of gear.

The reason we shipped the mast, sails, engine, stainless steel, winches, deck and plumber fittings out as well as our standard Didi 38 kit was simple.

As the island had to be supplied via Honalulu, buying from Cape Town was cost effective as it cut out the US based supppliers, Prices and our Rand exchange rate were better back then (they still are) so in the end we even supplied the boats electronics package as well.

Before the boat was finished, the island was closed down, our customer then shipped the hull he had already built back to the Seattle, USA are and was having it finished there on the mainland.

http://sayachts.blogspot.co.za/2011/01/didi-34.html

Check the link for more on this design concept and read Justin Phillps detailed review in his SA Yacht Blog.

http://dixdesign.com/34didi.htm

Roy