[Sethsawyer]

Conchfish 16 build.

Hey Guys,

This will be my first posts here on microskiff. I finally took the plunge and started building a Conchfish, and since everyone else is documenting their builds I thought why not. Well, feel free to comment with any ideas or recommendations.

In my Conchfish 16

I will be modifying the spray rails to look more like Chris's 10wt.
No liner to keep the hull as light as possible.
I will use the rounded/crowned transom, and add spacers for trim tabs.
Toying with the idea of a removable poling platform.




Last week I Cut both half stations together proud of the station lines and then used a belt sander to sand to the final shape.

 

[Sethsawyer]

[

Built a standard ladder strong back on wheels. Leveled my strongback, and Plumbed a top and bottom string to align my stations.

 

[Sethsawyer]

View attachment 70340 Taped my stations with masking tape

 

[Travis Smith]

What did you do different with the spray rails?

 

[bryson]

Looking good! Did you shape the edge of the keel? I came close to doing that with mine but ended up deciding just to square cut it.

You building it in GA? Would be cool to have a little east coast get together at some point. I think Travis is in Jax, the cedar strip one is in Pompano, and there's a guy in upstate SC that's doing one too.

 

[Travis Smith]

Bryson what do you mean shape the keel?

 

[bryson]

Bryson what do you mean shape the keel?

It looks like he cut it to the true keel dimensions (not the 3/8 half breadth) and then shaped the edge back to match where you would cut it if you were doing a square cut. It will give a little surface for the foam strips to land on instead of having them just touch the corner. You can see it in the last 2 pictures pretty good.

 

[Sethsawyer]

I’ll get more technical if the lines look really good after I strip the hill, but basically I adjusted the two spray rail points vertically.

Station
Transom:-9/8”
1: -6/8
2: -3/8
3: no change
4: + 3/8
5: + 6/8
6: + 10/8
7: + 16/8
8: + 20/8
9: + 21/8
10: + 21/ 8

Gives it a nice taper very similar to older higher spray rail whiprays

 

[Sethsawyer]

Yes building in GA

And yes I shaped the keel

Gonna start stripping in 3/4 h80
Divinitycell

 

[Sethsawyer]

Cut my strips to 1 1/2” so I can use clamps to align the strips between stations.
Butted two 8’ strips together and glued them together to get full length strips.
Ran strips along the hull in several spots to check the stations to make sure everything was fair. Found one station that one of my points needed to be fixed.

 

[Sethsawyer]

Using harbor freight clamps to keep my strips aligned.

Added 1/2” to the dimensions closest the base line on chime a, and butted it up to the inside corner. Both chines will be a little proud of the strips, but I plan to sand flush.
Using toothpicks to make a fair joints between strips and chines while gorilla glue dries.

 

[bryson]

Moving right along! What is that in the second and third pictures that looks like hot glue?

 

[Sethsawyer]

Moving right along! What is that in the second and third pictures that looks like hot glue?

Yes, I used hot glue so I can move my clamps and start the next strip and keep everything fair. You have to keep the hot glue gun really cool or it puts divots in the foam when you pop the glue off. I have just used hot glue in the past stripping cedar, and it keeps things moving really fast. I will end up puttying some divots, but I felt like that will be way less work than puttying strips that do not stay fair between stations.

I Prefit my strip using clamps, add glue screw and clamp everthing fair, and then use hot glue to lock it in place, and in about 30 seconds hot glue is dry, and then I can move my clamps and start the next strip. I beveled my foam strips to eliminate gaps between strips. I didn't spend a ton of time on this but it only takes a second with a sanding block and 40grit sandpaper to get it pretty close to perfect.

 

[jonny]

Looking great so far man. Still confused by the keel. I guess it will make sense when you get there. What are you gonna do with the floor? Double core with some thick core? No floor makes for a big step onto the deck. Doing a false floor instead of a liner doesn't add much weight. And gets those steps to a comfortable 15" or so. Allows for a chase or flotation foam if wanted.

 

[Sethsawyer]

I shaped my keel closer to the true shape of my bow to make aligning strips a little easier. My current plan is no false floor. Still undecided though. I am going back and forth between double box with the open/cooler spot for my rear deck, and the standard single hatch capped rear.

 

[Sethsawyer]

Little more progress

 

[Sublime]

I shaped my keel closer to the true shape of my bow to make aligning strips a little easier. My current plan is no false floor. Still undecided though. I am going back and forth between double box with the open/cooler spot for my rear deck, and the standard single hatch capped rear.

Sounds oh so familiar. I think I have settled in on no false floor, but doubling the core on the bottom. Double boxes in back as it is the most natural way to sit and run a tiller. I'd really like no hatch up front, but I am still undecided about that.

What are your plans for power?

 

[Sethsawyer]

planning on 25hp 2 stroke if i can find something decent or Yamaha 25hp 4 stroke.

 

[Guest]

Looking great!

 

[Pole Position]

If you dont mind me asking, did you compare the cost of foam vs cedar strips, and if so, approximately how much difference was there?