The mast is going to be hollow box-section and the boom is going to be a solid rectangular section. Here is the cross-section of the mast from the plans.
The boom is about 9 feet long and the mast is about 18 feet long (just a few inches shorter than the garage). The lumber I purchased is only 12 feet long, so I need to scarf together pieces for the mast.
The pic below shows all the douglas fir pieces of the mast and boom cutout and ready to be glued together. The pieces on the right are for the boom. The longer pieces on the left are for the mast. An important detail to notice is that all of the scarf joints are staggered, so that they will not be all in one spot of the mast. This makes the mast stronger. (Also shown in the middle of the pic are some oak pieces that will be the rub rail along the shear line of the boat ... not related to the spars.)
This took me an entire Sunday, because all of the pieces had to be ripped (cut lengthwise) and then planed (shaved down to the correct thickness). Then the diagonal scarf joints had to be cut for all the mast pieces. A table saw and a bench planer are pretty much mandatory tools for these tasks.I've also started making the mast step. The mast step is where the base of the mast rests on the boat. There can be large forces traveling through this joint, so it need to be built stout.
The mast step in the plans doesn't seem quite strong enough to me, so I've decided to beef it up a little. Here is a pic showing the side of my mast step (left) compared to the one shown in the plans (right). I'm also going to secure everything with big screws and lots of epoxy.
On this boat, the mast step performs another function, which is to support the mast while the boat is being trailered. So the spacer block of the mast step should be angled on top to match the angle of the mast in the trailered position, as shown in the pic below.
Here is a pic of the mast step during the initial dry fit, just before gluing.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteWe are two highschool students looking to construct a small model of the hartley 14 sailboat for a math project. Would you have any ideas on how we could do this? And any pointers? thank you! we really enjoyed reading your blog, it gave us the idea to do this! :)
You can make a detailed model of the frame out of balsa wood from the craft store or something simple out of thin cardboard or paper taped together. You'd need to get your hands on a scaled down version of the plans if you want anything resembling the actual boat.
ReplyDeleteOr you could make a scale model of a different boat ... one with scaled down plans already available for free online. Just print them out and assemble:
http://custompaperpocketyachts.k-j-g.com/papermodels/index.html
Send an email to the email on my profile and I can probably help you out if you really want to try the Hartley 14 model.
hello,
ReplyDeleteI am bulent kucukgorkey, from Turkey, Canakkale.
I liked it very much.you had decided very beautifuly. I'm about to begin construction of a TS-18.
mast and boom made of wood and I'll be.
hi ryan,
ReplyDeleteI want to send a foto, about wood mast
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the information and the advice, it is really helping us out! I'll be sure to contact you if any other question come up. :)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThe plans you have did it have the boom, mast and mast step or did they come from somewhere else. I have only 2 pages of full sized plans and some photo copies from a book that clark craft sent me.
Sorry for the delayed response. I bought my plans from Hartley, not Clark Craft. I have 4 sheets of the full-size plans. Reply to this comment and give me your email address if you want details. (Then delete the comment if you want ... it will still be stored in my email inbox).
ReplyDelete