Building a Sling Shot

Jeff Horton

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4,272
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The Heart of Dixie
I started construction on the first Sling Shot today.

Slingshot is a new design and this is the prototype build. Sling Shot is a skin on frame 18' 6" long, 23" wide. Hull has a fair amount of rocker and V in it. Stability is on the lower side but not really low. I want to use this as a test bed for a couple of ideas I have had for a while now. I want to add a retractable skeg and I want to ad some nice looking hatches too. I have ideas on how to do these but I will just have to work out the details as I go. Once the frame is together I will probably change it some.

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Here is a quick run down of what I got accomplished today.

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First step is cut out all the full sized patterns and glue them on the plywood. I always save any larger scrap pieces since I build so many and can often get several parts out of scrap.

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Then I like to rough cut the pieces out and then I do the final cuts on the bandsaw. There is no reason not to do them with a jigsaw, I am just more comfortable with the bandsaw so that is what I prefer.

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It takes a few hours but here are all the frames cut out. Actually I see a mistake in the pile but I am not going to point it out. ;-)

day1-1.jpg


Before I quit for the night I ripped my stringers to width and since I use cedar siding I plane the rough face. I end up with a 5/8" thickness. This is my old Powermatic planer at work.

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I recently found some really good cedar which is very rare around here. It was 12' lengths so I cut and scarf them together to about 18' long. I normally have to cut out a lot of knots but these were small enough I didn't see any I couldn't just leave.
 
Since the other guys already brought the popcorn, I brought donuts. Dive in guys...

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Looking forward to watching the build, Jeff. :thumb:
 
When I saw the title of your post I thought ¿Is Jeff changing bussines and going into the toy bussiness? Nah! that can be, and now I understand;).

Vaughn, sorry to say it but a circular pile of donuts doesn't make the biggest donut of the world, the biggest pile maybe IMHO:D
 
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Jeff
Another great looking design..and you sure don't waste any time getting going on the build...:thumb:



If I might ask how do you print out the full size patterns. Do you have a big inkjet plotter or is there a place that does it for you? I have asked around a little and found nothing reasonable or any place that can do lengths such as you have at all.

Thanks
Garry
 
Whoa Vaughn! Lot of dough there. :eek:

Toni, I knew the title would fool some folks. The name is a play on my other design I call Long Shot. I also have plans for a Short Shot and maybe even a Buck Shot someday. :D

Gary, I have an older HP plotter I bought just for this purpose. It's not a photo quality but it doesn't have to be for what I am doing. Sometimes I wish it was so I could do some promotional work of just print out a good quality image to hang on the wall.
 
DAY 2

Full day in the shop and I didn't take a lot of photos. I sanded all the frames to smooth up my cuts. Then I rounded over the insides because it makes lashing easier. I also round over the edges on the exposed frames in the cockpit just because it looks better. And it feels better on your legs if you hit them.

Next I ran the stringer that I glued up last night through the shaper to round over othe edges.

Last I set up the strong back and started to assemble the frame. By the time I quit it was ready to start lashing.

Here is link to a time lapse video I shot while I assembled the frame. I think the dog is as interesting to watch as I am.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12_Vqezz3NE

A couple of photos of the frame. It is ready to be lashed together now.

day2-1.jpg


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Here is one of the Sea-Lect, formerly Sea Dog, hatches I am going to install. Have an idea on how to do this and make it look good.

day2-4.jpg
 
Here is link to a time lapse video I shot while I assembled the frame. I think the dog is as interesting to watch as I am.

I think I saw at least two, maybe 3 times when you were scratching your head... :huh: Glad to see it coming together. That looks like a big roomy shop. I know it is your house basement, but the ceiling looks really tall. Just how much room do you have under the joists? Did you have the house built that way or was it just a lucky real estate find?
 
I think I saw at least two, maybe 3 times when you were scratching your head... :huh: Glad to see it coming together. That looks like a big roomy shop. I know it is your house basement, but the ceiling looks really tall. Just how much room do you have under the joists? Did you have the house built that way or was it just a lucky real estate find?

This one is really pretty simple but yea, sometime you have to stand and look and think. But wait till I get to the hatches and the drop down skeg! I may go bald before I get that skeg worked out.

Homes with good shops are few and far between. A good basement is really a rare thing here! We found and bought the land and eventually sold our house and built this one. I wanted 9 foot ceilings and I ended up with 8' 8" I think it is. But I can stand up a plywood sheet and still clear the lights.

Here is a photo I took last winter. We wanted it to look old and it fools 99% of the people that visit. They think it must be 60-75 years old. And not many people know I have a drive in basement either. ;)

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Gary, I have an older HP plotter I bought just for this purpose. It's not a photo quality but it doesn't have to be for what I am doing. Sometimes I wish it was so I could do some promotional work of just print out a good quality image to hang on the wall.

Well it sure looks nice and must make work like that much easier. I suspect that photo realistic in that size would be an ink drinker for sure...
Garry
 
DAYS 3 and 4

I basically spread one day out over two days but I have the hull lashed together. I want to leave it on the jig since it is nice and stable and work on the the hatches before I install the deck beams.

'wysedav' over at Blue Heron came up with a great looking way to build in a recessed hatch on a skin boat he built and I have been wanting to try that ever since I saw it. So that is what I will work on next. I don't think I can recess the rear hatch since the deck is virtually flat now. If I lower it any it's going to have water puddle around it and that's not good.

Here are few photos.

day4-2.jpg


day4-1.jpg


day4-3.jpg


I sketched out the skeg box and skeg. I decided to draw up something to scale figuring I could work it out on the computer a little quicker than my usual way of just designing on the fly. The skeg is 'spring' loaded with a bungee cord, the orange line. I will add a line that is not not shown to pull the skeg up in the box and it will end up on deck with a jam cleat or clam cleat to tie it off. I used this setup on another boat it worked flawlessly.

skeg1.png


Still got to figure out what method I want to use to attach the skin and seal it to the skeg box.
 
Love the timelapse Jeff, but you knew I would!

I like the settings you used. Mind sharing?

How many seconds between shots? How much time per frame did you allow in the video software?

It works really well for what you were doing. Gives a calm peaceful feeling. And I liked the way your shop dogs hung around :thumb:
 
How many seconds between shots? How much time per frame did you allow in the video software?

My camera doesn't give much control, but it is 1 frame every minute.

I slowed the display speed down 50%, I really don't know the details. Still fairly new to video editing. Just found it looks better slowed down.

It works really well for what you were doing. Gives a calm peaceful feeling. And I liked the way your shop dogs hung around :thumb:

Sadie, the red bird dog is older and gets stiff. So she will not move unless you make her. I found her abandon and half dead on a job a couple of years ago. She has lots of problems so I tend to just step over her rather than make her move. Not that she has any intentions of moving! :rolleyes:

The others come and go and stay out of the way for the most part.
 
Bill thats what i always thought.:rofl:


Jeff you might be new at the editing bit but the time lapse was perfect. Dont go messing with it. Its one of the best i have seen for building something.

Dog story is touching. :thumb:

I always feel a nudge in my side when i see you posts. I try to stay away from them because of it. I just got to get on with my canoe your posts remind me of that.:thumb:
 
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