# Yet another Osprey 18...



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

I bought the plans for this project over two years ago from Timm Smith at Smith Marine Design and started out strong the first few months. I was able to get most of the frames cut and epoxied together. Then got sidetracked with a girlfriend. Well now we're engaged and have moved to Sarasota, FL and I have the opportunity to pick up where I left off. 
I'll post some pictures as soon as I can. But I'm basically at the stage where all frames, except for the transom are at least cut. I still need to epoxy frames G & H, and touchup/sand all the rest of them. I plan to mock up a temporary transom out of regular cheap plywood to use as a measuring point while I set the stringers, keel and hairpin in place. That way I can order the transom plywood at the same time as the hull plywood. I built my jig two weeks ago.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

Nice big oversized castors...









Temporarily mocked up frames on the jig









Hopefully I'll have some more pictures soon!


----------



## Shalla Wata Rider (Aug 14, 2013)

YEE HAW!!! congrats!!! keep them pictures flowing


----------



## Rosco (Nov 6, 2010)

yep, keep those pictures coming. We might need a boat building board on here soon ;D


----------



## NoeSmyrnaBch (Aug 19, 2013)

Awesome. I want to build one of these boats so badly! Wonder who will get theirs in the water first ;D


----------



## oysterbreath (Jan 13, 2009)

Sweet! More Smith Marine designs being built. Looking good so far. I can tell you started a while ago. You've got the "Douglas fir plans" instead of the "plywood plans"!


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

> Sweet! More Smith Marine designs being built. Looking good so far. I can tell you started a while ago. You've got the "Douglas fir plans" instead of the "plywood plans"!


Oyster, 
Yep, I just checked out the shipping label on the box that the plans came in. Jan 9 2012... Luckily I kept track of and printed the updates along the way. I've been following your build also since then and now following L Walkers build. And of course watching Rosco's you tube videos helped me decide to build in the first place. 
Still not sure if I want to go back and make the changes to frames C & G, but I do want to keep the jack plate design.  I like how you beefed up the C frame to handle a vertical hatch. 
I just bought (hopefully) all the Fir that I need to run the stringers, keel, stem, chine logs and hairpin, but need to touch-up each frame before moving on.


----------



## Boatdesigner (Dec 9, 2009)

Looks great Josh! I am glad to see you were able to find a house in Sarasota with some workshop space. I can't wait to see you trailering it to the water behind your Corvette! ;D


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

> Looks great Josh! I am glad to see you were able to find a house in Sarasota with some workshop space. I can't wait to see you trailering it to the water behind your Corvette! ;D


Unfortunately, getting engaged + new job with company car = sold corvette.  :'( :'( I still have the old truck though.
I had fun with the Vette while I had it though. Here's a video from last year at Vettes-4-Vets in Talladega. It's kind of a boring video but it was a blast driving... I went to this event three years in a row.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP4MzaEnubw


----------



## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

Excellent Josh! Timm told me about you back when I got started. I guess you lived up here near me at that point.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

Mini update: I got the stem glued. Got the keel and a few stringers cut, the inboard stringers are cut and ready to be glued. This weekend I have high hopes of cutting the hairpin pieces. I think I'm going to remove and coat each frame with epoxy before I lock everything in place with the keel, chine logs and hairpin.
I need to order more Douglas fir to finish the stringers..  Also, the transom is still incomplete because I'm going to order that wood the same time I order the hull wood.


----------



## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

Looking good Josh. I would not coat the frames for the simple fact that you have a lot of gluing to the frames in the near future. Coating them now will cause a lot of extra prep work roughing up the surfaces that you have coated. You will have to coat everything on the inside once you flip anyway.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

That makes sense. I was just thinking it would be easier to do it now rather than later. I wasn't going to coat the cut outs where the stringers will be epoxied.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

A few more pictures. I still haven't permanently attached the keel, hairpin or any of the stringers to the frames. My goal is to have that done by Aug. 31st.


----------



## Boatdesigner (Dec 9, 2009)

Hey Square Foot, send me an email or give me a call. I tried to email you but it came back undeliverable. Any updates on the boat?


----------



## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

It looks like you moved your pictures inside a folder on photobucket and now all the links are broken. You will need to relink them or move them back to where they were to get them to show back up here.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

Yeah, I moved he pictures into another folder on photo bucket and didn't realize it would mess up the link from this thread. I was able to get most of the pics re-linked. Lately I've been touching up each of the frames, I reworked frames C & G so that I'll have the same size hatch in each,  glued up the keel to the stem, and have the transom on the jig.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

I know it's been a while since the last update. I blame getting married... Anyhow, here are a few pictures. I just bought the Raptor compression staple gun and 5,000 staples. I'm gonna order 10 sheets of 4mm okoume as soon as I finish the framing (hopefully) in the next few weeks.


----------



## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

Looking good! Gotta love those HF clamps!


----------



## oysterbreath (Jan 13, 2009)

YEah man....gotta love those HF clamps! I'm sure that between the 3 Ospreys being built we probably account for dang near 200 of them being sold! lol


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

I guess it's about time for an update. All of the framing is done, and I've started fairing a few of the stringers. The wife is out of town this weekend so I hope to get in some boat time. Here are some pictures from the last few months:








































I'll definitely take some better pictures this weekend after some fairing and sanding.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

This weekend I finished the framing, mounted the 2nd layer of the transom, and faired down the stingers. Just a little more fine tuning before I start on the hull. 

The wife was out of town…


----------



## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

Awesome work! I feel like such a slacker now! Only a couple more weeks of this "season" and I will be back hard at work on mine.


----------



## Boatdesigner (Dec 9, 2009)

Looks great! I was wondering if life was getting in the way of the boat building again. We really need to figure out how to get the wives involved in these projects, that way they don't slow things down!

I think I need to add some small holes to the inner transom, around the middle of the panel. These would let air out when you clamp the outer layer on and help get a good, void free bond. You could then fill them in with thickened epoxy from inside the hull when you flip it.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

Thanks. My wife is supportive of the build, she just doesn't like it when I spend hours in the garage when she's at home and awake. Our work hours are offset by three hours so I usually can get in some work after she goes to sleep.

I did drill some holes in the inner transom to let some air escape. Just didn't post the picture above. 








I'm looking forward to getting starting on the hull. I cut a few pieces of 4mm last night and test fit them, but I still need to do some fairing before I go any further with that though.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

Starting to put the hull on. Dry fit.


----------



## grovesnatcher (Sep 25, 2007)

*Re: Yet another Osprey 18....*

Awesome job keep it up!


----------



## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Got that steering wheel a little early. I like your optimism


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

I guess it's time for an update. I bought a house and took some time off from the boat, but back at it now. It's about that time to buy some fairing compound...


----------



## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

Lookin good!


----------



## RCR (Dec 8, 2016)

Glad you're back at it! What kind of staples(I assume that's what they are) are those? Are they going to be left in the wood, ground down, and glassed over?


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

RCR, those are Raptor staples. They are plastic / polymer composite and require a special staple gun. Here's a link to their boat building page of the website. The head of the staple just gets either broken off or sanded flush. I have a massive blister from squeezing the staple gun right now...
https://raptornails.com/product-applications/boat-building.php


----------



## Whiskey Angler (Mar 20, 2015)

casartj said:


> RCR, those are Raptor staples. They are plastic / polymer composite and require a special staple gun. Here's a link to their boat building page of the website. The head of the staple just gets either broken off or sanded flush. I have a massive blister from squeezing the staple gun right now...
> https://raptornails.com/product-applications/boat-building.php


That is neat!!! This product will surely come in handy one day, boat or non-boat project.


----------



## RCR (Dec 8, 2016)

Those are awesome! So are the nailing options... I can't believe you have to buy a special tool though, that's a real downer.... Have you thought about trying them in a regular staple gun or is there a clear difference between the staples that makes it too risky?


----------



## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

I bet yours get in the water before L W or Rosco

Yes I am impatient


----------



## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

Hey what's going on with the boat?


----------



## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

permitchaser said:


> I bet yours get in the water before L W or Rosco
> 
> Yes I am impatient


You lose! Walker has been fishing his for a long time.

Rosco on the other hand is a story about desertion.


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

Geez, it's been almost a year since I applied the whiskey plank. Right around the same time we found out my wife was pregnant... Since then I’ve only managed a small amount of fairing (which I can confirm sucks very much). My daughter just turned 3 months old and I’m hoping to make a strong run on the boat in the next few months before it gets too hot again. I need to get that fiberglass on before the weather gets too hot.


----------



## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Looks great, and congratulations!

Are you fairing the raw wood, or is there a layer of cloth I don't see? If it's the raw wood, is there any downside to fairing it first? Does it not matter as long as the cloth is applied within a short window after? I just feel like I've usually seen the cloth go down first.

Sorry if this is a stupid question; I know very little about fiberglass work...


----------



## casartj (Jun 2, 2014)

I haven't applied any cloth yet, that's just a thin layer of fairing compound in the pictures. The main reason I (and I think most) decided to fair the hull before applying fiberglass is because otherwise you would run the risk of needing to sand all the way through your fiberglass to get a fair surface. I'll of course still have to do some fairing after the glass is applied but hopefully I'll have a pretty good surface by that point.


----------



## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

casartj said:


> I haven't applied any cloth yet, that's just a thin layer of fairing compound in the pictures. The main reason I (and I think most) decided to fair the hull before applying fiberglass is because otherwise you would run the risk of needing to sand all the way through your fiberglass to get a fair surface. I'll of course still have to do some fairing after the glass is applied but hopefully I'll have a pretty good surface by that point.


100% agree.


----------



## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

bump


----------

