# Osprey 18 Build in Austin



## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Plywood and Plans




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Jeremiah


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Jun 17, 2017











  








16 foot Mahogany




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Jeremiah


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Jun 17, 2017


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

I started cutting out frames last night and have completed Frames A and B. I have to say that cutting marine grade plywood gets me excited about this project. I hope that I am about to keep a steady pace and finish this boat in a reasonable amount of time.




  








Frame A complete




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Jeremiah


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Jun 21, 2017











  








Frame A cutting




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Jeremiah


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Jun 21, 2017











  








Frame A




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Jeremiah


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Jun 21, 2017











  








Frames A and B




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Jeremiah


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Jun 21, 2017


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Got one more frame done tonight. Slow and steady.


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## tomahawk (Mar 9, 2012)

Very cool. Make a goal to do at least one thing on the boat each day and it will be done before you know it. Good luck.


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## Boatdesigner (Dec 9, 2009)

Looks good! Tomahawk is right, do a little each day, take your time and before you know it you'll be planking. Being careful and accurate at this stage will pay great benefits later when everything is more fair. Sanding and fairing is probably the most tedious part of the job, so do everything you can to minimize that part of the job.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Thanks for the advice Tomahawk and Timm. That is my plan. I am a father of three boys so I go into the garage and start working after there mother and they go to bed each night. Wood working is my therapy. I should have named the thread. Confession of a night time boat builder. 

I finished cuting another frame tonight. Trying to cut one a night. I also got the next two laid out.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Just curious: are these plans available so they could be loaded into a CNC cutter to make life much simpler and easier and less time consuming and cut perfect?


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

DuckNut said:


> Just curious: are these plans available so they could be loaded into a CNC cutter to make life much simpler and easier and less time consuming and cut perfect?


Timm would have to answer that question for you. He is listed above as boatdesigner. His website is smithmarinedesign.com.


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## Shane Campbell (Mar 24, 2017)

Jeremiah, I've been building the crystal 16 for the last year. It's been a huge stress reliever. Never believed that building a boat would be so much fun. Just to sit and have a beer at night and look at what has been accomplished. Keep up the good work.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Shane Campbell said:


> Jeremiah, I've been building the crystal 16 for the last year. It's been a huge stress reliever. Never believed that building a boat would be so much fun. Just to sit and have a beer at night and look at what has been accomplished. Keep up the good work.


Woodworking is a passion of mine. This is my first cold molded boat build. I built a stripper kayak a few year back and have been wanting to build a boat for a while. I will check out your build. Thanks for the post


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

DuckNut said:


> Just curious: are these plans available so they could be loaded into a CNC cutter to make life much simpler and easier and less time consuming and cut perfect?


 I'm pretty sure you can order the material pre-cut.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Jeremiah said:


> I recently bought plans to build a Smith Marine Design Osprey 18 skiff. I managed to get 5 sheets of 18mm hydrotech plywood today. I should be making saw dust soon.


Sweet! Looking forward to this built. Love the look and fuction of this DIY microskiff project skiff.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Another two frames done tonight
























The frames appear to be coming out correct. The the keel cutout are lining up and the stack of frames look like they are in alighnment.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Two more frames. Only two more to go. There is nothing like a little sawdust therapy to finish off the day. I love the look of the frames stacked up. 

I've been able to work about two hours each night. I am hoping to keep that up.

Once the last two frames are done I get to start cutting on the 16' x 12" 6/4 mahogany. That should be lots of fun trying to control on the table saw.


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## Shalla Wata Rider (Aug 14, 2013)

Boatdesigner said:


> Looks good! Tomahawk is right, do a little each day, take your time and before you know it you'll be planking. Being careful and accurate at this stage will pay great benefits later when everything is more fair. Sanding and fairing is probably the most tedious part of the job, so do everything you can to minimize that part of the job.


That advice is priceless ...the end result of everything in life is based off the foundation it is built on ...take your time ... but hurry....


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## Boatdesigner (Dec 9, 2009)

Someone asked earlier about CNC cutting. I do have cut files for the frames and transom. I have been working with two different firms for cutting and have also sold the rights on an individual basis to cut a boat using the files. If you want to have one cut, contact me through my website and I'll work something out for you depending on where you live. I am trying to minimize the shipping costs by cutting them as close to the builder as possible.

Jeremiah, the parts look great! Your family must be deep sleepers as the sound of cutting plywood doesn't wake them up!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

I didn't get any boat work done last night but I used the time to clean up the garage and make space for the build.

Tonight I put together the two pieces that make the strongback.

The box didn't want to square up so I added corner braces.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

I couldn't help but set up the frames just to see how they looked.
























It's starting to feel like a boat.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Finished up the frames and the transom last night. Will start cutting into mahogany next.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

The osprey project is moving along well. I managed to finish my "rolling chassis." I also set all the supports on it to hold the frames. Soon I will start the process of making sure everything is lining up correctly.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Just a little bit of progress the last coupl of days. Spent a lot of time cleaning up the garage and time with the boys. Last night I finished the transom braces.


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Jeremiah said:


> Just a little bit of progress the last coupl of days. Spent a lot of time cleaning up the garage and time with the boys. Last night I finished the transom braces.
> 
> View attachment 12288
> 
> ...


Now that the transom has some pitch to it, do you have to clean up the cuts on the inside layer to fit all the mohagony?


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

yobata said:


> Now that the transom has some pitch to it, do you have to clean up the cuts on the inside layer to fit all the mohagony?


Yes it will take some cleaning up on the transom to get it fair with the other frames. I haven't had a lot of time the last few days to work on it. I still need to get everything leveled and attached to the strongback. The frames are only temporarily clamped in right now. 

I've been trying to get the keel cut out of the long piece of mahogany. It is really long and heavy. If I get time tonight I'll start making some cuts on it.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

yobata said:


> Now that the transom has some pitch to it, do you have to clean up the cuts on the inside layer to fit all the mohagony?


Yes it will take some cleaning up on the transom to get it fair with the other frames. I haven't had a lot of time the last few days to work on it. I still need to get everything leveled and attached to the strongback. The frames are only temporarily clamped in right now. 

I've been trying to get the keel cut out of the long piece of mahogany. It is really long and heavy. If I get time tonight I'll start making some cuts on it.


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## Boatdesigner (Dec 9, 2009)

There shouldn't be too much to clean up as the slots are designed to allow the mahogany stringers to run through the inner transom. The outer transom is installed after these have been trimmed flush with the inner transom. The gaps around the stringers should be filled with thickened resin. After the outer transom is glued up, you can then go back and fair the transom to receive the planking.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

I haven't posted progress in a couple days so here it is. I managed to cut into the mahogany to make my keel. First I had to true up one edge with a hand plane. It sure is nice when they are nice and sharp.













My poor table saw was struggling to cut that big board. Had to take it nice and slow. 







The keel is just resting on top. I still need to square up all the frames. I'm just cutting all the parts right now.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Last night I cut out the stem pieces. They are now ready for a little epoxy mixed with some filler. Hope to get to that this weekend.

Rough cut with the trusty jigsaw.








I should have changed my saw blade. I just didn't want to go through setting it all up. It worked fine but needed some clean up on the disk sander and with the cabinet file.























Nice tight fit







Needed a little more on this side.








Ready for epoxy.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

First glue up for the build. Made a rookie mistake and mixed up way to much. Will try not to make the same mistake again. 
















Here is the stem dry fit.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Jeremiah said:


> First glue up for the build. Made a rookie mistake and mixed up way to much. Will try not to make the same mistake again.


Much easier to correct than not making enough... Looking good!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

A little more sawdust therapy tonight. Worked on cutting out pices for the harpin. Still need to go back and get the frames squared up and attached to the strongback. Trying to get all the pieces cut out before starting to glue any of them to the frames.


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Just keep posting pics, I'm almost 'there'


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Not a lot of progress lately. Last weekend went down to POC and did a little fishing with my dad, brother, niece and the boys. Went out with a guide and fished the beach for trout. 25 trout and a blacktip shark.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Spent the weekend with the boys so my wife could get some well deserved girl time. She got back today so I spent a little time cutting out some Mahogany. Managed to get the inboard stringers cut and dry fit to the frames.

Laid out the templates for various pieces of the harpin and inboard stem.








Dry fitting.








You can see where the inboard stem will be faired to follow the frame contour.








I realized I need to recut two frames this weekend. Not sure what I was thinking when I cut them out. I don't want the frames in the front and back of the cockpit to be open to the storage areas. I will recut two new frames without the opening.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

I had lots of time tonight to get some boat building therapy. I recut the two frame to correct my mistake and I cut the rest of the inboard stringers.
















Dry fitting the inboards.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Made good progress last night cutting out the harpin parts.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Lots of progress since my last post. Here is the keel taper for the transition to the stem. 

Marking the keel








First side cut. I used my miter saw saw horse to hold it not cut it. 








The taper was cut with power planner and hand plan.








All done.


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## oysterhsdr (Feb 21, 2017)

Awesome work man! Here I am afraid to add some decks and false floor on my gheenoe out of coosa and you're building this work of art. Very inspiring and keep up the great work!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

oysterhsdr said:


> Awesome work man! Here I am afraid to add some decks and false floor on my gheenoe out of coosa and you're building this work of art. Very inspiring and keep up the great work!


Thanks for the compliments. This has been a fun project. Sounds like you may have a project on your hands as well. Are you posting on here as well? I'm always checking out everyone's project and boat layouts. Still trying to figure out how I'm going to finish out my skiff.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Here are some more pics of the progress. 

Leveling the frames here. 








All the frames are level and I added braces to the keel line to ensure the frames stay evenly spaced. 















I had some leftover cedar strips from the kayak build that I stapled to the frames to keep it straight while fitting the stringers, chine, and harpin.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Sorry for all the posts just breaking up the pictures.

The keel has been fitted to the frames.







This is the stem notch in frame A. It is tapered to match the stem profile. My cabinet maker rasp is my favorite tool right now.








The stem is fitted at this point. Working on fitting the harpin to the sheer profile.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Fitting the harpin to the other side of the boat.









Drying fitting.








Glueing up the rest of the harpin and inboard stringers.


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## Boatdesigner (Dec 9, 2009)

Keep up the great work Jeremiah! It looks like you have all the toys to make the build go easier! The big question is, how many clamps do you have?


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Boatdesigner said:


> Keep up the great work Jeremiah! It looks like you have all the toys to make the build go easier! The big question is, how many clamps do you have?


I do not have nearly enough. Man can never have enough clamps.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Used almost every clamp I have.
I ended up using 6 pumps resin and 3 pumps harder mixed with 404 and wood flour to glue up one harpin. The mixture was thick peanut butter.

I'm not an epoxy expert but that was what I figured was required.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

More progress last night. 

Cleaned up first harpin














Used the belt sander to clean up epoxy overruns.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Finished laminating the harpin and trimming and sanding it.









Matching pair of harpin halves








Gluing first side.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Other side of harpin all glued up.















Breast hook installed


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## Boatdesigner (Dec 9, 2009)

Looks great!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

I have been fitting the chine for last few days. The process has been testing my patience. Trying to get the joint at the stem to match up and be symmetrical between and two sides. I read the books on the process but there doesn't seam to be an easy way on this process. Just trial and error. 








There is still a small gap but I think it could be filled with thickened epoxy. I am going to see if I can get a tighter fit just not sure if it will be successful. 














It is pretty close on both sides. (You can see I cut a notch in the stem at the first frame. Just getting ready for fairing.)








I am lucky that I was able to get 18 foot strips of mahogany. I didn't have to scarf two pieces together.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Jeremiah said:


> There is still a small gap but I think it could be filled with thickened epoxy. I am going to see if I can get a tighter fit just not sure if it will be successful.


I have built exactly zero boats, but my understanding is that a small gap is sometimes preferred so that the layer of thickened epoxy isn't paper-thin. I think that uniformity is probably more important, as well as keeping everything as square as possible.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in. I'm enjoying watching the step by step; thanks for sharing!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

After a little more fitting I decided that it was good as good as it was going to get. 

I used a couple of screws to hold the chine in place during the glue up. 
















After the chine being clamped in place over night the wood held its general shape when I took the clamps off to begin the glue up. 








All glued up.


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## tomahawk (Mar 9, 2012)

Gaps are fine/good when working with wood and epoxy, just as bryson stated. Everything looks great!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Been awhile since the last update. Family vacation, work trip, blah blah blah. 

I attempted to install a stringer. I dry fit it before I had tapered the notches in the frames. (Very bad idea by the way). Overnight the stringer gave out. 

After lots of consternation I gave it another try last night and it held up. Tonight all four stringers have been dry fit.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Well this post will be a public service announcement. Take my advise always be careful when working with wood that has been bent around a curve and is "loaded" with tension. 

A couple of weeks ago I was glueing up the side stringers on my build. In order to get the epoxy on the joint I backed out the screw attaching the stringer to the stem. I them made a mistake when screwing it back in. I grabbed my drill and started screwing it without holding the board. In an instance the board split and "unloaded" on my arm. 

















Luckily there is no permanent damage but it hurt for 1.5 weeks. 

Always make sure you are holding onto a loaded board to control it in the event to breaks loose. 

Now back to the build. 

Three of the side stringers have been glued in. Not the prettiest fillets but they should work. I plan on cleaning them up. 

















The inter stringers are also glued in.


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## BatesInTheZone (Feb 2, 2017)

I would literally never be able to do something like this. Everything I try ends up looking like a second grade science fair project. I'm in awe. This build is truly impressive.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

BatesInTheZone said:


> I would literally never be able to do something like this. Everything I try ends up looking like a second grade science fair project. I'm in awe. This build is truly impressive.


Thanks. It's been a fun project.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

A little more progress. It’s going a little slower than I wanted but life happens. Only five more stringers to go and then the shaping and fairing begins.


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## LWalker (Aug 20, 2013)

Looking Good Jeremiah!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

I haven’t updated my post in a while. Been working on and off on the boat. I have most of the stringers installed;however, I have had a lot of trouble bending the inter-most stringers. I have snapped them every time I tried to instal them. Some snapped while dry fitting. When I finally thought I had a set that would work I epoxied them in. They snapped also.

















































It looked like I was going to make it with this one...








and then it broke.









I think I have to use lamination to make the curve.


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## fiddlefish (Nov 13, 2017)

Awesome, keep up the good work and posts. Following!


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## Txjohn (Sep 30, 2017)

I'm no boat builder but I've bent some wood . Quartered , straight grain wood will bent better than flat sawn. Looking at the broken pieces , I can see the break is following the grain . I'd do a glued-up bent lamination if I couldn't fine straight grain wood( steam helps too) . My apologies if this seems condescending. I barely skimmed through this thread


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Txjohn said:


> I'm no boat builder but I've bent some wood . Quartered , straight grain wood will bent better than flat sawn. Looking at the broken pieces , I can see the break is following the grain . I'd do a glued-up bent lamination if I couldn't fine straight grain wood( steam helps too) . My apologies if this seems condescending. I barely skimmed through this thread


Thanks. It is what I had. It wasn’t ideal but I thought I could make it work. I am going to cut some thinner pieces and do a lamination.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Haven’t posted in a long time but have had some recent progress. I’ll post some pictures to get caught up on the progress.























May 27, 2020


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

June 11, 2020


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

June 14, 2020


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

June 17, 2020


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

June 21, 2020


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Fast forward. 
Glass starts soon. Hopefully this week.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Thursday night she got glassed


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## Rollbar (Oct 20, 2016)

Very nice!






Osprey 18


Powerboat designs for Sportfishing and Cruising from designer Timm Smith




www.smithmarinedesign.com


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

More progress on the hull.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Mahogany bright work installed on the transom with first layer of epoxy.


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## Charles Thies (May 13, 2020)

DuckNut said:


> Just curious: are these plans available so they could be loaded into a CNC cutter to make life much simpler and easier and less time consuming and cut perfect?


I had mine all cut on a CNC machine. It does make it a lot easier


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Charles Thies said:


> I had mine all cut on a CNC machine. It does make it a lot easier


That would have saved time. Well beyond that now. 😁


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Second coat of Alexseal high build primer is on. I plan on flipping the hull before painting any further.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Boat flipped last Friday night. Thanks to Tim, Tom, Billy, Jack, Tyler, Parker and Connor. It was a lot lighter than I thought it would be.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Worked on cutting out the braces over the weekend.

Before









After


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

I’m thinking about deviating from the design and raising the front deck by 1/2” or 3/4” to give the boat a subtle Carolina yacht look. I would taper the the deck down until flush in the back. Not sure if it’s worth the effort or the extra weight (although it shouldn’t add that much). It will also give me the ability to beef up the deck overhang which will extend out about 4 extra inches at the widest spot in the front. What does everyone think?


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## Charles Thies (May 13, 2020)

Looks amazing! I bought mine CNC’d the frame parts and just getting started.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Made good progress this weekend. Got the 3/4” plywood for the front deck cut and dry fitted. Also got one of the inwales dry fitted. Lots of time spent on the table saw cutting deck supports 
















View attachment 160204


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Just read through the entire thread! Great design and you are doing it right! Thanks for sharing!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

JC Designs said:


> Just read through the entire thread! Great design and you are doing it right! Thanks for sharing!


Thank you. Took a little break in the middle of the build but have been making a lot of headway lately.

I’m hoping the front deck turns out nice being higher than the back deck. Should be unique.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Jeremiah said:


> Thank you. Took a little break in the middle of the build but have been making a lot of headway lately.
> 
> I’m hoping the front deck turns out nice being higher than the back deck. Should be unique.


YW, I think the raised front deck with that “Carolina” look will look real good! But then again, I am a sucker for a Carolina boat!


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## RVC (Dec 30, 2020)

Hello Jeremiah,

Thank you for posting your build here. At the moment this is my favorite plans built design. I will follow this intently. Incidently, did Timm refer you to any specific books before you began? His statements on the Osprey 18 webpage indicate this is a useful idea in view of how he designed the hull. Please let me know as I need to look into the availability of these references.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Got all the deck cut out. Starting to work underneath build in the supports and hatches next.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

RVC said:


> Hello Jeremiah,
> 
> Thank you for posting your build here. At the moment this is my favorite plans built design. I will follow this intently. Incidently, did Timm refer you to any specific books before you began? His statements on the Osprey 18 webpage indicate this is a useful idea in view of how he designed the hull. Please let me know as I need to look into the availability of these references.


Here are the books I read about boat building. Both are good reference books. I didn’t use west system epoxy but the process is the same.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Stern deck framing.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Bow framing.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

jackson man said:


> I built a Barnegat Bay Sneakboat 20+ years ago. When I got it to the stage that you’re at in these pictures, I almost didn’t have the heart to paint it camo! I used Honduran mahogany and it just looked like a piece of furniture!


Its hard to think about covering it all up but can’t wait to finish it up and get it on the water.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Finally getting warm enough to epoxy. Made some progress on the bilge.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Lots of progress since last post.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Center console


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Comin along nicely bud,


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Really dig the shape of that console. She's looking great.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Inside of front compartment is finally complete. Painted in Alexseal Matterhorn White.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Nice work!


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## carnett (Mar 24, 2021)

Nice!


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## MikeChamp12 (May 17, 2021)

Gorgeous. Are the plans easy to follow?


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

MikeChamp12 said:


> Gorgeous. Are the plans easy to follow?


The plans are straight forward and easy to follow. I also received the full size cutouts of for the stations.


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

Been a long time since my last post. Lots of progress. The hull is finished and fully rigged! Just have to mount the Yamaha F70!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)




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## rovster (Aug 21, 2018)

Awesome read! She looks great. What do one of these things weigh? This thread smells of epicness 😃


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Stunning!💪🏻🤙🏻


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## bob_esper (Jun 3, 2021)

Looking great!


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## Gatorbig (Jan 15, 2021)

Beautiful!


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## Jeremiah (May 18, 2017)

rovster said:


> Awesome read! She looks great. What do one of these things weigh? This thread smells of epicness 😃


Not sure about the weight. I’m thinking around 800lbs. Going to see about putting it on a scale.


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