Cacker Update- We have epoxy!

[Bill Burruss]

All,

Been crazy busy here, but have we made some steps (and sidesteps) working on the Cackler. As I stated before, we opted to lengthen the lofting stations to 12.75” and “upsize” all the plan dimensions by 12.75/12 (with a couple exceptions, mostly related to motorwell geometry). The lofting and cutting went well, and the picture of scrap pile shows how much hull/side panel was left over. We definitely maxed out what I felt comfortable cutting from 4 sheets of metric ply.

And then we had an equipment dely. My dust collector quit working, and a little troubleshooting resulted in finding out that the run capacitor (which Delta does not sell anymore and appears to be unobtainable) had a meltdown.

I’ve been having trouble throwing a 20 AMP 110v breaker when running both a 1hp band saw and dust collector simultaneously, so I decided to craigslist the dead dust collector and buy a new Grizzly 1 micron 2hp 220v model. Seems like every project requires a new tool, and I’d been wanting to upgrade from the 5 micron bag to a healthier 1 micron system, anyhow. Next problem was that I had no hands-on experience with 220v circuits before, and when we had the shop built I did not know what to tell the builder other than “wire it for 220v”. So they put in this 50A 220v (stove??) outlet , and thus had to have a little wiring done before progressing further.

After we installed the dust collector, a little more cutting-

I had originally intended to custom fit each of the bulkheads, but we started by making “try” bulkheads using upsized dimensions from the plans. They fit so well we decided to cut the good wood using those dimensions. We did deviate from the plans by making two sets of knees instead of one as Sam recommended doing this on the stretched boat (it has a longer cockpit). We were able to make all the upsized bulkheads, minus the rear floatation bulkheads, and 1 set of knees from 2 sheets of ¾ okoume. The second set of knees came from some ¾ okoume left over from my BB2, and we will make the rear floatation bulkheads from the second sheet ½ meranti floor ply.

Putting it all together- Obviously I do not have Bob’s craftsmanship skills or organization, but epoxy and a 50 grit 7” sanding discs cure many ills! Note that we left the “try” #3 (knee) bulkhead temporarily screwed in place, then custom fit the 2 sets of knees by splitting the cockpit length into thirds.

Temporarily using the motor mounts to position the motor well longitudinals:

This is where we sit now- 1 compartment epoxied. I will say that first impressions of the US Composites 3:1 epoxy and the 2 layer of biax tape schedule have been very positive. Easy to wet out and work with. My previous 2 boats were RAKA epoxy and 3 layers of regular tape.

Now, if the temps would just stay cool enough to work in the garage!



Take care!



-Bill

 

[Dave M]

Bill

It looks good so far , i remember building my Cacker in 2004-2005 you will not ever regret building this boat i still use mine for fishing and hunting . I i can remember i will post some newly taken pics of mine so you guys can see what i had done to make a great little all around boat to use . Good Luck and enjoy your build !!!!


Dave M

 

[Carl]

Nice work!
I sure hope you have AC in the shop, its been brutally hot & humid the last few days even here on the coast.

 

[Bill Burruss]

Dave,
Good to hear from you. When getting ready to start this project, I actually looked for the posts from your Cackler build and Andrew's Snow Goose build, but they appear to be casualties of the forum format change. Would love to see any pics from you build or subsequent mods. I seem to recall one of you used something besides 2-part foam for the floatation compartments. Do you remember what that was? Also, do you recommend adding the Snow Goose "nose" onto the Cackler? I am seriously considering it.
We have run the BB2 hard since then, and it has held up remarkably well. Shot a lot of ducks and caught everything from crappie to bass to dungeonous crab to spot shrimp. Just wish we had built a bigger boat sooner, not for ducks, but for crabbing and shrimping.
Thanks,
Bill

 

[Bill Burruss]

Carl,
Yes, it is hot. Much easier to stay inside and drink beer than work. Most of our efforts have been between 8 and 11 PM. Maybe I'll add a breaker and wire in an A/C unit!


Take care,
Bill

 

[Eric Patterson]

Bill

I have a window unit sitting at the shop that runs on 110. I'm not using it. Come and get it if you like.

Eric

 

[Dave M]

Hi Bill ,

Sorry for the late response , the foam i used and Andrew used was actually old dock foam , the blue foam used under docks , we have a ton of it in our area and since it is in a sealed compartment it just made sense to use that , we cut it into blocks that would fit , one advantage is if i need to access the wires to my bow light or anything behind the bulkhead i unscrew the deck plate and pull some blocks out and i am able to at least see what is going on . Speaking of deck plates i used screw in plates in the vertical compartments and the pry out deck plates in the floor due to sand getting into the threads on the floor the pry outs work great for me . as for the snow goose bill i made one on my Cackler , it comes in handy in those following sea conditions we have here as well as heading into the rough stuff as you know the bow is fairly flat so to speak the lip actually pushes the water out straight at the deck level , really a must have here in our bay . Other things i did was to add a shelf on the starboard side up front against the front bulkhead this allows for storage as well as supporting the deck further , the same shelf was put on the port side in the stern , this shelf house my electrical panel and allows for storage as well . My battery is located inside the rear port compartment and my fuel tank is on a shelf i built under the front compartment . Finally i did move my transom back to the traditional spot and added a splash well which really comes in handy when backing down . It is alot of info but i will do my best to get pictures posted for you asap to help . Have a great time building .

Dave

 

[Bill Burruss]

Eric,
Thanks for the offer. Would take you up on it but our HOA would pitch a fit if they saw one hanging on my shop. Just have to eat the elephant one bite at a time (in the cooler hours, of course).


-Bill

 

[Eric Patterson]

Eric,
Thanks for the offer. Would take you up on it but our HOA would pitch a fit if they saw one hanging on my shop. Just have to eat the elephant one bite at a time (in the cooler hours, of course).


-Bill

A HOA didn't occur to me. I placed it in the window of my garage but the HOA never knew it was there because of several tall thick nandinas blocking the view from all directions.

 

[Carl]

I believe that by time the HOA could take any real action, you would have the boat built and the AC gone!