Jacobs' Elk Lake Iceboat
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of the page for the LIVE CAM
December 3rd 2009
Yesterday we set up Black Ice with the new mast and the sail we had cut for a storm sail.
Click the photo to see a larger view.
September 7th 2009
Walt, Kelly and I set up Black Ice with the new composite mast. We couldn't have imagined it
going better. It was perfect. The forestay needed adjustment, but that was expected.
Here are some photos from today
September 4th 2009
I recently built the piece for the botom of the mast that makes it super easy and safe to put the mast up.
Both my bubble boats (Magic and Merlin) had these pieces. I also built the new mast ball.
See the photos below. There is also a short video, but the quality is very low.
August 27th 2009
Checking the mast bend. It was perfect!
August 18th 2009
Doug and I are taking a break and fixing Kelly's motorcycle
August 14th 2009
Making the aluminum hound
August 12th 2009
One side of the mast has the final finish on it. The pictures don't do it justice. It is much much shinier than
they appear. You can see how gorgeous and smooth it is. It will smooth out even more until it's tacky.
August 11th 2009
We have returned to working on the composite spar. I lightly sanded the mast
and will now put the final coats of 207 on to make it look fantastic.
July 18th 2009
Kelly and I put the carbon fiber on the spar today. Below are a few photos and a short video.
June 21st 2009
Removing the temp rivets and testing the bend before the carbon.
June 20th 2009
Today Walt, Rick and I joind the two halves of the mast. Photos below were taken by Rick and Kelly.
To see even more photos be sure to look at Rick's Flickr site.
Lola helping
Walt
Rick
Lola tired from doing all the work!
June 19th 2009
You can see in the photos below the rivets will temporarily hold the halves in place on the U-channel.
They will be ground off before the spar is wrapped and after the two halves are epoxied together.
Click the photos below for a larger view
May 29th 2009
Here is the spar "mocked up". The two halves are set next to each other with the beam in the center
May 28th 2009
Tuesday Walt and Rick helped me build the leading edge of the composite mast. We were so busy and
having fun so we didn't get photos of actually laying it up, but here is a photo of it after it cured and was pulled of the plug.
Tomorrow I will mock up the finished product and try to get some photos. Once the mast is almost done we
will put on the carbon fiber.
May 18th 2009
Today we pulled the trailing half of the mast off of the plug. It came off easily
and looks great!
May 16th 2009
Starting to pull the peel ply on the trailing edge of the composite mast. Notice how smooth and nice the
fiberglass came out. If you wanted your mast green you could actually just give it a coat of 207 and it would be
gorgeous. Once the mast is all together it will get a layer of carbon fiber. It should be beautiful! Here
are a couple photos from today.
May 14th 2009
Update: Here are a couple more photos I loaded the next day
Today Walt, Rick and myself started building the trailing edge of the composite mast.
Below are some photos. To see even more photos go to Rick's Flickr site. Tomorrow we will
be taking the trailing edge off of the plug. More photos of that to come tomorrow.
May 8th 2009
Today I finished smoothing the "plug". I also have a sample piece of mast you will
see. It has the carbon outer layer and mast track inserted. One side is just rough sanded
the other side is gorgeous and shiny covered with 207 epoxy. It's our "show and tell" piece.
When people ask what the mast construction is like we can show this and explain the rest.
Below is a very short video.
April 23rd 2009
I spent some time in the woodshop today. The plug mast is smoothed. I made a fiberglass sander that once sandpaper is added it is
the perfect shape to sand the leading edge of the mast and has a wood hand grip.
April 12th 2009
Today I built some extensions for the end of the mast I am using as a mold to build the new
composite mast. This way I will be able to remove the glass without damaging the mast I am using as
a mold. Below are some clickable thumbnail photos
April 3rd 2009
We had a great day today and got alot accomplished. We started making the the composite mast today.
Walt, Rick, Ed, Rob, Sue, Kay and the two of us were all here helping in one way or another. If it wasn't actually working
on the mast it was at least making the Tony Paco's chili brought up by Rob and Sue from Toledo or the cake we
had for desert. Below are some photos from today. Click any photo to see a larger view
Walt and Rick cutting fiberglass
Tony Paco's chili courtesy of Rob and Sue
Yes, Rob really does have a wife. Here is Sue with their dog Guage and our dog Mandy on the floor beside them.
Very short video of Walt and Rick cutting fiberglass
Well it's been a great season even though I was out of commission for part of it. I did get in quite a few
days of sailing. At least a couple weeks if you add the days together. Now it is building season. First I am
going to build a composite mast. I have a mast here that has the perfect measurements for what I want to build, but it
is wood. I am taking the hardware off of it today and taking measurements. Follow the mast build this spring right here on this page.
December 5th 2008
Today Jack and Rich started installing a springboard on J14 #1 before it leaves for it's new home. They have to open up the bottom, put in support and install the springboard.
See what they accomplished today by looking at the photos below and watching the video.
Below is Brutus waiting for ice in Black Ice (Jack's triangle boat) with it's cover on
Here is a short video from the work done today
November 16th 2008
Today involved sharpening skates. I also included a few photos of last weeks "weighing down of the plank" to check it and Jack and Rich putting aluminum plugs in the plank
November 14th 2008
Over the last week or so Jack and Rich have modified Vixen's steering.
The photo below shows the new gears. This systems makes for such a great feel.
The steering is smooth and dependable. The carbon fiber "guard" you see in one of the photos is at the end of the springboard (since this boat is a stern steerer) for pushing against when we push start using the ATV.
They also started gathering the skates for all the boats that needed to be sharpened.
November 1st 2008
Last week we installed the carbon fiber brace into the cockpit of Vixen. We also modified the steering.
I have included some photos and will have more photos and updates this week.
October 16th 2008
Photos out of
the mold and being sanded and prepped .
October 15th
2008
Jack and Rich decided to make the
carbon piece that we will be attaching to Vixen where the
springboard mounts. Jack made the mold and then they cut
the carbon pieces. Next they wetted out the carbon
as they added layers in the mold. After all the layers were
down and wetted out they wrapped the piece in plastic wrap so
it would have some pressure and conform to the mold. Lastly
the clamps were added to flatten the 3 mating surfaces to
the hull. There are a few photos below. We will add photos as
it comes out of the mold and it is attached to the hull so you
can see what it is Jack is making.
October 9th 2008
Today was a "get ready" day.
Vixen's springboard was
removed and the hull is up on sawhorses. Jack is going to put
a carbon fiber reinforcement where the springboard attaches to
the hull. There are no problems yet, but there is significant
force at that point so he wants to be sure it is plenty strong
enough where the springboard attaches.
He is also
changing the steering ratio very slightly. The steering is
very soft and nice, but in the pits it has a little larger
turning radius then we would like. We are going to make it
slightly less.
We will start working out in the
woodshop more often now that we are getting closer to
iceboating season. We will be updating this page with
photos and news of what is happening out in the shop.
Periodically the live cam will be set up in the shop so you
can watch the progress live. When the live cam is on you can
scroll to the bottom of this page to watch it or go to Iceboat
Workshop Live Cam
When the live cam is on you will
see live footage, when it is off you will see
photos.
