Goliath Quantum Drive

[Doretta Castoe]

OKhere goes my first blog ever about making a steel boat, the Goliath from Glen-L...I bought the plans on 10 August of 2009. I drooled on and dreamed about them for five years (really? wow, I didn't think it was that long...). I did months of research on engines, drives, motors, controllers, batteries, props, lighting themes, helm instrumentation, hull materials (wood, aluminium, steel), etc. I consulted experts in as many fields as I could think of. I checked out things I knew I already knew all about, ... just to make sure. (I am sure I over-thought it.)

I guess I was overly concerned that I might start such a large project, and it would get bogged down in financing and deciding what to keep in my plan and what to go without. You see, I started AND finished the Power -Yak with the sole intent to do small custom boat construction for the discriminating buyer. You know the type. The ones that want it, but for reasons known only to them, they want someone else to do all the work to make the dream a reality. And I felt I was the kind of guy that could achieve that and make a couple bucks for my effort. Though a lengthy test, the Power-Yak was a modest success. I must here, at the risk of sounding like a religious nut, to say, I had a lot of time on my knees and I give the greatest thanks to my Heavenly Father for any success I achieved.

Now fast-forward to the Winter of 2014/2015. Lots of heart-to-hearts with my dearly beloved, and if I am the only one writing here, I would say I wore her down. My wife conceded and said I could build it IF, ... I finished a couple other projects I had started, and were taking up valuable room in my shop/barn. I secretly think she thought I would wear myself out, and get bored with the dream and lose interest. But this ADHD/OCD old man stayed the course. Six months later, I was done with the Power-Yak and sold it. Done with all the friends and neighbors project repairs, gathered materials for the hull framing, and poured a new section of floor in the barn/shop, ...shop/barn?, ... anyway to have a smooth and uncluttered area for rib layout.

Note the addition of a simple cross brace to support all the steel within the base of the building jig. Space is a premium for me. And in case you are wondering, the stall in my barn I am working in is just 12' wide and 30+ feet long. Length is fine, the width bothers me a bit.

Because I have a farm to run and build, I do not have a set schedule for working on the Goliath. There is a myriad of interruptions in building and running a retirement farm. Yes, I am getting older, and think everything I do has something to do with the "R" word.

Anyway, ... On the 22nd, after experiencing the process of frame #1, I decided to streamline the process and changed from cutting all the short sides and re-welding at the given angles, to taking a single measurement of a selected half-frame, slitting and cutting wedges at corner points, bending the joint into form, and welding. Much easier! That day, I "pre-cut" all the pieces for all the remaining frames.

A word about the plans. Although they are good, I am used (read spoiled) to having all the hard work done for me. I noted in these plans, that they are not quite up to the Glen-L standard. It would have been nicer to have either a gusset schedule or the gusset layout (floor plate) lines printed on the patterns. Other than a single height measurement in the plans, and a single obscure mark for the D.W.L. on the pattern sheet, there is no other reference to set-up level of the frames to the building jig, or the size and shape of the center-line gussets on the patterns. In planning for all the assembly, I find it is important to leave a slot for the keel (which is also NOT accounted for in the plans). In the assembly of the frames, it is MOST important to get the frame halves into proper angle and alignment by welding to the gussets ONLY, and make sure you leave room for the keel. That way you do not weld the frames just to slot them out a few days later when you lay the keel plate in place. (See Ed. Note below) I guess you could place the keel on the building form first, but I think the design and construction process would suffer serious alignment issues. I ended up computing and drawing gusset shapes onto the patterns as I built each frame member. We have yet to see if I did it right. I still have serious issues with the setup line of each frame in relation to the building form. Other than that, everything is assembling well and fast.

Well that was not a productive day. All I got done was the other half of frame #5 and tack-welding frame #6. Tuesday I had to go to the next state (35 miles) to get some additional angle for set-up cross-members per the plans. Finished frame #6 and did a bit of re-arranging to make enough room for the assembly process on the building jig. If I was starting this one again, I would pour a 16' wide pad so I would have enough room to walk around with tools more easily.

Well, as of 7:15 P.M. tonight the 28th of May, I finished all the frame assemblies and mounted them on the building jig. I am liking this build (for the building sake) best of all the boats I have worked on. Even when I worked on the USS Ranger at Puget Sound years ago! If anybody wants to build this plan, I would gladly forward them a copy of my Gusset/floor plate schedule. It makes the assembly a lot quicker to have the plates cut first, clamped, and then do the final measurements and welding.

A word about tools... Besides having the two MIGS (one small HFT & one Hobart Ironman 250), the Chinese plaz, and the cheap Harbor Freight 4" grinder, I have found so far, that the best thing to have for marking the steel is a "white-out pen". May sound silly, but the mark is thin, bright, burns off when cut and is as precise as your metal scale and speed-square.

I am very glad I made a working copy of the patterns. I have virtually destroyed sheet 1 of 2 ( the frame layout patterns). Did I mention I should not have started this without at least a 16' wide stall 8' longer than the boat?!?!

There were a couple other things I think are a must before you build this boat. A 10-pak of 1/8" double ended body drills, the HFT welding stand with a 12" extension mod to the base, a large container of BoeLube, and a lot of vice-panel grips. I think I have close to a dozen in various sizes and shapes, and I use all of them, all of the time in this build so far.

Something was not shaping up right... I remeasured all the frames and found I had 3 "squatting" frames that were throwing the profile off. But, in the process of finding the mis-formed frames, I started cutting and shaping the keel and stern-post. got them to a point I could not continue till the frames were fixed. Saturday will be a "redo day".

On a side note, I was getting some minor hardware in the local farm store, and my progress with the Goliath came up. It is surprising how many people who have never done a thing, will be more than willing to tell you how you can't do it, or how it is going to be too heavy and sink when they discover it is made of steel. "A steel boat would not float unless it is 50, 60, 100 feet long!" Then they stare in disbelief when I show them the examples I conveniently keep on my phone. Back to the boat...

This entry is on the 13th of June... All frames are set and aligned, the stern-post, keel, and stem are in and welded Also, the sheer bars are in and the "special" oversized chines are in and welded. I started at frame #5 and worked both fore and aft and side to side, like the plans suggested. I used chains and a come-a-long to pull each into the next successive frame slot, welded, chilled the weld before moving to the next point.

I opted to start the end of the shears and chines at frame #1, the last frame to the aft (+ or - a couple of inches), so I could install the fantail portions after I have curved them. I had to order a "tubing roller" from HFT so I could get the right shape I wanted around the curve of the fantail. So that will slow things down until I get it in the mail.

The stem was a particularly difficult task. Instead of having it lasered or water jetted in the shape of the patterns, I opted for the rosebud on my torch and a carefully calibrated weight consisting of my 4' pipe wrench and my 20 pound, short-handled sledgehammer hanging on the plate as I heated it. It worked (with a lot of prayer)...

You might notice the slimmer keel members. That is because I wanted to have less of a protruding knife-edge on the outer hull, and the weight savings went into the 37 pounds of hollow chines (and other places).

And lastly for this update, I marked all the frames for the hull stiffeners. Then I used my plaz and blasted them out perfectly. I laid all the bottom ones in, but again, the fantail is holding me up. So far, I have used up a full pair of bottles of Oxygen and acetylene (80 cu. ft.) to shape the keel. I am estimating another refill to shape the stiffeners.

Tuesday the 23 of June, 2015:I finally got the "Tubing Roller" from HFT. After a lot of dressing, refitting, and upgrading both the roller and table for it, I was ready for the first attempt at rolling the fantail chine member (I guess you would call it)... All the reviews were correct on the assembly and operation of the roller. However, like everything else on this project, I had done my research and took responsibility for my actions.

With that member welded, I move on to the fantail sheer member. I was not sure this was a good idea, for a couple of reasons. 1, When I installed the shears on the sides, I welded them to frame #1 and left an inch stub.(Unlike the Chines I left about 4" short and warped everything for the weld.) This would make for some concerns about the curves at this point, and 2, structural stability could be an issue.( maybe not, I cranked the Ironman up to the second highest setting and really burned it in.) "Nuthin a bit of grindin caint fix!" Sorry, the "Ozarkian" sometimes sneaks out. And, the roller did not come with 3/4" rolls. So in proper farmer form, I made sure the Boelube was close and tried the bend with the 1" rolls. I did just a quarter turn on the screwjack per pass with the roller, and it came out fine.

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