Bad CNC cut

I am building a Chesapeake 16 kit with puzzle joints. Suprisingly, my bottom panels do not have the exact same curve, if I align one end, the other end is off by 3/8 of an inch. I have tried heat and clamps in an attmept to tame the wood but it has not worked. If I continue with this build will the hull have some kind of twist or misalignment? Thanks,

Mike


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RE: Bad CNC cut

Mike,

Your best bet might be to use the "Contact Us" link at the top of this page to get directly in touch with CLC support. This is the builders' forum and while you'll get all sorts of good answers here, for CLC manufacturing issues the folks who actually work for CLC are your best resource. Not only do they know exactly how those pieces of wood are supposed to be shaped, they can also work out details of how to make things right if there is a manufacturing problem.

That said, a picture or at least diagram would really help. While it may be obvious to you what you mean by "align one end" since you've spent so much time with those pieces of wood, those of us coming in cold to this need a bit more detail before we can understand what's happening. Aligned with what? Off from what? Are you comparing the 2 halves of the bottom to each other? Or are you aligning the pieces with a reference line?

Keep in mind that on the Chesapeakes, there is no straight line anywhere on the bottom panels (at least not on the pre-puzzle joint models and I can't think of any reason why the new versions would have changed). Looking at the panel from above with the centerline towards you, the centerline should have a very gentle almost flat curve, almost like an "M" or a handlebar moustache. This is necessary so that a flat piece of wood can be wrapped to form a curved hull. I think it was John Harris who compared it to peeling a wooden banana.

When you build up both halves of the bottom and lay one on top of the other, do they match?  If they do, then the curves you see are there deliberately, not a manufacturing error. If they don't, then verify that you've assembled the pieces correctly, that is, not put the front left onto the back right, or the 2 backs and the 2 fronts together. I know that sounds silly, but if you did, you wouldn't be the first person to do so, nor would you be the last.

Good luck,

Laszlo

 

 

RE: Bad CNC cut

Sounds like a bad part to me! It's rare, very rare, but no less annoying. Get in touch. My preference is to replace the part.

RE: Bad CNC cut

Thanks, If I lay the assembled parts one on top of the other and align the bow end and follow the lines to the center it matches perfectly.   As I leave the center and move towards the stern they begin to diverge. If I reverse the process and start at the stern, a perfect match to the center then they diverge as I move toward the bow. As I mentioned I have been using heat and clamps to try to tame the wood and it helps but the correction is only temporary and when I force the ends together it does give the panel an arc. I will contact CLC when they open tomorrow.

RE: Bad CNC cut

   As Laszlo suggested I used the 'contact' button on the CLC website hoping to get them my message when they opened Monday morning. I received an email (on Sunday) from John Harris, the CEO and owner. They will ship new panels tomorrow. Could not ask for better customer service.

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