Fiona

Member

Registered: 22 May 2020

Posts: 20

Oxford Shell

Hi there
I’m completely new to this and about to build an Oxford Shell. Just wondering if anyone has any photos of theirs or any links to their build experience. I’d love to see how others got on.
Thanks
Fiona

Yambo

Member

Registered: 17 Jul 2014

Posts: 36

Re: Oxford Shell

Hi Fiona, The Oxford Shell is a CLC boat and they have an active forum and forums for individual boats. I typed 'Oxford' into the search forum box and there's lots of posts and hopefully advice there.

Good luck with your build, I hope you enjoy it!

Ian

Employee

Registered: 24 Nov 2014

Posts: 100

Re: Oxford Shell

Hi Fiona and welcome to the forum.

The Oxford Shell II is still quite a new boat and I haven't seen a full build log for it yet, either here or after a quick look at the CLC forum (maybe I missed it).  The original Oxford Shell was quite a different boat which was built a bit differently, so might not be very relevant.  I think the mark II was launched in July 2018 or not long before, so anything older refers to the mark I.  There are still some useful tips on the CLC forum though, as Yambo said.

The construction is probably most similar to a stitch-and-glue kayak, especially the ones built without sheerclamps, like the Shearwater or the Petrel.  There are several build logs of those boats here, which you may find useful.  I'm sure you'll receive advice here too, if you care to share your progress, even though people may not have built the same boat.

Johannes

Member

Registered: 18 Feb 2020

Posts: 3

Re: Oxford Shell

Hi Fiona,

if you have an instagram account (or are curious enough to create one), check out bad_news_boat_club - he's posting quite detailed about his progress on the Oxford Shell II and his documentation may also help you to avoid the one or another pitfall.

Fiona

Member

Registered: 22 May 2020

Posts: 20

Re: Oxford Shell

Oh thank you all, I'll have a look at those. I will try and post some photos then up here of the progress.
That's a great help, thank you.

Adrian

Member

Registered: 7 Aug 2017

Posts: 3

Re: Oxford Shell

Fiona - I have exactly the same problem as you had for fitting up the transom.   The deck at the stern is narrower than the transom.   It seems like an impossible fit.   How did you solve it??

spclark

Member

From: "Driftless" Wisconsin USA

Registered: 19 Mar 2020

Posts: 465

Re: Oxford Shell

Adrian I don't see where Fiona mentioned a problem such as you've described?

I've not built a shell of any kind (CLC or other) but looking at the line drawings at CLC I have to wonder if they perhaps left the deck 'long' to be trimmed flush once transom’s bonded? Or trimmed before so width of both match width of sheer?

Common RoT (Rule of Thumb) with stitch'n'glue has it that "1/8 +/- is 'close enough'" so it's either trim off any excess or fill with thickener-fortified epoxy, then 'glass.

I have the CLC Builders' Forum open in another browser window, looking for hints for this particular design of theirs... and also want to mention that they have a Builders' Club too where you can search for other builders of the designs you're interested in. That avenue may also lead you to answers for your questions.

Last edited by spclark (19 Jul 2021 3:09 am)

spclark

Member

From: "Driftless" Wisconsin USA

Registered: 19 Mar 2020

Posts: 465

Re: Oxford Shell

Posted a month ago on CLC’s forum:

https://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum … ml?msg=new

Includes links to images of one builder’s transom overlap; I’m wondering if this is similar or the same as what you folks have experienced with yours?

Maybe this all can be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction soon!!

Last edited by spclark (19 Jul 2021 3:08 am)

Pete54

New Member

Registered: 26 Oct 2021

Posts: 1

Re: Oxford Shell

I built a Shell II during the lockdowns.  Straightforward stitch and glue generally.  The instructions are pretty good but there are a few areas where its tricky.

The hull and deck are built separately in hardboard formers.  The first time you mate them these parts are spaced apart and the copper ties are fiddly to make up.  Once snuggly fitted together getting the two halves to align is fiddly.

As per the posting on the CLC site, my transom - which is an outer blanking piece, so really non-structural took a lot of sanding to fit.  As there is already an 'inner' structural piece it caused me no heartache.  Equally the bow was somewhat fiddly - getting enough thickened epoxy in means long copper ties and careful tightening (and some supplementary G-clamps).

Overall it is not hard to build, the most challenging parts were moving the upper section around prior to mating - it is very floppy and easy to damage, getting the chines and upper and lower section to join in the correct way - corner to corner is tricky with 3mm ply and takes quite a lot of attention and fitting the 'deck' where the sliding seat fits - its big and the fit is complicated, probably took over a dozen attempts to dry fit! 

My approach was to build a long table which could support both halves in their formers - so 4ft x 24ft.  When making the final adjustments as soon as the corners align - get the super glue on it to hold the panels in position and then move further along.

All in all I'm pleased with the result.  It's the first boat I've built in years and the end result is certainly worth the effort