Cuda1949

Thank you for the thumbs up!  It's much appreciated.
 
I was playing with different deck plank designs when, just before I dozed off last night, I came up with something I wanted to try today.  But first I had to find some darker woods, which I didn't have already milled.  I settled on padauk, not the best grain-wise but the color was just want I wanted.  The stock I have has a lot of red in it.
 
All my milling tools are for full-sized lumber but I was able to resaw, joint, resaw, etc until I had three strips close to the thickness of the deck planks I purchased.  I was then able to use the drum sander to get it to the same thickness as the other planks.  But how to cut them into the same width?  A full-sized table saw isn't the answer.  Then the light bulb clicked on.
 
Years ago I made a table for a Milwaukee Porta Band I have.  I've used it for cutting conduit and Unistrut but I needed a table to cut up some metal wall tiles.  It worked pretty well.  
 
So I took it out to see how it would work cutting the padauk strips to width.

Not bad!
 
Next was to test my idea.  I ran two padauk planks down the center.  On the port side I taper cut the birch planks to butt up to the padauk center planks.  On the starboard side I would add a padauk insert so the birch plank would butt at 90 degrees.  Sort of creating a saw-tooth design with the padauk.  (imagine the padauk plank to the left of the tape is birch)

I'm leaning toward the saw-tooth design.

Small update: managed to create a basic jig to work on the hull assembly, cut out the bulkheads and dry fitted them onto the false keel, then dry fitted the false deck to check fitting. Marked the areas on the false keel for applying glue. Overall no big issues yet, had to file off a small amount on one of the bulkhead tops to make the fit.  Next step, cleaning and sanding the parts, then rechecking and glueing... Thnx to Mr. Coyle for the advice, warp was indeed not an issue.

Finally got around to cutting wood.   And I'm pretty darn happy with the Yellow Cedar on the laser.   Cut's clean, a bit of smoke here and there and after making some test cuts, Chuck's advice about low power and slow speed are spot on.  It just took some testing to find out low the power could go.
 
Anyway, here's the pictures of 1/32" sheet cut for planking my "large" ship's boat.  First one is the topside of the sheet, and the second shows the bottom sides with some splotches where it appears that some sap "popped". I've seen this in other woods, so wasn't surprised by it.


 
Edit:  Note to self, order more Cedar....
 

While rereading the articles on decking, I saw the suggestion of taking a pencil and using it to darken the edges of the planks, to mimic the black caulking.  An idea popped into my head, "Why not glue black card stock to the edges of the planking before laying them down?"
 
I laid PVA glue on the paper then set a group of planks on their side over it.  Then I laid a board over that and applied pressure.

An edge shot before gluing

After the glue had dried, I used a razor knife (not the Exacto in the pic) to separate the planks from each other.  The paper split where I didn't slice it clean through.  Next round I'll try the Exacto.

But when I pushed the planks together, it closed the tear in the paper.  These planks are not glued, they are just resting on the plywood board.  When squeezed together, they create a fairly clean joint.

So far, it is looking promising.  Sure would be nice not to have to try to set the plank and paper at the same time.
 

Now that the laundry room and one bathroom are done, and the boat is in pretty good shape, I can get back to the model.
 
I've been playing with how I'm going to move forward on the planking and finding hot hide glue not quite as easy to work with when I can't pin the planks down to the deck.  The plywood top is far more resistant to pinning than balsa.  But I did manage to lay two planks along each rail to get things started.
 
Next was to see how I might go about gluing and securing the planking throughout the deck work.  I'm using black cardstock for the joints.  It's twisted from cutting it into strips and a bit uncooperative.

I'm wondering if CA glue would be an option.  Any suggestions?

Thanks to Lou I now have the pieces I need!!! I cant say enough how impressed I am with the generosity and kindness of the people on this forum. Very much appreciated and I will be sure to pay it forward. Thanks again!...........Brian

Probably ....but based on the response I doubt I will move forward....I was just trying to do a good thing and offer up the service if it was indeed such a huge issue based on what I am hearing.   I am going to place my order on Monday for some billets and will only get enough for my needs through the winter by the looks of it.  I am personally more fond of Yellow Cedar now than boxwood now, so for me it isnt a real big deal.  I like the overall look and color of it better.  It just takes some adjustments to get used to working with it....but once you do, its a beautiful wood.  And at a third the price.
 
My Winnie in Yellow cedar is below in case some of you havent seen it all planked up in the group build area.!!!!

 
  

I have been swamped with emails and requests to offer boxwood sheets again at Syren.  I have to be honest...I really have reservations about this.  But I will consider it.  Keep in mind that this was never a profitable or "time-worthy" venture for me.  If I do decide to start selling it again I will only offer milled sheets and I will warn everyone that the price per sheet will be extremely expensive.  The good quality bandsaw blades I would need cost $150 each....and they dont last long on this hard wood.   This is do to the cost of milling them and acquiring good quality stock while culling out the bad stuff I get which can not be sold.  The cost for the culled pieces must be absorbed somehow....otherwise this venture will just be a complete drain on my resources....I will also have to limit the sale of boxwood sheets to the USA and Canada as shipping them to Europe and elsewhere is just too expensive.   Usually double what anyone was willing to pay for it.
 
But before I make the decision....I must hear from you guys if you would seriously consider buying it from me at the prices I would need to charge.  If not....then I wont bother.  I have crunched the numbers and the prices per sheet are listed below.   If you seriously would not buy it then please let me know.....or if you would!!!   Unless I have more than just a few folks that would use me as their supplier it just wont be worth the effort....Absolutely no strips though.  I have received at least 3 dozen emails lately so if only two or three respond here then I know its just not worth it now based on the $$$ I would need to charge.  This is a serious commitment for me and I need to know what the potential for sales is before I move any further.
 
Your responses are crucial because I need to buy new 10/4 stock right now.  If I am only buying it for myself it will cost me about $800 but if I need to buy enough to mill sheets for resale then I need to buy about $3800 worth of lumber.   Its a big difference and a huge nut for a small business like mine.
 
Thanks in advance...my proposed pricing is shown below.
 
.025" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long)  $14.50 1/16" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $15.25 1/32" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $15.00 1/4" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $20.00 1/8" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $17.00 3/16" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $18.50 3/32" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $16.00 3/64" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $15.00 5/16" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4 1/4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $22.00 5/32" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $17.75 7/32" Thick Milled Boxwood Sheets (4" - 4 1/2" wide x 14" long) $19.50

They are braced square to the centerline.

Back at it working on the rigging slow work.

 

Back at it working on the rigging slow work.

 

Yes I am using that and some plans from Building a Clipper Ship. 
 
 
 
Unfortuantely I do not have the Hackney Book but will see if I can find it on ABE.Books  Thanks for the input. 

I have attached the railing supports on the rear deck.  Still working on attaching the deadeyes to the deck.

The deck houses are not glued onto the deck as I am currently working on attaching the rails and deadeyes. I also have the two bathrooms built and the winch and chain. This was completed on July 7, 2018.

I then created the other two deck houses and the chicken houses and hatches.

After the deck was planked I moved on to building the deck houses and other deck fittings. As I have no real plans I used the Billings plans and a copy of the Scientific plans. I believe that the deck house on the cutty was smaller than this one. April 2018 - June 2018

This planking was started in March as you can see there wasn't  a false deck. I had to put in wood block in order to support the decking. The planks were marked with a black magic marker. 

So I have finished the rigging for the shrouds 6 on each side for the fore mast and main mast. 4 on each side for mizzen mast. I have glued the deck houses ( all except the one on the poop deck). So I guess I will start the spars although I am not sure how I am going to attach them to the masts. When I build by ships in bottle I drill holes through the mast and through the spar and tie it to the mast. I read somewhere that you can do it by using a piece of wire. Guess trial and error.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Actually I have to be very careful as this is a temporary holder for the ship. I am looking for a special piece of wood to mount the ship on. It is fairly stable. Thanks for the concern,

Back at it working on the rigging slow work.

 

Back at it working on the rigging slow work.

 

Back at it working on the rigging slow work.

 

So my wife and I went away for a Christmas visit with friends. Our grandson house and dog sat. So what a surprise to come home and find my Cutty sark out of the building cradle. My granddaughter moved my work station and slightly damaged the rear spanker and bent a few spars, Quick fix and now she owes me big time. Gotta lover her shes grandpops baby ( 19 YRS old) So after fixing the minor issues I started the running rigging for the rest of the ship.
 

Thanks for the tips. I might try to carve it first to see if it comes out ok. I haven't carved anything other then some hulls for my ships in bottles and a Santa Claus I made for my wife many years ago. I will keep you posted. Hoping to get back to work tomorrow on the rigging. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ahhh lower slower. Fertile breeding grounds for the De state bird, mosquitoes.