davec

Hi Jim - great to see you building again. I learned all sorts of things reading your log that will help me move forward - would be great to have someone else working on the same model at the same time. Dave

Like what you did with the seams, and I really like the color scheme and shade of red. It might be darker than you planned, but still looks like a great color. Beautiful work!

absolutely amazing - beautiful work! The simulated splices look great.

Hi Jim - Just went back and reread your build log. Amazing work. Your sharpie is really coming along beautifully. I'm also really impressed at your building pace - your first post was 4/1. My copy of Chapelle's boatbuilding finally came in the mail, a little delayed by COVID. I like how many of the original building practices you've used. Dave

I think the jig is ready. I've included a picture, even though it looks like all the other pictures, including the jig in the trash can. You can't see it well, but the chines are symmetric, follow a smooth curve, and line up with the molds on the sides. On top, they also line up with keelson. I'm working overnight, so won't touch it again until later in the week, but I'm ready to start attaching the planks for the bottom of the hull. I'm going to deviate from the monograph and try to do the side planking on the mold. If that works, will flip it over after to do the stern planking. Optimistic.

Hi John - Thanks for your comments, and I definitely agree with not being too much of a slave to the plans. I do worry about cumulative error. I usually end up allowing little deviations, which snowball to bigger ones when I have to correct for the previous ones. Here where I am making adjustments this early, by the time the model is done, it could end up with wings, wheels, and a Bofors gun. Will post some pictures later, but yesterday I glued the jig together, shaped the keelson at the bow, sanded the keelson and chines , and milled scale 1x8" planks for the hull bottom. Plan for today is to do a small amount of final adjustment to the chine slots and heat bend the chines so they don't need a lot of clamping. Dave

Made more sense in this instance to adjust the size of the molds than to move them. Because some of the sections were drawn to the outer plank width, they were too wide, and shifting them wouldn't correct for this. I think I have them adequately adjusted. Nothing in the pictures is glued yet, but I think I have both the upper and outer curves adequately fair, and as close to the plans as possible. I ended up redoing sections 5 and 8. I am a hair (around scale 1") wider than the plans at these two points, but it gives me a fair enough curve that I only need clamps at the two ends to hold everything in place. I will need to adjust the keelson, which looks like it is also drawn to the outer hull at the bow (this may have been deliberate to allow extra wood for adjustments). I will need to do a little minor shimming (cut my chine slots a little too big at #7) but I think it is time to glue everything in place. With everything clamped instead of glued, there is a little give, so I may need to do some final adjustments once everything is completely rigid.

John - thanks for the better picture. I just need to have my model come out as nice as your mold. Have you ever brought that model to a club meeting? I don't remember seeing it. Mark, John, and Jim - Thanks for the suggestions about preventing the hull getting glued to the mold. As I think ahead, I'm mostly going to have to be really careful with glue application. Any glue that comes out from under the chine will be visible, and will be very dry and hard to remove by the time I take the hull off the mold. I plan to bevel the corner of the edge of the chine notch under the side planking, but mostly I'm going to have to avoid glue squeezing out under the edges. Looking forward to some time over the weekend. I've been picking away at the jig over the week. I have all but one section both lining up with the inner planking line from the plans and having the chine follow a nice smooth curve through the notches on the other as cut sections without extra clamping. I'm having minor trouble at section #5, which ends up being a little too narrow if I use the width from the plans. I'll try adjusting the adjacent notches a little more to see if I can compensate and use the section as drawn. If not, I will make a new #5 that is a little wider so that everything follows a smooth curve. The hull would be a little wider than the plans just at this section, but it seems better to do that than force fit the planking with a lot of clamping.

Jim - I agree the monograph does jump around some. It seems like the authors tried a bunch of things as they developed their build techniques, wrote as they went, and didn't always remove all the text about false starts. It would have been very interesting to see it as a build log which included the different things the authors tried. I think they also needed to use pictures from later in the build to show details of things they didn't photograph at the time. They put a lot of time into this project, and took on something a lot different than the other tutorials and practicums that are available. It is a cool project, even though there is a fair amount early on to puzzle out. It looks like it will be pretty straightforward once the hull bottom and side planking are done. Glad you took out your model. Hope you start again. Dave

Jesse - Beautiful model - congratulations on finishing! Dave

Michael - Looks awesome, including the painting!! I agree with JD. I switched from plastic cars to wooden ships 20 years ago to get away from painting, which I found really frustrating. Didn't help that I was doing it in the basement with the dryer lint and cat hair. Dave

Hi Jim - The monograph does build it upright. Maybe I should be less nervous and just build it the way they did. Just looks like it would be hard to keep everything symmetric and aligned. To me it looks like they originally intended to use the jig as a mold, then gave up. It is in the right general shape for a mold, and they even take us through precisely beveling the sides. It doesn't work as a mold using the templates as printed, but it is SO close. Minor adjustments in heights of the stems of the middle section templates and narrowing a few of the templates to the inner planking line seems to make everything work. It was initially frustrating, since once the jig is glued together it is hard to make the adjustments. Rebuilding it adjusting each template separately is a lot easier. The other thing that threw me off was figuring out what dimension the chines should be. The monograph gave two different options. You clearly figured this out already. I initially put the 9 degree bevel on 1/8" square stock. When I redid it as 3/32x1/8" it worked much better with the chine notches as drawn on the templates. Another instance where the plans were clearer than the monograph. I'd like to try building it on the mold. It was the way the real boat was made, and both the build by John Cheevers above and in Jim Cricket's log did it this way, with results I'd love to come close to. I'm having fun experimenting. When I mail ordered the replacement plywood, buying a 5 sheet pack was the best deal, so I have plenty of material to play with. I'm leaning towards not relying heavily on the monograph, and more on the plans and how the original boats were built. If I plank on the mold, I will need to install all the inner workings after the planking, which is also different than the monograph. Dave

Substantial progress over the weekend. I cut new section templates, and used the keelson and jig 2 to adjust the curve on top (the bottom of the hull). When I get it all done, will list all the adjustments to make it easier for the next builder. The 3 templates at either end follow the right curve, but the ones in the middle needed some shimming, except #8, which needed some substantial lowering. I notched the templates for the keelson, which now sits 1/32" above the jig like it is supposed to. The picture from above doesn't show well because of perspective and distortion from my cell phone camera, but the outside curve now follows the plan. The molds should extend to the inner planking line. Most did, but a few went to the outside of the hull. Once adjusted and beveled, a strip along the edges follows a nice smooth curve. I've been working on the chine notches. I have some irregularities to work out (would much rather try to shape boxwood than plywood), but am getting close to getting them right. I've been clamping small boards along either side of the base to keep everything aligned. It lets me remove the section templates to adjust them individually. This jig has been a lot of work, but at the very least will let me get the flat bottom of the hull right. I doubt the rest of the build would go well if I don't have the right shape and size for it. If the jig works the way it should, I should also be able to use it as a mold for the planking.

Hi Jim - So glad that you checked in, and that you didn't stop because of problems. Definitely much more motivating and easier to solve problems if someone else is building. I hope you start again. Dave

Hi Jim - I think I am going to end up doing using both the jig as designed and some separate cross section molds at planking time. This boat is a little different than yours in that the bottom is completely flat side to side. Chines and keelson need to be in the same plane. The new jig will let me hold everything coplanar to build the floor. It will be the same design as the first one, except I will make sure the curve at the top conforms to the shape of the keelson and other jig, as well as the shape of the chines laterally. I could definitely build a boat on this jig, but it would end up a different shape than the plans. I'm not sure about the implications of that for fitting other pieces later, and am trying to remain faithful to the design. I realize this may not have been the case with building the real boat. Not sure if I can build the whole hull upside down on the jig. The jig is designed so the chines and keelson project up around 1/32" above the level of the jig, so I don't need to worry about the bottom planking getting glued to the jig. I can't figure out how to do the same on the sides. I think the jig will be useful for shaping the side planks. My tentative game plan will be to use the jig to help shape the planks. I will briefly try to see if I can glue the planks on without getting glue near the jig. If this isn't feasible, I will attach the side planks to the model with if flipped over like you suggest, using two or three molds (cross sections from the jig) to hold everything in place while it dries. The other advantage of this is it would let me follow most of the rest of the monograph as written. John - how did you build over your mold without the hull getting glued to the mold? I milled the base for the new jig last night, and will start making some cross sections with some of the plywood I have on hand. The new plywood should arrive tomorrow. As with doing most things the second time, it is going faster and coming out better. I think it will be worth it in the long run. Dave

I just purchased a blade adaptor from Jim Byrnes to replace the one I lost when it fell on the floor and rolled away. He charged $5, and the shipping was very reasonable. It just came in the mail, which means the one I dropped should turn up shortly.

great method and tremendous explanation! thanks!

Michael - thanks! John and Jim- Agree that the boat should be buildable over molds even though the monograph doesn't do it that way. The current mold doesn't have the right contour along the top, and the sides don't quite agree with the plans. Because everything is glued in place, it seems like it would be easier, faster, and more accurate to redo from scratch. I can rebuild it in a couple of hours so it works right, instead of frustrating myself trying to make this one work. John - I may call you if I get stuck, but I'm optimistic - just wish I didn't have to wait for the plywood to come in the mail thanks! Dave

John and Michael - many thanks. My plank bender is one of those soldering iron thingies - the one I used had a big round head that was deep enough to shape the three pieces of the keelson at the same time. I’m beginning to run into some problems, and getting an idea why there are only two build logs, and I’m already as far as one of them stopped. Looks like there are some issues coming up related to Jig 1 and building the bottom of the boat and the initial planking. According to the monograph (link in the first post), the side planking appears to be done in three strakes, without any frame to hold the shape. The more I look at it, the more difficult it looks, especially if I am going to end up with the 9 degree slope in the plans. The second build log ends just before the side planking, and I’m guessing this is why. Jim Cricket’s build is planked over formers, which looks way more straightforward. It looks like Jig 1 was designed to be used to shape the hull, but doesn’t get used that way in the monograph. There are a few pictures that use two cross sections from it when adding the last planks, but never the whole thing. The jig ends up only used to hold the keelson and chines coplanar while making the bottom of the hull, which is flat side to side, but curved fore and aft. The instructions say to shape Jig 1 to follow a smooth curve, but it can’t be just any smooth curve, it should conform to Jig 2. One the bottom of the hull is finished, it is flipped over, placed on Jig 2, and the rest of the build is done on the second jig. The surfaces of Jig 1 and Jig 2 should be mirror images of each other. They weren’t, and they are far enough off that the keelson and chines don’t fit vertically in the slots in Jig 1 through their whole lengths. I might be able to fix that problem with a lot of shims and clamping and be able to build the flat bottom of the hull, but the jig won’t be useful for helping to plank. I’ve ordered more 1/8” plywood, which is supposed to arrive Monday. I miss being able to just drive to the hobby shop. I’m going to redo Jig 1. Looks like the easier thing to do would have been to make jig 2 first. It is the simpler of the two to make. It follows a single curve, and I’m comfortable I followed it, My plan is to redo jig 1, using jig 2 flipped upside down as a guide to adjust the heights of the cross sections of jig 1 to get the top surfaces to follow the right curve. Once I have that right, I will notch the cross sections for the keelson and chines. As the other builders noted, the section templates are a little too wide at some points, and the chine notches need to be moved inward. This isn’t a problem for shaping the bottom of the hull, but makes the sides of the cross sections stick out past the edge of the chine, making the jig too wide to use to shape the side planks. Once the chine slots are cut in the right place, I can hopefully shape the outside of the section templates to the intended shape of the inner side of the planking, and use the jig to help plank. Even if I can’t get it to work for the planking, getting the tops of the cross sections in the right plane to hold the chines and keelson will make building the flat bottom a lot easier.

Chuck - thanks so much. Would have been great to have this before making rope for Hannah - spent weeks figuring out recipes and how to color. And I do remember morope - beautiful looking stuff, but if I ever forgot to superglue prior to cutting, major unravelling. I have your rope rocket and am looking forward to getting my Sharpie to the rigging stage so I can try it. Dave

Took a week to get the keelson strips bent. Kept soaking them and clamping them in the jig to dry, but they didn't fully conform. Finally took my plank bender, heat bent them, then clamped them, and they kept the appropriate shape. Important lesson learned - lots of other parts to bend. Next time will start with the heat and get them shaped in a few hours. Very different from planking a hull, where you only need to get them close, then glue in place to keep the final shape. Major step - up until now have just made jigs. Now I have an actual part of the model.

I use the band saw to slice billets from large blocks of wood. I put the billets through a thickness sander, then slice them into the final planks with a mini table saw. The band saw is nowhere near precise enough to cut final planks.

The saw that Chris posted about is the same Dewalt I use. It is awesome- couldn't agree more.

I have both a scroll saw and 14" band saw. While I bought the band saw with the intent of doing lots of things with it, the scroll saw has met my all my needs for precise cutting of small parts. I have a Dewalt, which I really like. There is some vibration (can't see how you could avoid having some), but not enough to affect ability to cut. The band saw gets left set up with a resaw blade to rip thin sheets when milling wood. Way safer than a table saw, so it was worth the investment for this alone. If I was only going to buy one tool, it would be the scroll saw. It could be replaced by a coping saw, but I have limited time to model, and cutting all the frames by hand would turn my projects from years to decades.

Glad to see you enjoying your retirement and back to work on your model. I built Hannah as my first scratch build (log lost when MSW crashed around 2012). Yours is coming along great!! Love all the interior details you are adding. Dave