KeithAug

And not very good when inevitably the pontoon gets a bit too close.

And so back to the routine:- Planker's Progress 10 - Days 22 & 23. I left you with the first bulwark plank curing in the jig designed to twist and bend it. Well it sort of worked!!!!!!!. I should have overdone the curve and twist because when I released it it sprang back by about 50%. I ended up putting more bend and twist in by hand aided with a hot air gun. This worked so well that I dispensed with the jig for thew remaining planks. I made sure that shear plank edge was well coated with PVA to give it the best chance of surviving removal of the frames. I held it in place while drying with plenty of pins and a few clothes pegs. The 2nd of the 2 bulwark planks was equally well glued and I used a few clamps to make sure that the edge to edge alignment was correct. Ok - probably more than a few clamps. The worrisome stern planks went on better than I expected. Must remember not to worry so much in future. With the clamps removed the final form of the hull magically appeared. In the next shot you can see how delicate the bulwarks looks. Then it was on with the other side. I should have explained earlier that the wood I had wasn't long enough to lay single lengths of bulwark plank. In order to get the bulwarks as strong as possible I scarfed the joints. In all the activity I bashed the transom and had to re-glue and sand it. So I decided to over plank it with .025" thick planks. I think the following photograph is what is referred to as a fantail. All those fans of a varnished mahogany hull should not get their hopes up yet! Almost ready now for some serious sanding, but first I needed to add an additional plank along the keel - necessary to ensure that I could sand to a sharp edge as per the original.

I quite like it really.

I am now moving on!

Loved the little saw jig and holding feature Pat. Something to try in the future.

Roger - thank you fo your positive comments. As Bedford has pointed out - one handle is for the speed control and the other side is forward and reverse. A bit odd as both functions are on the same handle on all the yachts i have sailed on. A more logical arrangement for me would be to have throttle forward and reverse on one handle and the bow thruster on an other. Yes - she does have a bow thruster - retractable into the hull. Eberhard - thank you - I may try something similar. Keith - he is just a bit perfectionistic. It is probably an age thing. Pat - not sure filing it down would satisfy Mr M. Valeriy - thank you. Vossie - fortunately its an experience of life I have managed to avoid.

Hmmm - it does look a little big Maybe I need to buy a smaller die.

Eberhard, Pat, Bedford, Keith, Druxey John, thank you for your comments - much appreciated. Michael - even critical prompts are very welcome.

WoodButcher Im fairly sure that Cornwall Model Boats ships worldwide. I have used them in the past and always been pleased with the service. https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/cgi-bin/ss000001.pl?page=search&SS=steering+wheel+for+speedboat&PR=-1&TB=O&ACTION=Go!. lovely model .

Nicely done Michael.

Gary, Michael, Pat - thank you for your comments - and thank you to all other visitors. I got to a point where I needed some therapy so I abandoned the planks for a couple of days (I am probably still worrying about the bulwarks). I have been thinking about the engine control column - fashioned in the style of a ships telegraph. I had plenty of reference photographs from which to draw a plan. The height to the centre line of the throttle controls is 1 inch. I made the dial in 3 pieces because It avoided having to turn the part round in the lathe to machine the reverse face. The recesses in the faces were cut with a 6mm 2 flute end mill mounted in the tailstock chuck, followed by a 8mm 4 flute end mill. The central boss had 2x .060" holes drilled at right angles to take the pedestal and to mount the control box. The 3 parts are placed on a pin to show the assembly. The pedestal was turned from 11mm rod (0.433") which was pre drilled at 45 degrees for later addition of the boss which takes the cable tube. The cable tube boss was soldered in place before being cut to length. The pedestal then went back on the lathe to be parted off. The control box was milled out of a piece of .250" diameter rod and then mounted (glued using CA). The cable duct was just a piece of bent .060 brass rod. I drew the faces for the dial in powerpoint before reducing them to 8mm diameter. I can't read the dials at this size but surprisingly they do become legible when photographed. The faces were glued in pace with CA - which soaked through. (only a problem in the photographs and cant really be seen on the original) I folded a piece of .025" thick by .250" wide brass strip to get 2 thicknesses from which to make the handles. I then drilled this to take the shaft and to form the cut out. I cut the handles out using a jewellers saw and then filed both while still joined. I then assembled the whole thing - not very much for 2 days work.

Carl - I made it from aluminium - I have a lathe. However Jim sells spacers through the Byrnes web site for $5. You need to tell him the size you want.

A pretty little ship - most impressive.

Very interesting Gary. Must try your staining techniques some time.

Kortes Impressive but I don't think my eyes are up to it. With a little modification I might be able to make it work on the lathe.

Shocking!

Michael - What about the stuff in your hair and on your clothes and shoes. I suppose you are going to tell me that you have a decontamination station built into the door frame and that you strip and shower before accessing the house - please don't post photographs - imagination is sufficient.

A common problem it seems. In my case I usually can't find it afterwards so finding it ruined should be considered as a partial success. The replacement looks just the job.

Ah! a sanding day. What joy. Just love the way the dust spreads its way around the house coating everywhere with a lovely soft velvet. Best done while the wife is out shopping I find.

Lovely paint job. It makes her look like a very jolly ship.

Nicely done - very pleasing result.

Planker's Progress 9 - Days 20 & 21. So eventually I had to address the issue of the bulwarks - time to stop wondering how they were going to turn out. The frames at the stern provided very little area on which the frames could attach. I was thinking of using 3 planks but in the end decided that 2 would be better. I needed to taper the planks to accurately fit the space between the shear plank and the top of the frames at the level of the cap rail. I started by transferring the position of the frames on to a piece of paper using a thin strip of scrap wood. I only marked every 3rd frame as I felt this would be sufficient to get an accurate plank profile. Having done this I measured the lengths of the exposed frames at each position and transferred these measurements to the paper to reproduce the profile of the bulwark. I then divided the profile down the centre line to create the templates for the planks. I recorded the plank widths on the template for future reference. I had previously clad the frame edges in paper to ease removal of the frames above deck level at a later date. The yellow cladding was .014" card rather than .008 white paper. I used this where I felt the frames needed packing out to give better edge alignment between the shear plank and the lower bulwark plank. I then cut planks to the maximum required width, this turned out to be .340" As these planks needed to be tapered to the correct profile I made an accurate plank template out of pine and used this in my plank tapering jig. All was going well until someone arrived to announce that it was time for a walk. Walk completed, I made a plank jig to reproduce the curvature and twist in the tricky stern area. I soaked the plank in boiling water before clamping it in the jig and drying it with a hot air gun. I will leave it overnight to see how successful it has been.

John - Don't worry - some heavy duty sanding to come shortly. Bedford - my you do have a good memory - I had forgotten all about that. Broadcasting its position on the face of it seems sensible, however i think stuff moves around on its own because when I want it it's never in the place where i'm sure I left it.

All looking quite "ship shape" Michael.