Chuck

Nicely done Jim.....glad to see you making steady progress. Now its time to make some frames after the stern transom is glued into place.

I believe I used a bigger drill bit. But it isnt necessary to go all the way through like a real bolt. This is just a cosmetic appearance for those bolts. Why risk tear-out on the back side or the drill bit wandering if you can get neater results just simulating the process. Since you can only look at one side at a time...it doesnt really even matter that they are perfectly lined up. Who would ever know!!! My preference is NOT to needlessly complicate things when it can be avoided without compromising on the appearance or accuracy of the model. But I realize some folks are sticklers for such things and that is perfectly fine as well.

Welcome aboard Simon......It will be great to see your progress on the longboat. I am sure you will find it a very enjoyable experience to be part of the group...

Looks great Ken.....hope to see the progress in person at our next meeting. 😊 Chuck

That might be tough but they are very small. They are about 1/4" long and 1/32" diameter. So I place a short length of square boxwood 3/64" into my dremel and have it stick out about 5/8 ". Then I round it off with a sanding stick. Each one is good for a pair of Thole pins and takes just a minute or two to make. Chuck

The photo below shows the thole pins on the contemporary model. There is a discrepancy between this model and the other contemporary model. This one has an extra row or two more pairs of thole pins than the other model. I opted to go with fewer. I made my thole pins from boxwood but you guys can easily replace with wire if you wanted. I took a 3/64" x 3/64" strip and rounded it off in my Dremel. I dont like the way the wire takes paint and because of this large scale I opted for wood instead, but this means you must also round off your stock in a Dremel as well. If that is too much of a hassle though then wire can be used in its place....probably 16 gauge or 18 gauge. I drilled holes along the cap rail with a #55 drill bit and glued them in place. Then they were painted red. But you could leave them natural too....if you use the boxwood that comes with the kit. THIS COMPLETES THE HULL!!! Except for the oars but I will do that after I rig it......So let the masting and rigging begin.

Yupp....that is exactly right....it isnt an exact science and it has a lot to do with getting familiar with the feel of the strip as you bend and twist it. My advice is to just keep practicing and experimenting. Chuck

No I dont think so. I have never had an issue. It is a technique easier shown than described. Even in a video. It just takes some practice. Dont be afraid to get the hair dryer really close to the plank. You will get some spring back but that is normal. Try holding the bend in position until the plank cools a little bit. Your plank might also be too thick for this method. My planks are usually no thicker than 3/64". Chuck

I am about half way through laser cutting the next batch of ten kits folks. I will announce sometime next week when they are done. Probably Tuesday or Wednesday....ish. Remember to set up your build logs if you plan to buy one and get the discount. This is a tremendous help because then I know how many more I need to make.

Nicely executed.....😁

Another successful method is to glue two pieces of scrap hard wood onto a baseboard. These flat pieces should be about 1" wide and half the thickness of the parts being cut. Position them about 1" apart so you slide the keel pieces between them. These will act as depth gauges and a stop for your chisels. Then just start chiseling and sanding. This will prevent rounded edges if the scrap pieces are up against the keel.

TIP of the day !!!! One thing I will point out regardless of which glue you use. Make absolutely sure that each strake is glued securely to each frame. Before moving on to the next strake, give each frame a little wiggle to see if it is secured to the plank. If your frames are not glued securely to the planking they will be at great risk of breaking when it comes time to remove the frame centers. This is really important!!!!

It looks great.....wonderful work as always Rusty. 😊

I have never had any issues doing it. The glue seems to adhere just fine for me. But thats just me. For the centering of the 3/32" pieces...I do understand the need to have it perfectly centered, but I just eyeballed it. The important thing to remember is to make sure you do have that 1/32" on both sides at the stern and stern post. Where the planking will sit flat against it. This will help you avoid sand the planking too thin back there. To help with this...I even sanded the 3/32" thick pieces back there a bit thinner to make sure the rabbet would be deep enough on both sides. But honestly, at mid ship and at the bow, if you get just get close it will be fine. Thats why I just eyeballed it and everything worked out fine. Chuck

Just a quick tip about using Alaskan Yellow Cedar...... Make sure your hands are clean when working on the model. Cedar is a light wood and it will get filthy. Make sure you remove the char from the edges unless otherwise instructed in the monograph. This will get on your hands and also dirty up your wood. Use a 220 grit sandpaper to remove the char and finish with a 320 grit. But if the parts are thin and fragile.....just use the 320 grit. Replace the paper as soon as it gets dirty. Otherwise you are just pushing the char and dirt into the wood grain..... Apply a coat of wipe on poly....satin finish on your parts after sanding. This will make your wood a bit harder and easier to clean should it get dirty afterwards. I even apply a couple of coats. This is true for he keel assembly after you finish assembling it. I use titebond II for all gluing EXCEPT for planking. For planking I use medium CA. This is for many reasons but I recommend you absolutely use cA for external and internal planking. Mike can explain why...LOL. But there is too much open time in Titebond and your planks will move and flex. This is a fragile assembly and it would NOT be wise to use clamps and rubber bands and all of that crazy stuff I see people using when the plank. If you pre-bend.....and use CA.....it will be a breeze to plank your model neatly and with tight joints. Chuck Chuck

That was really quick delivery. Looking forward to seeing this logs develop. Just take your time and enjoy the project.!!!!

Lining off and planking the hull....I tried to not get to wonky but I did want to add as much detail as possible. As you guys already know, this is much harder to write about than it looks so I hope it makes sense. Please let me know if you guys have any questions. Part two..... PartTwo.pdf

Quicker than i thought actually. But I am working on it.

Just in case.....here is a PDF of all the external planks. In case you need to trace some new ones OR make tiny adjustments for your model. You will soon see that all of the 1/32" sheets of laser cut cedar have ample space left over (done on purpose) so if you need to make new planks, you can do so without buying new sheets of cedar. external planks just in case.pdf Chuck

Looks very good!!! 😃

UPDATE..... I am getting really close to releasing the first ten hull kits. I am just waiting on delivery of the plan sheets, and some cedar sheets to laser cut one last sheet of parts per kit. I should get those on Wednesday. I am thinking by next Thursday they will be on my site and available for purchase. Lastly....I know folks got frustrated when trying to order the barge kit when it was launched, because I couldnt keep up with the demand. I am sorry about that. So I want to tell you how I plan on making Longboat kits as best I can this time around. As a one man shop, I can produce 10 longboats kits per week without wanting to stick a fork in my eye. Each batch of Longboat kits however requires about 400 sheets of milled Cedar and boxwood. If I can get a steady stream of 400 milled sheets of wood per week we wouldnt have an issue. My wood guy however, would run for the hills if I asked him for that. He has done an outstanding job milling my wood and I dont want to scare him away. I would literally be out of business otherwise. Or I would have to start using the same old crummy basswood that every other kit company uses. Mostly because you can buy thousands of sheets of basswood at a time. You cant say the same for Cedar, Boxwood and Swiss Pear. But because I am upgrading to a better wood and dont plan to stop, please have patience. My wood guy actually supplies me with about 1000 sheets of precision milled boxwood, swiss pear, Cedar and Cherry sheets every month to meet my production demands. He only does this part time if you can believe it. I used to order from Crown and Wood Project Source but it would have put me out of business if I wanted them to mill me 1000 sheets per month. LOL Not many sources for this stuff are available. So we shall see how it goes. I will have enough wood on hand to make a second batch of ten kits next week so I will start immediately after I get it on Wednesday. After that, I am at the mercy of my wonderful WOOD GUY. He is laughing right now standing over my shoulder because he knows he is going to busy for a many months. Thanks in advance and dont hesitate to ask me any questions.

Planking fan for Longboat.... large planking fan.pdf Bow and stern Lining off templates..... line out templates.pdf

Excellent!!!!!😊

Not yet....The longboat still has a lot left to do. I have to start rigging it now. Its gonna be while on this one.

Just a quick update. I am almost there and will let folks know when the next batch is ready. Here is a photo of the hull kit and everything you will get. Chuck