Paul Le Wol

Hi Everyone, my thanks to all of you for the Likes. Patrick and Ian, thank you so much for the comments. A big storm blew through here yesterday and the power was down for 12 hours so I’m making up for lost time. Had a bit of 1/32” basswood so I started on veneering the stern post. Have to get over to the hobby store this week to get some more.

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the weekend. Thank you very much for the likes and comments. This week the boat was turned over and planking was resumed. This is a very clamp intensive model. Only been doing one plank a day because of a lack of clamps. Picked up some 2 inch clamps at Princess Auto. Should have bought everyone they had. _ Added some bracing between the stern post and the bulkhead to keep the planks from cutting across that large space. All of the planks except the last ones have gains cut in them at the stern post and the stem. It also helps to keep them positioned correctly when gluing. All of the planks had to be trimmed a bit so there’s a lot of clamping, test fitting, removing, cutting, clamping………… And now there are 9 planks on each side. Turned it over and started cleaning up the interior of the hull. Actually it wasn’t all that bad inside. I thought there would be more glue everywhere. I think the next thing on the agenda is to cover each side of the stem, keel and stern post with 1/32” basswood. Doesn’t really need it but I think it will look better. Also trying to decide what colors to paint her. Sorry, this photo is out of place.

Keith, I am so very sorry to hear of your son’s passing. Losing someone you love so dearly is hard to endure but your faith will keep you strong. My prayers go with you, Paul

Hi Cisco, these laser cut planks are a bit of a mixed blessing. Sometimes they can be a little ornery that’s for sure.

Hi Everyone, thank you for your comments and Likes. The plywood floor and the frames have been completed. Just a few photos to show the process. All of the frames had to be trimmed, filed and/or sanded to match the planking. So lots and lots of test fitting. Time to turn it over and resume planking.

Ian, your Hayling Hoy is looking beautiful. You must be really enjoying this part of the build. The woods are very easy on the eyes. Could look at these pics all day

Thanks Ian, they are good looking boats. I sure hope the planking ends up being nice enough

Hey Everyone, thank you for your comments and Likes. Well this Nordland Boat has been kicking my butt for the past week. Started off by trimming and sanding back the frames where they meet the keel. They now match the line that I transferred to the keel from the drawings. The planks are laser cut 3/64” 3-ply plywood. They are tough as nails. The garboard plank was glued to the keel using the line as a reference for the bottom of the plank. I’m completing both sides before moving to the next plank. There are lines lasered into the frames/bulkheads to show you where the planks should end up. There are also tiny holes lasered into the keel that show where the planks start and end. You can see that the second plank did not manage to get to the mark. It was a struggle to meet the line until the fourth plank. After test fitting the seventh plank I decided to remove the boat from to build board because it didn’t look like it was going well. She had a bit of a twist to her so back in the build board it went. Laid a bunch of glue along each side of the keel to give it some strength. Wanted to see how the frames would fit in the hull at this point so I started assembling frames. Put scabs on each side to give them some strength. There are lines etched in the keel that I think are to show where the frames are placed but they don’t match the plans. Going to use them for frame placement. Temporarily glued four frames to the hull and they fit fairly well with a bit of tweaking. Figured that was a good test fitting. Removed all of the frames except the one at the mast. There are laser cut plywood pieces that are glued to the keel under the frames and then the frames are glued to them. I am assuming all of this because it doesn’t tell you anywhere that this is what you do. They all need to be cut and shaped to fit. Using the build board to hold them down while gluing. The plan is to finish the plywood under the frames and then to permanently install the frames. Flip it back over and finish the planking. Thought it would be easier to plank if the frames were there to glue to. Might not be a good plan but we shall see.

Hi Dave, if the holes in the pin rack are too big you could try pushing the rope down through the hole and tying it to the rack. Then push the belaying pin into the hole. Hang a coil of on the pin. On a few of mine I found it easier to make a clove hitch and slide it up onto the pin under the rack, tension the line and then put a hitch on the pin above the rack. That area sure is a challenge.

Hi Glenn, your planking is incredible. In a couple of posts (171 & 194) you have more than one strake going at a time. Are there advantages to this or is it just because she is just so big?

Thanks Todd, the board isn’t really any different than other boards you see on this forum. I like the fact that you can make adjustments when needed to the spacing of the cross pieces. These t-bolts slide inside the track and the knobs have a captured nut inside them. You make the crosspieces out of whatever type and size of material that suits your needs. I guess if you needed more crosspieces closer together you would have to just use a bare nut to secure them. The two center channels were placed 3/16” apart so that the keel can fit in there when the boat gets flipped over. Then you can make brackets to hold the stem and the stern. Everything was screwed to the board using #4x 3/4 “ flat head screws. Countersunk holes were drilled in the channels so that the t-bolt would not contact the head of the screw.

It’s good to have you along Ian.

Hi Everyone, I have started my next project. About a year ago when I saw Ekis’ beautiful completed model I decided that I would like to give it a try. The build board was started about a month ago. Picked up a 12”x 36” pine project panel at Home Depot. It was surprisingly flat and straight. The aluminum T-channel, T-bolts, and knobs are from Lee Valley, the sticky-backed measuring tape is made by Starret and is from Amazon and the 2” aluminum square tube is from Aircraft Spruce. The first thing the directions tell you to do is remove the frames and bulkheads from the carrier sheet and mount them on the build board, then plank the boat. If Billings ever published a recipe book, all of the recipes would say- Step 1: Put in pot Step 2: Boil Step 3: Eat Because the two center channels are proud of the board the frames have to be notched. The notch also keeps the frame centered. I didn’t need the piece above the notches so it was not removed. Blocks of wood were glued to the various frames to help with the assembly. The frames were then screwed to the crosspieces. Used some pieces from Cheerful’s carrier sheet to support the front of the cabin. Glued in the kit supplied strips that support the frames. There are two triangular shaped pieces that are glued in at the stern. The side that is glued to the keel/ frame has to be sanded at an angle. Clamped a small piece of wood to the stern post to support these pieces while gluing. It’s difficult to tell if you’ve sanded enough when everything is upside down. The two frames toward the bow are just for support and nothing is glued to them. To keep them from moving around, the keel was tie wired to them. I transferred a line from the plans to the keel that indicates the bottom of the garboard. As you can see there needs to be some adjustments made to something. Just need to find one more 1/4-20 nut for the stem clamp. Now it’s ready to plank. Hope to see you all soon.

Thank you Chris and Bob, your comments have meant a lot to me. Not quite in the new boat groove yet but I’m getting there 🙂

Thanks Ian, it will be good to know that you are there.

Hi Chuck, thank you very much. Cheerful has been a very enjoyable experience for me. I was really hoping that you would have developed another vessel similar in size to Cheerful by the time I was finished. I don’t know how you find the time in the day to do everything you do but here’s hoping maybe by next year 😀

Thanks Glenn for your comment and for reminding me about the gallery. I’ll see if I can get the files renamed. Ryland, thanks for your comment. I know how much value I got out of everyone else’s build logs so here’s hoping my next one will be a little more fine tuned. ct mike, Dave_E, Nunnehi(Don), Jean-Paul, DanB, thank you for your great comments. BobG, thank you. I started today setting up a build board for the next build. Time to start thinking about what comes after that. I do find myself looking at a lot of J-Class yachting videos over at the internet.

Thank you everyone for your Likes and Comments. You have all been very generous with them and I appreciate that so very much. Dave, by the time I thought about rigging the anchors it was already too late to cut holes in the grating for the rope. It does kind of look sparse at the bow, especially without the cannons. Maybe when it’s time for a refit things can be added 😀

Hi Everyone, today I am declaring that my Cheerful is finished. This build has been a lot of fun and a great learning experience. A big thank you to all of the people who joined me on this journey and to those who have guided me along the way. Hopefully we can do it again one day.

Hi Chief, I am very sorry to hear of your Mum’s passing. Your Mum and Dad must have been wonderful people.

Hi svein erik, I am so sorry to hear of your Mom’s passing. Glad to see you restarting your Cheerful build. Your pup must be all grown up by now

Hi Everyone, I hope everyone is doing fine and thanks to all for the very appreciated Likes. Well another week, another rope coil revision. There can only be so many ways you can make one of these things and I think that I have attempted all of them. Finally settled on this way. Just glued a small loop onto the coil. Made the usual coil but tied the top together with cotton thread. Pinned the coil into another jig and attached a small loop with CA. Just glued it at the orange pin. Flipped it over and pinned it into another jig. Washed it with diluted clear acrylic and let it dry in place. When it was dry (20 minutes) it was mounted with a machine screw weighing it down to give it a bit better shape. Applied more acrylic and removed the screw after everything had dried. At last count there were ten more to do. The next update will definitely not be about making rope coils.😃

Hi Dave, everything is looking great. I would wait a while before mounting the anchors and the rudder.

Hi Glenn, it’s always been that way. Someone could show me twenty times how to tie a knot and when it was my turn to try it I would inevitably say “OK, show me that one more time”

Hello Everyone and thank you for all of your Likes . Just a bit of an update. Firstly, thanks to Glenn Barlow for getting me dialed in to using the clear acrylic instead of diluted pva. Looks and works way better. Picked up some of this at Dundas Valley Hobbies. Never seen so much paint in one place. Started out by replacing the coils on the bow sprit step. Changed from cotton to polyester rope. The cotton didn’t like the pva or the acrylic. No matter what I tried I couldn’t make it decent looking coil to hang over the cleats and pins. So I gave up on the jig. Made coils the same as on the bow sprit step but made a small loop of rope that is hitched on itself to attach the coil to it’s hanging place. Wrapped the rope around a 3/8” diameter pencil and applied CA to an 1/8” overlap. The joint ends up being behind the coil. Doesn’t really look like it’s supposed to but I know when I’m whipped 🙂