JacquesCousteau
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Everything posted by JacquesCousteau
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Thanks! It's been hard to find much time, but I've now added the broad strake. I started with the middle plank and worked my way out. There's only a little twist in it, so I was able to simply glue it in place with clamps. In contrast, the bow and stern planks twist quite a bit, so I soaked them and clamped them in place overnight. I did the stern first. Shaping the planks is, so far at least, a lot of fun. Then, the bow. One issue I've had is that, for these first strakes, it's very hard to fit them into the stem rabbet because they approach it from a nearly flat angle. If I did this again, I might try to carve or sand a smoother transition into the rabbet here. I think I'm avoiding the "smiley face" effect? It's very cool to see how the strakes curve along the length of the hull. The planking definitely needs to be sanded, and there are some very slight gaps that are visible when held up to the light. If I fill these with a mix of sawdust and glue, will they show up when I finish the hull?
- 24 replies
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- 5
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- half hull planking project
- half hull
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Thank you, good to know. Is it possible to blacken multiple types of metal in the solution at once? I have brass, copper, and some kind of white metal parts. I'd assume I can drop them all in at once without causing any weird reactions?
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Bit of a change of plans. While I read a lot about how to use Birchwood Casey Brass Black and purchased a bottle, one thing that skipped my mind was how to dispose it. I live in an apartment, don't have a car, and all hazardous waste disposal sites are a bit of a trip from here. Carting a jar of acid and toxic waste around on a city bus doesn't seem like a great idea, and I certainly don't want to dump it down the drain (my building is pretty old). If I don't really have a way to dispose of the waste, I suppose my best bet is to try painting the brass.
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Very nice job! The stand is a really great touch. As for cutting the planks to length: I have no experience with a cutter, but I've found a razor saw and small miter box to be extremely helpful for a wide range of tasks. It's definitely one of the most frequently-used tools that I have, besides the basic exacto knife. I have a pretty cheap zona saw and orange plastic miter box combo that works fine, the main issues being 1) there are times when it would be nice to have a slightly deeper/wider miter box than the 1/4‐inch deep one that I have, and 2) when the saw eventually dulls in the (hopefully distant) future, I don't think mine has a replaceable blade. But these aren't serious issues for me, and in general I've found it to be an incredibly useful tool.
- 29 replies
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- Grand Banks Dory
- first build
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I've been doing some more thinking about the hinges. The pintles are more or less straightforward to make, but the gudgeons are giving me trouble given all the right angles they take wrapping around the rudder post (which is external) and onto the transom. So I began to wonder if there was a way for me to fake it: what if I could cut slits in the transom around the rudder post so the gudgeons could just go straight back and run into the interior of the hull, and I then glued extra pieces of brass along the transom to represent the gudgeon's extension along the transom? I first tried to draw it out: Then I decided to test it with some scrap. I made a fake transom with a rudder post down the center and applied some sealer to stiffen it. Once that dried, I bent one of my gudgeon's arms back straight, and used my smallest drill bit to make a small slit on each side of the rudder post. I was then able to push the gudgeon into place. It's actually very secure even without being glued. I then tested how it would look to place a strip of brass (in this case, the other gudgeon) to fake the arms of the gudgeon running out on each side of the transom. By placing it right up against the gudgeon body, I was able to largely avoid any visible gap. (Terrible photo below, it was hard to hold it in place and take a photo at the same time). I'm planning on blackening the brass. I think that I should be able to avoid gaps with careful shaping. Any remaining gap I can probably cover with a tiny dab of black paint--at worst I'll just have to paint the whole hinge black, which would not be the end of the world. Overall, this seems like a much easier way to do it than trying to get so many precise 90-degree bends into a small space. I just need to properly plan the gudgeon location so that the slits are covered from view by the helmsman's platform.
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Very nice job! The gunwales look great. I'm glad to hear my build log was useful. I'm not totally sure on an appropriate thickness for the thread, you can probably eyeball it by finding photos of an old bucket with a rope handle. Also, I don't think you lost the false stem, as far as I can tell the instructions just don't mention that it should be made of scrap.
- 29 replies
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- Grand Banks Dory
- first build
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I've moved on to the rudder. I wasn't happy with my initial attempt at carving a rudder from basswood in a similar shape to what I used for the Cargo Canoa. So, I decided to try something different. Although I don't have any good images of a full rudder, a number of photos depict a long rudder with one or two support beams. After trying out several shapes in card, I made a decision. I built it out of 1/16‐inch-thick cherry. In hindsight it would have been nice to use cherry for the hull frames and other parts, for more consistency, but I didn't have any then. For the tiller, I followed the same process as on the Cargo Canoa, making it from some of the mango wood I collected. The hinges have been giving me trouble. I first tried to make them by splitting part of a 1/64x1/4-inch brass strip in half lengthwise. For whatever reason, I couldn't seem to anneal it. It was difficult to work with and hard to get even, and difficult to cut. I then was able to order some 1/64x1/16‐inch brass strips, so that I would only need to cut it to the right length. These annealed very easily, but it's still been very difficult to make the hinges. This is especially the case for the gudgeons, which need to wrap around a 1/8x1/16 rudder post and then extend further on the transom. There are a lot of right angles in a very short space to bend for that, and I've found it tricky to bend it properly. It's also been tricky to get the pin-end to be properly shaped to accept the pin, which will be a simple length of brass rod. Is there a limit to how many times I can bend a brass strip, or will re-annealing it keep it from becoming brittle and breaking? I'm still working on getting them right. Once I get hinges I'm happy with, my plan is to use brass blackening to color them, super-glue the pins into the pintles, and then attach them to the rudder and hull and hang the rudder. Any advice on making rudder hinges would be appreciated! I'm very impressed by the many examples that I've seen on other logs, but some seem to require more metal-working tools than I can really access now.
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Having now made two lobster traps (one of which is shown somewhere in the Canoa de Rancho long), I would be happy to try to answer any questions you have about them!
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Very nicely done, it looks excellent! I like the contrast between the natural wood and the paint job.
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Glad to hear my build log was helpful! It looks like you're doing a great job. I found that sometimes two bobby pins worked best.
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Thanks! Between cutting away some of the upper layer straws and poking new ones into the gap between layers, I think it's turned out in a way that I can accept. The rancho isn't glued in place yet, just held by the pins. Next, I'll need to add some protective/stiffening varnish, especially over the new additions. Then I'll be working out the cloth covering that runs along the top.
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Thanks for the suggestions! @Glen McGuire Unfortunately each layer is pretty solid in itself due to all the varnish, but I have been able to pick out a few here and there to disrupt the solidity of the edge of the layer. I've also been busy inserting new pieces one at a time into the gap on one side. It's not perfect, but I think it's looking a lot better. As with any bad haircut, letting it grow out makes the problem less noticeable. As can be seen, the difference between the two sides is most apparent when viewed head on. I may try to cut back a few more from the top layer, add a few more to the gap, and perhaps add a few shorter pieces above the top layer. It'll be a bit on the shaggy side, but that seems accurate for at least some canoas, based on the photos record.
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@Harvey Golden Thanks! I may look into a base board. The stand is just stained basswood, so it wouldn't be hard to match, although I would probably have to pre-treat the board so the stain comes out evenly. Well, I finally got the upper layers of the thatching on. The results are.... a bit mixed, I think. As can be seen, I ended up doubling the upper support crosspiece so there would be more of a gluing surface to work with. The very top will be covered with some cloth, which seems to be what was done on the actual vessels if I'm interpreting the photos correctly. While I avoided the unnaturally straight edge I unintentionally gave my first attempt, I'm not totally happy with this one. As can be seen, the layers are each very thick. This wasn't a problem on my first attempt, as the layers were much thinner, but on this one it's very noticeable. While photos make it clear that plenty of actual canoas did have layered thatching, it never seemed to stick up so much like this. From some angles, and from a distance, I don't think it looks bad. But from others, it looks like a bad haircut. So, I'm a bit torn about how to proceed. As I see it, I have a few options: 1) I could redo it with just a single layer so that I don't have to worry about any overlap, but that seems daunting. I've already spent months working on the rancho, and while I'm not on any timeline for completion, I would like to actually finish the build at some point, and I especially would like to be able to move on from the rancho into more interesting parts of the build. 2. I could redo it with a simple wood rancho. It would be a lot easier and faster, but I have to admit that I think it would be visually less interesting. 3. Leave it as it is, accept that I've done a lot on this already and have learned some lessons about considering how parts will come together while scratch-building, and hope that I one day come to love it, bad haircut and all. 4. Continue with it, but see if I can lesson the jarring transition between layers by sticking some additional individual pieces of straw into the gap, as I've started testing (without glue) below. I think I'll try option 4 for at least a bit to see how it turns out. I don't think it's going to make the haircut look worse, at least.
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I finally had a peaceful weekend and was able to advance! First, I finished the base. I'm not crazy about it, as I think I made it slightly too long, and I feel like the color stands out too much. I may paint it black, or make a new one to a different design later. But for now, at least the model has a proper stand. I also finally made some progress on the rancho! First, I superglued bits of wire into the holes I drilled in the base of the rancho supports. I think I need a new superglue, as the stuff I got is extremely tacky and seems to stick poorly. Meanwhile, I was progressing bit by bit on the upper layer of thatching. As can be seen, I improved a lot at keeping the string more or less in line. Unlike the lower layer, where I added varnish after each bunch of thatching, for the upper layer I used a generous helping of glue from the string to the top as I went (it will be covered later) and have only added the varnish now at the end. Once that dries, it will be time to remove the thatching from the backing (index card laminated in tape so the glue doesn't really stick). I also glued the lower layers in place on the rancho, using a lot of coffee stir sticks and scrap to clamp. The lower layer is now on pretty solidly. I'm looking forward to finally being done with the thatching, it's taken far longer than I had hoped. If something goes catastrophically wrong at this point, I'll probably just make a wooden rancho, which would be less interesting but equally accurate at far, far easier to make.
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Sorry to hear that you're going through a tough time, hope your dog is back in good health soon. The rigging looks great. Does the Syren rope need to be glued before it's cut? I know some ropes will unwind otherwise.
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The garboard strake is on! I marked out the wale and the location of the garboard's top edge with chart tape. It needed a little adjustment after these photos, but not much. Then I removed the tape that was protecting the stem and keel. In the future I should use actual masking tape, scotch tape didn't do a great job of withstanding accidentally sanding and tended to rip rather than to come off in one piece. I marked out the garboard strake, starting with the aft plank, on tamiya masking tape as per the instructions. The sawtooth aft was a bit exaggerated, and the plank took some sanding to finalize the shape. Although the instructions don't say to soak the plank to bend it, I did it anyway to reduce the stresses of twisting it so much. Then I glued it in place, and repeated the process for the fore plank. As can be seen, the aft plank turned out ok. The rabbet was perhaps a hair too shallow. As for the fore plank, I think it's low enough at the bow to avoid the "smiley-face" problem. It also didn't sit well at the bow rabbet, as it approached it at a shallow angle. I'm debating whether to try to remove it to sand down the inner side of the rabbet or something so that it sits better. Overall, though, I'm excited to finally be making planks. Fairing the hull took a lot longer than I had anticipated.
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- half hull planking project
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I was going to ask! I assume the real boat must have been well-ballasted, and the upper works very lightly built, to stay upright. Very cool build!
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That looks great, well done! Very brave of you to put it in the water, but it looks right at home.
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Forgot to mention: I've also reshaped the counter. As far as I can tell, something like this should work. Although now I should probably fair the aft edge of the H frame a bit more....
- 24 replies
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- half hull planking project
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I think it's finally faired, but I'm still not totally sure on the stern. As can be seen, the bow now takes a smooth curve: I've faired the stern more and I think it's looking better, but I still have to admit that I have a hard time understanding what it should look like. This, for instance, would be for a strake that ends against the counter, near the wale. I'm not sure if it's still bending too much upward at the stern. There's still a bit of a bend like that further down for planks that would end at the rabbet, as well: Do I still need to take more off? At this point I've sanded so much that I'm worried about taking too much off, but I still can't figure out if this is fair or not. Any advice would be appreciated!
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- half hull planking project
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I think I'm nearly there with fairing? Toward the bow, adding some fillers on frames 3 and 4 was useful. Testing with a coffee stir-stick batten seems to suggest that I need to do just a little more on the lower part of the 5a and 5b frames right at the bow. At the stern, I ended up carving some filler pieces (as it was a very complicated curve) to fill some of the major gaps around frames. As can be seen, there's now a lot more surface area for the planking here. However, I'm not sure if I need to fair this area significantly more? I'm having a hard time visualizing how the planks will transition into the rabbet. It seems like a very complex series of curves in all directions in this area, and I'm having a hard time visualizing it from photos elsewhere.(Test with coffee stir stick below.)
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- half hull planking project
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Very nicely done!
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