vaddoc

Well, as we all know time is relative so I guess two and a half years since my last post is not a long time! Ladies and gentlemen, the Launch is back in drydock. During this time I ve been working on the Yawl. Now, both boats have hulls made of beech wood so the Launch suffered the same fate. The planks constantly change dimensions in response to changes in moisture and shrunk a lot reaching equilibrium after initial steaming. Beech has huge movement in service. However, the Launch faired better, I think because the planks are not as acutely bent as in the Yawl so did not need so much steaming and boiling. The filler between the planks is almost intact and the planks have moved in only a few areas. In the bow some nails seem to have failed. These need to be fixed and the hull needs to be sealed inside and out to prevent movement as much as possible. However, I plan to paint the hull so I will use filler more extensively to smooth it out a bit, since paint will highlight every single imperfection. So I drilled some nails out, push the planks in place and things improved. Then, I applied filler very generously. I nowadays use Osmo, it dries very quickly, does not shrink, is hard but still sands very nicely. This is where we are now. We rarely know what our future holds but mine certainly has a lot of sanding. Till next time Vaddoc

Ok, I used it a bit today. Really quiet, this is a massive advantage. Also the larger sanding area is very useful. However there are a couple of possible issues. The table is secured in the horizontal by two screw on friction plates on either side, these seem to give in while working. I may be wrong though. Time will tell. Also it does not spin true, there is a slight wobble. I am not sure whether it is the disc or the way the sand paper has been glued on. I guess I should not complain as this is not really intended to be a precision tool, like the Byrnes tools. On the other hand, I have a feeling it will not be a problem as I tried to sand to a line and it went fine. I ll do a bit more sanding. I need to change the paper though as it came with what looks like 80 grit, I need to swap to 120 grit.

Dear all Before anything else, my condolences. I ve never had the pleasure of even seeing a machine made by Mr Byrnes but I can recognise their quality and his contribution to this and other hobbies and professions. I d like to share my recent addition to the shipyard, an Axminster 300 mm disc sander. Now, a bit of background. The disc sander is the tool I use the most. I find far more accurate to cut the pieces close to the template line and then sand accurately to the line. I create bevels and even sand brass pieces. Closer to the outer part of the disc, it spins faster and takes off material fast. Closer to the center where it spins slower, allows more precision work. I really could not do without one. For years now I had a 200 mm disc sander I made myself with pieces of plywood and MDF, an old drill and a small voltage regulator. It worked very well and served faithfully (and noisily) for years with minimal maintenance. Overall cost was about £10... However, I recently managed to destroy the flatness of the disc changing the sand paper so I took the plunge and decided to upgrade. 200 mm is the absolute minimum I think and 300 is much better for the 1:10 scale I like, considering that less than half of this sanding surface is available. There are many disc sanders on the market but I went with Axminster, mainly thinking I may have better customer support. A bit of discount on offer helped as well to pull the trigger. First impressions: Well built, very heavy! Came in well boxed. The legs are adjustable. The table is large enough, the gap to the disc is between 4 and 5 mm. It looks easy enough to add a bit of MDF to customise things a bit. There is a guide supplied which works well, the tolerances are tight enough and it does not wobble - it seems entirely usable. The angle of the table is adjustable and it was easy to set it to 90 degrees - or close enough. The sander is very quiet. The speed seems ideal. It actually blows air out of the extraction port on operation so even without a vacuum the dust can be directed. The disc runs true. Overall very happy. So out with the old and in with the new! I think the sanding discs are proprietary or something similar but I did not really looked into it much, I am not too bothered. I ll update after I ve used it a bit. Vaddoc

Dear all The boat is finished! After a lot of head scratching I ended up with a solution for the davit sockets that looks reasonable. The davit it self was also quite challenging to make but I think it came out fine. Last thing to do was to install the thole pins and the cleats. I still need to take some proper photos, make some type of cradle and order a display case. I think it is also appropriate to order the print from the National Maritime Museum or place some compact version of these plans within the case - we ll see. This has been a very enjoyable build and I certainly learned a lot. In future I will post pictures in the gallery. In the mean time however, there is another hull that has been gathering dust waiting patiently to come back into the shipyard. I do hope you will join for the Chapelle's fishing launch. I regret I have not been able to keep up with many logs I had been following - This is a period that life demands too much from me! My deepest thanks for your company and support in this journey Vaddoc

I d suggest experimenting with both. There are pros and cons. Enamels have far, far better coverage and are far tougher. Their depth of colour is better. However, they require mineral spirits, make a bigger mess and because they take longer to dry, attract dust. Painting inside the house may (will) create problems with the admiral. Acrylics are easier to use. I always tell myself next time I ll use enamels and end up using acrylics. Better range of colours as well. Check the relevant thread on painting with acrylics. Lots of good info. Seal the wood before painting. You can use shellac as Bob suggests but I find decoart multi purpose water based sealer superior and easier to use. After painting you must put some form of varnish over your paint or it will easily get scratched. I am disappointed with water based and polyurethane varnishes - I ll go back to enamels. Or so I say myself...

Very nice Hakan! Your planking is so elegant and Birch seems to behave very well. Love your planking jig!

Dear all Time for another update I think. The boat is almost done! So, I finished all the oars, they came out fine I think with no failures. But then, I had to figure out what finish to use. Now, they are made of maple which is very white and apparently notoriously difficult to stain. I tried painting the oars white, (using the previous short oars I had made), staining and just Tang oil. I did not like the white colour, staining went really badly no matter what I tried so it had to be Tung oil. Photo bellow. So all oars are now ready Next, I painted the rudder and I made the tiller. Now, the tiller has a bit of story behind it. About 3 years ago, I salvaged a small piece of wood from an apricot tree in my parents summer house, now gone. I wanted to use a bit of that wood in this boat so made the tiller out of it. Very nice wood, really hard. Then I made the hinges, secured to both the rudder and boat with CA glue and small nails, cut from brass pins, dipped again in CA glue. Now, next project was the oar locks. I ve no idea what would be used back then but I decided to use double thole pins. So I made the sacrificial base and rounded off some square pear strips. So I think really close to finishing. Of course, the whole point is the davit - this is the reason the boat was built! I need to make the sockets and finish the davit. I also need to make a few cleats. I also have some thin soft leather, maybe it would be nice to add a strip to the oars. My very best wishes to all Vaddoc

Thanks Greg! I guess this settles it then, although the drawing shows less brackets and probably removable thwarts - Alan is right.

Phew! That was close! Many thanks Hakan!

@allanyed Allan, you are probably very correct, and I say probably because I simply do not know; I had the lines of the boat but I could not find any plans or info how these boat were actually put together. I searched the net and the few books I have but I did not come up with anything helpful, apart from some dimensions in May's book. So, I improvised and decided to have fun and make it look "busy" to the ignorant eye, knowing it is very probably not historically accurate. Now, as for the grating, the answer is very simple: I really wanted to try and make grating just for the fun of it, I originally intended to put it in the floor but then surfing the net I saw the photo bellow and changed my mind. I am afraid the depth of my knowledge is skin-deep being a landsman that strangely happens to love boats! Best wishes Vaddoc

Ok, time to put the oar issue right. I lengthened the oars and they do look more proportionate. The following photo shows the three different stages in the oar construction - it is truly a lengthy process. I have not found a way to stain the oars so I think I ll just paint them white. I would much prefer though a dark yellowish shade. Vaddoc

I am not ever playing poker with you Craig! You keep raising on me! 16 feet would be 49 cm. If you guys could turn a blind eye, we could go for 40 cm that is technically much more feasible and still give the visual impression of a log oar.😉

(sigh) Craig, you are of course right. I checked May's book and it does give oar lengths. For a 21 foot boat, oars would be 13 feet length or 396 mm in the model, my oars are 255 mm long. Alright then, back to the drawing board it is! Thankfully, I have plenty of maple. Vaddoc

Dear all I had a bit of annual leave so I worked a lot on the boat and I have a few more pics to share. @allanyed Unfortunately Allan, my poor choice of wood means painting the hull is necessary! Ok, so I made the gunwales which went smoother than I expected. Secured with many screws, later changed to wooden nails. I also installed the two knees at the transom. So next is the rudder. It will be a basic one based on the dimensions given in May's book and pictures I found on the net. The rudder is now receiving the very many coats of paint needed due to the acrylics' poor coverage. So while this is cooking, on to the oars it is. I sat in the computer and made a template. I wanted to use a lighter colour wood like boxwood but I only have maple which is very light colour but also a wonderful wood for modelling. I experimented with a bit of dyes and oils but did not like the outcome. So these oars will be painted. So first glue the template onto wood. I switched from Pritt to 3M stick glue - difference is day and night, so much better. Then I cut the templates. Then I laminated them with PVA glue and many many clamps. The end result Then lots of brutal sanding with not so miniature tools. I think it went ok! 4 more to go. Till next time Vaddoc

Dear all A lot of work done, time for an update! Done Craig! Not with Shellac which I dislike but with a water based sealer. Went well and should help Done! Yes, the hull is now painted. It sent reasonably well but I have to admit it has been my worst paint job. Poor surface preparation, hasty and a bit sloppy paintjob, near disaster varnishing. So here it goes: I used grey primer which is supposed to be permanent when dry. Well it is not. I tried to clean the surface with Isopropyl alcohol and immediately started lifting it. Still, no harm done. Then I masked and taped off the hull using frog tape. I actually forgot I had a large supply of various Tamiya tapes - stupid me. In any case, again no harm done - a bit of bleeding which was covered with the next layer. Acrylic paint is pretty horrible. It took 20 coats of ivory to cover the grey primer and still did not completely do it. However, being water based means I can work in house which is a huge advantage. I always swear I ll use enamels next time and always seem to end up using acrylics. No brush marks, Valejo paints are wonderful but surface underneath far from perfect Acrylic paint is also so easy to scratch, needs a varnish. Again, paint is supposed to dry permanent but trying to clean with IPO started melting the paint. Still, no major harm done. I used the Valejo polyurethane varnish that previously gave me good results. Not this time! In all honesty though, this varnish is now 6 years old. In any case, it did not brush well although left no brush marks, took ages to dry, and did not seem to have adhered well to the paint as it started lifting in an area I rubbed to remove a drop of PVA glue. I managed to fix this by brushing a bit more varnish but overall, I know this top coat is a bit rubish. Then, I added the two strips of wood - sanded and coated with Tung oil. Not long now! Still have to make oars though Best wishes Vaddoc

You could come over to the dark side and scratch build a simple boat.

Chisels, including a 3 mm and a V shape, diamond stones, strop. You can probably do without but working with wood is an excellent excuse to get them.

Thanks Craig You are right but I should have done this earlier, when the interior was empty. I think now is a bit too late!

Dear friends One knows it's been a very long time since his last post, when he needs to search for his log! But here I am, so time for an update and a few photos as there is definitely progress made. Allow me to shout a word of caution: DO NOT USE BEECH FOR PLANKING! I did read on wood database that it has a lot of movement in service, but the reality is just ridiculous. Any more movement and the wood would grow feet and run out of the shipyard. First of all the planks shrunk. Initially there was no gap at all as I took pains to make them perfect. Then huge gaps appeared. I filled these in and then the planks shrunk more, with gaps opening once again. Then the boat kept changing shape, sometimes the two sides wanted to come together but others wanted to get away from each other. The biggest problem was that some planks pulled out of the ribs, as shown in the photo bellow. I had no idea how to fix it but in the end, the boat just changed shape again and the gaps closed. Magic! So, next I finished the floor boards and also the small deck aft. I replaced all the screws with treenails and then, it was time for the thwarts. I used the original drawings which kind of hint where the thwarts should go. The benches aft however took an awful lot of head scratching to understand how they could be arranged, without massive wood work. I used the internet and some common sense and I think I came up with a reasonable solution. I then made the legs, they came out alright I think. Then, I made the knees to hold the thwarts. This took a long time as each knee has each individual shape and then had to be drilled, sanded and get a coat of Tung oil. Then all were assembled, using 30 min Zpoxy which I am certain was the way it was done back in 1750. Now the boat is structurally solid and complete. Now however it is time to think about painting the hull. It really needs to be painted but with this cracks between the planks, it is not going to work. So they had to be filled. I used again Osmo filler which I really like. This is how the hull looked afterwards. The sanding that followed will be sang by bards for centuries. I went down to 320 grid, I really wanted 400 but I run out of sand paper. Now, I am sure the cracks will reopen but this is the best I can do! Now, this is a hull that absolutely must be sealed. I never liked shellac and I ve been using for years a water based sealer (Decoart Americana). A coat went on, then sanded to 320 grid. Again, I really wanted 400 but I could not find even a small piece in the shipyard. Then another coat went on, sanded to 600 grid (I found a sheet somewhere) The hull is as good as it will ever be. When I find time I ll put a coat of primer and paint the hull - Ivory and Prussian blue I think. A last photo, till next time Vaddoc

Excellent, nice to hear from you Hakan! I hope things have settled and previous issues are now behind you.

Use this water based sealer. Sand wood smooth to 400 grit. Slap it on with a brush with no care. Dries in 15 min. If you want put a second coat. When dry, sand once more with 400 grit or 0000 steel wool. The wood will be as smooth as baby bottom and sealed. Then spray a bit of primer and then paint on top. Self life of this is very long - years. Deco Art Americana Multi-Purpose Sealer-8oz, Other, Multicoloured, 236 ml (Pack of 1) : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

All done! I actually find making tree nails very therapeutic, calms (or numbs) the mind down. No excuse now, back to the boat, although I feel like walking in the dark - not sure at all how these things were made. A final picture with the 4000+ nails - about 0.7 mm, very hard wood. If you ever go down this road, if you get a set up that works well just make as many as you can,

Looking at the photo of Victory's planking above, it is incredible how thick the planks are. Considering the thickness of the frames and the inner planking, the hull sides must have been 2+ ft thick - solid wood. And still a cannon ball could penetrate.

I googled it, there are 121 million oak trees in the UK, with 1 million in London alone. It needed 5000 oaks for Victory The tree starts producing acorns after 40 years! Oak trees - did you know? | Action Oak

The amount of wood in these boats is staggering. A floating forest. Thank you for the photos and the info, very interesting.