vaddoc

Last time I used a drill and a bearing. The drill was on a simple wooden support to keep the chuck horizontal and the bearing was within a piece of scrap MDF screwed to my disc sander. Worked pretty well.

Dear Patrick, I have enjoyed following Shadow very much but the very last photo is amazing. This is a very busy model! I ll wait the "formal" announcement of completion before I congratulate you but I ll also be waiting for your next project, twin hull if I am not mistaken...

I ll be watching from the back rows

Vaddoc

How did you glue the fabric down to wood Druxey? Very diluted PVA?

Druxey, this is a small boat with limited deck space, it makes more sense in both the model and the real boat to use plywood. Having said that, planks would be much more versatile. I know very little about canvas sheathing and have never seen it in a model! I think that sanding the plywood with a relatively rough grade and painting straight without sealer or primer, might imitate canvas?

Mark, for this boat I am drawing knowledge and ideas from the blog of a couple that built a cold molded sailboat (the chap is a cabinet maker). Their blog is fantastic, worth checking out on http://northseabuilder.blogspot.co.uk. They used 2 layers of 1/4 inch ply, the first one in manageable pieces scarfed over beams and the second one laminated on top. Then they put on the canvas which also covered the deck to sheer joint, ending in a groove. Lovely!

EDIT: Fibreglass was used, not canvas!

I might do something similar, in 1/10 scale it calls for 0.6 mm ply (0.8 mm much easier to find). 1.5 mm or 2 mm will be very stiff I think. I have used 1 mm screws extensively so far, must have gone through more than 500. Indeed, this double curve is something ply will not really want to do!

The boat will have a cabin and I would like all deck components to be made of shiny varnished beautiful wood. This poor little boat does not have a lot more to boast of, its a blue collar boat...

On a different note, I finished all cross beams, most temporary, some the actual beams. Isn't this poetry in wood?

The structure attached to the transom is just a jig to allow me to find the horizontal level, to make sure beams lie vertically and to later on define the waterline.

There is a big problem though. I should have left the transom oversized to allow space for the gunwales. I did not though so it ends up flush with the sheer. I am not sure how to correct this, I think I should define the projection of the deck to the Transom and cut the excess so that the deck rides on the transom. Then it will need gunwale and a rubric, rather difficult to make due to all the angles and curves. Hope this makes sense!

Today I cut the beams, the proper ones from cherry and the temporary ones from plywood. The Dremel moto saw did pretty well considering that the pieces were small. The beams came out fine but my measurements for 2 of the beams were wrong so I had to redo them. In the next photos I have just placed them in their respective places.

 Strangely I was allowed a lot of time today to work on the boat so I shaped the first 6 beams. I cheated a bit as in the real boat the beam shelves would be notched, not the beams themselves. Considering the circumstances though, it is the better option. I also figured out a way to make sure they stay vertical when the glue goes on. 

I do have some concerns though. A flat strip resting on the beams does not make contact with all the beams, which is what I expected as the deck centreline follows the curve of the sheer. I intend however to use plywood for the deck, I think that boats of this size do not have planks for deck but plywood with canvas. I am not sure though that the plywood will want to sit on the deck. I think this is called a non developable surface?

I think I need to play with the CAD a bit more. There are of course many more beams at the bow as well as a hatch but these will be done later.

Vaddoc

Do you use a honing guide?

Lovely model and a very rich web page! Undoubtedly tons of work gone into both.

The wax should give some shine to a finely sanded surface.

I had to google pumice powder, never heard of it!

"Pumice powder is made from pumice, a kind of igneous rock that is formed when a volcano erupts. Pumice is abrasive, which is where much of pumice powder's usefulness comes from."

Another thing, Liberon shellac is not dewaxed. It is not a big deal as the wax settles in the bottom if you leave the container still for a few days, then the pure shellac can be drawn from above.

Vaddoc

Derek, this has been just my experience though, maybe you ll fair differently! I ve spent a very long time experimenting though with finishes (in scrap wood, not the boat!).

I ve come across this sealer in the past

https://www.amazon.com/DecoArt-DS17-9-Americana-Multi-Purpose-8-Ounce/dp/B000YQJQ82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517916231&sr=8-1&keywords=americana+sealer

It can be found in the UK for £2 a small bottle which goes a very long way and does a brilliant job, dilutes with water and dries in 15 min. My hull has only this sanding sealer on for now (2 coats) and is sanded to 0000 steel wool. It is very smooth and reflects light

regards

vaddoc

I think shellac is not waterproof so does not seal the wood well. Also I think it has a shelf life. I used it in the past but I liked pure tung oil better which gives a warm tone to the wood, shellac needed too many coats. Also, I find water based sanding sealer excellent and now use it a lot. It pretty much does the same as shellac. It is colourless but it can go on top of tung oil, using the oil diluted and allowing time to cure. It leaves the wood smooth and shiny.

Thanks Hakan, it actually vary rarely looks as tidy! Regarding the lighting, I have around 36000 lumens but it is still not enough. I plan to paint the garage white when it warms up a bit.

Welcome Rob! With your background maybe we can expect some giant model boats? 

Thank you Hakan and John!

After a long brake due to travelling, children's flu and work issues, I finally found some time to work on the boat and I designed on rhino all the beams. First I designed an arc based on the maximum beam and then used segments of it according to the length of each beam.

The beams have 2 widths, 2 and 4 mm. All beams will be made from cherry (or pear) and I will install the 4mm ones. However, the 2 mm ones are short just going from the sheer to the sides of the cabin. I will make these initially from plywood and full length across, so I can arrange all the notches etc to the rest of the beams and after everything else is installed I will swap them for the real thing. I will not make these out of wood as the curve is too great and the grain will be too oblique. The longitudinal beams supporting the cabin top will be laminated from beech (or whatever 0.5 mm strips I have in my timber stash). I will attempt to use PVA glue although I think it is not really going to work.

Enough talking, some photos. This are the templates printed out on paper and glued to 2 mm plywood.

I calculated the bevels for the beams, but they are negligible. Only the first beam has a bevel of 0.5 mm, the next 8 beams, 0.2mm and the rest almost none at all.

The first 4 plywood beams are ready. I forgot though to leave the edges flat so they can rest on the beam selves.

My home made disk sander was playing up so it was time for a bit of an overhaul. Now it runs brilliantly again.

Since my garage was today tidy, I though it would be nice to post a couple of pictures. The admiral has agreed that it will be used primarily for boat building.

I have two large and very solid benches I made myself and a few power tools I have accumulated over the years. You can see my ropewalk, I need to experiment with a few new threads I got.

This is the other side, selves with wood, chemicals etc and my air cleaner on top. The gas heater appears to be dangerously close to the flammable stuff but it is actually alright.

I hope I will make some more progress over the next few days.

Vaddoc

You are building the boat in an unusual way Hakan! I assume you put the keel on the frames to put the planks on but then you can remove it as the lapstrake acts as stringers. Are you going to insert frames or ribs afterwards?

Looks better after the adjustment, you are on the right path. A thing to consider though, your scarfs are quite substantial and may cause flat areas in the planks closer to the sheer. 

Regards

Vaddoc

I ve used heating irons, microwave, steam tubes, hair dryers. The thing that works for me is actually to throw the pieces in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then really quickly bend them to shape. The wood will easily take extreme bends but will start cooling down in just a few seconds and dries to an ambient moisture within 24 hours. A bit of a problem with the heating irons is that the wood gets very dry and somewhat brittle.

To my experience, basswood/lime does not bend well. Beech and maple are superb.

Looks like you are progressing very well Hakan. My recent experience with spilling is that there is a learning curve and after a while it becomes quite consistent. 

Looking at your photos, I wonder if the garboard and first planks end a bit high at the bow and stern, maybe the rest of the planks will be a bit cramped? 

Your lapstrake looks very nice.

Vaddoc

Welcome! Beware of lime, it does not hold an edge.

Thanks for the photo Hakan! The sapwood and the heartwood are very different. If you plan to use the sapwood, maybe check it first. I have some cherry wood and I found the sapwood feels very wet and not really nice to work with so I am discarding it. Nice rabbet lines!

A nice start Hakan. I 've never seen apple wood before but looks very nice. Much nicer colour than swiss pear.

I gave up on spray glue as it makes a mess and leaves residuals on the surface that need to be removed with isopropyl alcohol. Water based glues like pritt much better, more controllable, easier to clean and much much cheaper!

Does the boat have a balast keel/centerboard?

She is looking very good Patrick, especially considering how unforgiving close up photos are. I just love the gold paint!

Dear Patrick, I never expected the hull would come out this nice. If I did, I would be more careful with the treenails, to align them better and use the same material throughout. Now the tree nailing is far from perfect. But I also have this desire to paint it green and red or something bright. Or maybe gold and fill the deck with pillows, you never know!

Hakan, there is little info on this matter on the net compared to other aspects of boatbuilding. This is surprising as this is a tricky job.

I had another look on the Whisstock website and I realised there is a forum area. I posted a question and George Whisstock very kindly replied. Apparently the plans call for a 7% camber (and 9% for the cabin roof) with translated to 17 mm crown, quite a lot more than the 10 mm I intended to use. This will result in a really curved deck but this should be fine as the actual deck areas are quite limited.

I realised that the marking of the positioning of the beams was very inaccurate. Also, It was impossible to accurately mark the position of the beam on the opposite sheer. It took a day to finally come up with a way to do this without a massive jig. The straight strip on the port side has the positions of the beams and the sliding jig across the central rail ensures everything is completely square.

I used tape to mark the positions as I need to also account for the variable thickness of the beams.

I also put some order in my wood stash today, which was all over the place. I realised I have accumulated quite a lot in the last few years. The timber is now well seasoned but all the maple sheets are horribly warped, as well as some very thick beech strips. I did though the mistake of storing my wood vertically.

I ll be following your build from the back Hakan!

I am interested to know how your homemade thickness sander will work.

Vaddoc

I am posting the conclusions I ve reached, as others may find it helpfull

The first thing to decide when arranging the deck is the crown height or camber. It is usually between 1/2 and 1 inch per foot of beam. Then, find the maximum beam and draw an arc or parabola. There are a few ways of doing this but I used a 3D program.

Following this, use the same arc for all points (beams) across the length of the hull. Keep the arc vertical to the waterline and not the sheer (bevelling/fairing will be needed for the beams to sit on the beam selves and the planks to sit on the beams.)

Provided the sheer is fair, the deck  centreline that will be produced will be fair as well.

Nothing is easy in boatbuilding!

Vaddoc

Well, I just measured the actual length and beam of the boat

Length (to more foremost end of planking: In plans 703mm, actual 703. (!)

Beam: In plans 236, actual 239. (a couple of frames were off sideways by a mm or 2, reason unknown)

So the 3D designs for the beams correspond to the boat length wise but are off by 1.5 mm on each side of the beam. So I will need to re-do the beams but for making the cabin I probably will be able to fully use the 3D to cut the templates.

Vaddoc