vaddoc

Another quick update I started steaming and installing the ribs. As expected, beech responded wonderfully to wet heat becoming as pliable as boiled spaghetti. My steam box is working great and in no time I had bent half of the ribs. I made a simple spacer to make sure the rib is placed at equal distances from the frames Then I started screwing the ribs to the planks. Regards Vaddoc

Hi @Gregory I do not come across any specific information, but these are my thoughts: Probably transoms were made from a few pieces, edge to edge like the planking but thicker. It is much easier to find very wide short segments so maybe it would only take 3 pieces to make a Transom. Most of the transom is well above the water line so no caulking would be needed. I do not think any particular framing would be needed as usually there would be a sternpost or at least a knee, and also the planking, to keep the transom securely in place. In the boat I am building, each transom piece would be nailed to three planks on each side. In more modern larger vessels, on top of the sternpost there are extra pieces of timber as the photo bellow shows. This would be easy enough to use also for boats and would result to a very strong transom. However in "The boats of men-of-war" by May, for a 22 ft long boat it states: Transom: Broad or moulded at the upper part 3ft 9 in, thick or sided 3 inch, knees sided 2 3/4 in. No mention of framing.

Dear friends Planking is finished! But what a difficult boat to plank! With great difficulty I managed to scrape a few moments here and there to work on the boat. My 3D plans I am pretty sure are correct, but I think they did not transfer that well to wood as some of the lines looked a bit wrong. In any case, with a lot of eyeballing and using the 80 - 20 rule, it all came together. But it was not easy! It is not only that the planks need to bend and more importantly twist a lot, it is also that the largest distance keel to sheer is near the bow and not midships. On top of this, batens cannot really be used due to the very curved bow. The scarfs also made a fair plank curve difficult. That was a mountain to climb. My planking I think is more or less correct but if I was to build this boat again, I would change the run of the planks a bit at the bow. A few photos: Perhaps the planks could end a bit lower at the bow but I do not think this is too significant, there is plenty of room. Another issue is that gaps have appeared between the planks. The wood database mentions that beech has large movement in service and indeed, the planks have shrunk considerably after they reached their moisture balance. I will use filler but I cannot sand the hull just yet, the screws need to go which means all the ribs need to be installed, the temporary frames to be removed and all the screws exchanged for tree nails. So we now move on to the next stage: steam bending ribs! And also making a few thousand tree nails... I started cutting parts of the frames to open up the space This is as far as I was able to get, at least I managed to not go into hibernation. But I am really sorry I have not been able to keep up with your logs and updates. Till next time My very best wishes to all Vaddoc

Dear all Many thanks for your likes and comments. @BobG Yes Bob, for the scales I work at 1mm screws are fantastic. They hold things accurately and securely, can be removed and hole filled with tree nail. I ve used many thousands so far, go for stainless steel to avoid head rounding off. Modelling has slowed down as other priorities have stepped in. One is family, wife and two daughters 5 and 7. Work (of course) but also a need to increase physical fitness. During lockdown I put on a lot of weight that really started to affect me and something had to be done. So, spare time went to Tae kwon Do, cycling, gym etc. It did work, along side a sensible diet and I am 14 kg lighter - about 31 pounds and much fitter. Still a bit more to go though! Now, modelling has slowed down for two other reasons. One has been the very low temperatures, my garage at -1 C is pretty unpleasant. The other reason was that things have become more complex and difficult. Repair/restoration is much more difficult. I ended up taking more planks off, more than the photos bellow show, to correct gaps or defects but also because their shape was a bit off, collectively changing the run of the planking. The two plank halves had to be split as the aft part can be reused for some of the planks, Isopropyl alcohol dissolved PVA very effectively. I used the existing planks to re-arrange the run of all the other planks. This time I must stick to the markings, even if the planks end up with pigtail shapes. I hope the new markings will give a better plank run, we ll see Till next time Vaddoc

Good job!

@druxey You are very right Druxey. A valuable lesson learned! I need to decide now whether I can continue or whether I should take all the planks out and start again. I think though there is enough space at the stem for 4 more planks.

Oh dear. One step forward, many steps backwards! But first thing's first. Many thanks to all for your comments and likes! Jan 6: I continued with the planking. I fitted the next plank which was wildly off. Still, I heated it up and fixed in place, to be sanded to shape later on. This is when I eyeballed the planks and thought: "Something is wrong". Jan 7: I tidied up the shipyard! And then continued with the planking. With some aggressive sanding, the plank fitted fine: Something was not right though. The plank had a funny S shape at the stem, did not look fair at all. Also, the general run of the planks is rising too acutely at the bow. Due to the very rounded shape of the bow, it should be a much more subtle rise, following the shape of the sheer to a degree. Something is not correct. See how after the last frame, the plank goes horizontal-this is wrong. At the most forward frames, the planks should rise a bit higher before meeting the stem. Jan 8: It is not possible to proceed with the planking. Something is really wrong. There is too much space to be covered at the first 3 frames, the planks do not have a fair run and become too thick near the stem, there is not enough space at the stem and it seems that the sheer should be going a bit higher at the stem - despite the CAD saying otherwise. Even following the current markings which are probably wrong, I have made this plank too narrow. This plank is clearly wrong. The next plank would need to be very thick at the bow to close the gap. I thought it would be ok having this plank a bit more narrow - wrong! Despite these concerns, I went ahead and made the next plank on both sides. The shape looks properly wrong! I tried to re-arrange the plank widths at the stem but I could feel the main issue was elsewhere. The new plank fitted in place. Looks absolutely horrible. It is very obvious that the previous plank is cut too narrow near the bow and is too thick at frames 6, 5 4 & 3. There is also this very ugly massive gap at the plank further down. Not sure how this opened up but it is not really acceptable. So decision taken: one plank from port side and two from strarboard need to come out. Here they are: This was painful but necessary. I should be able to salvage the aft parts of the planks and make again the scarfs. January 10: I redid the run of the planks again. I tried to make them equal width but my primary concern was to have a more pleasant run and to follow the sheer. I think it looks ok. The bow is so curved that it is very difficult to use battens and to eyeball the hull. Comparing the new with the old markings (not too clear on the photo), it is clear some of the frame were way off. So here is where we are now. I think the contralateral plank will need to be removed also. So next: transfer the markings to the other side, quite possibly remove the port plank, fill the screw holes and continue with the planking, hopefully I ll be able to salvage the aft halves of the planks. This is a very difficult boat to plank! Have a great new year everyone! Vaddoc

As Keith said. PVA is white or yellow. Amber would be gorilla original which is not PVA. Either way though, it makes no difference. It needs to be removed so test and see what works best.

Then it was gorilla original. This is not PVA glue. Gorilla original activates with water and is an expanding glue, filling gaps. I tried it years ago but made a big mess. It probably would be good for wood working when parts do not fit well, like gluing chairs but maybe not too good for modelling. I am not sure if this glue can be dissolved with chemicals. Maybe best to experiment, apply some glue to a scrap piece of wood and use heat or either IPA or acetone, what ever you can get, and see how it reacts. Scraping with a sharp blade may actually do the trick and leave a smooth surface.

Randy, which exactly gorilla glue did you use? Was it the white glue or the amber gorilla original?

Congratulations Hakan! A lovely model indeed. Meet you in Atlantica!

Just finished going through your inspiring log, fantastic work! I hope all is well Drazen.

Hopefully your hand will heal quickly Hakan! You have come out wiser from this incident but also we are all more aware of the risks now. I have the small Proxon table saw but early on I realised it is by far the most dangerous tool I own. I ve actually stopped using it, I am just too careless! @michael mott Grabbing the opportunity, Michael I hope your hand is also healing well!

Brian, Gary and to all that hit the like button - many thanks! Indeed, thankfully the family seems to be on the mend. Planking continues at a very slow pace. I thought the bow end of the planks would get easier as I get closer to the sheer but this is not the case, it is still difficult to get the shape right and convince the planks to bend and twist. 20 seconds in boiling water though does miracles, beech really responds superbly to wet heat. A few photos, still some way to go.

Always test on scrap wood, not the model!

Trade products like West system are usually not appropriate for modelling as they are very hard when cured. I run into a similar issue years ago when I used a large amount of trade filler that dried rock hard. It took a very long time of difficult sanding to rectify things. I use Zpoxy and when needed thicken with gypsum, much easier to sand. I used to use talk powder but I have concerns it may contain asbestos. As Druxey said, for your purposes filler/sealer might have been a better option. Cured epoxy can only be removed by sanding or chiselling away the excess material. 3M silica carbide sand paper are indeed amazing

Completely missed this Richard! Unlucky! Also looking forward to the recording being released. Many thanks and Merry Christmas!

Could I also add a couple of potential challenges with large scale. The planks get pretty thick and resist edge bending. Tolerances need to be tighter as gaps will show. Bevelling edges will be needed. The building starts to get closer to the real thing which is something I enjoy very much! The requirements in timber, supplies and tools grow geometrically. I remember a picture Gaetan had posted with the pear wood that was delivered to his house. Must have been a few trees in that pile!

A quick update. Little progress due to fevers and aching throats with the whole family out of action. Not Covid! A few pics, I think it is going reasonably well.

@allanyed The thickness of the planks is 2mm (Actually 2.2 as they came a touch oversized), spot on 7/8 inches! Now, in regard to the width, these are my amateur, non-educated thoughts: The widest planks are 1/2 inch, you have a good eye! Honestly, I think 0.8 inches might be too wide. Maybe the upper planks near the sheer could be made as wide but the rest I think not, as the turn of the bilge is quite acute and needs more narrow planks. Also, replacing the garboard and the next 3 planks with only 3 wider planks, I think this would be a struggle. And I like all planks to be reasonably equal in width. Despite the above, I suspect you are actually correct. My planks always end up on the narrow side, irrespective of the shape of the hull!

I think this is a great idea that makes every sense today. We will offset the carbon footprint of the construction by building many wooden clippers which will be the only merchant ship allowed in the oceans. Where do I sign?

Just got scent of your log Kevin, enjoyed very much reading through it! Not much to contribute but I ll be watching from the back of the room.

Very nice Hakan. Looks like there is plenty of room in your shop for a ropewalk, if you ever felt like making your own rope. Just saying! Alternatively, I should have plenty of very small diameter rope if you think you could use it, could fit easily in a nice Christmas card! PM me if interested.

My models tend to need thousand of holes each. Hand drilling is not only tedious, it can also lead to problems. It is easy to brake a drill which gets stuck in the hole and then cannot be removed. Using a rotary drill and flexible steel drills, this risk is minimised. 300 rpm I think is too slow to drill wood. I switched from Dremel to the DC Proxxon, which I find much better overall and with more torque. Drilling wood, it is always in the highest rpm setting.

Thanks Allan! Indeed it is this very boat.