vaddoc

Perhaps take two pieces of plywood half the thickness minus 1 mm and laminate them with thickened epoxy (hence the 1mm). Let it cure with lots of books on top. You ll get perfectly flat plywood and you can cut a new bulkhead.

Well, time for another update! I was unwell and stayed home, so got to work a bit more on the boat.
 
Now, there is some progress but also a lot of questions to be answered and decisions to be made. Any of your thoughts would be most welcome!
 
First issue is how high to place the thwarts and the floor boards. I tried to find relevant info in books and the internet but did not get anywhere. In the end I measured the original NMN plans and the actual dimensions of the model and tried to use common sense for a realistic and comfortable arrangement.
At midships, keel to sheer will be 83 mm or in real boat, 83 cm. I think the distance top of thwart to sheer should be 20 cm. The floor timbers should be something like 10 cm high to allow a reasonably wide floor and the top of the thwarts will be about 50 cm from the floor boards. I think this should be a realistic arrangement. Then again, those days people were probably shorter than we are today. Oh well...
 
Time for a few photos.
I first made the breasthook. It was a bit fiddly, sanding it curved and bevelled but actually I got it with the first attempt, which was good as pear wood sheets this thick are expensive.


However, it did look a bit huge and out of scale so I reduce it - I think it looks much better now.


I think I might add a small deck bellow the breasthook, I think this is what the plans show:

I then made template for the floor timbers. Again, it was actually a pretty straightforward job.



Now, these are my thoughts: I d like to seal the interior, prime it and paint it white but keeping the pear wood transom, keel and floors unpainted, these will be enhanced with Tung oil. The stringer that will support the thwarts will also be painted white but everything else added will be unpainted pear wood treated with Tung oil. The outer keel will be painted last.
 
Alternatively, I could leave the interion unpainted. Just apply Tung oil, seal with water based sealer, rub with 0000 steel wool and then add all the remaining pear wood trims etc and last paint the outer hull.
 
I do have a suspicion that if I paint the interior, since it is not well sanded and prepared, it might look horrible with all imperfections highlighted by the paint.
 
Any suggestions would be very welcome!
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Well, time for another update! I was unwell and stayed home, so got to work a bit more on the boat.
 
Now, there is some progress but also a lot of questions to be answered and decisions to be made. Any of your thoughts would be most welcome!
 
First issue is how high to place the thwarts and the floor boards. I tried to find relevant info in books and the internet but did not get anywhere. In the end I measured the original NMN plans and the actual dimensions of the model and tried to use common sense for a realistic and comfortable arrangement.
At midships, keel to sheer will be 83 mm or in real boat, 83 cm. I think the distance top of thwart to sheer should be 20 cm. The floor timbers should be something like 10 cm high to allow a reasonably wide floor and the top of the thwarts will be about 50 cm from the floor boards. I think this should be a realistic arrangement. Then again, those days people were probably shorter than we are today. Oh well...
 
Time for a few photos.
I first made the breasthook. It was a bit fiddly, sanding it curved and bevelled but actually I got it with the first attempt, which was good as pear wood sheets this thick are expensive.


However, it did look a bit huge and out of scale so I reduce it - I think it looks much better now.


I think I might add a small deck bellow the breasthook, I think this is what the plans show:

I then made template for the floor timbers. Again, it was actually a pretty straightforward job.



Now, these are my thoughts: I d like to seal the interior, prime it and paint it white but keeping the pear wood transom, keel and floors unpainted, these will be enhanced with Tung oil. The stringer that will support the thwarts will also be painted white but everything else added will be unpainted pear wood treated with Tung oil. The outer keel will be painted last.
 
Alternatively, I could leave the interion unpainted. Just apply Tung oil, seal with water based sealer, rub with 0000 steel wool and then add all the remaining pear wood trims etc and last paint the outer hull.
 
I do have a suspicion that if I paint the interior, since it is not well sanded and prepared, it might look horrible with all imperfections highlighted by the paint.
 
Any suggestions would be very welcome!
 
Regards
Vaddoc

I used the design of the fellow in the link bellow. Heavy and super solid bench, cheap to make too. The selves underneath are very practical.  I made a large one and then I made an even larger one. Go big, longer and wider than you plan. I think my benches are 90 cm high but I like to sit in tall stools.
 
 

Perhaps take two pieces of plywood half the thickness minus 1 mm and laminate them with thickened epoxy (hence the 1mm). Let it cure with lots of books on top. You ll get perfectly flat plywood and you can cut a new bulkhead.

I must admit I very much like beech.
 
It is a very hard wood but it bends beautifully. It holds an edge, glues well, cuts well, sands well. Does not splinter. It is readily available, cheap and available in all sizes with very clean sheets - no knots or blemishes.
 
However, it swells a lot with changes in humidity and has a very distinctive grain. I like the grain for modelling but I think I am the only one...
 
In any case, I ve used beech extensively so far but never for planking. This time, I decided to plank the 2 boats I am currently building in beech. In 1:10 scale, they are quite large. Now, one hull is ready and the other is being planked so I ve been thinking how to finish the thing. I was planning to paint the hulls but it was suggested that it would be a shame to hide the planking so now some kind of clear finish is needed. And here lies the rub.
 
Both the pear and beech wood I ve used are steamed and have a pink hue. The hull is sanded to 400 grit and it really cries for some colour enhancing and finish. The second photo shows the hull against coloured wood - it needs something doing.


Beech wood is notorious for resisting any finish. The wood has areas with very large open pores and others that are quite the opposite. Any staining attempt will result in ugly blotchiness.
 
I tried to simply use Tung oil but the results were not good.  The photo shows how non-uniformally the oil has coloured the wood - it is the segment on the left, Tung oil straight on raw sanded wood

Now, treating the wood with sanding sealer dramatically improves things. I know most people use Shellac, I personally never liked it - I find methylated spirits too toxic. I ve been using a water based sanding sealer which I think is excellent (Decoart-Americana multi purpose sealer). The bottom wood sample was sanded to 400 grit, had a coat of sealer, sanded with 400 grit and then had Tung oil. Much better colour uniformity.

So Tung oil needs sealing first. What about changing the colour though?
 
I decided to try Van Dyke crystals. I ve never used the stuff. I applied it directly to sanded wood. Fantastic colour but also dramatic grain inversion, the growth rings really stand out.
Now, the next photo is really interesting. The two upper strips have been coated in different strengths dye. The third was first sealed with sanding sealer, then dyed. Fantastic result! The last is just plain beech wood.

This was the only time I succeeded dyeing beech wood. All my subsequent attempts were disastrous. Did not matter how many coats of sealer, what grit of sand paper, every time was a massive failure. Photos bellow


There is no room for error finishing a hull, especially with a dye which cannot be sanded off. So Van Dyke crystals cannot be considered due to poor reliability and repeatability.
 
Next I tried stains. I had some left over samples of Osmo stains. I had found out from previous experience, that straight onto wood results are not good. However, applied on sanded and sealed wood, results were excellent. In the next photo, sealed wood is on top right (3 different stains), raw wood on the bottom.


Very nice, very uniform colour. Perhaps a second coat would enhance it more. However, these stains on the pear wood keel did not look good at all and I did not wanted to treat the 2 woods separately - Too much trouble and room for error.
 
So stains are out for this project but in general: Sand the wood to 320 grit, seal the wood with decoart water based sanding sealer, sand to no more than 320 grit and use Osmo stains. You ll have a good result on this very stubborn wood.
 
So, we are back to Tung oil. I experimented using 2 coats vs 1 coat of sanding sealer and sanding to 320 vs 400 grit. The best outcome was with using one coat of sealer and sanding to 320 grit. 400 grit seamed to seal the wood too much.

Even if something goes wrong, this thick Tung oil does not soak deep onto sealed wood and can be sanded off or stained over. In due course I ll seal the hull, Tung oil it and see what happens. I l try to post a photo in this thread.
 
I hope this will be of some help to others, especially as there is very little info on this subject on the net.
 
Best wishes
Vaddoc

I had an interesting message from @Jaager, so I ll add a few more thoughts.
 
It seems that Beech which is plentiful this side of the pond, is not as easy to find or as inexpensive in America. I was not aware of this.
 
Now, methylated spirits is ethanol with nasty chemicals added so it cannot be drunk. Jaager suggested that Shellac could be diluted in isopropyl alcohol, this never crossed my mind. For a sealer, I still prefer water based products. As a finish though, it worth a try to see how beech wood likes Shellac. IPA should be more pleasant to work with.
 
Tung oil, as a finish, needs initially to be diluted with mineral spirits. However, I only use it to change the colour of the wood so no need to dilute.
In regards to sealing the wood prior to staining, my research so far shows that wood conditioners, recommended prior to staining difficult woods, are essentially varnishes or some type of sealers to close the very large open pores and prevent blotchiness. Indeed, my results on beech were impressive-sealing the wood prior to staining works well.
 
I ll get some shellac and see how this works.
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes and for visiting. I certainly have missed MSW!
 
@Bedford I will seal the wood Bedford both inside and out. I doubt though this will stop the beech changing its dimensions and I am certain the paint will crack along the plank edges. But it's ok!
 
@Wintergreen I will paint the hull Hakan and I ll fill the few dimples at the bow. Not sure if it will look authentic though! I was actually thinking of using enamel paint for this boat not sure if the wood moving makes it a worse or better choice.
 
In the last two months the only thing I have been able to get done is sanding of the hull. But the amount of sanding needed has been epic: starting at 60 grit, then 80, 100, 120, 180 and finally 240. It is a big girl and both the filler and beech wood are hard so hard work.
 
The photos bellow show the hull as it is after the 240 grit sanding. I ll do a bit more filling, then sand to 320 grit, seal and re-sand to 320. The hull will be painted after the interior is complete so that it is rigid.



The hull is very smooth and started to reflect light. A long way to go but it is getting there.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

The small proxon one is very good. Very precise, very robust, small foot print. Combined with cheap carbide drills is a wonderful tool.

The small proxon one is very good. Very precise, very robust, small foot print. Combined with cheap carbide drills is a wonderful tool.

The small proxon one is very good. Very precise, very robust, small foot print. Combined with cheap carbide drills is a wonderful tool.

Dear all
 
It's been almost two month since my last post. I have been working on the boat when life permitted - which was not too often.
But even so, there has been progress.
To start with, all the screws have been replaced with tree nails. Unscrew the screw, re-drill the hole by hand, dip the tree nail in glue and insert in the whole, wipe the excess glue and trim the nail - then repeat many hundreds of times. 
 
Then, I started filling the large gaps between the planks with filler, both from the outside and the inside. It is a shame really, these gaps are due to the shrinkage of the wood. When I cut the planks they were tight against each other. However, beech really has a tremendous movement in service and huge changes in dimension with changes in moisture. I will not be using beech again!
 
So here is how the hull looked like after the filler liberally applied. Not an elegant sight!




Then I started sanding inside. The little Proxon pen sander was very helpful.

Then I started sanding the outer hull. This is how one side looks, this is with 80 grit. Beech is very hard wood. There is a dimple in one of the planks at the bow. I think I ll paint this hull so it will be filled.


Now, just to show how much the beech moves, this is the hull of the Launch. There are cracks everywhere! I think I will not repair it, I ll just leave it as is.



Till next time
 
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes. 
Indeed Bedford, there are some tasks in model building that are certainly therapeutic!
 
So the first bunch of nails came out just about acceptable, still trying to standardise the process and solve issues.

However, from then on things went much better and lovely tree nails produced

This is about 2000 nails. I ll make another 1000, and since I am at it I ll process that slice of cherry for future use. Then I ll be ready to start replacing screws.

I had make a thread on making nails, I ll update that as well.
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Well, it has been so long since my last post, I had to look to find my log!
 
So a lot of things have come to pass: I lost some more weight, gained a belt in Tae Kwon Do, injured my hamstring and converted to an electric car to name a few. In the shipyard though, progress has been far more modest - I have been very busy lately.
 
I finished all ribs but the foremost one. This was left in place until the screws at the stem are replaced with tree nails. There were a few ribs that needed a lot of twisting and bending but steaming the ribs worked miracles. Most of the ribs are beech but I think I must have mixed my strips a bit and some birch and alder may have sneaked in.
Also, I think I should have had more cant ribs at the bow - it's ok though




So, each screw holding the plank to the temporary frame had to be removed, the rib installed, the hole re-drilled from the outside in, through the rib now, and a new screw inserted from the inside to push the rib against the planks. 13 planks x 2 sides x 2 screws each x 32 ribs( +stem) + a few here and there = 1700 screws.
 
So, 1700 screws to attach the planks to the temporary frames, then another 1700 to attach the ribs to the planks. But now, all these screws need to be removed and replaced with tree nails. So we need 1700 tree nails + wastage.
 
I have a fair few left from other projects but there is no consistency in colour, material and size. So I need to make them. The photo bellow shows my tree nail making station:

Now, I have made many thousands tree nails using the needle method but I really struggled. The needle burned the wood, the nails constantly broke off inside the needle, couldn't find the right size needle, in short mayhem. I spend a lot of time experimenting and finally got things to work. These are the tree nails I made today, ready to be released by aggressively sanding the underside. I think there are about 600 or so.

Every missing nail was a blockage in the needle that had to be cleared.
So, these were the changes I made that fixed the problem: I used a needle with thin wall. I slowed the speed of the drill press from high to medium (low speed led to breakages). I realised the wood was too dry so I soaked it in water overnight and allowed it to dry. Finally, I made sure the end of the needle was sharp.
 
Now, the best nails are made from hard wood with straight grain. This is the wood I am using (slices already soaked):

The right wood is cherry. Very nice wood, I ve already made thousands of nails from these wood but lately it has been playing up. The wood on the left is either Howthorn (most likely) or apricot (I had two logs but I could find only one in the garage, so it is either or). It is a hard wood though so it does not matter.
(The little piece of wood at the bottom of the photo is indeed apricot. I tried a slice but it is too dry and did not work.)
 
So, next few sessions in the shipyard will be devoted to tree nails. 
 
Best wished
 
Vaddoc

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.

Dear all
 
Many thanks for your likes and good words!
Planking continues, I am making an effort to get the planks to sit nicely without big gaps. It seems to be going well so far and the most difficult planks are behind me. I did not have to remake any plank, they all came out fine on the first attempt. 
 
One thing that surprised me was the amount of adjustment I had to do on the frames. The two more forward and the two more aft frames had to be trimmed quite heavily, despite my CAD drawings looking good. I am not sure why, however: the two forward frames were the ones I had problems with at the drawing stage and I suspect I may have sanded the bevels at the Transom wrongly. 
 
It does not matter though as the planks do act as batens and show where wood needs to be taken off to have a fair curve. I think it is all fixed now.
 
A few pics:
 
All planks up to the level of Transom finished. The next plank sits at an angle at the transom and needs extra care to sit handsomely.




These are the paper templates for the next plank. 

And the process is repeated. This is a difficult plank but I think it is coming out fine and fits well with the previous plank on both sides.






This is how I steam my planks now, I just stick them in the kettle for a few seconds and then immediately place on the boat. The beech will take any shape with ease.

Till next time
 
Vaddoc