Filler block question.

[Ronjja76]

When you use filler blocks, do you put them in place, shape them and then shape them together with the bulkheads before it's time for planking? Or do you shape the bulkheads first and then put in the filler blocks and shape them?

 

I tried to find the answer by surfing the forum but without success.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Ronjja76

[jbshan]

You can dry fit them, mark with a pencil against the bulkhead, etc., then cut out on the bench or with a power saw, but leave some 'meat' for final fitting.

[Ronjja76]

Thx!

[hornet]

If you have one, a band saw is ideal for 'roughing out' the shape of your filler blocks. It allows you to achieve the curves much more accurately.

[Modeler12]

It looks like your filler blocks do not have a lot of compound curvature. That makes it easier than when the filler block is up against the bow or stern where the curvatures go every which way.

What I ended up doing is to rough cut the block by saw and then sanded the rest with a disk sander to a bit larger than needed.

To prevent my knuckles and DNA from being part of the model, I glued the block to a handle using hot-melt glue. It gave me lots of room to maneuver the block while sanding and made it easy to dry fit numerous times.

[Ronjja76]

I don't have a band saw, unfortunately, so I'll have to shape the filler blocks by hand (knife, sandpaper and file). But should I shape them before or after I've sanded/shaped the bulkheads?

I missed that I should dry fit the blocks

[Pete Jaquith]

Ronjja76,

 

On my "Fair American, circa 1780" build, I glued filler blocks to the bulkheads before hull assembly. Rough shaping was done with disk and spindle sanders. Final fairing was done with #60 grit sandpaper wrapped around an 1 1/2" dia hard wood dowel.

 

Regards,

Pete

Edited July 11, 2015 by Pete Jaquith

[Ronjja76]

Thanks for the tips and advice! It feels as if I'm on the right course