Anchor Hoy c. 1825 by Maury S - FINISHED - 1:48 - Harbor craft - POF

[Stuntflyer]

Tricky stuff, Maury and well done!

 

Mike

[Louie da fly]

I've put this in my favourites as an example of difficult planking done well.

 

Well?  - - - Magnificently!

 

Steven

[Maury S]

Planking / Steelers...  Druxey reminded me the the planking at the bow was going to be a challenge, so I've been thinking about that quite a bit lately.  I thought I'd lay it out on paper first and see how things developed.  I cut a paper pattern to match the bottom of the wales and then started playing with the space between the wale and highest plank in the lower band.  The way it was laid out there are ten more strakes.  The tapering just about cuts the plank width in half but the narrower plank at the stem does not look pleasing. Because of the severely rounded bows, almost all of the taper comes between the stem and the third frame back.   Even though the hull will be painted, I want to do it right and since this is my first experiment with steelers,  here goes.  The placement of joints has already been determined.  The joint closest to the bow is at the fourth frame and three (and eight) strakes down from the wale.  That seems a reasonable place to start. I tried with one steeler and it still squeezed the planks a bit in the middle band.  If I put in two steelers, one at strake 3 and another a strake 8, I cut the number of remaining planks at the bow from 10 to 8 and the size seems more pleasing.  Upper band pattern shown below:

 

"

The pattern of "three to two planks" seemed best so that's what I've laid out so far.  I marked out four strakes from the bow to frame 4 and five from 4 aft.  I then marked the center of the third strake at frame 4 where the joint falls and drew in the ">" pattern.  Any comments / corrrections are appreciated.

Maury

[druxey]

Looks good to my eye on paper, Maury! Just avoid a butt one strake below the drop strake end, if that light line represents one. (Use the usual three strake rule if a butt is required).

[Maury S]

Thanks, that was why I put the drop strake end at the regular joint mark following the 3 strake rule.  The light line represents a frame center.

Maury

[druxey]

Excellent!

[Maury S]

Now that I have confidence in the layout for the steelers, I've continued planking the lower band.  The plank snapped in the heat-only bending process three times (wood became too brittle), so I went back to steaming the piece (wrapped in a wet paper towel and cooking for 2 minutes on high in the microwave).  It bent and twisted easily and has to be set aside to properly dry (at least over night, even after using the air blower).  There is a stain from the water (barely visible in the upper right corner) that I hope disappears with drying.

Maury

[druxey]

Stains from water are usually superficial and sand off easily.

[Maury S]

I took a break today from the planking and built up an anchor from the Syren ShipModel Co. kit.  What a great little product!

I need a larger one for hanging off the great cat, but this will

be acceptable for one of the regular anchors on the hoy.

Parts in the first pic.

 

Finished except for the ring.  Paint is ModelShipways Iron canon Black..4 coats well diluted.  Bands are Scotch Blue painters tape, painted the same and sliced to size.  I may try using some rust powder on it.  One more thing to learn.

Maury

[druxey]

Those anchor kits make up very nicely.

[dvm27]

Looks great Maury!

[Maury S]

There is a posting issue with the site.  I'm editing this on a Mac using Chrome.  

The first stealer plank is being setup.  At the frame where the stealer meets, I carefully laid out both four and five strakes and roughly cut the plank.  It's going into the microwave now to get bent...another problem...clamping the plank in place to dry is an issue.  Nowhere to put a clamp.  I'm resorting to rubber bands.  More later.

Maury

[druxey]

Try pre-bending with a slight over-bend. Allow to dry free in air. You should be able to 'massage' the plank to conform to the hull once dry.

[Maury S]

I've broken 4 or five planks getting them shaped around the bow.  Spiled first of course.  Top edge sanded to fit the strake above.  At first I tried heat bending and that made the piece so brittle at the forward end a corner broke off (twice).  I went to the microwave, then to boiling and back to the microwave (3 different pieces) before I got one to shape.  A few days later the first "drop planks" are installed.  This is my first attempt at drop planks.  The top one (boat is inverted) was easy.  Matching up the mate and the joint will be a challenge.  All of it was planned out on paper (see earlier post).  The joint lands where butt joints were earlier laid out.

Plenty of sanding left to even out the thicknesses but the seams are tight.  Some water stains remain, and it gets painted.

Maury

[Maury S]

The butt to the drop planks went easier than I expected...yet again, no bending for the bow.

Maury

[druxey]

Coming along. Soon it will be time for the whiskey strake!

[Maury S]

I always wanted to name a sailboat "Whiskey Strake"!

[Maury S]

I've talked about the difficulty of bending the planks  around the bow.  Here is how I hold the stem-end in the rabbet while bending the piece.  I clamp a piece of scrap to the stem and it holds the plank as it sets in the rabbet.  On the harder-to-bend pieces, I had to use stronger clamps.  The back end of the plank is held in place with some high-tech rubber bands.

[Louie da fly]

A very worthwhile tip! Your microwave steaming technique sounds worth trying, as well.

 

Steven

[Maury S]

With a bit of sanding and twisting, the drop plank on the stb. side went in well.  It was tough getting it to fit into the rabbet and matching the angled butt.

Almost impossible to see the joint.  Lots of finish sanding to do once all the planks are in place and the joints are tight.  Best I've done so far.  Every piece is a project unto itself and I'm getting better.  Thanks to all those who've commented (and the likes).

Maury

[druxey]

Sweet! What specie of wood are using to plank with, Maurys?

[Maury S]

The planking is labeled "Costello Box" but I'm not sure of the Costello part.  It came from either Hobby Mill before Jeff shut down, or Crown.

Maury

[Maury S]

The second of three planking bands is done.  Any thing that looks like a gap in any joint is probably a shadow.  The third (middle) band contains one drop plank at the bow.  Looking forward to the "whiskey strake".  I've yet to decide if I leave a portion of the planking off on one side to show the frames. 

The wales will be planked over the existing planking as defined by the three strakes below the yellow painted planks. 

[Maury S]

More planking including the lower drop planks.  I broke 4 or 5 pieces making the bends around the bow.  I used every trick I could imagine to twist and bend the planks.  Drop planks are particularly hard because of the "V shaped" end that has to mate with the other plank and fit into the rabbet.  Cooking longer and bending / twisting in stages seems to help. 

 

I've decided to leave a portion of the planking off on the starboard side.  Just enough to show the frames.  The last strake  will fill in from the bow the the marked frame.

The changes in humidity have opened up a few very minor gaps in the planking.  I think rubbing sawdust into the gaps and then going over with a fine wash of diluted glue will cover the issue.  The hull is still going to be  painted. 

Maury

 

[Maury S]

The growing pile of planks that failed in bending.  Most of the breaks occur near the very end of the most severe bend.  I'm currently boiling a plank for an extended time to see if that helps.

Maury

[mtaylor]

Maury,

 

Look around second hand shops or even yard sales for a pressure cooker.  The water boils at a higher temperature and being under pressure the steam would get forced into the wood a bit deeper than boiling.   Sadly, I dropped my old pressure cooker and it was dinged to the point the lid wouldn't seal. 

[Maury S]

Mark,  Thanks, I'll try that.  Nothing else seems to be working on the bend of that last plank.

Maury

[Roger Pellett]

If you are planning to paint the hull you might consider using a species of wood with better bending properties for these few planks. The NRG shop notes discuss wood bending properties but I believe pear and holly both have superior bend strength.  Also, pay attention to grain orientation.  Are you bending straight grained wood? Flat sawn wood is easier to bend than quarter sawn. You might try bending in two steps. First bend, then steam again and twist.

 

Roger

[EdT]

Hi Maury,

 

I second Rogers comments.  I do not find Castello to be very good for bending.  Another species to consider is hard maple.  As always, straight grain is essential.

 

Ed

[Roger Pellett]

I don't know if it can be scaled down to model size but a wooden canoe wood bending trick involves shifting the neutral axis of the bend outward by attaching a light metal strap to the outside of the piece while bending it. This reduces the elongation of the wood fibers around the outside arc but increases compression of fibers around the inside arc.  For bending full sized work a light steel strap with a hook that fits over the end of the piece being bent is used.

 

Roger