Plank Width for Spiled Planks

[daveward]

I am about to order some sheets of wood for my upcoming build, which will be planked using the spiling method.  My kit came with first-layer planks that are 5 mm wide, and second-layer planks that are 4 mm wide.  I want to order enough material, so I'm wondering how much wider my raw material should be in order to properly cut out the curved planks.  I have heard some people say that they used planks that were 50% wider than the originals, but this still seems a little narrow to me.  Can anyone give me some advice as to what width I should be ordering, based on the widths supplied with the kit?  Thanks!

[NMBROOK]

Hi Dave

 

I ordered the widest sheets of Pear available (75mm) for Nuestra.You can then 'nest'the shaped planks side by side with a small gap to save material.My second planking is only 4mm max wide on Nuestra,but the last one I cut for the bow is probably 40mm wide across the corners!!

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[daveward]

Thanks for the quick reply, Nigel.  However, I'm trying to figure out the total number of sheets I'll need.  The kit comes with (40) 5 mm planks, and (50) 4 mm planks.  So, that's exactly 200 mm worth of material for each layer of planking.  I was wondering if there might be a ballpark figure that I can multiply this by in order to find out how much I'll need, in total.  For instance, I could go with 400 mm or 600 mm (2X or 3X width).  Any suggestions? 

[NMBROOK]

Very much depends on the shape of the bow Dave,for the central section of the hull,the kit planking is adequate,this will follow the slight bend caused by the sheer.You only need to spil the bow area and possibly some of the stern(especially if it has a round tuck).What vessel are you building,that would give a better idea of the shapes involved?

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[mtaylor]

Dave, 

Buy sheets and not precut strips. There will be less waste.   

 

BTW, if you want to use boxwood or pear, see this for a great price: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/13146-hobbymill-inventory-clearance-sale/

[daveward]

NMBROOK, the ship I'll be building is the Amati/Victory Models Lady Nelson.  

 

mtaylor, I am definitely planning on using sheetwood so that I can utilize as much of the material as possible.  I appreciate the tip on the wood source, but I didn't see any sheets offered at 1 mm thickness (a problem I have encountered with many domestic wood suppliers).  However, I have been in communication with Jason at Crown Timberyard, and I'm planning on purchasing my wood from him.  I hear that he does quality work, and I'm happy to support a member of the forum!  As soon as I can figure out a decent estimate on how much wood I need, I'll get started!

[mtaylor]

Jason does beautiful wood, Dave.  I use him as a supplier also.  Jason does do the mm wood which is good.

 

The closest you can find to 1mm from the Hobbymill closeout would be 1/32".   I mentioned Jeff because that is a great price on sheet stock.

[NMBROOK]

After looking at pics of your kit,i would say possibly 3 sheets for the second planking plus the kit strips.There is a possible pitfall to this,I personally think you will struggle to match the supplied walnut.The Amati walnut is a European variety and I can't find sheet stock to match it and I live in Europe.

My advice would be to use the supplied kit first planking and maybe buy some sheet stock for the bow if you are determined to spill the first layer.I would then give serious thought to replacing the second planking completely.The timber will then match,but also you have the opportunity to change to pear or box.They are both more resilient to breaking than walnut,a problem that can occur when cutting curved shapes(i.e. your planks)out and then bending.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[daveward]

Good advice, NMBROOK.  I already picked up sheets of both lime and walnut so that I could completely replace both layers of planking.  I will do some test bends with the walnut to see how easily it breaks.  If I find that the results are not satisfactory, I will consider switching to a different wood for the outer layer.  Hopefully everything goes well!

[bear]

Hi Dave

 

Get as wide of sheets that you can. I use manila file card stock to get the shape of the splied plank. Then I can transfer it to the sheet . Like has been said above you can nest them together. I start with the top box planks and then work my way down to the keel.

 

That way the curve of the planks are each larger than the last one. And they nest very nice.

 

 Using the file holder material works great,and is cheaper than wasting wood trying to match the curves. 

 

Keith

[mikiek]

NMBROOK, the ship I'll be building is the Amati/Victory Models Lady Nelson.  

 

mtaylor, I am definitely planning on using sheetwood so that I can utilize as much of the material as possible.  I appreciate the tip on the wood source, but I didn't see any sheets offered at 1 mm thickness (a problem I have encountered with many domestic wood suppliers).  However, I have been in communication with Jason at Crown Timberyard, and I'm planning on purchasing my wood from him.  I hear that he does quality work, and I'm happy to support a member of the forum!  As soon as I can figure out a decent estimate on how much wood I need, I'll get started!

If you haven't bought already here's something I just learned. And it came straight from Jason at Crown - who by the way has an outstanding product.

 

I keep a lot of different sized strips on hand - all Costello Boxwood from Jason. The other day I needed 10  5/32"x1/16" strips for planking, but I did not have that size strip. However I did have both 1/16"x2" sheet and a 5/32"x3" sheet. I elected to use the 5/32" sheet and rip some 1/16" strips. Sizewise the strips came out just fine but as I began to use them I noticed they were not flexing very well. It was tough getting them to lay on curves in the hull.

 

I felt kind of dumb asking this of Jason but I put the question to him - given the size that I need is it better to use the 1/16" sheet and rip 5/32" strips or use the 5/32" sheet and rip 1/16" strips. Suprisingly, there is a correct answer for this with a caveat. When Jason cuts strips he uses sheets of the desired thickness and rips strips to the desired width. BUT in addition he also recommends (and uses) 2" sheets rather than the 3" sheets. It has to do with where the cut is made in the bulk stock. You are more likely to get straighter more even grain with the 2" sheets.

 

Don't know if you have worked with boxwood before, but my feeling is I will never go back to basswood again. In fact I have a kit on the shelf that has basswood as the main material - I sent Jason a copy of the parts list and had him do a complete replacement. My current build started with basswood but as soon as I tried some boxwood I got replacements for what I have left to do.

 

Hope that can help.....