Questions about Plank Lengths

[David Rice]

I bought a Kit.   Caldercraft HMS Snake.   This is my first ever Kit.    Why are the planks in a kit installed full length?  

 

A wooden ship 106 feet long would be planked with numerous planks placed end on end to reach the 106 foot length.  Even the local fishing boats being built in my area are planked with much shorter planks. 106 foot vessel would require at least 10-12 planks placed end to end. It would be impossible to lay a single plank 106 feet long.

 

1. Per Kit directions, why are the kit planks laid full length?

 

2. Should I cut a full length plank into sections?

 

3 If I cut the long planks into 5-10 sections, would it make a difference in the build?  If so how? 

 

 

[Jaager]

It is easier and efficient at the mfg level to provide the planking at lengths close to box length.

It is stock material and the actual planks should be cut off as needed in the length needed.

The longer the stock, the better, since this is efficient and produces less waste in left over - too short - material.

It would be impractical to try to predict low long to make each plank so that the end is on a mold.

The plank size and shape should be predetermined by using large index cards as material and fitting

that to the molds - starting with strips the width of the wood stock.

 

  If a wide piece of card is laid stem to stern post - allowed to lay naturally and then cut  to plank width -

it will often resemble a snake as it curves and recurves.  If actual trees could have been had and handled

at those lengths, the width needed to provide the curves would lead to unacceptable waste in "spilled" material.

 

As for bending - doing it in the thin dimension- so that the planks lay on the molds and to not want to spring up is a good thing.

Bending thru the thick dimension is against what the wood wants to do and it will try to twist.  I am guessing that kit planking

is not wide enough to allow much spilling and the unnatural bends are necessary.

[druxey]

Take a look at the planking articles that are 'pinned' on this site, David. In reality, planks were generally 24' 0" to 28' 0" long. There were a number of rules about where the plank butts occured - it wasn't a random thing. Kits have their quirks and shortcomings, among which is simplifying. It will be easier to plank in shorter lengths, but read up on things first!

[dgbot]

This is a convention kits have done for years.  Most kit builders prefer using these long strakes.  If you want a more realistic planking pattern cut them to the length that works for you.

David B

[David Rice]

Should I leave my plank lengths as long as I can?

 

I see many people are using a single plank to cover the full length of the boat from bow to stern when possible.

 

When I made a scratch ship, I used very short planks.  My model was 24 inch long. I used 5-8 planks per row across.   I followed how actual wood boats were being built.  Which seemed to work for me.  But since it was my first build, I was not sure which was best. By using short planks I found it was easier for me to bend and shape them. Plus I didn't need to many clamps.

 

I am trying to learn the right way.

[Jaager]

A quick search indicates that this is a double planked POB hull.  The first layer is for support and is totally covered by the outer layer.

Looks do not really matter - but avoiding hollows does.  Plank length here is your choice. Longer may be better given the distance between moulds.

 

For the "real" planking - 20 - 25 foot length is probably realistic.  The longest I have seen was for deck planking for 19th c. USN  at 40'.

This was Southern Pine - those trees tend to grow tall and straight and the planking runs are straight for decks and the planks do not need to be so wide.

 

Look in the data base here on the NRG home page - there are planking instructions there.

 

Hollows can be avoided by filling the "too wide" spaces between the moulds with supporting material.

[Ulises Victoria]

In actual practice, there wasn't a fixed length for the planks in a ship. It very much depended on the availability of materials, so a rigid rule is almost impossible to establish. I most of the time choose a length of 120 mm for my planks. Why? just because 120 can be divided exactly by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 and this sometimes facilitates some calculations.

[David Rice]

In actual practice, there wasn't a fixed length for the planks in a ship. It very much depended on the availability of materials, so a rigid rule is almost impossible to establish. I most of the time choose a length of 120 mm for my planks. Why? just because 120 can be divided exactly by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 and this sometimes facilitates some calculations.

 

Thanks......that makes sense.