beginner questions re: bearding line and carving rabbet after keel construction

[neillydone]

hello everybody,

 

I've just joined this forum and have two newbie questions in regard to building the keel of the Caldercraft 1:64 HM Schooner Ballahoo.

 

I've read one or two build logs on here where people have left these parts off the false keel until after the bearding line and rabbet has been made.

 

Being a beginner, I haven't done this on mine and gamely followed Caldercraft's instructions and glued the 5mm walnut keel, stem, sternpost together then onto the false ply keel (I plan to paint the keel white so avert your eyes from the glue stains) without a bearding line or rabbet. So, what follows is probably fairly naïve / basic question, should I try to:

 

a. establish the bearding line and attempt to carve the rabbet with these pieces in place;

b. remove the walnut pieces and start again ( likely difficult as they seem quite solid with the glue and potentially causing other problems);

c. carry on regardless (the instructions suggest to plank from the bulwarks down and dont mention the garboard plank) given it will be planked again and have a coat of white paint in the end.

 

Presently the keel is quite straight without any warping so I'm loathe to undo everything (the bulwarks are not glued in yet). Would welcome your thoughts given this is my first wooden kit, it is double planked and I plan to paint it. The picture below shows the slight rabbet caused by the walnut keel being 1mm thicker than the ply keel - If I understand correctly the bearding line will follow the line of the bottom of each bulwark?

 

My second question is in regard to the bow, where the plank templates (part 13 and 14 p and s) are misaligned with no. 1 and 2 b/hs. The photo below illustrates(again the bulkheads are not yet glued in and have been roughly faired).

I am guessing the best thing is to glue this aligned along the bulkhead bottom (where the bearding line would be...if I had it...haha...) and sand the top flat with the deck level, but would welcome thoughts from others if I am setting myself up for trouble later on with something.

 

thanks for reading and any tips in advance!

 

neillydone

[mtaylor]

Neil,

 

I'd have a look at the other Ballahoo logs and see how they proceeded.  At the bow and stern, many builders will use filler blocks.  If you'll go here: 

you'll find a searchable database on the kit builds on MSW.

[MEDDO]

If you used regular PVA type (titebond/weld bond/Elmer’s glue) it should come apart quite easily with soaking the joint in isopropyl alcohol.  If you used superglue/CA then I have no idea.

[Thistle17]

neillydone:

If I understand you correctly all  bulkheads are not glued in. If so it should be relatively straight forward to inscribe the bearding line in the stern area. In your photo the lowest "reach" of each bulkhead should be marked. Remove all bulkheads and pencil in a "fair" bearding line as right now it doesn't look so. At this point with the bulkheads removed I would check them with the drawings (a body plan or bulkhead pattern) to see if those in that area correspond. If not I would address the discrepancies by adding in/sanding out the bulkheads to make them meet the bearding line as previously " faired" in. Then I would flat chisel out from the bearding line down to the keel, tapering the excavation so you have near a smooth intersection of the double planks and keel, if needed. Its hard to tell by the picture if the keel stands sufficiently proud of the backbone to accomadate the planking. If it does you can skip the prior comment.

 

In regard to the "fillers in the bow area, a near similar approach would seem to suffice. Once again remove the bulkheads and carve back 13 "fair" with the bow curvature to 14. Now it may be that the pull back of 13 will leave too much of a plank landing area aft of the stem. If so I might be tempted to fill the area where 13 and 14 live with balsa or bass and fair them in to leave a better contour aft of the stem.

 

Hope I didn't lead you astray. Just how I might deal with the problem.

 

Joe 

[neillydone]

Hello, thanks for all the tips and advice so far!

 

I used some IPA to take off the walnut keel, stem and sternpost.  In doing so the stem snapped but I was able to glue this back together. 

 

However I am pleased I started again.

 

I've cross checked the measurements with the plans to locate the bearding line and started to cut the rabbet at the stem and along the keel.

 

My question is how I should treat the material between the rabbet and the bearding line, at the stem and stern - if I'm correct i should I be aiming to sand everything down below the line at an angle gradually to reach 1mm just at the keel?

 

The photo below shows where I am so far...

[Thistle17]

Yes the transition from the bearding line to keel is a very gradual slope in the stern area. Make sure you have a very sharp 1/2" chisel and peel, don't gouge from the line downward. I usually scribe the bearding line with a #11 Xacto blade to maintain the boundary definition. With a sharp tool and a gentle but steady touch it is easy to do. At the stem your planks should "dive" into the rabbet. I have been taught to slightly taper the back side of the planks forward of bulkhead 1 to get a good transition. This is especially true when infilling with balsa or bass there. Remember to pre-form the planks so they conform more readily to the curvature. If you can use heat do so to bend. If you use water or ammonia bend the soaked planks and form them on a form or hull and leave to dry overnight. If you don't the wood shrinkage will leave unpleasant gaps when dry. Its more or less an aesthetic thing on the initial planking layer but certainly not on the second layer.

Joe

[neillydone]

Hello with apologies for resurrecting the thread but i realise I was remiss in not saying thankyou to those that offered me help.

 

Despite the fact you may think i disappeared off the face of the earth, after a long hiatus I've come back to this and just stated to fair the hull.

 

Thanks to all that provided tips and advice so far...once I got a flash of motivation and the right size bulldog clips to pin a batten down (I originally tried to use drawing pins but they wouldn't go deep enough into the side of the bulwark) it's obvious how to proceed...

 

So as the song goes "I can see clearly now" at least until it's time to do the garboard strake then I'll be back with more questions probably

Edited October 2, 2018 by neillydone

[mtaylor]

Give some consideration to opening a build log.  It puts all of your build and questions (along with answers) in one area.  It will also leave something behind for those who build this kit in the future to reference.

[Kevin Kenny]

Cutting the rabbet and establinhing the bearding line on a real ship

 

 

[pontiachedmark]

Gidday Kevin'

Very instructive link. Seeing something rather than just reading about is very beneficial.

Regards,
Mark

[neillydone]

Great video thanks! I'm off to start a build log!

 

Neil

[Kevin Kenny]

Hi Neil

there are lots of great videos on YouTube and Vimeo than can guide you on how to start the build log. I even find myself going back to some of my videos asking “How did i do that again” the learning curve is so steep and the experimentation so diverse that sometimes i forget the finial solution. 

Good luck to you sir

kevin

[druxey]

A very well put-together video. Just don't set your planes down on their soles as the guy did with some near the end.

[Bob Cleek]

On ‎10‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 5:49 AM, druxey said:

A very well put-together video. Just don't set your planes down on their soles as the guy did with some near the end.

Oh, that'll sure get your hand slapped by the old timers! I'll bet at least three-quarters of those suburban weekend wood butchers who spend the big bucks on those Lie Nielsen planes lay them down on their soles.