21' Fisherman's Launch by vaddoc - Scale 1:10 - Plans from Howard Chapelle's "Boatbuilding"

[Wintergreen]

Good progress vaddoc.

That the stealer fits both sides is cred to your detailed layout. Enjoy the moment 🙂

Keep it up!

[vaddoc]

I must confess I am having too much fun! Risking the Admiral's wrath I did some work today.

 

First I installed the two stealers. The port plank I steamed and fitted was a rejected version, somehow it sneaked in and replaced the correct one. I realised this and found the correct plank on the work bench. I just soaked it in water for a few minutes and then the plank easily bent into position. I just temporarily screwed the planks in place in case they need to be removed to deepen the rabet.

 

Next, I started making the template for the first broad strake.

I was very careful not to edge bend the paper. Again, I am only interested in the upper (bottom) edge that meets the garboard and stealer, the other edge will be defined later. This was the result. The plank is 55 cm long - they will get much longer.

Note that the plank is almost straight, as were the garboard and the stealer. So far the initial planning of the planks seems to be working.

Then, I measured and transferred the distances at all stations and connected the dots with a fair curve. I also cut the paper template to roughly the shape of the plank, I think it looks ok. 

It is 23:00 in England so I called it a day, cutting planks is a delicate job. I should have ordered twice as many beech sheets, I was very conservative in my initial estimate of the wood needed, there is the potential for a lot of wasted wood.

 

Vaddoc

Edited February 26, 2021 by vaddoc

[Moab]

Hello Vaddoc. I’m a little late to your build but as always I know I’ll learn something. The frames look great...Moab

[G.L.]

Vaddoc,
It seems to me that you have found the right way to determine the shape of the planks. Getting them out of the wood now is another challenge. I am curious to see your method.

I am really fascinated to follow your work.

[vaddoc]

Time for another post, unfortunately not a lot of progress as I run into difficulties.

 

Moab and GL thank you for your kind words, a pleasure to have you on this journey!

 

After infinite trouble, I managed to produce a half decent port plank. I think I made 3 templates and 4 planks, thankfully the last one was acceptable.

This is by far the most difficult plank. It has a significant twist, it needs to fit with the stealer, it is long and narrow towards the bow and it is very easy for the paper pattern to distort. But I also now need to make the starboard one.

 

Again, I immediately run into the same problems. After a few failed attempts, I decided to use 2 mm thick cardboard and then to use shorter segments. Finally, I ended up with a promising template.

I marked the other edge of the plank measuring from the sheer, to make sure one side mirrors the other. This is the outline of the plank on the sheet. Incredibly, it is almost identical to the port plank

Ya...right. It did not fit!

This is properly difficult. Another issue is that despite using a very sharp knife, the blade still follows a bit the grain so the cut edge is a bit wavy. Honestly, I believe that cutting a full scale plank should be easier.

 

So, I ll use this failed plank to make a new pattern and try again. I am a bit concerned I do not have enough wood, provided my next attempt will be successful I will have used a whole 100 x 1000mm sheet to make just two planks. However, the rest of the planks should be easier to make.

 

Vaddoc

[bruce d]

It's worth it though, isn't it? It certainly looks good.

[vaddoc]

Bruce thank you for your kind words, it is certainly worth it.

 

After countless attempts, the starboard plank is done but I am a broken man!

 

I ve never had such difficulty producing a plank. It is however a very complex shape and due to the twist along its axis both at the bow and stern, even tiny changes in the shape or even the width of the plank, bring on massive changes to the fit. 

Some photos to show the end result-both planks were difficult but the starboard one almost defeated me. The planks can be edge bent a little so the gaps will close further.

That was more than enough for today. Tomorrow I ll steam the planks and install them again with screws. The reason is that while this plank finishes vertical at the sternpost, the next one will finish horizontal an the transom so at the stern, the two planks will meet at 90 degree angle. Maybe some adjustments will be needed but I will not know until I start work on the next plank.

 

Regards

Vaddoc

[Moab]

Looking EXCELLENT!  Every time I make a pattern in order to produce the mirror image of a part it turns out my mirror must be broken. It never fails...Moab

[G.L.]

Looks perfect.

Why will you steam the planks before installing them? It seems to me that they follow nicely the flow of the frames like this.

[vaddoc]

Many thanks to all for your comments and likes!

53 minutes ago, G.L. said:

Why will you steam the planks before installing them? It seems to me that they follow nicely the flow of the frames like this.

GL, the planks will accept to be bent up to a point but will not accept to be twisted. This is 2.2 mm beech, a hard and sturdy wood. This plank as well as the garboard has a lot of twist, this is why all these clamps are needed-still the plank does not sit well, it lifts in the middle. Also, I do not trust the frames too much, the plywood proved a poor choice and actually I should have used more frames but I cut corners a bit. I d like to have as little pressure as possible.

Even wetting the beech will drastically improve its response to bending/twisting but since I have my steam box ready to go, I ll steam the wood thoroughly-it will bend like made of dough!

[vaddoc]

Ok, so both planks got steamed positioned into place.

Definitely worth doing, they now follow the hull much closer. The next photo does not capture it well but the plank really has taken the shape of the hull.

 

 However, this means that their dimensions changed slightly. Because they sit closer to the hull, they appear slightly longer so a tiny bit of sanding at the bow end was needed. However, after I had pretty much finished screwing the planks in place, I realised that the bow end in both sides did not fit well. 

I cannot explain this, before steaming they were both pretty spot on. I guess this is something I ll have to live with, maybe the filler will make it look better.

 

Now, another issue was the bow end of the planks. Clearly they do not end up at the same height.

So the plank came off, sanded and re installed-this is prior to final screwing. It is better now

Another area that needed attention was the joint with the stealer. In both sides the plank was sitting too low

So I used a very thin shim of wood and things improved

A few photos of the hull as it is now

So far so good but now there is a new problem. This is actually something I had been concerned about even when I was lofting the boat on CAD. The next plank at the stern will lie horizontally but somehow will need to mate with the previous plank that lies vertical. This is the reason that I have not glued the planks so far, so I can remove if needed.

So, I just put a piece of card to check things...interesting.

This will need wood for the template, not card.

 

Regards

Vaddoc

[Mark Pearse]

Hi Vaddoc

 

Nicely done. It's a fascinating process, & also the slow reveal of the hull shape.

[noel_colledge]

Hi Vaddoc

 

just a thought, has your steaming process caused your timber to expand, and therefore give you your new fitting issues

[vaddoc]

54 minutes ago, noel_colledge said:

just a thought, has your steaming process caused your timber to expand, and therefore give you your new fitting issues

Hi Noel

I do not think so. Indeed, there can be a large difference in width (negligible on length) between wet and dry wood, I ve seen 20% quoted for some woods and the Wood database site mentions that beech has high movement in service. However, one thing that impressed me is that the wood comes out of the steamer hot and pliable but very quickly cools down and actually feels very dry to touch-this takes seconds. Very different to soaking beech in water, the wood still becomes pretty pliable but is soaking wet-dries quickly but takes a few minutes. In any case, the wood is cut to template when dry and is tested on the boat when it dries after steaming-its me template that is wrong.

The fitting issues are caused by the card paper that slightly edge bends, even 1 degree will create huge gaps in a 60 cm plank. Also the width of the paper template is important-too wide and the paper will sit at a different angle on the frame, causing the plank to deviate.

Ideally, I would like to use 0.8 mm plywood but it will be too expensive.

 

Thanks for visiting!

 

Vaddoc

[wefalck]

This is a thought that occurred to me as well earlier on, when you had problem fitting the garboard to the rabbet. I believe in real life boatbuilders let the planks cool down and dry before the final fitting, leaving them a tad longer and wider for the purpose.

[vaddoc]

2 minutes ago, wefalck said:

leaving them a tad longer and wider for the purpose

Indeed Wefalck, this is what I intended to do, leave the planks wider to allow me to do fine adjustments and create bevels, so that the planks would touch edge to edge despite the angle. In practice, this is very difficult to do even at 1:10 scale-at least for me.

However, what I do do is sand the high spots on the edge that meets the previous plank so that they meet better, but also sand the other edge to create a fair curve with as few high and low spots as possible-this makes fitting the next plank easier. I forgot to do this on the garboard though.

[KeithAug]

I admire your dedication Vaddoc, your description of the process is very engaging if not a little daunting.

[wefalck]

Just realised, that I had made the same comment already earlier on. Apologies for the repetition ...

[vaddoc]

32 minutes ago, KeithAug said:

is very engaging if not a little daunting.

Thanks Keith! It might seem complex but in reality Carvel planking just needs patience and batens. Clinker will need a bit extra head scratching but more later on, when the planking of the Yawl starts. 

 

29 minutes ago, wefalck said:

Just realised, that I had made the same comment already earlier on. Apologies for the repetition ...

Not to worry Wefalck, it is great that you all are on board on this journey!

[vaddoc]

A bit more progress so another short post.

 

All the planks so far have been difficult to make, mainly to the significant twist the wood had to take. This twist makes the plank to deviate so getting an accurate template is difficult-the slightest degree of edge bend will cause problems.

The next plank I hope will be the last of the tricky ones. Indeed, it took many attempts to get card patterns that looked ok but there was no waisted wood-I got both sides with the first try. I think I am getting better at it!

 

This is the paper pattern that defines only the shape of the one (bottom) edge. Many more followed to fine tune the shape

The plank cut and dry fitted. I was concerned how it would fit with the previous vertical plank but actually this was not a problem.

This plank again is very straight, so far the initial planning of the run of the planks seems to be ok. Now, this plank is 60 cm long, in the actual boat it would be a 6 m plank. I am sure though that stock 6 m long and 20 cm wide should be available. Otherwise the planks would have to be scarfed.

Then I made the other side. The two planks are not identical!

Then both planks were steamed and clamped in place. There are a couple of planks that seem a bit low and do not touch the planks well. The 2 mm planks are so stiff that easily show the problematic areas. Maybe they will need shiming-maybe not

The fit at the stern looks pretty good. I really expected this area to cause massive problems, I guess Chapelle knew what he was doing!

Now, I decided not to screw the planks immediately because I noticed that the gaps between the previous two planks have widened. I guess Noel and Wefalck were right to raise concerns. This will be sorted with some filler.

This time, I got the bow heights right

This photo however raises another issue. At some point, I will need to taper the stem. From the keel up, it will progressively start to get more narrow , following the angle of the planking. I should have probably done it earlier, at least to take the bulk of he wood off.

I am not sure whether to do it now or later. To remove so much wood, sharp chisels but also rough handling will be needed. Maybe do it after planking, when the boat will be very stiff but then I will need to be vey careful not to mark the planks. Maybe a middle way would be to keep using screws so that any damaged plank could be replaced.

I d really be interested to hear your thoughts on this!

 

Vaddoc

[bricklayer]

Vaddoc

 

I`d plank the hull entirely before to apply force to the stem post. The assembly of molds, keel and stem looks too fragile to me to do any machining on the stem post at present state. I`d glue the planks to the molds and stem one by one rather than to attach them all with screws temporarily. A glued or welded structure is more rigid than a screwed, riveted or nailed one is. If the stem post is tapered prior to sanding or scraping the hull smooth, then minor scratches on the planks won`t do any harm.

 

That`s  my opinion. I may be right or wrong.

 

Michael

[wefalck]

Looking at the hull, as it emerges, I slowly begin to understand the difficulties in planking it. The bottom is rather flat, particularly aft, which means that there is a sharp turn into the planked deadwood. I have seen other such hull forms, where the deadwood was not actually planked.

 

I should think that from now on the planking should become somewhat easier to fit.

[Wintergreen]

Good progress Vaddoc.

I feel your pain with all the outtakes. Add it to the "learning by doing" account 🙂 

 

As for shaping the stem, I second what Michael Bricklayer writes above.

Plank the hull, with fasteings and all, then shape the stem. Don't worry about leaving scuffs and marks on the planking. My guess is that you will sand the hull as well taking away any small mishaps.

That's how I'd do it at least.

Keep it up!

[Jim Lad]

Missed out a bit, somehow.  She's really coming along very well.

 

John

[Michael_A]

Vaddoc, The planking looks great and challenging at the same time. I love that you are doing a workboat that has some different features from a lot of the other builds. Something to look forward to – here's a photo I found online of a vertical tiller that may be similar (although in a different location) to what's used on your craft. 

[vaddoc]

Many thanks to all for your likes and input.

I ve created another thread where I presented my way of spilling, may help others in their projects.

 

Now Michael, I did a bit of search and given it some thought-I think you are right, this must be a vertical tiler in the plans. This is why the tiler is so short-I had noticed it and could not understand why.

Well, this will need some further thought, there should be lines on rollers going aft. Hmmm...

 

On a different note, I finished one more pair of planks. These planks are a bit curved but still acceptable, they would need stock only 25 cm wide.

These planks were easier to make and have less of a twist but still need steaming. This is how the plank wants to sit unsteamed

I now wait a day after steaming to allow the wood to shrink.

The hull slowly is starting to emerge.

Vaddoc

[Jim Lad]

That planking continues to impress, mate!

 

John

[vaddoc]

Many thanks to all!

 

I ve been very busy but managed to add one more plank. Indeed, the planks get easier as I move away from the keel. This plank actually did not need steaming, it happily bent into place. They are still challenging though due to their length-it is very easy to make a mistake.

 

So, again a template was made (3 times) and a very long plank was cut. I am now getting into rhythm and have not had any failures recently-no wasted wood.

This and probably the next couple of planks will have the most curvature. Still, they would require stock about 30 cm wide which I think is feasible in real life.

Plank in place

And the template for the other side made.

I then spend about an hour transferring the plank markings from one side to the other. There were a few things that did not make much sense but I ll let the wood make the corrections. Also, my frame fairing is horrible but then again, I have been trimming the frames as I go and on a couple of places added sims. With the plank screwed in place, it is very easy to see low or high spots on the frames just eyeballing the run of the plank. As the plank is not permanently in place, it is easy to make corrections.

 

I will continue posting updates on the planking but I do not expect any excitement. It is a tedious and time consuming job, each pair of planks takes about a week so I expect planking to take about 3 more months-unless life gets in the way. As you might have suspected by now, I really like planking!

 

I wonder however if it is time to go back to the Yawl and start planning that planking. It is a very different shape and it will be lapstrake so a bit of a different (more difficult) approach will be needed. If I have time this week I might bend a few batens and if you are not desperately fed up reading about planks, you are all most welcome!

 

Regards

Vaddoc

[Michael_A]

Vaddoc,

Planking is looking very nice. It's a great hull shape. And I think you are right, it will get easier. You say the planks are on temporarily; how will you fasten them permanently when you are done?
M

 

[vaddoc]

6 hours ago, Michael_A said:

how will you fasten them permanently when you are done?

Thanks Michael!

I ll be using exclusively treenails, I ve already made a couple of thousand. For the Yawl though, I am thinking of using threaded 0.8 mm brass wire.