NRG half-hull planking project by CPDDET - 18th century merchant ship

[CPDDET]

After taking my Bluenose as far as I wanted I decided it was time to learn proper hull planking. 

 

I ordered the kit ( https://thenrgstore.org/products/half-hull-planking-project) from NRG some time ago and will spend the next week or so gathering what I need for this build. I will also be reviewing the various build logs of other other shipwrights to gain further insights. 

 

Since I now have some experience I've decided to upgrade my material to Boxwood rather than using the Basswood that comes with the kit. Hopefully I would ruin too much of it. 😆

 

Any advice or suggestions from those who have built this kit is always appreciated!

 

Dave

[Cathead]

I enjoyed building this and hope you do too. I did find some frustrating aspects of the instructions and discussed them in my log. But since most kit instructions  also have problems, learning to navigate them is part of the experience!

[CPDDET]

Thanks Eric, I'll put your build log on my list. 

[CPDDET]

Got a bit of a start today. Used Elmer's spray adhesive to attach the plan to a piece of foam board and then trimmed the board to the edges of the plan with a utility knife and metal straight edge.

The proceeded to remove all the laser cut pieces from the billets. Using a razor blade saw made a quick job of this.

Please excuse the poor exposure on these pics, they were taken will my cell phone. I usually use my SLR and will do so in the future.

 

Tomorrow I will get a start on squaring up the pieces (lasers don't cut a perfect 90) and removing the char as well. Not sure how far I will get but no hurry, of course.

 

Dave

[robert952]

It's in my stash.  I think it good to follow along to see what I have in store for my (eventual) build.

[CPDDET]

Been a bit since my last update, took a week or so to do some camping. Back in the shipyard now, so here’s the latest.

I decided to remove all the pieces from the billets and get them all cleaned up from the char. This way I could get all the sanding and cleanup done at one sitting rather than doing each piece as needed. I think removing the char from all the pieces took 2-3 hours total. I ended up using a variety of tools for this; sanding sticks, files, disk sander and Dremel drum sander.

 

 

After trimming the curved piece of keelson to the proper length I drew the rabbet line on the keel, keelson, stem and stemson. For the 45 degree angle needed for most of the rabbet I cut some scrap pieces of wood at a 45 degree angle and glued sandpaper to them. The picture below shows this, but since I couldn’t get the sanding block to stand on its own I glued it to a scrap piece to show how it worked. By holding the 45 degree cut side of the block firmly against the table top I could slide it back and forth along the keel and keelson to get a pretty consistent angle. Being the obsessive compulsive person I am, I made the blocks with 3 different grades of sandpaper to get a nice smooth edge. 

 

 

 

 

It was a bit tricky transitioning the rabbet from a 45 to 90 degree angle on the stem. Did the best I could and only time will tell if I did it correctly.

 

 

Time to double check the fit of these pieces and then glue them to the build board.

[tlevine]

Looking good.  Half the battle is understanding the process, the other half is accomplishing it!

[CPDDET]

That about sums it up, Toni. Thanks for the comment.

[CPDDET]

After gluing the keel, keelson, stem and stemson to the build board I deepened the notches for the frames, per the instructions, to the top edge of the rabbet.  If I was to do this over I wouldn’t place any glue between the red lines of the build plan which mark the location of the frames. It would have made deepening the frame notches a bit easier as I wouldn’t have had to deal with the dried glue which was holding the keelson to the build board.

 

 

Then I glued in the frames, using a square and clamp as suggested in the instructions. I’m using Titebond  Quick and Thick and allowed an hour between gluing each of the 10 frames. In order not to disturb the frame I previously glued in, I rotated from the left side of the first frame to the right side of the first frame and so on.

 

 

After all the frames were glued in, and allowing 24 hour dry time for the glue, I glued in the spacers between the frames.

 

 

Now it’s on to the next step, which I believe is the deadwood.

[CiscoH]

that 45 degree sanding thinger is pretty clever.  i would have done it by eye and gotten a rounded uneven rabbit.  

[allanyed]

9 hours ago, CiscoH said:

 i would have done it by eye and gotten a rounded uneven rabbit.  

As Dave points out in his post #6 part of the difficulty in making the rabbet is that the angle is dynamic and is not at 45 degrees or any specific angle the entire length. Some folks have found that a SHARP chisel can be a far easier tool to use to get the angle required to match that of the frames/bulkheads. 

Allan  

[CPDDET]

1 hour ago, allanyed said:

As Dave points out in his post #6 part of the difficulty in making the rabbet is that the angle is dynamic and is not at 45 degrees or any specific angle the entire length. Some folks have found that a SHARP chisel can be a far easier tool to use to get the angle required to match that of the frames/bulkheads. 

Allan  

Right you are, Allen. Although the rabbet does stay at 45 degrees for the length of the keel, once the curve of the stem starts things change. My little sanding block was only used for part of the entire rabbet. While I did use a small chisle for the 90 degree rabbet near the top of the stem, my skill with that tool still isn't as good as it could be. Perhaps someday.....

[CPDDET]

Moving right along today. I noticed that the deadwood wouldn’t align correctly with the red vertical lines on the build board for the frames. Seems like either I didn’t glue the keel absolutely level or the bottom edge of the deadwood wasn’t flat.  When I laid it in place it was obviously off.

 

In order to correct this I added a thin shim then sanded it so the shim became a wedge, thickest at the aft end and tapering to the thinnest edge where it meets the keelson.

 

This corrected the problem

 

I was a bit confused about the location of the beard line but looking at figure 34 of the instructions quickly cleared that up.

 

I’m lucky enough to have a Byrnes saw and, setting the blade shallow enough; I was able to cut a 90 degree bevel along the aft side and bottom edge of the deadwood, much like a router. Sanding the deadwood was much like cutting the rabbet (as explained by Toni in the instructions). The further the distance from the edge of the deadwood to the bearding line the mote gentle the angle. The closer the bearding line to the edge of the deadwood, the steeper the angle.

I’m sure you can also see my mistakes in these images; mainly, my mistake of extending the rabbet to the aft end of the deadwood and the sternpost. As I move along Ill see how much of an issue this causes.

I then glued the deadwood, sternpost and “L-shaped” piece onto the build board after rounding the top a bit. I would like to know the proper term for the “L-Shaped” piece.

 

Camping coming up this weekend so not sure how much I will get done in the coming days.

[CPDDET]

Finished installing all the frames.

After cutting the slots for frames 4, 4a, 5 and 5a deeper so the frames would meet the rabbet, I glued these into place. I also glued in 5b and a thin filler piece so they filled the space up to the rabbet.

At the aft end I glued in frames Ga, Gb and H

This finishes the frame install.

Since the transom piece will be a bit delicate, I decided to wait on installing this until after finishing the topline and fairing the frames.

 

So moving on to the topline trimming......

[CPDDET]

Been quite awhile since my last post. Its been a bumpy few months with the holidays and coming down with a mild case of pneumonia. At 73 years it took almost 2 months to get over that and still the cough lingers. But feeling better now and some progress has been made on the model.

Topline has been trimmed, wale marked, bulkheads faired, shims installed where necessary, transom and counter installed, garboard plank and broad strake installed and dark thread used to designate planking bands. All of this has taken some time to try and get everything just so and required multiple attempts. I think I installed the garboard plank at least 3 times and ended up tearing it out each time until I was satisfied.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, will try to get back to taking more as the planking proceeds. But here is where I sit right now. As suggested by Toni I will take a break and take a fresh look at the planking bands tomorrow before proceeding any further.

 

[CPDDET]

Things have not been progressing well. Small mistakes made earlier are now turning into major problems as the build progresses. So I've decided to bite the bullet and begin anew. A replacement kit has been ordered and Ill continue this build log once that arrives. 

I know this sounds a but drastic, but I'm determined to end up with a half hull model that I'm proud to display. Unfortunately that's not going to happen with the current build.   

[Cathead]

Sorry to hear that but it also takes courage to make such a decision. Many of us have embarked on a version II at some point. Looking forward to your recommencement!

[JacquesCousteau]

2 hours ago, CPDDET said:

Things have not been progressing well. Small mistakes made earlier are now turning into major problems as the build progresses. So I've decided to bite the bullet and begin anew. A replacement kit has been ordered and Ill continue this build log once that arrives. 

I know this sounds a but drastic, but I'm determined to end up with a half hull model that I'm proud to display. Unfortunately that's not going to happen with the current build.   

I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm looking forward to seeing the new half-hull. As someone who is building their own half-hull (very very slowly), I have to ask: would you be at all willing to share what went wrong? It could be very helpful as a warning for others.

[CPDDET]

3 hours ago, JacquesCousteau said:

I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm looking forward to seeing the new half-hull. As someone who is building their own half-hull (very very slowly), I have to ask: would you be at all willing to share what went wrong? It could be very helpful as a warning for others.

For starters, over faring some of the bulkheads and then attempting to add shims to correct. Resulted in uneven curvature of hull. Poor shaping of the deadwood. Both the garboard and broad strake too wide resulting in very narrow planks in the lower band. Poor clamping technique that resulted in deformed broad strake. Poor assembly of counter. And so on. Mistakes add up to bigger problems.

Plain to see I'm highly critical of myself and expect better craftsmanship. 

Take your time, and if you're not sure things are completely correct, stop and research further. 

[CPDDET]

4 hours ago, JacquesCousteau said:

I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm looking forward to seeing the new half-hull. As someone who is building their own half-hull (very very slowly), I have to ask: would you be at all willing to share what went wrong? It could be very helpful as a warning for others.

Let's just call it over confident carelessness and a sometimes nonchalant attitude. 

[JacquesCousteau]

1 hour ago, CPDDET said:

For starters, over faring some of the bulkheads and then attempting to add shims to correct. Resulted in uneven curvature of hull. Poor shaping of the deadwood. Both the garboard and broad strake too wide resulting in very narrow planks in the lower band. Poor clamping technique that resulted in deformed broad strake. Poor assembly of counter. And so on. Mistakes add up to bigger problems.

Plain to see I'm highly critical of myself and expect better craftsmanship. 

Take your time, and if you're not sure things are completely correct, stop and research further. 

Thanks! This will be very helpful to watch out for whenever I manage to get back into my build. Good luck with attempt 2!

[CPDDET]

And so we begin again.

 

The build plan is mounted to the foam board using spray adhesive, as suggested in the practicum. I added the tape around the edges because I found the adhesive was letting loose just as I decided to start over. If one finished this build in a reasonable amount of time I doubt that would be a problem. I had taken far too long and that’s what probably caused the issue.

 

Before cutting out the various parts I wanted to do a bit of research into finding an easier way to remove the char. On the previous model I had used a sanding drum (shown below) with a rotary tool. But unless you’re very skillful or very experienced with this method it can cause problems by removing too much wood along with the char and cause deformities in the piece. Looking back, this was one of the first problems I caused myself.

 

So I picked up some abrasive buff wheels and a 120 grit flapper wheel. While they all easily removed the char I found the 120 grit flapper wheel and the 180 grit buff to be too aggressive. The 320 grit buff wasn’t aggressive enough but the 280 grit buff was just right.

 

This weekend I will cut out all the pieces, remove the char and store them away in a safe place.

Edited February 15 by CPDDET
change

[Ed Ku20]

Dave, I'm sorry to hear that you are starting over on your Half Hull build.  It takes a dedicated modeller to start over when things aren't up to your standard.  

 

Thanks for the tip on the 280 grit buff.  I just bought one based on your post.  I too have had issues using the sanding drum on char.  It is very difficult to control!

 

Best of luck on build #2!

Ed

[Knocklouder]

Good luck on your journey #2, remember to ware your mask 😷  when char removing 😁. I found if I used the back side of my 10 blade first  sanding was quicker. But it is slow steady work. Good luck 

  Bob M.

[tlevine]

Good luck with #2.  Instead of a sanding wheel, I would suggest a sanding disc.  This will prevent you from digging into the wood.  They come in coarse and fine grits.

[CPDDET]

Thanks for the tip!

[CPDDET]

These are the tools I used to remove the parts from the billet (think billet is the correct word) and to remove the char. The razor saw has been my favorite for quite some time to cut the pieces out. Others are sanding sticks, various grits of sand paper and buffing pad. The dowel and can were used to sand curved areas. I included a sanding disk because it was recommended by Toni although I had finished the chore before I got her message.

 

The small piece of wood at the top cut with 45 degree angles was used to make the rabbet.  By wrapping a small piece of sandpaper around the angel and sliding it along the keel, keelson, stem and stemson it’s pretty easy to achieve the correct angle; just sand to the drawn pencil line. The wood piece is narrow enough to handle the curves as well.

 

After dry fitting the keel, stem, stemson and keelson pieces and making adjustments, I tacked them down with white glue (later switched to rubber cement) and double checked the joint alignments.

 

Then removed them from the plan and drew the lines for the rabbet.

 

After marking the deadwood portion of the keel, I took a deep breath and sanded the edges using the angle cut wood block and 220 sand paper. The “step” on the upper part of the stem was cut using a #11 blade and small chisels.

 

While the transition of the rabbet as it rises up the stem and stemson isn’t perfect, it’s much better than my first attempt and I’m happy with it.

 

Moving on…….

[CPDDET]

I did a few things in a different order than shown in the practicum. Now I’m not suggesting anyone else do this, I just found it easier for myself.

The practicum calls for deepening the slots for the bulkheads, tapering the deadwood, cutting a notch in aft portion of the keel and trimming the stemson in order to fit bulkhead 5A. I found these easier to do these before gluing anything permanently to the build board. It took a lot dry fitting and temp gluing of the keel, keelson, stem and stemson. I found that Elmer’s Rubber Cement worked well for me when temp gluing pieces. The rubber cement takes longer to dry but it’s easy to pop off the pieces and the cement can be easily removed from the build board without damaging the build plan or wood pieces.  One can rub it off with their finger or, on the wood, used a bit of rubbing alcohol on a paper towel if needed.

Below is a pic of all the finished pieces.

 

 

My only mistake was made when trimming the stemson for bulkhead 5A. The cut piece should look like a backwards “L” with the lower part of the “L” supporting the bulkhead. I misread the instructions and cut the stemson all the way down creating the following:

 

 

Lucky this was easy to fix. I just cut a small piece of scrap wood, which was the same thickness, and glued it in place.

 

 

After the final gluing of the stem, stemson, keel, keelson, deadwood and sternpost, I glued in bulkheads “E” thru “4”. I found by using the Titebond Quick & Thick glue, I could glue in a bulkhead about every 30 minutes. I’ll let this dry overnight and move on to the spacers that go between the bulkheads.

 

Moving on…….

[tlevine]

Everybody has their own preferred techniques.  If I were designing this today, I know I would do certain things differently.  We never stop learning and honing our skills.

[oakheart]

3 hours ago, tlevine said:

If I were designing this today, I know I would do certain things differently

I'm sure a lot of us would like to know what those things are.

As you say we are all learning

 

Tim