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'WIDE A WAKE' a steam launch tale

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steamer:
The wood in the keel looks like "Merenti"....nice stuff to work with...watch for wind shakes though....they'll appear in the grain as a faint white line ....though, your not buying truck loads of the stuff... :lolb:

Dave

steamer:
Oh and as to suitability...this is the vehicle section.


....keep em coming!

Dave

b.lindsey:
Ramon, I have never done anything with launches, sailing vessels, or anything of the sort but I am enjoying this a lot. I rather like to work with the brown stuff at times though simple stuff like engine bases, etc.  Seeing this launch come together and the various processes and techniques is fascinating!

Bill

Ramon Wilson:
Hi Guys, Thanks for the comments, nice to hear you have an interest.

Dave I have no idea what the actual timber is the keel is made from but you are probably correct. It was a 'mahogany' substitute used in the manufacture of window frames bought for a quid at a local shed maker - no we don't have mahogany sheds ;) he'd bought a job lot of rejects ;) It was quite tough relative to mahogany but finished reasonably well. It's going to get painted so that lovely grain will disappear. And yes you are so right - I had every screw clamp at my disposal in play there.

Although I've built the odd model boat before this is the first time I've ever tackled anything like this ie clinker planking. Fortunately I live about eight miles from an International Wooden Boat Building College so I took the keel in to ask some questions. I was very surprised at the strength of interest and the readiness to help - we (Sue was with me) had all the questions answered by being taken round and actually shown the solution on boats in varying stages of completion. It was a fascinating place with boats of all sizes in a seemingly labyrinthine building. Armed with such help and the find of an excellent series of videos on YouTube I felt confidant enough to press ahead. I've been back since but more on that a bit later.

Here are a few more pics of progress .....

My first question had been how was a transom made if too wide for a single piece of timber - three pieces grooved and fitted with tongues..

Scale-wise it's over thick but as that will not be seen once finished it gives a much better gluing surface

With the keel, stem and transom rigidly secured to the moulds it was time to mark of each mould to give the plank widths. First off a marking board was required to give twelve divisions. A strip of card was marked to the actual length around one side of each respective mould and set to give twelve equal divisions


The each mould was marked both sides.



A 'Rabbet' (A whole new vocabulary was required!) was cut along the edge of the keel for the 'garboard' (see what I mean ;) plank to fit into and finally all the preparation was done and the planking could begin.

After some trial and error, knife and fork trimming the first( garboard) plank is glued and screwed in place


Each plank is a different shape. After that first  plank is in situ  a template is taken off it's edge. This is used to mark the next plank which is cut over wide and fitted in place. It's true width is then marked from the marks on the moulds using dividers or a compass and the marks joined using a flexible batten. The plank is then cut out and used as a template for the matching plank on the other side.

Each plank increases it's 'waviness' the last requiring quite a wide piece of timber to accomodate it. This is the second plank cut out and its opposite number has been marked out.

Simple wooden clamps and the bench top provided an excellent way to hold the planks for shaping. All trimming was done to the line using that small block plane, the chisel and the sanding block.


These little peg type clamps and wedges,seen on the videos were an absolute boon. I had four of the sliding clamps but soon bought another eight and even then I could have done with more  :o


'Each plank was first steamed and held in place for about four hours then glued to the previous one and left to set (Glue used was 'Titebond 3' a waterproof PVA which has an incredibly quick(for PVA) grab time) . Once set each plank was 'rivetted' at 2" spacing


Eight planks down - three quarters of the way in.

Incidentally the 'rivets' should be 'copper nails and roves' - I'll comment on them next time.


Hope this is of interest to you - you have to admit it is a bit ( :o) different from making ali swarf  ;)

Regards for now - Ramon

steamer:
Considering your post has spanned 40 years ....seems short!... 8)

Ya doin fine man!

Dave

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