Good work John! I built a Bruce Robert 19' sloop in the late 70's and it took me 2 1/2 years to finish it working nights and weekends. Here is a photo of me launching it on the Potomac! I sailed it for several years on the Chesapeake bay.
Member
Good work John! I built a Bruce Robert 19' sloop in the late 70's and it took me 2 1/2 years to finish it working nights and weekends. Here is a photo of me launching it on the Potomac! I sailed it for several years on the Chesapeake bay.
Contributor
John thanks for the encouragement. The San Juan is certainly on my A-list although I'm also looking at a design by Phil Bolger which i believe is called the Fish Hawk, looks a bit like a narrowed San Juan. It might be a better candidate for my local river system. This design is in Dynamite Payson's newest book.Originally Posted by John Bailey
I'm trying to finish off some smaller projects before jumping in with both feet on a boat. I just finished a Craftsman style table for my wife and currently doing re-construction roof job for my brother on his patio. Working solo and it should be finished this Friday, if it ever stops raining......... My son is expecting his 1st child in 2 weeks so my wife and i have been keeping a ear towards the phone in case we need to make a quick road trip to Kentucky for the big arrival. We are hopefully going to move in the next few months if house values ever return. We're 98% ready but i need to do a counter top job in the kitchen before putting the house on the market. Just a lot going on.....
Will keep you posted once I start on the forms, whichever design i decide on.
Mac
Last edited by Mac McQuinn; 07-01-2009 at 9:27 PM.
[OP]
Moderator
Robert, I'm not seeing the photo!!
Anyway, on with my project.
While doing the port side stern stem, all I had was my hand tools. I love using them, a Stanley #3, Stanley #5, Stanley 151 spokeshave, old Craftsman block plane and an old draw knife. It took 2 hours to get this part done. Then the big brown truck drove up and delivered my new power planer. In the next two hours I finished up the starboard stern stem completed both sides to station 4 from the stern. I finished just about 3 times the work in the same time as using the hand tools only. The power planer is slick.
Tools for Shaping Keelson.jpg Tools for Shaping Keelson 2.jpg
The nice thing about the hand tools and the first two hours is I listened to Mahler's Symphony #2 while I was working. It's just not the same with the power planer. Fortunately, I did have to use a plane and a spokeshave part of the time with the power planer.
I'll add a couple of pictures of the keelson partially shaped.
Member
Sorry John, here it is. I think!
[OP]
Moderator
Looks good Rob, but now that you've whetted our appetites, how about some more!!
John
[OP]
Moderator
While finishing up the keelson, I've found that my bow stem is crooked. Ouch! I found that the joint between the stem and keelson had moved after I epoxied. Obviously I didn't check the alignment closely enough and it moved after clamping. The lines had lined up when I epoxied, and I even put a screw in to keep the lines straight, but something happened. I'm going to have to cut the joint and scarph in another piece. I'm going to extend the stem about 4"'s so the new joint will be a little longer. Not as long as the stern joint, but longer than what I had.
BowStemDisastersmall.jpg TheFix.jpg
Everything was going great. From midship to the bow, everything fit perfectly. I was very pleased. Then, as I was approaching mould #7, I realised I had taken off too much wood on the stem where it sat on the mold. Oughtred's book says if this happens, the builder has to decide whether to fill in with epoxy or to add wood and then reshape. I chose to add wood.
The first picture is of the completed backbone. I took it off the moulds to do the final shaping. Notice the joint between the keelson and bow stem looks quite a bit better. The second picture is of the second fix, filling wood at mould #7, I've had to do. This part of the building process is getting old. The last picture is of my scarphing practice session. I know there's many ways to do this, I've decided to set up a simple jig and use a power planer.
Backboneoffforfinalshaping.jpgTheFix2.jpgPracticeScarphing.jpg
John
Member
Here is a couple more from the launch. I'm in the blue shirt but 30 years younger! The construction photos are in an album that I have not scanned in yet. We had a turning over party when I finished the hull. My garage was 19'6" and the boat was 19' 3". I used the West system epoxy for construction.
NH Woodworkers Guild
Robert, is the boat still around? You look like a fellow I met at Woodstock (August 1969)...
Last edited by Nate Carey; 07-02-2009 at 8:36 AM.
Old, fat guy on the set of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" October '09
Member
No Nate, I sailed the boat on the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay for a couple of years then I donated it to a boys and girls sailing club in Maryland. After getting the sailing bug I bought me a Sabre 28.
John I didn't mean to high jack your thread!
Member
Does that mean I could screw up and create 3 times the mess, in 1/3rd the time, if I was using a power planer?
[OP]
Moderator
That was a year ago and since then, I've learned that the power planer is not only "not slick," but that your assessment is not only correct, but may be an understatement. I rarely use it any more now that I've found out all the trouble it can get me into.
John
[OP]
Moderator
Started the day by shaping the stern stem after adding wood yesterday. It took awhile, and it doesn't look great, but the pattern lays very flat, so I'm happy.
TheFix2results.jpgTheFix2results2.jpg
After that, I started working on the garboard pattern. I used what would commonly be referred to as "door skin" ply. It's just a bit thinner than the good stuff, but it only cost $10 a sheet. I cut it out an inch and a half wider than the garboard and screwed in on the moulds. It fit very well. What you do is get underneath the boat and mark all the spots where the pattern touches the appropriate point on the mould.
PatternBoardattachedtomouldsformark.jpg
Then I used a batten that touches all the marks that I just made on the pattern to get a fair line, and cut the pattern out.
Usingbattentodrawfairlineonpatternb.jpg
All that was left to do today was to screw on the completed pattern to see if it fit - it did.
Garboardpatternfittedonmoulds.jpg
John
Last edited by John Bailey; 07-07-2009 at 7:00 AM.
NH Woodworkers Guild
...good morning John, your boat is progressing well. I hope your series will encourage a woodworker or two to build a boat.
Is that a "Parks" (or "Craftsman") 12" planer base casting I see in a couple of your photos? I have one that has served me for many years...Nate
Last edited by Nate Carey; 07-07-2009 at 7:35 AM.
Old, fat guy on the set of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" October '09
[OP]
Moderator
Yep Nate,
That's an old Parks. As far as I can figure it's a 1942 model. When I got it, it wouldn't work, or even turn over. So, it went from this:
Inside Gearbox 2.JPG
To this:
Parks Apart.JPG
and finally, to this:
Parks Planer Done.jpg
It took me over a year and a great deal of frustration to restore it. I'd never done anything like that before. It's still not done as I don't like the colour, I had to rewire the motor and it runs backwards, and I haven't fine tuned it yet. I'm also working on an old Oliver 192-D bandsaw and an old DeWalt radial arm saw. Of course, it keeps me from finishing the boat, or, at least gives me an excuse!
John
Member
thank you very much john. the article is very informative.it teaches how to build a boat in a very impressive way. keep up the good work
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