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307K views 112 replies 39 participants last post by  SemperSailor 
#1 ·
Introduction

I've recently begun to move on with building a traditional wooden yacht tender. Boatbuilding has always been fascinating to me as a type of woodworking and I'd like a new boat for next year. This is mostly a learn as I go project. I'd like to connect with others that are interested with boatbuilding (and could maybe offer me some guidance too)

Selecting a boat

Before choosing a plan, my basic requirements were that it would be built traditional wooden lapstrake construction, a good rower, option to upgrade with a sail, stable for kids, able to mount a small outboard motor, light enough to transport on a car top (maybe), and small enough so I could build it in my shop instead of the cold garage.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of small boat plans available in books and online. Eventually, I decided on the Sunshine Yacht Tender from Duck Trap Woodworking. This seemed to fit all of my requirements and I could order a decent set of plans along with a book on how to build it. There's a nice history to this boat going back to the early 1900s in Maine. Home builders and professionals still build and sell this model.



Project Summary:

Expenses so far: $60 for (a very nice) set of plans and plan book
Several books borrowed from library
 
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#2 ·
i built boats for 10 years in ft. lauderdale , to learn the craft .
it will definitly improve your wood working skills .
as a project , it is a real pleasure . just take your time and you will understand and accomplish allot .
dont try and rush it , as mistakes can be hard to fix .
looks like a nice choice !
enjoy .
 
#4 ·
Good luck. At the St. Michaels Maritime Museum in Maryland. the have a weekend group that makes a wooden boat. You pay for the privileged. You might check around and see if anyone has a class similar.

Here is my blog on the program
 
#7 ·
sooooo glad i ran across your blog series…SOME day…i want to build a little sail boat I can run up and down the napa river…and when i read your intro and what you called your basic requirements I can almost check all those off as what I am looking for…

SUPER GOOD LUCK…now to catch up with your newer blogs!!!
 
#8 ·
Lofting

After about 12 hours of work, nearly all lofting is complete and I can finally start some construction! The famous boat builder and author, Howard I. Chapelle wrote in his aptly named book "Boatbuilding" - "There was never a boat built in which too much lofting had been done". By lofting, Mr. Chapelle is referring to the laying out of the lines and drawing of construction details to full scale, a tedious practice he writes "avoids much trying and fitting".

Setting up the lofting area

To begin, I cut up a 4×8 sheet of 3/4 plywood to create a lofting "table" that is 12'x32". This is large enough to draw all 3 plan views (sheer, body and half-breadth) which are drawn over each other. After leveling the table, I rolled out red rosin paper, an option some builders use to draw the plans on instead of drawing right onto the plywood (or traditionally.. the floor of a loft). I then layed out the all important "base line" and tacked a straight edge on that line from which measurements would be made. A large grid is then drawn over the entire area to indicate vertical stations and horizontal waterlines.



Drawing the Profile and Half-Breath view

There are virtually no straight lines on this boat. I was immediately faced with the problem of how to correctly draw long curved lines. An ideal curved line is a fair curve - one which has a smooth continuous flow to it. It turns out to be relatively simple to do, but does require a good eye. The process essentially involves the use of long wooden battens of straight grain and clear of knots. To create the curve, you "loosely" bend the batten around nails which are tacked onto the "grid" according to measurements in the plans. It's basically "connect the dots". The boat plans includes a table of offsets which have measurements for where you place your marks. Once the curve looks fair, you draw the curved line against the batten with a pencil, remove the batten and do the same thing for the next line until you have something that looks like a boat. The following photos show the line for the profile sheer (top edge viewed from side) and a waterline (water level at 6 inches viewed from top). Notice how two different views of the boat are drawn in the same space.



Drawing the Body Plan

The body plan is the head on view of the boat and is drawn right over the other 2 plan views that were previously drawn. The measurements are taken from the lofted lines in the previous 2 plan views and the batten is used again to "connect the dots" and draw curved lines for the body plan sections. The body plan shows 7 cross sections of the hull from front to back (stern to transom) with the 5 equally spaced stations in between. The layout of each station are the templates for the actual station molds which will be used later to form the hull. The photos below show the shapes of the hull from head on. The reason for the white paper overlay is to show the construction detail of how the hull planking will join to the keelson and keel on the bottom of the boat. Because there are 7 body sections all overlapping in the same space on the plans, separate pieces of paper are tacked in place as needed for each section so that the details are not a hopeless mess of overlapping lines.



Final Results Example

The following is an example of a different boat showing the 3 plan views. In the actual lofting, these views are drawn right over each other.



Lessons Learned
I'm not crazy about the red rosin paper. It has small wrinkles in it that slightly distort the lines. It's not enough to throw off any measurements by anything more than 1/64th probably, but it's not ideal. Next time, I'd whitewash the plywood and draw onto that directly.

Lofting Materials List:

  • Red Rosin Paper, Home Depot, $12
  • 3/4 Plywood 4×8, Lowes, $23.88
  • 1×4x12 clear pine, Home Depot, $12

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88

- Total Project Expenses so far: $107.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 12 Hours
 
#9 ·
i built boats for 10 years in fla. i t is a very learning experience , and rewarding !
draw every fastener also , as they can weaken or cross each other in placement .
it,s worth the time to get the lofting right , as it saves time and money (and hair ! ) .
good luck to you , and keep us posted .
i know many l.j.s. are going to be thrilled to see this come to life .!
 
#17 ·
Building the Molds

Finished the molds today! The molds create the form upon which the boat will be built. There are 5 mold forms for this boat.

The shape of the molds are taken right from the lofting drawing. Picking Up refers to techniques of transferring shapes on the lofting to boards so that the shapes can be cut out. To pick up the mold shapes, I ground off half of the heads of a few dozen nails so that they would lay flat exactly on the lines in the drawing that I wanted to transfer. I then placed boards over the nails and lightly hammered down until the nails stuck into the wood. The boards are flipped over and a batten is used to draw a curve along the impressions left by the nail heads. The molds are then cut out on a bandsaw (both sides at the same time). The 2 sides of the mold are then compared to the lofting for any fine tuning. They are then nailed in place on the lofting and tied together with cross-spalls and cleats.







Next is building the strongback and placing the molds.

Mold Materials List:

  • (2) 1×8x12, Lowes, $24
  • (2) 1×6x12, Lowes, $12
  • Misc nails and scrap lumber

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36

- Total Project Expenses so far: $143.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 17 Hours
 
#18 ·
we're looking good , matt .
thanks for showing us the steps in this and the costs .
im going to favorite this so i can enjoy it with you .

hi jim , i know your here close !
 
#23 ·
Strongback

The strongback is completed and the molds are in position. Starting to take shape! The strongback is the very flat, level and squared box in the photos below. It is attached to short (2 foot high) sawhorses on each end. The molds are attached and braced to the strongback. The boat will be constructed upside down over the molds. So far, I haven't built anything that will be an actual piece of the boat when it's completed! Everything in the pictures below will eventually go to the lumber pile for some future project. Ah well. More exciting stuff is coming up soon.

Next is building the transom (the back of the boat) and attaching that to the strongback. This will be the first "real" piece of the boat.

Thanks for reading!

Photos shows the view facing the front of the boat.





Strongback Materials List:

  • (2) 2×8x12, Lowes
  • (1) 2×10x10, Lowes
  • (2) 2×4x8, Lowes
  • Total for above: $33
  • Misc nails and scrap lumber

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33

- Total Project Expenses so far: $176.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 6/25/09 - 6/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 24.5 Hours
 
#31 ·
Building the Transom

Completed the transom today. The transom is the back section of the boat where I'll mount the 250hp Mercury outboard. (Just kidding).

Transom is 1" thick black cherry. I choose cherry because I like it and I have a lot of it from a tree I milled a few years ago.

Here is the glue up with epoxy. Joints are splined with pine. Straightfoward so far.



This next part gave me a headache for awhile. The edge around the transom is a compound beveled edge and the entire transom itself will also be tilted at about 12 degrees. The angle of the edge gradually changes depending on how the planking will meet the transom at any point. At first, this seemed like a very difficult problem until I realized (after checking several books) that it's just a matter of lofting an "inboard" and "outboard" profile view representing the face on the inside and the outside of the boat respectively. I then used the same methods as lofting the mold stations to transfer the profile view to the half-breadth and body plan views. Once I did this, the measurements were easy to tick off from the lofting directly to the cherry blank. To do this, I drew a grid on the blank that lines up with the grid on the lofting. I transfered the measurements onto the blank grid and then used a batten to bend around the points to draw a fair curve. One trick I picked up in the book "Building Sunshine" is to draw both profiles on the same side of the blank (see photo below). This is faster and helps to ensure that everything is lined up. You should be able to just make out the lines in the photo below. I then cut the outside profile line at 90 degrees on the bandsaw.



After the transom is rough cut out, I used spokeshave and plane to clean up the edge. I then used a jigsaw to roughly cut the angle around the inboard line, just to remove most of the wood. I then used the spokeshave and plane again to smooth out the bevel down to the lines. The edge on this thing is really cool. Nice smooth curve.



Rest of it is pretty easy. Card scaper cleanup and finish. Threw some water on it to check out the figure in the grain.



Last step was to mount it on the strong back at the appropriate angle. Transom is ready!



Next Step

Next step will be the other end of the boat… the white oak stem and knee. Per DaveR's request, I'll detail the process as much as I can. I've been looking forward to this part.

Transom Materials List:

  • G/Flex Marine Epoxy: $22, Local Marine Supply
  • (3) 1×6x36 Cherry: $0, Milled from inventory on hand ($45 approx value)
  • (2) 3/4" x 36"x 3/8" pine splines: $0, Misc scrap

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22

- Total Project Expenses so far: $198.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 6/25/09 - 6/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 6/30/09 - 7/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 30.5 Hours
 
#42 ·
Stem and Knee - Part 1

I'm starting construction of the stem and knee by making sure that I have these parts drawn correctly on the full size drawing (lofting). I could really use some advice before I actually cut out the parts!

The photo below is the front section of my lofting. I used photoshop to make the lines and sections of the stem more visible. The stem is actually two parts as shown in the lofting below. The red section is the stem and the green section is the knee. I'll make luan templates to cut these pieces from white oak and bolt them together.



After cutting out the stem and knee, the challenge will be to carve out a rabbet that will receive the planking. This is what it should look like:



In my first lofting photo above, the two solid black curved lines represent the rabbet and bearding lines which will be used as the reference to carve out the rabbet to the depth of the planking (3/8").

It's important to note that the lofting shows the profile view (side view) and half-breath view (top view of half the boat) on the same drawing. The light grey lines are waterlines for the profile view and the blue lines are water lines for the half-breath view. These waterlines represent heights every 3 inches and are very much related to each other to determine the overall shape of the boat.

The rabbet line is determined early in the lofting and is drawn in the profile view using a batten to establish a fair curve from the tip of the boat to the bottom keel. The bearding line is determined from the angles of the planks at different points where they intersect with the stem. These angles are shown in the half-breath view as solid blue lines. These lines are like a contour map of the hull and meet the center stem at different heights and angles. For example, the lowest blue line shows how the outside of the plank will meet the stem at the rabbet line at a height of 6". The planks will be 3/8" thick, so I drew a parallel line 3/8" away and noted where the inside of the plank would intersect the stem. Using a square, I then placed a mark on the profile view at the same point 6" in height on the stem to indicate where the bearding line should be for that point. The same process is done for the waterlines for other heights, 9", 12", 15" etc. and the marks are connected with a batten to form the entire curve for bearding line.

Need some advice:

As detailed as this may seem to be, I'm not 100% confident that the rabbet will be perfect if I carve it all out on the bench from these measurements. I'm trying to decide if I should carve out just the top section on the bench and complete the bottom section after I put the stem in place and can do some test fitting and final carving with everything up on the molds. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated!

Lessons Learned:

When trying to work out how to fit the keel to the stem knee on the drawing, I realized that my original drawing of the stem profile was off. It didn't fit the measurements from the blueprint. The keel would have had to curve up sharply to meet the stem and other parts wouldn't fit according to the plan, such as the mast step. I had to re-loft the entire front end, moving the profile of the stem out about an inch. Fortunately, the changes were slight enough that they had no effect on the rest of the drawing including the station molds, which I had already built. Next time, I think it would be a good idea to add more details earlier in the lofting to make sure everything fits before cutting any actual wood.

Also, an observation I've recently made is that I'm really starting to be able to think through solving problems with this project much easier than when I started. For example, working with the relationships between the different views of the boat was very difficult at first. I think I owe this to reading, practice, writing this blog and getting some tips from others on here. I'm nowhere near an expert or anything, but I'm no longer entirely fearful of this project.

Materials List:

None!

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22

- Total Project Expenses so far: $198.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 6/25/09 - 6/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 6/30/09 - 7/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours
  • 7/14/09 - 7/20/09: Stem Lofting Detail: 3 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 33.5 Hours
 
#47 ·
Stem and Knee - Part 2

Greetings.. Things are moving along well with the boat construction.

This part in the series is cutting out the stem and knee parts which form the front "backbone" of the boat. To do this, I created templates from 1/8" birch plywood and used those as patterns to cut the actual parts from 2" thick white oak.

To get the shape of the templates, I used the same picking up method as I used when getting the shapes from the drawing to the actual molds in part 2. This involves placing nails (which have had half the heads ground off so they lay flat), on the lofting:



Next, I carefully layed a sheet of plywood over the nails and hammered it down so that the nails stuck into the plywood at the same positions as they were on the lofting. The board is flipped over. Crude yet effective.



Next step is to connect the marks left by the nails using battens to get the curves and straight edges where appropriate.



After the lines are drawn, the templates are cut out on the bandsaw and the edges are trimmed to fit exactly on the lofting.



Now the templates are positioned and traced onto white oak. Just barely fit! Phew!



The final stem and knee pieces were cut on the bandsaw. Sections were planed down to 1.5". All edges were smoothed with a spokeshave and card scraper to fit the lofting. The top of the stem is left long intentionally to attach it to the strongback. Later, this will be cut to size after planking.



Lessons Learned

I probably should have set up to cut out the keel and keelson before starting on the stem, but no harm done. I'm just going to wait until the keel and keelson are on the molds before cutting out the rabbet in the stem which I had initially planned to do for my next step. I want to be able to do some actual test fitting as I cut out the rabbet and can't do that yet! Also, halfway through planing the 2" oak down to 1.5", I realized that I should have resawn it and at least have saved a 3/8" piece of oak. It's all sawdust from the planer now. Ah well.

Next Step

Cutting out the keel and keelson.

Materials List:


Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22
  • Stem and Knee: $47

- Total Project Expenses so far: $245.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 6/25/09 - 6/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 6/30/09 - 7/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours
  • 7/14/09 - 7/20/09: Stem Lofting Detail: 3 Hours
  • 7/22/09 - 7/29/09: Stem and Knee Cutout: 4 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 37.5 Hours
- Time since starting project: 63 days (2 months 2 days)
 
#53 ·
Keel, Keelson, Skeg and Sternpost - Part 1

This is the construction of the Keel, Keelson, Skeg and Sternpost. These solid oak parts form the bottom backbone of the boat.

I started by cutting out the shape of keel and keelson by transfering the measurements from the lofting. The keel is the thicker piece which be on the very bottom of the boat.



The next step is to put a rolling bevel on the edge of the keelson. The intention is for the bottom planking to fit perfectly into a beveled "notch" that is carved into the keelson and keel. The method I used was to transfer the "bevel" lines from the lofting onto the keelson at each "station" along the length. There are 5 stations along the length of the boat about 21" apart. The following photo shows the lofting for station 1. Each station is a little different.



After the stations are marked, The keelson is put onto the molds and notched at each station to make sure that the planking will fit tightly. I had to make a few minor adjustments.



After each station is notched, I used a batten to draw slightly curved lines on the top and edge of the keelson to "connect" each station. Material between stations is removed with a plane and spokeshave so there is a nice gradual curve between each station. I have not yet cut aft of station 1 or fore of station 4. This will be done later after all the backbone components are fitted together.



At this point, I realize I need a steambox to bend the keelson along the skeg. The book says it can be bent cold (not easily I found), but recommends relieving stress with steam. So I spent a lot of time researching low cost steamboxes that can run indoors and came up with my $75 Eight Foot SteamBox, which I'm really happy with. So the keelson is steamed for a half hour fore of station 4.



Keelson is clamped hot onto the skeg and keel. Bends easy now!



This shows everything assembled in the rear section. The sternpost is the vertical piece that will be connected to the transom.



Here's a closeup of the skeg section and how all these pieces join. Everything is just test fitted here and needs a little more fitting. The extra length on the keel will be cut off later. The skeg and sternpost and joined with a mortise and tenon that is pinned with 1/4" silicon bronze. The white stuff between the skeg and sternpost is Boatlife Caulk which is like a rubber gasket/bedding compound. All joints will be bedded with this stuff eventually.



Finally, a quick note on the hardware that will be used on this project starting with the next steps. I originally planned to use stainless steel carriage bolts and screws for this project, but decided on 655 Silicon Bronze for below and above the waterline after reading up on the subject. Basically, it's about twice the cost as stainless, but it's the standard for wooden boat construction and should last much longer. It also looks great. This alloy is around 97% copper. CCFastners was the most affordable source I could find. They shipped quickly and the hardware is high quality.



Materials List:


Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22
  • Stem and Knee: $47
  • Keelson, Keel, Skeg and Sternpost: $97
  • Silicon Bronze Hardware: $225

- Total Project Expenses so far: $567.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 6/25/09 - 6/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 6/30/09 - 7/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours
  • 7/14/09 - 7/20/09: Stem Lofting Detail: 3 Hours
  • 7/22/09 - 7/29/09: Stem and Knee Cutout: 4 Hours
  • 7/30/09 - 8/16/09: Keel, Keelson, Skeg and Sternpost: 21 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 58.5 Hours
- Time since starting project: 81 days (2 months 20 days)
 
#59 ·
Attaching Transom, Finding Planking Lumber and Copper Rivets

It's been a busy month for other things, but I've made some good progress on the boat. I've also managed to find some great planking lumber, with a great story behind it, which I'll write about a bit below.

But first, update on the transom which now completes the stern.



The transom is attached to sternpost with 5 countersunk #10 bronze screws which are covered with matching cherry plugs. Later on, I'll epoxy in and cut the plugs off flush.



And a shot of the whole keel and transom assembly.



Planking Lumber

I've spent a lot of time researching planking lumber since I started this project. I've considered everything from Western Red, Atlantic and Northern Cedars, Cypress, Spanish Cedar and Larch. Teak and Mahogony.. far too costly. None of these species, except for Larch and Cypress maybe, grows anywhere near Central New York.

I was mostly settled on Western Red Cedar, as I can obtain it locally, until I came across an ad on craigslist listing "Larch Lumber for Sale". It turned out that the seller was an older gentleman who had bought the larch about 3-4 years ago. He had been planning to build a large boat with it for many years, since around 1950 or so as I recall. My father and I drove down to meet him, and sure enough, he had about 300bf of air dried 10"x16' larch perfectly stacked and stickered. He said he bought it from an Amish sawyer in southern New York, which would almost certainly make it Tamarack or American Larch. Larch is a conifer, almost like something between a cedar and pine and has a tough and waterproof quality to it. I've read you can build an a boat entirely from Larch including the keel, ribs, masts and planking.

We spent the entire morning with him and his wife, who are the friendliest and most interesting folks you could meet. He showed us his woodworking and stained glass shops and we talked about several of his projects including some canoes he had built. He showed us the plans to the boat that he recently decided he couldn't build. I'm sure it was hard for him to part with his planking and his project, but we talked about how we were both glad to see it going into a boat project.

We ended up driving back with about twice the amount of lumber I need for this project. Here's a shot of some of the boards I'll be using for planking.



Copper Rivets

After finding my planking, I needed to settle on how to fasten them together and to the ribs. There are at least a few ways to do it including clenching, riveting and glue I suppose. I finally decided on rivets using copper nails and roves and bought them from Faering Design. They specifically sell fasteners and tools for boat builders. I also bought the Rove Set tool and Bucking Hammer from them so that I have the right tools for the job. I'll probably show more details on riveting in a future entry here.



Materials List:

  • Larch Planking, Found through Craigslist, $150 (I figured half my cost here, since I'm only using some of it)
  • Copper Rivets and Roves, Faering Design, $175

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22
  • Stem and Knee: $47
  • Keelson, Keel, Skeg and Sternpost: $97
  • Silicon Bronze Hardware: $225
  • Larch Planking and Copper Rivets: $325

- Total Project Expenses so far: $892.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 6/25/09 - 6/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 6/30/09 - 7/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours
  • 7/14/09 - 7/20/09: Stem Lofting Detail: 3 Hours
  • 7/22/09 - 7/29/09: Stem and Knee Cutout: 4 Hours
  • 7/30/09 - 8/16/09: Keel, Keelson, Skeg and Sternpost: 21 Hours
  • 8/16/09 - 9/5/09: Attaching Transom: 3 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 61.5 Hours
- Time since starting project: 122 days (3 months 30 days)
 
#60 ·
I just found your blog on building Sunshine from a link showing constructing a dust system which I am in the process of designing and installing. I have had a set of Sunshine plans on my shelf for many months now and have been reluctant to begin. Reading your blog has given me the enthusiasm to begin the lofting. Keep up the excellent work and many thanks for giving all of us "hopeful" types the confidence to begin our own boats.
 
#70 ·
Cutting Stem and Keel Rabbet

This next part is cutting the rabbet into the Keel and Stem. The rabbet is a groove for planking to butt into. The rabbet must be accurately cut in order to form a tight seal. The rabbet for sunshine runs down both sides of the stem as shown and continues along the keel to the stern.



Keel Rabbet

Cutting the Rabbet in the Keel was relatively easy since I had already beveled the keelson from the lofted lines in the Stem and Knee - Part 2 section.

To me, it seemed practical to try a Stanley #90 shoulder plane, and use the angle on the keelson as a reference to cut a 90 degree "groove" into the keel so that the groove had a depth 3/8", which will be the plank thickness. I used a test 3/8" piece to test occasionally also. This method worked really well for me and seems better than chopping out.. but I've got plenty of chisel chopping ahead.



After several hours, a nice rabbet on both sides of the keel.



Stem Rabbet

The stem was a little more challenging. At this point, I have to really trust my lofting skills which is where I'm getting all the angles for cutting the rabbet. The rolling bevels in the stem are wild compared to the gradual changes in the keel. Although I checked everything 4 times, there's a lot of time into the stem already and I don't want to ruin it! First step is to get the bearding and rabbet lines from the lofting onto the actual stem. The rabbet line is easy, since it's a fixed distance from the edge of the stem, so I just used a marking tool referenced off the stem edge. The bearding line however is a weird curve. I transfered the bearding line from the lofting onto the templates that I made earlier for cutting out the stem. I then drilled several small holes along these lines on the template so that I could lay the template on the actual stem and draw marks through the holes. Using the template is nice this way, since I could just flip it over and make matching marks on boths sides of the stem. I should point out that the curve for the bearding and rabbet lines were originally determined from the lofting drawing. This is explained further in Stem and Knee - Part 1



With the lines transferred, I then cut a series of notches along the stem with chisels and then removed the waste between the notches. It's very nice to be able to do this on the bench instead of working on it vertically in the mold.



The angles of the cuts are tested with a 3/8" template to ensure that the planking fits correctly at each point in the stem.



Completed stem rabbet!



And a shot of the whole thing.



Finally, a close up of the intersection between the Stem and Keel. The rabbet still needs to be cut here so that there is a smooth transition. I have to wait at least a few days for the bedding compound to dry, otherwise, I'll be working with a big tar-like ball of shavings.



Materials List:

None for this step!

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22
  • Stem and Knee: $47
  • Keelson, Keel, Skeg and Sternpost: $97
  • Silicon Bronze Hardware: $225
  • Larch Planking and Copper Rivets: $325

- Total Project Expenses so far: $892.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 6/25/09 - 6/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 6/30/09 - 7/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours
  • 7/14/09 - 7/20/09: Stem Lofting Detail: 3 Hours
  • 7/22/09 - 7/29/09: Stem and Knee Cutout: 4 Hours
  • 7/30/09 - 8/16/09: Keel, Keelson, Skeg and Sternpost: 21 Hours
  • 8/16/09 - 9/5/09: Attaching Transom: 3 Hours
  • 9/28/09 - 9/29/09: Cutting Stem and Keel Rabbet, 9 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 70.5 Hours
- Time since starting project: 123 days (3 months 31 days)
 
#71 ·
looks real nice , matt .

one of the things we learn in woodworking ,
is patience !
it is essential for fine work .

and it transfers into our lives ,
and helps us be better people .
 
#74 ·
Stem to Keel and Lining Off

Just a few more steps left before I can start putting the planking on the sides.

Cutting in the Rabbet Between Stem and Keel

The next crucial step is cutting in the rabbet between the Stem and Keel. This was done entirely by hand with a few sharp chisels. I used a small piece of wood (3"x1"x3/8") as a template, representing the plank, to ensure a smooth transition as I cut away the rabbet. Here is the before picture:



And the after picture. This was done on both sides of course. Took about 3 hours.



Lining Off

According to Walter Simmons, the architect of Sunshine (the model I'm building), Lining off is the "process with which you project the final plank layout onto the hull". This needs to be done to determine the shapes for the planks, which are actually quite curvy. However, if I do it right, the planks will have an effect that they look straight on the hull.

Of course, you only have to line off one half of the hull. The other half is exactly the same, just flipped, so your measurements are the same on each side.

The first step for me was to measure the length of each station from keel to sheer (bottom to top) and divide by the number of planks I'll be putting on (seven). I then marked off the location for each plank edge for each station.

Once this is done, the next step is to run a batten along these marks to make sure the curve is fair. It's more important that the curves are fair, rather than the planks being of equal width at each station.

To do the lining off, Mr. Simmons recommends a single batten method, in which you determine the position and curve of each plank as you go along, for each plank. Another method is to line off all of your planks at once using battens for each plank. I decided to try lining off all planks at once so that I could get a better feeling for how the planking would look. Of course, I can still use the single batten method later on.



And here is the final result with all battens. I still have to make some adjustments at the stem.



And that's it for now! Next step will be spiling and getting out the planks!

Materials List:

None for this step!

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22
  • Stem and Knee: $47
  • Keelson, Keel, Skeg and Sternpost: $97
  • Silicon Bronze Hardware: $225
  • Larch Planking and Copper Rivets: $325

- Total Project Expenses so far: $892.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 5/29/09 - 6/8/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 6/14/09 - 6/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 6/25/09 - 6/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 6/30/09 - 7/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours
  • 7/14/09 - 7/20/09: Stem Lofting Detail: 3 Hours
  • 7/22/09 - 7/29/09: Stem and Knee Cutout: 4 Hours
  • 7/30/09 - 8/16/09: Keel, Keelson, Skeg and Sternpost: 21 Hours
  • 8/16/09 - 9/5/09: Attaching Transom: 3 Hours
  • 9/28/09 - 9/29/09: Cutting Stem and Keel Rabbet, 9 Hours
  • 9/30/09 - 10/4/09: Stem to Keel and Lining Off, 4 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 74.5 Hours
- Time since starting project: 142 days (4 months 19 days)
 
#86 ·
Lining Off - Second Attempt

I finished lining off the planks today. Lining off is the process with which you project the final plank layout onto the hull. My first attempt at this didn't go so well. Thanks to some suggestions from some fellow lumberjocks, I took the time to learn more about the process and I'm much happier with the results. The book, Building Small Boats by Greg Rossel, as recommended by DaveR, is an exceptional resource and I basically used the process in the lining off chapter.

Results

First, here are my final results of the lining off. The temporary battens running down the hull are the outlines for each of the 7 planks.



What makes a good lapstrake

It turns out there are many considerations that go into making a lapstrake hull a nice thing to look at. Of course, the shapes and edges of the planks are high on the list. After a lot of research, I settled on 4 key aesthetic qualities that I want in the planking. It wasn't until I had a handle on these "rules" that I felt that I could do this properly. In order of importance:

  • Perfectly even plank widths along the transom and stem, except for the sheer (top) plank which will be made 1.5" wider.
  • The effect of the rubrail (outwale) on the sheer plank will make the sheer plank appear thinner, so I've added the width of the rubrail to the sheer plank.
  • All plank edges should follow a smooth fair curve with no dips or fishtails, etc.
  • The variation of the average widths of the planks above the garboard along the entire length of the boat should be minimized as much as reasonably possible. This is accomplished by making the garboard wider in the middle.

The Process

The process starts with marking out the plank widths at even intervals along the transom and stem, keeping in mind that the sheer plank will be 1.5" wider to compensate for the rubrail.

Next, the bottom most plank, the garboard, is lined off using a long batten to shape a curve between the fixed marks on the transom and sterm. The curve is made by eye. I tried to create a nice flowing curve along the length while maximizing the width of the garboard (within reason) at the center stations. The width in the center will help make the planks above the garboard narrower.

Once the garboard is lined off, it's position is marked on all stations and a long temporary batten is tacked on to represent the plank edge. This leaves 6 remaining planks. The next step is to mark out the 6 remaining intervals on the stations. Greg Rossel suggests using a paper tape and a diminishing device to mark out the intervals. First, the paper is wrapped around a station mold starting from the top of the garboard. A mark is placed on the paper strip where the bottom of the rubrail will go. So, this gives me a measurement on the paper strip that represents the top of garboard and bottom of rubrail. Next, I just need to mark out even intervals between these points. Sure.. it would be possible to just divide the measurement by 6 and mark off the intervals on the tape/station mould, but a cooler way to do it is with a diminishing device, a technique that is certainly not confined to just boatbuilding.



Diminishing Device

The diminishing device is just a drawing of an isosceles triangle. The base is divided at evenly spaced intervals and lines are drawn from those divisions to the apex. It can be used to perfectly mark out evenly spaced intervals along any length without the use of any math. So, this is helpful to mark out even intervals at each station (especially helpful as I had to do this process 3 times). The paper strip (with the length of the station marked on it) is fitted to a diminishing device and marks are transferred to the strip. The strip taken back to the station mold and the marks are transferred to the station mold. There are 2 devices overlapping below, one for 7 planks (for the stem and transom) and the shorter one for 6 planks (for the stations).



Planks at the stem

After all the stations are marked, battens are tacked onto the marks. The battens are sighted to make sure they follow a nice fair curve.

I think I've got it this time. Nice evenly spaced lines that flow into the stem.



Final Results

Does the photo below look a little odd? Well. It's a picture I took looking up from the floor upside down. This is what the boat will look like when it's flipped over. It was helpful to do this and get a confirmation on the layout. I'm very happy with this. Nice evenly spaced planks. Easy flow into the stem. Did the sheer plank right. I found so many ways to do this wrong, so it's great that it looks -right- finally! (at least to me and in my shop)



And that's it for now!

Materials List:

None for this step!

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22
  • Stem and Knee: $47
  • Keelson, Keel, Skeg and Sternpost: $97
  • Silicon Bronze Hardware: $225
  • Larch Planking and Copper Rivets: $325

- Total Project Expenses so far: $892.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 05/29/09 - 06/08/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 06/14/09 - 06/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 06/25/09 - 06/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 06/30/09 - 07/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours
  • 07/14/09 - 07/20/09: Stem Lofting Detail: 3 Hours
  • 07/22/09 - 07/29/09: Stem and Knee Cutout: 4 Hours
  • 07/30/09 - 08/16/09: Keel, Keelson, Skeg and Sternpost: 21 Hours
  • 08/16/09 - 09/05/09: Attaching Transom: 3 Hours
  • 09/28/09 - 09/29/09: Cutting Stem and Keel Rabbet, 9 Hours
  • 09/30/09 - 10/04/09: Stem to Keel and Lining Off, 4 Hours
  • 11/14/09 - 11/15/09: Lining Off, 6 Hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 80.5 Hours
- Time since starting project: 170 days (5 months 17 days)
 
#91 ·
The First Plank

The First Garboard Plank

The first plank is on! It has been the most difficult part of the build so far. I've gone through 4 planks to get it right. For my fellow LJers who may be wondering, I've put in a few hours here and there, but I've taken quite a bit of time away from the project since the holidays. I'm exciting to be focused again.



The challenge with this is getting the plank flush and tight into the rabbit along the keel. It's a tough plank because it bends almost 80 degrees to fit into the stem in the front and has to be steam bent. I cracked 2 of them and the others weren't right. To get it right, I first made a 1/8" template plank (so that it would bend easily without steaming it), so that I could trace the template onto real plank stock.

Once secured in place, I scribed the template plank using a washer and a pencil.



To make the template, I used a technique called spiling which uses a compass to transfer the basic shape of the keel rabbit to the template. I then got a better fit by scribing the template against the rabbit. Normally, you wouldn't need to bother with templates and scribing. Long story short, my keel is not entirely a fair curve (where it meets the skeg). Fair curves are required for good spiling results. However, the TOP of the first plank IS a fair curve, so I should be able to build the remaining planks by spiling only (no templates). I'll document spiling in my next blog.

The template was then used to trace the plank shape onto 3/8" planking stock which was cut out on the bandsaw. Then, gains were then cut into the ends of the plank. I used a Stanley #90 rabbet plane and a straight edge. The gains allow the planks to overlap and fit into each other at the ends so that they have a flush appearance at each end.



The plank has to "cool" overnight to keep it's form. Next, I'll screw the plank down and do the plank on the other side. From there, I have 6 more planks to go!



Materials List:

None for this step!

Project Materials Summary:

  • Plans and Book: $60
  • Lofting Supplies: $47.88
  • Mold Supplies: $36
  • Strongback Lumber: $33
  • Transom Materials: $22
  • Stem and Knee: $47
  • Keelson, Keel, Skeg and Sternpost: $97
  • Silicon Bronze Hardware: $225
  • Larch Planking and Copper Rivets: $325

- Total Project Expenses so far: $892.88

Labor Hours Summary:

  • 05/29/09 - 06/08/09: Lofting - 12 Hours
  • 06/14/09 - 06/20/09: Building Molds: 5 Hours
  • 06/25/09 - 06/27/09: Building Strongback: 7.5 Hours
  • 06/30/09 - 07/13/09: Building Transom: 6 Hours
  • 07/14/09 - 07/20/09: Stem Lofting Detail: 3 Hours
  • 07/22/09 - 07/29/09: Stem and Knee Cutout: 4 Hours
  • 07/30/09 - 08/16/09: Keel, Keelson, Skeg and Sternpost: 21 Hours
  • 08/16/09 - 09/05/09: Attaching Transom: 3 Hours
  • 09/28/09 - 09/29/09: Cutting Stem and Keel Rabbet, 9 Hours
  • 09/30/09 - 10/04/09: Stem to Keel and Lining Off, 4 Hours
  • 11/14/09 - 11/15/09: Lining Off, 6 Hours
  • 11/16/09 - 02/04/10: Garboard Plank, 20 hours

- Total Project Labor Hours so far: 100.5 Hours
- Time since starting project: 251 days (8 months, 6 days)
 
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