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Foreword When I was very young, I huilt for myseU the best boat in all the world. It was a fat d ory, designed to fit a secondha nd sai l , ;md not vcry impressive to other eyes. What maner? It was a hra ve thing and, to me, beautiful-a nd I have never since lost m y vision of the Bcsi Boal in the World-always just a bit beyond the present one, and a lways there to slfive IowaI'd. Maybe this background will help explain the chaplers that follow. I hope they convey some o f the feeli ng of joy I have had from a lifetime o f boatbuilding. I hope they may encourage you to ga ther
lsa nd natural materials and build for yourself the best boat in all the world- a thing of perfect beauty, which will g uard and preserve you wherever you want lOgo on the vasl ocea n seas. The voyaging may be moslly in the imagination , and this, the best boat in the world, may seem less tha n that to other people, That rea ll y doesn' t mailer. It will be your own, born of study. toil , and sacrifice; and you'll get from it a continu ing emotional expcricncea lmost unique in this modern world. Critics may well point o ut the narrow scope of this book: wha t amounts to o ne builder 's techniques (and prejudices?) applied toone very specia l (sha ll we say, limited ?) type of boat. You won ' t fin d bere complete discussion of your favorite hard-chi ned skipjack 0 1' lapstrake surfboa t or sawn-frdm e schooner 01' feath erligh t canoe-anyone of which, I'll grant, ma y be the best boot in the world . You can buy a book that trea ts all of these. and more, too, in one volume-a book written by a yacht designer of great skill a nd experience. who knows all about
the pans of the finished boat; but that designer doesn't know (or perhaps can't be bothered to tell you) the basic techniques, the iuch-oy-inch marking, ("u ll ing, nnd fastening that get all of these pnns together in the proper order. H ere, if you will pardon me, is where I come in. I am opinionated . lazy, plodding, limid about trying a n yth ing new, and I have built about 500 deadweight tons of .~aili n g yachtslargel y w ith my own hands, and perhaps half of them to my own designs. And over the past 50 years I have tried. earnest ly and constan tl y, to horrow, stea l. invelll. or develop by [rial and error the hcst and ea siest way for me to perform each of the several different operations involved in the ouilding of a wooden boat. I apologize to all the old pros, who have their own di fferent and very satisfactory ways to do [he same things. I s.ay only that these techniques have worked for me and [hat if you will stay w ith me patiently, I think I can, in the following pages. explai n to you how I sel up, frame. plank, and deck such a boat. w ith maybe a centerboard trun k and a rudder thrown in. i\-I ERR YWING, the boat shown in most of our illustrations, poses almost all the probl ems you are likel y to meet up wi th, whatever you build, and I hope I can convince you that there's no great mystery to boatbuilding after all. I'm sure that II \(: ooat of your dreams is the best and most beautiful boat in the world. If you don 't goahead a nd bui ld it, you w ill mi ssoneof the m ost exci ting a nd satisfyingcxpcriences left to liS today. You'd better get going! -Bud McIntosh
ing about boatbuildillg- from his own suicdy pnl.ctical point o f view and experit'nce- with little or no attention to the theoreLicdl , except where it mattered absolutely. Thus, the series of art icles by Bud Mcintosh bega n in lVoodenBoat. There was a certain Irregu larity to it, and a certain absence of method to the order in which the chapters appeared, but we were happy. The material was bei ng published, and the readers were finding it both informative and inspiring . For, in Bud they found a real educa tor- one who wasted little time on the n onessentials, and who encouraged his readers freely to see both the basic simplicity of each step i n wooden boat building, and its relationship to the whole. There was, however, an element not yet well expressed in the series: illustration. We had begun with a few photographs and a few sketches. but we knew we were not doing enough to convey directly the essence of what was beingsaid. And it was not possible to assign just any illustrator to the task of bringing these ideas to the printed page, because a thorough understanding o f the process was essential to convey ing it. Thus enteTed Sam Manning, a uniquely capable artist and writer. and an accompli shed boatbuilder himself. We had worked before with Sam, and knew well his ability to translate abstract ideas into comprehensive drawings. He had demon strated it clearly in numerous maga-
zine a nd book illustrations over the years, and he appreciated the simpli city and directness with wh ich Bud approached thi s s ubject. When he consented to collaborate with Bud on the series, and 10 aim towa rd the publication of a book, we wcre thrilled at thc prospect. Over the years, thecoll aooration between these IwoextTaordinary individuals has yielded a body of work which we believc sets a new standard in Ihe field . It is by no mcam a text on building all manner of wooden boats; it is by no means a general trea lise o n the subject. Rather. it is an attemp t to .convey, in detail, thc processes by wh ich Bud Mcintosh has successfull y built so many boats over the years. It is an attempt to collvey lhe spirit and the philosophy behind these processes. To the exten t that it succeeds at this. the reader is treated to the rare experience of wisdom acquired firsthand - and to the inimitable pleasure of understanding what seemed to be complex and mysterious procedures. This book is a celebration of the wisdom of one New England boatbuilder. In a culture where fewer and few er items are constructed by hand, and where tOO little lime is spent preserving process itself, and the lastingp)casuressuch process Cdn bring, we are honored and proud to be able to offer it at last. -Jonathan Wilson, Editor Wooden Boat Magazine
MERRYWING D~signed by David C. Mel'llosh Sail plan TMTawfI by Davt Dillion
LOA LWL lkam Drafl
39'027'6" 10'0" S'6"
Preface
I had heard about Bud Mclmosh far years before I met him. Among the cognoscenti in the field of traditional wooden boats, his name was ultered with a special kind of awe: not the mystical kind, but the kind that is characterized by uner amazement. Here was an artist and craftsman, I )leard, who could not onl y design and build beautiful boats but who could build them quickly and cheaply-in the best sense of that word. Here was a man who knew from experience how much and what kind of wood lO lise where, and how to fit it so well that it seemed to have grown in place. Moreover, here was a man who was remarkably erudite-well read, well spoken-bul without an overbearing nature. It was the Sluff of legend, all right, and I was cenain thal our fledgling magazine would find a way to do an article on this unusual man. But time and money passed quickl y in the early days of WoodenBoat, and somehow that goal seemed to elude me. One day, my friend Randy Peffer called to say that he'd just been to visit Bud; he'd discov· ered that the boatbuilder had been working on writing a book about boatbuilding, and that this was no ordinary work. I would see for myself, he told me, because he had put copies of a couple of chapters in the mail. When they arrived, I read them eagerly, hoping that I might have come upon something new and useful for the magazine's readers, but expeclingnothingspecial. Afterall, the builders
of traditional wooden boats in this country had not, up to that time, been given 10 writing much ata ll, and certainl y not with the darity and style desired in magazinejollrnalism. Yacht designers wrote about hoatbuilding, and sometimes very well; historians did, [00, and preser ved thereby some very important information. But one did not hear much from the boatbllilders who trudged of[ to their shops every day to coax even more beauty from that most lovely of natural materials. Making a living at it was-and ischallenge enough; it would be difficult to find oneself inspired, upon arriving home at the end of the day, to sit down and write freely about it. I was, therefore, unprepared for the elegance of Bud Mcintosh's writing. Indeed, I was truly moved by a clarity and style which seemed unmatched in the litera· ture of boatbuilding. Here, in one chapter, was a profoundly dear blend of solid experience, literary style, and a measure of wit and humor unlike anything I had ever encountered. I wasted no lime in arranging to publish what· ever Bud could write, whenever ilcouJd be written. And I dreamed that, if it could become a book, we would be the ones to publish it. That was 10 years ago. The boalbuilder had been able to write, it turned out, because he had found himself suddenly rendered infirm by an injury to his foot. To prevent himself from being overwhelmed by boredom, he decided to begin writ-
Contents ONE:
TWO: THREE: FOUR:
14
The Backbone: Keel and Stern post
28
TH I RTEEN:
The Backbone: Stem , Rabbet, and Frame Sockets The Backbone: Tail Feather, Transom, Molds, and Sheer Ribbands and Timbering Off Floor Timbers The Planking Process: From the Sheer Down The P lanking Process: From the Garboard Up A Smooth and Fair Hull Ceilings Fitting the Deck Frami ng
FOURTEEN:
Laying the Deck
FIVE:
SIX: SEVEN:
EIGHT:
NINE: TEN: ELEVEN: TWELVE:
rwn:EN: SIXTEEN: SEVENTEEN: EIGHTEEN :
N INETEEN: TWENTY:
2 8
Laying Down The Making of Molds The Ballas! Keel
38 50 64 76 88
Tool s and Devices
104 116 128 136 150 164 180 194 200 216 226
Fitting a ballast keel 10 a n already built hull
232
Building the House H a tch es and Other Deck Joinery Fitting Bulkheads
Spars The Rudder
Appendix A.
B. A ballast keel filled Centerboards
238 24.
Index
252
out with deadwood C.
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Chapter One
Laying Down OUT tit le wou ld at first glance appear to suggest a confus ion of bad grammar and bad taste. In truth it is a n old, proper. and excellent defmition of the first task in [he art a nd erah of boatbuildi ng: the lofling process. In simple terms, the operatio n consists of drawing ("laying down") an accurate. full- sized piClure on Ihe floor, from which patterns a Te " taken ofL" The process is neither mysterious nor d ifficu lt , but there art' some simple and essential truths. (I n the learning process, there aTC one or two .shocking truths, as well!) When I was very young I held mosl naval arch itects ill awe, and considered myself very smart indeed to have mastered the m echanics of lofti ng those sacred and untouchabl e drawings- waterli nes, buttocks, magnificent diagonals_ fin ally the body plan-and I crawled reverent miles on hands and knees, correctin g tiny (and not-sa- tiny) errors·committed by men who had mastered the greatest and most thrilling of al\ arts: yacht design. It was an honor a nd a privilege to be chosen as one who would, however inadequately, bring this vision to being in wood, metal, pailll, and whatever else the speci fi cations ca lled for (most of these items bought by the Designer a t one-third off. and furnished to me, or our com mon victim , the Owner, at list price, as r finally learned)-and it was wonderful. T ime passed, my work improved, my knees
and m y faith became worn and ba ltered, and I discovered a shocking truth: Practically a nyone wh o can read the figures on a yardstick ca n lay down a body p lan and a profile; a nd that's all you need to lay down, anyway. If the designer howls betrayal for some reason, there are two suggestions you can make about that set of lines and offsets. The polite one is thaI he take them back to his drawi ng board and correct them him self. If h eca n 'ldevelop a curved transom, he sh ou ldn't expect you lodo it for him. If h e says you can 't get the angles fOl" the stem rabbet from the sca le drawing, he needs further educalion . And finally, if this lofting were half as diff icu lt as you have been led to suspect, some of u s old pros would still be chopping dugouts out of tree trunks, and managing to make that look li ke quite a m ystery, too. So let's lay down what is strictly necessary, and no more; b uild a SCt of molds; make twOdimensional patterns o f stem, stern post, mil feather (the late Sam Crocker's term for the keel-of-the-counter, usually called the horn timber), and transom knee; and ma ke the pattern for the ballast-shoe cast ing. This last item is the only difficult one of the four, a nd will be treated separately and al length later. The basic grid For Ihis laying-down business you need a reasonably smooth fl oor. slightly longer than
3
the boat and slightly wider than the total of maximum draft p lus greatest freeboard-in the case of our exa mple, 10 by 40 feel. You can manage on half this length or even less, but you'll have some confusion of lines-over-lines to cope with. If the floor is good enough, and the owners don ' t obj ect, give it a coat of flat white paint, and work directly on that. If it's the floor of your living room, or as rough as my shop floor , cover it with light-colored sheathing paper (40 inches wide, 500 square feet to the roll, available at an y lumberyard), which you spread out and let lie for 24 hours before you stretch and tack (or tape) it in pl ace. Don't worry if the experts te ll you this is all wrong, and that you' ll never be able to do accurate work on a surface that changes dimensions every time a cloud goes by. You're going to have expert trouble from now on . anyway, and you m ight as well get used to it. (One o f them used to hauilt us with the threat that he'd get out his astrolabe and prolapse and show us the scientific way to figure o ut the shape \Ve were seeking; and for a while we wondered that one small head cou ld carryall he knew.) Gel yourself a IO-foo t straightedge. A 4inch strip off a Ih-inch plywood panel makes a good one; or you can true up the edge of a dry board with your jointer. Wh ile you're a t it, make a 6-footer and a long one- maybe 16 feet long. Stretch a string (nylon is best) the length of your 10ft floor, far enough from the edge to allow for the full draf! of the boat, plus 2 or 3 inches. Do not chalk and snap it; instead, crawl along and mark where it lies at 3- or 4-foot interva ls. Take up th e string, mark this line with a good black number2 pencil, usi ng your iO-foor stra ightedge, and you have the load waterline, from which everything else devel ops. Using Ihe same technique, mark the other full-length lines (three above, four below the load waterline, and exactly 12 inches apart) parallel with lhe load waterline. Now mark on the load waterline the locations of all the perpendiculars shown in the lines drawing-face of stem. station numbers I through 8, intersection of the sheerline projected through the centerl ine of the transom , and all the buttock lines you'll need on either side of sL."ltion n umber 5. Draw these lines in, exactly at right ang les to the load waterline. The safest way to do this is to erect station number 5 by the old h i gh-school ~ geometry method of swinging imersecting arcs above and below the line, marking station number 5 through these intersections, and then working forward andaft (with your 50-foot steel
4
tape) from station number 5 along the 36-i nch load line and the 18-inch waterline. If your straightedge, joining these new marks, passes precisely th rough the corresponding marks on the load wall:rI ine, you will know your measurements ",ere correct. Allthis is dull business. and perfectly obvious, I'm sure. The diagonals for the body plan are only a bit more compli cated (sec Fi gure I-I ). Notice that in this design they all start at points where stalion number 5 (the centerline for the body plan) intersects the horizontal load line and waterlines, and they all pass through imcrs(.'Clions of bUltock lines with these sa me h orizonta l lines. Thus, d iagonal 01 starts 12 inches below load waterline at centerline, and passes through the intersection of the 24-inch bUllOCk and the 36-inch waterline; and diagonal 0 5 starts 36 inch es above the load waterline and intersects the 12-inch load line 5 fect out from the centerline. Draw them all in, then, forward and aftof station number 5, and you are re-ddy to start working fro m the table of o((sets. The h ard work is over, and the fun is about to begin. The table of oHsets I have known bright people to whom a lines drawing rcsembled a cross sect ion through a barrel of frozen angleworms, and meant but little more; and these same people thought o f a table of offsets as something you migh t expect to come from the lIlaw of a mad computer that had been fed on P ictish runes, rock and all. Both these concept ions are faulty and exaggerated. If you have managed (as I d id , rather late in my childhood) to master the technique of drawing a line fro m I to 2 and so on in proper seq uence to 87, a nd got for your diligence the picture of a nice horsie, you shou ld have no trouble wi th a table of offsets. Any figure in any one of th e little boxes simply tells you to start from a known point, proceed along a carefully labeled line foran exact number of feet , inches, and eighths of an inch, and there put a pencil mark. For heigh Is, you start at the load waterline and measure up or down, as common sense and a glance at the scale drawing indicate. For breadths, you start at the centerline and measure out horizontally. For diagonals, you start where the diagonal starts (a t the centerline of the plan) and measure along the line of the d iagonaL When you 've located and marked all these spots, you draw a fair curve (or sometimes a straight line) through them, a nd get, full -sile. a line that I hopt: looks amazingly like the
Trammel-d ra wn perpendicular set to the lWL. All station lines are made parallel to it. (s hown on station 1 lor clarity; do on station 5 for be5t accuracy)
Ie 1-1 V id W~ terlines
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correspon ding line on thescaledraw ing. Occa~io na ll y some sadistic N.A. w ill ta ke a ll his "erucal measurements from a base line, or somethin g he prefers 10 call the designed walerline, but he usually gives you a hint that you'd better wa lch au l. Now tha t the above is all dear in your m ind, you a re probably itching to gel a t the body p lan a nd make t he molds. For these, however, you need 10 know the exact height of the
to p of the backbone (keel. stem , stern knee, tail reather) wh ere each mold sta nds, the corrected height of the sheer at each station, a nd the haH-wid th s of the backbone, from the centerline to the ra bbet, where the molds straddle it. So cur b your impatience, and lay down just eno ugh of the construction profile to show the sha pe of each pi ece of the backbone assembly, the line o f the rabbet, the exact location of the shaft alley a nd fudderp ort, a nd the line of the sheer in profi le. Indicate (and label , lest you mistake these lines for something else later) the position s o f the principal fas tenings in the backbone. If these are not shown in the scale drawing of the construction plan (as they certai nl y should be), demand them from the desig ner. Finally, layoff from o ne of the fulllength horizontal lines (assuming it, for the pur pose, to be thecenterlineof the keel in plan view) the half-breadths of the rabbet, for each station. as given in the table o f o ffsets. The load line 36 inches above the load waterline is the best o ne to use for thi s particular half-breadth, because it's in the least-dunered section of the flo or. If you want to lay down the sheerline in plan view , usc the waterline 12 inch es below the load waterline for your theoretical center-
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line, lest you measure yourself right off the side of the fl oor. So much for the general pla n of attack. Now let's c hoose weapons a nd carry it ou t. The construction prorile Stan wi th the rabbet line o n the keel (see Figure 1-2). You will observe that this is a stra ight line from station number 3 to and through sta tion number 6, a nd tha t the table of offsets th erefore omits the height of the rabbet on stations number 4 a nd 5. This straight section of rabbet is the most impoJ'ta m line of reference in the entire laying-dow n and setting-up processes, so gel it right-and extend it to sta tion number 2 forward. and to station number 7 aft. Use your nylon string all the way, and be sure. Now note tha t th e top of the wood keel is exactly parallel to. and 3 112 inches above, thi s straight rabbet line. Mark thi s in. all the way from number 2 to number 7; repeat the performance for the bottom of the wood keel. exactly I I/! inches below the Jine o f the rabbet. This last line is also, of course, the top o f the ballast keel. II migh t be worth your wh ile to use a red pencil for these last two lines a nd all other construction (as d istinct fro m design lines) details. Note. fin ally, that all the heights in the boat are based on the line representing the top of the wood keel: the stem, the stern assembly, the four principal molds, and, eventually, the underside of the cabin sale. Check the o f(sets, check your measurements, check your youth ful exuberance. and get it right. While your straightedge is still warm, and bdore we get to the subj ect of battens, mark
5
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some more su aight lines: the centerline of the tramom ; the profile of the tail feather, from its intersection with th e tra n som, across the top of the stern post: the lines of the rabbet on the tail feather; the centerline of the rudder stock from the deck 10 the heel of the stern post; the centerline of the propeller shaft; the straight por tion of the profi le of the bottom of the ballast keel ; the straight portion o f the rabbet lin e on the stern post. These straight l ines, each joining two points exactly located (by measurements on the li nes drawi ng or from the table of offsets), will precisely determine the starting points of the cur ves you are about to draw. Now about battens. You'll be using these in p ractically infini te variety every time you turn arou nd on this job, and for a lo ng time to come, so you'd best start your collection now . You 'll need two immediately, at least 22 feet long, abou t V. inch by I inch in section . These will overlap to mark thesheerline, here on the floor, a n d, later, on the planked-up hul l. Oneof them will do for marking long planks. T he curve of the stem requires a limber one, 1/2 inch square and at least 16 feet long . The ra bbet on the stern post, and th e forwa rd end of the ballast keel, m ust be marked wi th ver y limber battens in deed-straigh t-grained oak or ash, less than 3/8 inch square. These will do also for the body plan and molds, and a t least two of them must be over 8 fee t long. And when you come to the outlin e of the curved tran som, you'll be an old hand at this business and be able to judge for yourself what's needed. If you don't already have your ribband
6
stock, pick itout now (2 -inch by 4-inch, 6-inch, 8-inch, lO-inch clear fir, if you can get it, at least half of it 22 feet long or be tter) and steal your ballens ou t of it. Cle,u white pine is the best and most p leasant \0 use, but you'll not be likely to find a board over 16 feet long. Saw out half a dozen of them a n yway, from 10 feet up, and about ! / i inch square. Build a batten rack on the wall, ou t of reach of young fishermen and your own big feet. So now you are equipped to finish laying down the construction profile. Do the face of the stem first: heigh t at the sheer from the offset table. All other points (measured horizontally on the waterlines from the for ward perpendicular) are taken from the scale drawing. Start a fivepenny box nail at each point, pull your 16-foot li mber batten in against th is curved line of fence posts, ease it in or out where necessary to correct for slight errors (holding it in p lace with nails dr iven against, not through it), and mark. Move in and mark the rabbet l ine in the same way , with your batten fl owing into and following the straight line previously marked. Now draw , on the floor, the inside face of the entire stem, the scarf joint, and the jog at the for ward end of the wood keel. You will have to scale some of these dimens ions from the plans. Go aft now and do the same job on the entire stern assembly-the main and outer stern post, the tail feather , the knee to th e transom, the completed rabbet line, the aperture for the propeller, and the bah pattern. If you are still able to bend over, mark the height of the sheer at each station (dimensions,
fTom the table of offsets, up from the load "'a tedine), correct with long battens until fair, a nd mark. Do the same for the half-breadth of the sheer (working from the assumed centedine 12 inches below the load w3tedine-rememher?) and fOT the half-breadth to the rabbet. 1\l ote that this width must be exactly2 inches at lhe poi nt where the rabbet leaves the keel and goes on to the stem, and exactly 21/2 inches where the rabbet intersects the stern post-these rigures being the halfsidings, of course, of the stem a nd the stern post, respectively. While you have them fresh in mind, draw them in as they must appear in the body plan : stem siding 2 mches forward of the station number 5 ordina te, and stern post siding 21/2 inches aft of it. Be very careful henceforth, when laying out ha lf-breadths on the body plan. that you do not mistake one of these for your centerline. (Actually, when you get into the swing of it, you'lI fin d that you match the 3-foot mar k on your TOle with the 36-inch buttock, or whatever, and ignore the centedine altogether except when layi ng off distances on diagonals. Thus you avoid errors and save yourself much crawling.)
line YOli laid off, above. from the 36-inch load line. Square out this distance, forward, from your point of intersection, and mark the spot. This one is sacred and final. Locate the uppermost (sheer) point in the same way-out, forward, [rom the intersection of the sheer profile with the station number.7 ordinate, !O the distance shown on your plan view of the sheerline-or the breadth called for in the table of offsets, which should be the same thing. Be sure that this point is at the correct height above the load waterline, as taken at the station number 5 ordinate, and not as it appears so attractivel y before you where you squat 5 fec t forward of station number 5. (I hate to belabor the obvious. but 1 have fallen into this error myself.) Now, working from the table of offsets, mark distances out on all horizontals; heights above or below the load waterline on all buttocks: and distances from the centerline on all diagonals. Set up your row of fivepenny-nail fence posts, and with trembling hand, bend your best oak batten in to the curve... Take a deep breath, calm yourself, make sure that you haven't made any mistakcs in reading or marking those offsets, and proceed to move this or that nail to get a fair curve on the baLlen, bearing in mind that of all the offsets, the diagonals are most likely to be correct. When you are satisfied that the curve is fai r and yet as near as possible to the o r iginal offset points, draw it in and go on to the next one, and the nex£. until you have all eight done, with no more help from me . 1 can do this whole body-plan job in less than three hours, which indicates not that I am a fast. worker, nor even a very careless one, but. simply that it's a quick and easy business after all.
Now for the molds Now is the time to lay down the body plan, which gives the exact outlines of eight cross sections through the hul l, and from which (after su btracting the thickness of the planking) you will derive the shapes of the eight molds . (See Figure 1- 3. ) Start with station number 5. Find the point where the straight line of the rabbet in profile intersects the station number 5 ordinate. Get the half-breadth-to-rabbet distance from the fig ure 1-3
Sectional curves of the body plan and the principal fas te nings of the backbone
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-------
Chapter Two
The Making of Molds fo llowing the lofting process, you 'll no doubt be a nxious to set tools to wood and begin to shape your dream. Heaven knows you've anticipa ted it long enough! Well, the making of molds is as critical to the success of the project as lofting, since the molds are but perfect reproductions (in three dimensions) of the stations we've laid out on the body plan. Station number 1 becomes station mold number I, and SO o n . When the molds are all set up, and especially when the ribbands are bent over them, you 'll have the distinct pleasure of seeing before you the shape you 've longed for, all these weeks and months of planning. Keep in mi nd, though, that although the shape is permanent, the structure is nol. As planking goes o n, ribbands come off, and when planking is done, the molds come out. But by this time, of course, the hull will be buill and you'll be feel ing like ten million dollars, (It used to bea m illion, but inflation changed all thaL) Materials For molds, we always use white pine roundedged box boards, 11;'1 inches thick, which come wide and crooked, withstand any amount of na iling, and cost less than any other lumber we can gel. Run the batch through a surface p laner. Pick out the straight ones and saw them for cross spalls-4 inches wide, one for each mold, and absolutely straight on one edge. Saw out another 40 to .50 running feet of 1-inch stock, also absolutely straight, and a like amount 2 inches w ide, You'll need great quantifies of this stuff in the sening-up process, so
don ' t worry about extravagance. Lay in six or seven pounds of eightpenny common nails, a 2-foot steel square, a good hammer, a good crosscut saw , a set of dividers with a soft, soft pencil for one leg (set the gap to the thickness at the planking), a good bandsaw (or a better sabersaw than I've ever owned), and you're ready to begin work . (You can, of course, do all this cutting aLit with an assortment of good handsaws , but it sure takes longer l) Marking and putting together the half-molds To make the number.5 mold, first subtract from the laid-down body plan outline the thickness of the p lanking, using the dividers t9 mark short arcs, at about 6-inch intervals, from the rabbet to the sheer. Now mark a line square across the centerline exactly 3 1/2 inches above the rabbe t height, to represent the top of the wood keel (and, of course, the flat at the bottom of the mold). Take a wide and crooked board, about 7 feet long, and lay it on the half-section so that it covers all the inside-of-planking marks from the rabbet toa point above the load waterline, and extends at its lower end past the centerline and the top-of-keel mark, This positioning is shown in Figure 2-2. Now, very carefully, turn that board over, toward the center of the drawing, as if it were hinged to the floor along its upper edge. If you have not already seen the next operation, theresuhs of which are shown in Figure 2-3, you 're going to think boatbuilders must be somewhat primitive in their thinking, but don't be too hasty; this is undoubtedly the greatest invention since the wheel.
9
5
figure 2-1
5 --[
-
(
-------t----------------------------~,----~A Arcs swing with , / pencil compass set to '\. . plank thickness \ .
-------t-------------------------7L-----LWL /
Faired outboard edge of ~,...;;/ mold #S ....-to inside of plank ...... -
/
Section #S to outside of planking
/ /
5
You lay eightpenny nails flat on the Hoar, pointing inward, each with its head precisely located on the high points of the arcs yo u have drawn to indicate the inside line of the planking. Giveeach head a hammer-tap to set it into the (Joor and make it stay in position. And now, very carefully indeed, turn the board back over on its invisible hinges~and walk the length of it until you think it has felt the imprint of everyone of those nailheads. Turn it back again, and you'll discover that most of the nails are clinging 10 it. Stand them up inlhe dents their heads have made, spring a limber batten to the curve, mark it with a penci\, and saw to this line on the band saw. The nailhead impressions on the cut edge will match those on the floor, and enable you to locate them precisely where they were during the "printing" process. Now mark the centerline, the horizontal cut at the bottom, and the scarf cut to be made at the upper end. Back to the bandsaw for these cuts; a nd , while you have the saw going (some builders don't do this, bill it does produce fuel for the stover), cut the inner edge, roughly parallel with the outer, leaving at least6 inches of width all the way, and plenty of wood to res\. on the keel. (And when you do th e next one. having become convinced that th is walk-about printing process really works, mark for all those straight cuts before you tip
figure 2-2 'r--U---~A
*'''t-- lWl
line of the mold
10
, 2-3
Nailhead imprints & faired outboard
edge
------+----------------jl~I:I (~--~---~,
lWl Trim line
II
;~,~;;,:\;,~in the ~wn edge of n nailhead imprints left on reposition the seam fUllock.
board over to get at thedinging nails. ) Back the (Joar with it, for a momenl, to mark all ~ 1100T the scarf line for the upper section. T~ke the piece up. tcaccan exact duplicate of it 011 a nother piece of mold siock. go through the _hole positioning-printing-scarfing process _uh the second piece of the mold (a llow ing it aocxtend about 6 inches above the sheer), mark ~ duplicate of this second piece. and then lack the' two pieces of this half-mold in their proper positions on the £looT. And when you tack them (two eightpennies in each ), consider that there will be a 4-inch cross spall with its upper ftige at the 2-[oot waterline. a cleat 8 inch es ",.. ide across the bottom, and a doubli ng piece to JOin twO parts of the half-mold. Keep your lOlcks clear of all these. Fit the doubling piece, keeping it below the place where the spall will land. and fasten it ..·j th plenty of eightpenn y nails. Now, with the mold still tacked in place, mark on both the face and the edge the sheer, spall , and LWL heights. Now for the other half. Pull the fo ur tacks, tu rn Ihe half-mold over, doubling side down
and with a wood scrap of the same thickness under each end. so tha I i t will lie comfortably. Saw out the traced duplicates and tack them back-to-back with their already joined mates on the floor (as shown in Figure 2-4). Join them with a doubli ng piece, and transfer all edge-ma rks from the first half-mold to th e mirror duplicate. Separate them. tack the first half to the noor through the original nail holes, and drive a nail (fence-post style) on the 24-inch load line, and to the left of the centerline exactly as far as the first half-mold lies to the right of it. Lay the second half in position agai nst the nail, a nd check to see that it matches the proper h eights at the keel, load waterline, and spall. Tack it to the floor. Completing and setting up the mold Now to join the two halves. The cross spall is the key to accuracy in the setting-up process, a nd must be applied on thi s and all the other molds at exactly the same height (top edge at the 24-inch waterline) and exactly level across.
11
figure 2-4 , , - --
~§§;;~e~::: ~
___
24A
lWl
Starboard fUllocks are sawn, fined, and tacked in place on the lofted line.
5
/
Port and starboard mold fUllocks are flipped over to opposite side. Waterline marks are brought around to this face, and doubling piece applied.
)1Ii '"
Shim
CUI itto length , fasten it to each mold with five nails, and mark the centerline (squaring up from the floor ) on the top edge and the exposed face. Go to the bOllom, and fit and fas ten a wide cross-clea t, with a straight lower edge to bear on lap of the keel. Mark the centerline on the face of this cleat. Now fit 31·inch vertical post, flat on the floor, bearing against (under) Lhe cross spall and the top t'dgeof thiscleal, and off cen ter so Ihal one edge iic.-s exacliy on the vertical centerline_ Check lo make sure Ihal the crass spall is precisely at Ihe 24 ·inch height at its midpoint, and fasten thi s POSt in place. As shown in Figure 2-5, brace Ihe mold diagonally with two 2-inch p ieces from the lap of the cemerposl (u nder the spall) ou t lO the mold below the do ublings, and it's finished, ready to be raised up and make way for the next. Write the number "5" all over it in big black letters, beca use you 'll be pecring al it from strange angles when you get to p lanki ng. You could make each ha lf of the number I and number 2 molds out of single boards. The forward most mold will n eed a second O'oss spall, about at the sheeriine, fastened wi th 12
screws so that it can be removed temporarily in the seuing-up process. Number:> will sland on the keel willl its after face on the station line , which requires that its coman surface with the keel must be beveled upward, or else be 3 7/ 8 inches above the rabbet, instead of the 3 1/2·inch heigh t that is proper for mold numbers3 and 4. Lacking wide and O'ooked stock, you may have to usc three p ieces in each half of the big molds. When measuring for the heigh t of bearing sur(ace (landing place on stem, stern POSt, tai l feather) on Ihe o ther molds, al low for a little more height than the construction profile shows. It' s easier to fit wedges under them than 10 cut more wood away. With the molds ou t of the way, you should now take off exact profile patterns of all the pieces (except the keel) that will make up the backbone of the vessel. Use pine boards or cheap plywood, and the same tip-over, nailhead, walk-aboUl lechnique to mark the shapes tha t you used for the molds. These are much more com plicated than the mold prints, of course, si nce yOIl must get, in one operation, the shapes of both edges, the li ne of th e rabbeL,
ADd the scarf lines. So place the nailheads carelIy, lay the sl,ock tenderly, and do a quiet double shuffle over a ll. Turn it over, mark the un.-es (including the rabbet line) and straight uts, sa w to the outli nes , and return the pattern the floor. Tack it in place and mark , on the nposed face, waterlines, load lines, stations, Ick ness of stock-and the name of the boat, if ~ou've gOt that far. (You real ize. of course, that name must never be ment io ned aloud, ncar boa t, until the moment she stans down the "')"5. Fortunately, the ev il spirits that lurk .-td 10 know the name of the vessel in order to work the ir spells, wh ich take lime 10 prepare; ...... 1 iI'S a well-known faclthal they can't read. This may illuminate some aspecls of the bber y o f ed ucation .) Well , back to business. Th ~ !ilernpo!it lemIe must show the centerlin~ of the propeller bah a nd the shape of the aperture. because
5
r'8 ure 2 - 5
rr
I.
yo u ' ll bore the first and cut the second before asse mbling th e members of the backbone. Do not delude' yourself into the belief that you ca n omit a template forthe tail feather, just because it's a parall el-sided five-by-seven wi th one simple cut at the after end and a hole through it. Do your thinking and make your mistakes o n the template, before you start CUlling a va luable piece of timber. IncidclHall y.this whole operation of moldbuilding and template-shaping should be completed in 21 man-hours. Since the boat, ready to sai l, will represcmabout1.000 hours' labor, it mi ght be worth squandering three or rour more at thi s stage, trying to find any mi stakes the designer might have made. Beli eve me, he can make them. As for me, I'm heartily sick of Ihi s stage, and will leave you scrabbli ng about while I try to make sense out of the next one.
V
..r This
half is carried out to an equal distance on waterline 24.
!ili~er
This ha lf of the mold is replaced on the lofted station. ,
vrrrn lIllll \ s
_ Sneer
The cross spall is placed with its top edge on waterline 24.
(Waterline 24 will be used for spalls throughout the boat.)
-----4r--~---L~~~~--~~~_t~~--~------~------~~I~--UA
/ / !i; :i', >,.,
Diagonal brace
.~--~~----------!lW l!--------~"'~
__~ '
------lWl
Wide cross-cleat is positioned 10 bear on the keel.
13
Chapter Three
The Ballast Keel Oneof the most fascinating a nd heartwarming :.hings about the boatbuilding business is the niversally friendly helpfulness of the many .)Sitars we have. They are not , for the most part, people with, as you might say, an axe to ui nd -or a plane to be adjusted, or even a beck to press into our t'mbarrassed hand as down payment on a new design . Not at all. They come because they like us, and they like the smells around the shop thal speak of cedar shavings. wood preservatives. and certain little CRa lures who have discovered good digging under the boiler. These visitors are not ignorant. They are keen students of yacht design and boatbuildmg, ever willing to help with a bit of friendly advice, or a quickdemonSlration of how Manny whose shop they visited on last week's day off) fits a beam in less than half the time we're likely (0 need for the same job. And when they say, " 00 you really think this stuff is fit for planking" -or, "Mygahd, don't tel l meyou're st ill using iron keels and galvanized bolts!"we feel properly grateful and almost at a loss for words. Al most, but nOl quite. Therefore, having arrived at the subject of ballast keels, and in full awareness of my vow to avoid contention concerning matters of des ign, I'd like to attemp[ to justify that hunk of weight, to describe what it's made of and w hy it's shaped the way it is .
Outside iron Th ere are stil l some who, steeped in the lore of Friendship sloops, sandbaggers , Brixham trawlers, and seasickness cures, maintain that all ballast should be inside. an yway. I have given up fighting the battle of sail-carrying power ("After all-admit it-if you want to go to windward, you turn on the engine"), and have even stopped pointing out that lead imide is fully as expensive as lead outside. and terrihly dangerous if the boat rolls completelyover. I even dare suggest that some of those encapsulated-birdshot ballast systems in the plastic boats will bear watching, too. All I do now is give the inside-ba llast man a flatiron and suggest he hit the bench with it, twice-once with his hand on top of the iron . and once with his hand underneath. If you have never run a boat aground and feel wmpletely confident that you never will, then th is demonstration does not apply; but if you are half as timid and bumbling as I am, you'll be happy in the thought that the weight is already at the bottom of the pile. So we'll put the ballast outsideand keep the bilge airy. But why iron? You can melt lead yourself, in an old iron bathtub over burning automobile tires, and ladle it into a wooden mold. If a (oundry casts a lead keel for you, in a sand mold, you need only provide the wooden
IS
figure 3-1 Half-breadth of
6
",,,,>0",
"'-_ _ Half-breadth of stem face
7
Enlargement of body plan
Rabbet at 5 Top of casting at
1'h~
below rabbet
Rabbet at 6 Half-breadth of top 01 casting at 5
r Bo>t,omof ballast keel at-~"'cilt--7L""<£=t-Ca rdboard template for half-breadth of ballast keel at 5
3
Profile of the ballast keel in the loft plan
pattern and more money. The weight can be lower, less bulky, more easily located at the correCl fore-:md-aft position. It won't rust. The bronze bolts through the lead shoe are more reliahl e than the steel bolls you 'd use through iron (and JUS1.10 be cautious, I'll include slainless steel in Illy doubts). And, as someone always points out, you can take lead ballast off anytime , sell it for scrap, and gel your money back. In the face of all this undisputed evidence in favor of lead, what can we say in favor of iron? Well , first, it's less expensive, if compared to the foundry 's price for a lead keel. or if you add your own extra labor cost in making a negative pattern or mold and doing your own melting and pouring-which, incidentall y, can be somewhat hazardous , if you gel careless; I have scars to prove it. But cost is a poor argument. The best money in the boat is the money that buys outside ballast, so don ' t begrudge it. Get the best material, and get enough . In my case, get iron. Design the boat so that only iron can hit those adamantine ledges-and slide smoothly off, undistorted. Design it, furthermore, so that you don ' t have to carve out large mounds of outside deadwood, where vile worms will dwell soon after you scrape the paint off.
16
Think how strong the boat must be, with stem, sternpost, and all points between tied directly to that unyielding base. Neither thrust of mast nor two-point support from a storage cradle will ever bend that foundation. The solid pattern method Whether your design calls for lead or iron, slabsided or streamlined, someone has to make a pattern for it. Pauernmaking is a craft that demands a very high degree of skill, precision, and ingenuity-if you're dealing with something like a matched pair of water-jacketed engine manifolds, or a massive frame whose finished dimensions must be accurale to tiny fractions of an inch. Butsuch skill is not essential to the making of a ballast-keel pattern, and you have to make a pattern anyway-so let's get at it. If your design calls for the simplest formparallel-sided for the greater part of its length, tapering very slightly from top to bottom to give the pattern "draft" so it can be lifted out of the sand-then the problem is very simple. You can make the pattern solid, preferably of whitepine timber sawn to the maximum thickness required at the top o[ the casting. Pile it up, and
re 3-2 "'e "solid
",;::;;;;~~~~~;:f~~!:jJ-
""... <
6
~lI:'rn"
_
Pine Is sided maximum width of thelog ballan keel10(and then some ).
5
od
Station lines ilnd profile of the ballast keel are laid out along one side. Perimeter is cut stra ight through, square
with the flattened face.
Top surface is hewn flat, planed straight, and given a centerline. Station lines are run across. Top of ballast keel is laid out and faired through with half-breadths taken from the body plan.
Hewn bottom surface is Similarly marked with centerline. Station lines ilre run across. Bottom edges of the ballast keel are laid out and faired throu gh.
Sides are hewn straight down between the perimeters laid out for the top and the bottom of the ballast keel.
Templates trom the loft plan are tried along the station marh in spot§ cut by chisel to light-tight fit.
Areas between the station spots are hewn off and planed to fairness. Trying batten is applied along the pattern to check for high spots.
cut it to the profile you laid down on the noor. Taper the panern for draft by running it through a si ngle·surface planer, with a balleo tacked along its lower edge. Double lhe thickness of the batten. of course, when you turn the pattern over to do the other side. (Or lacking a surface p laner, yo u can do this tapering by hand plane. A laper of 1/ 4 inch to the foot is enough.)
Taper th e ends of the panern as necessary, and shape the entering edge as shown in the
lines drawing. If your designer has been paying attenlion to the findings of the tank-research men, he will be very fussy about this, probably demanding a curve like a snubbed parabola, rat her than the nat-with-rounded-corners, full half-round, or blunt knife-edge that wefe considered proper by various designers at various limes during the past hundred years. Laminar flow, width and location of maximum chord, acceleration of water particles, minimization of the areas of turbulence-these are all sud17
figure 3-3a The "lift model" method Strip of building paper is laid parallel to the top of the ballast keel in the lolt d rawing profile.
6, ~7-h'--1 r
II centerline (Ij;) is laid on it.
Ends of the casl ing
ilnd the Slation lines ire projected squarely 10 it from the lOp of the ballast keel in the profile.
Lift thick nesses are marked into the loft profile of the ballast keel. Where th e marked lift lines
cross th e centerline at 5 in the loft body plan, their half-breadths for 5 may be taken directly wit h and applied to 5 on the paper strip.
AI 6, 4, and 3 the heights of lift lines crossings must be projected back to the centerline before the half· breadths of the lifts ca n be taken in the body plan.
figure 3-3b
_ ; ._ _ _ Lofted top surfaces of each Jilt in the ballast keel
denl y vcry much to be considered, and you can be sure that your designer had them in m ind when he shaped those lowermost waterlines. For the moment. let's ignore the problem of core prints, lifting eyes, a nd surface hnish. and discuss instead the buildi ng o f a more compli· 18
ca ted pa ttern-for instance, the one required for our exam ple. There are at It'"ast three ways La do this job. The first and most prim i tive (and by far the most diHiculL. in my opinion) is to Slart with an enormous baulk of timber and whittle it to
figu re 3-3c Lifts sawn out and fastened together
figure 3-3d
'L"::'J-,.I -- Gouge adze for roughing
fig ure 3-3e
Lipped adze for smoothing
Smoothed to the bottoms of the valleys, and faired fore and aft with plane
shape, using templates lirted from the section lines in the body p lan as gu ides. (Figure 3-2 illustrates this method step by step.) An oldtime sparmaker, good with broadaxe and adze, could possibl y do an acceptable job by this method. So could Michela ngelo.
The lift model method Instead, suppose we build this pattern as if it were a lift model- using layers of 2-inch plank, sawn to shape, pinned together, and faired off with adze and plane, as shown in
19
figure 3-4a
/falSe nose
Balian keel pauern-framed and planked
'-.~~
Keel and sialion frames molded from the loft plan
3
figure 3-4b False nose _;~:/-~
\
4
figure 3-4c Nosepiece
, 4
Figurc3 - 3. This makes much more st:,nse. This method wi ll eat up a 10[ of good pine p lank, and will require some additional lofting and much hand planing, but it's simple, foolproof, and entire satisfactory (and the molders in the foundr y can ram the pattern to their hearts' cameO( and never dent it a bit). Back to the lines on the floor. then. Tack down a fresh piece of building paper-longer than the pa u ern you're going to make, clear of thecasting in th e body plan, and parallel to the keel. Draw a centerline o n th is strip, exactly
20
parallel to the top of the casting (Figure 3-3a). Mark this line where each station ordinate crosses il, -and at each end. Draw a line square across at each mark . Now layoff and pencil in the hair- sid ing of the rabbet line in the p lan view, and ex tend it all the way to theafler face of the sternpoSL You will not use this rabbet line in shaping the pattern, but it will serveasa guide to the lines you are about to develop inside it. Each on e of these lines will represent the lOp surface of one of the lifts that will make up the pattern.
Go back to the body plan; intersect each . ."i,m li ne l 'h inches below the rabbet height that sta tion; take these widths out from the then lay down this line in plan as you just laid down the rabbet line. bis li ne you have just drawn, of course, repre· the top of the casting, and the top of sllch .",Iwoodas may be used to continue the shape the casting all the way aft. Now go thl'Ough a process again to get the shape of the top of second slice down from the first exactly the id:.ness of the stock you are u~ing. (This idmess is purely arbi trary an d depends solely what you can get. Probably I lls ·inch thickis the likeliest.) You will, of course, note that the forward after ends of each lift are deLermined by ~r imersenions with the pl'Ofile, except at lap of the forwa rd end of the pattern. where lifts arc cut off square to butt against a ..all fa iring piece. All lifts will have the same I£-siding at the line of lhe rudder stock, even their points of intersection move pl'Ogresnely forward (Figure 3-3b). Continue this laying down, then, until the 10t h, tenth, or whatever slice appears as a short lillIe pad at the toe of the profile, and P't'pare to reproduce all these flats, double, in ood. You can use the nai lhead walk·about .-stem for printing the half·width and cemer· me, and develop the other half with measure· mems and a batten on lhe other side of the ttmerline. Be sure that the centerl ines are n:actly right, and mark at least one station on tach lift so that you can locale them in their 'Proper fore·and-aft positions. Saw the lifts out right to the line. Pile them up, upside down, holding each lift to the aIle below it with glue and plenty of 3·inch number 12 screws. The pattern shou ld now look like Figure 3-3c-corrug"dted, but showing prom· lse. All thaI remains to be done is to work the pattern down to the lines until it is perfectly fa ir and smooth , when it will be ready for core prints and three coats of shellac. Right now, wilh this rough thing confronting you, you need a shipwright's lipped adze a nd some con fidenc e in the use of it. If you ca n 't find an old adze, complete with handle, order a new one from your ship chandler and fit a handle yourself. (I know of one book on boa t· building that discourages any amateur's hopes of master ing this (Qol; but the text's accompany· ing drawing, depic.:ting this strange and won· derful instrument, shows the handle in back· ward. If the author attempted to use it like that,
he comes by his pessimism naturally.) Actu· al ly, a good adze is one of the easiest of all tools to use; it is precise, powerful, fast, and far safer to use than a hammer . So get one-or three or four assorted sizes and shapes, if you can; Fig. ure 3- 3d shows how a gouge adze is used for roughing, and a lipped adze for smoothingand practice with it for a few minutes. Sit down, holding the end of the handle so it is anchored in your left hand against your tummy. Lift the handle with your right hand and chop down gently. Cut across the grain, seldom with it. Slide your left hand down your front as the cut lIloves down the timber. But shun the broadaxe, my son, because that is a tool that's hard to master. I can still recall the dismay I felt, at the age of six years, when my father gave me m y fi rst real chopping axe and told me lhat you have to stan really young if you 're ever going to be a good a xe· man. A fine thing to spring on me at that late date! There I was, practically grown up, and j ust starting to learn. And I was right. I never did become a good axeman, but I can cut alit wooden gears for an alarm dock with an adze. So can yo u, by the time you 've got that pattern roughed off to the hand ·plane stage. The frame-and-plank method I promised three ways to make this pattern. The third way is to build it like a baal- framed and planked, as in Figure 3-4. The top of the pauern shou ld be cut from 2-inch pine plank, just as you laid out and cut the first lift in the above process. Mark the centerline and stations all its under face , :md lay it upsidedown on at least three horses. This represents your keel , so be sure it's straight. Clamp lhe plank to the horses so it will stay that way from now on. Go to the body plan, and there lay Out the shapes of the stations in way of the ballast. From these you will make up solid bulkheads, cut to shape from heavy pine boards. Each one will be 2 inches short at the top and bottom, and J/ s inch scant in width o n each side. The top edge of each will be cut to the angle of the drag (downward slope aft ) of the keel. Set these upon the upside·down top so they arc centered exactly, toe· nailed in place, a nd braced at the correct angle. Now fit. brace, and fast<:n a false nose, as shown in Figure 3-4a, so it is roughly parallel with the forward pro£ile of the ballast casting and about 6 inches aft of it. You muSlcutof[ the 21
figure 3-5
Core print placed at the upper end of each keelbolt hole to be molded through the ballast keel casting (set in exact alignment with the centerline _ ,..:., of each bolt) - C~>'ILA'/
' /I"
5
Core print-upper face of the
b~ lI ast
keel c~stlng
These produce 1'/1" depressions in the top lace 01 the S
number.3 bulkhead to allow the passage of this false nose from the unders ide of the plank top to th e straight line determined by the bottoms of the bulkheads on stations number 4 and number 5. (" Bottom " h ere means, of course, the true lower ends, which arc at the moment facin g upward as this pattern is being assembled. ) This false nosepiece will be straight sided, and its taper determined by widths at its intersections wilh the number.3 bulkhead and th e plan k that forms th e inverted ba{;kbone. Allowance must be made, of course, for the beveling of that plank , as shown on station number2 of the body plan. and for the 7/ I-inch boards that will be bent around, outside the frames and the nosepiece, to constitute the side planking of this pattern (Figure 3-4b). Before planking, however, you must fit intermediate frames a fOOL apart, between the stalion frames already in place (Figure .3-4b).
22
These either can stand p l umb to the backbone, or be raked to match the sta tion frames. To gel their shapes , you will , of course, work to two curves, determined by battens bent around the station frame s, top and bottom. When you fasten them in p lace, al ign their center marks exact ly to a straightedge tacked to th e lower ends of the station bulkheads. Now to p lank the sides of this pattern: Start with a straighledged board, about 10 inches wide and 16 feet lon g, and clamp i t 10 the number 4 bulkhead, with its lower edge up 3 to 4 inches from the backbone. Do the same on the other side with an identical board. Pull the forward ends together until you can clamp across and squeeze the false nose bel\veen them. with their lower fonvard corners almost touching the backbone. Go aft, and pull the after ends together. The lower a£ler corners should be just clear of the backbone, if your guess at
ute 3-6
/ Core print-on the lower face of the ballast keel pattern These produce depressions in the lower part of the sand mold to accommodate the square head of the sand core, which aligns the pipe core within the sand mold.
nu mber 4 was right. This is, of course, too much to expect; so loosen the clamps at n u mber 4, and move the clamped-together after t:nds up or down as may be necessary. The purpose a! all this double-action bending is to maintain equal pressure on both sides o f the bulkheads, and thereby avoid pushing anything out of place. Now set your dividers as wide as 'they will go, and scribe lines on these two boards exactly equidistant, at all points, fro m their final resting place on the backbone. Reverse the clamping-on process, and saw one ou t. Theoretically, the other one should be an identical twin; if a great discrepancy appears, try to find out where you went wrong. Bevel the edges of the boards to fit against the backbone; reclamp; mark for alterations in the fit, and for the cuts to be made flush with the forward face of the false nose and in the sa me plane as the bottom ends of the bulk-
heads; take it all apart again, and alter and cut; reclamp, and fasten the boards {Q the bulkheads with 2-inch number 12 screws. The second boards, which will cover the remainder of the sides, go on n ext. Dress off the edges so they are exactly straight, righ t to the nosepiece. and fit to them the 2-inch plank, which will eventually be rounded off as the underside of the pattern. Cut its forward end flush and in line with the forward face of the nosepiece (Figure3-4c) . Now build up the laminations of 2-inch plank, against the line of the false nosepiece, until you have enough material to make the shaped entering edge and toe of the pattern. When fasten ing these one {Q another, bear in mind the shaping that is to be done, and try to keep the screws clear of the danger areas. Use a drawknife, planes, and Stanley "Surform" wood rasps for this final shaping, geuing the con tours from plywood templates taken off the
23
figure 3-7a
loose holes reamed with galvanized 20d spike Scored centerline
20d spikes, shanks (bright) driven flush into tight holes
figure 3-7b
lines on the floor. CUllhe after end to the exact line of the rudder stock , leaving the jog at the bottom as shown in the construction plan, We still have to fit core prints and lifting eyes, make a core box for the bolt heads, and appl y the final finish . Core prints and the core box Thecore prints, of course, leave their marks in the two pans ("drag" and "cope") of the sand mold that will be packed and rammed around this pattern at the foundry. (This explains the use of heavy scantlings for patterns. Foundrymen will not accept a pattern made of thin plywood, which will bulge inward under the pressure of the ramming. ) These prints must match exactly the cores they are to accommodate-in this case, standard I-inch iron pipe, which measures I ; / 16 inches outside diameter. For the top prints, therefore. p lane out a 2-foot length of rollnd stock. of this diameter, and cut it into 2-inch lengths. Turn the monster right-side up, and layout the locations of the bolts, as shown on the construction plan . (In this design , all bolts are on the cel11erline, and all but the aftermost one are square with the line of the keeL ) Bore a shallow hole, about 1/2 inch deep and P / 16 inches diameter, at each mark; tap one of your round pegs into each pit, and fasten the peg with one 3-inch number 12 screw right down
Sand core made with the combined halves of the core box
24
frgure 3-8
Lifting
eye,
_
bolted through pattern
the middle (see Figure 3-5). There's a good chance that the laundrymen will wan t these tOp prints out of the way during the first half of the moldin g, and the screw fastenings can be removed and later replaced without tearing anyt hing up. Now turn the patlern over and fit the bot10m p rints (Figure 3-6). These are blocks 2 inches square, to take the square COles which will form the pockets for the bolt heads, and, of course, cen ter the lower ends of the pipes. They mUSI stand up straight on the hi llside- that is, their sides mUSt be precisely paral lel to the line o f the bolts-and they must be carefully located, o n the centerline , directly under the top prints. If you start with stock ll/~ inches thick, )'ou will have enough wood left after fiuing to the slopes .
Now for the care box. Cut two pieces of pine exactly 1 by 2 inches, and about 8 inches long. Cut a groove about 1/ 16 inch deep by 1/ 8 inch wide lengthwise down the center of one face of each p iece. The easies t way to do this is on a table saw. Clamp the two pieces firmly tOgemer, groove to SToove, with their edges matching exactly. Start th e worm of a sharp I-inch wood augt'r in the double groove. and bore lengthwise (with the worm fo llowing the groove) a distance of 2 inches. Without dislUrbing the
25
figure 3-9
I01:lipI, I,;
'.
II'P'\!I"11f1 II P
1'111'
:,:
I
I
.1
'
I ·
I
I·
i WlUU1i+~ihfttthii;-
Upper core print impression
;::::..::-- ' " pipe core
Sand core from the core bo~
- -- -
Lower core print impression
- - - -_._
- ~- . - - --~- .
..
- .- -
Cross section of the founder's sand mold
clamps, drill [our '/ 16-inch holes sq uarely through the (WO pieces to take slip-fit pins. Remove the damps and spin a headless 20penny galvanized spike through Ihe pin holes in one of the two pieces. Cut lengths of plain 20-pen n y spikes for the pins, i lf2 inches long, and drive them through the tight holes in the other piece (Figure 3-7a ). Clamp the twO pieces LOgether and build a wall 4 inches high around the bored end, made up in two parts that separate on the same p lane as the first twO pieces. (See Figure 3-7b.) Take the core box apart, smooth all the inside surfaces, shellac. smooth some more, fill any crevices with beeswax, shellac again, and it's done. The foundryma n wi ll very likely snort and tell you he has a much better core box in the core room, but don't let that bother you. Hyou hadn ' t brought this one, you would have been treated to a demonstration of shocked pity for
26
your ignorance. Quite seriously, though, if you don't know much about this business, make friends with the foundry boss and watch the molders at work. Theirs is a fascina ting art, and they' ll leach you some things you 'll need to know hereafter about pauernmaking. And, although they won't expect it, they'll be happy to see the pair of lifting. eyes you are about to install in the top of your pattern. Remember, however, that if one of these eyes pulls out, after the crane has lifted the pattern clear, and the heavy end drops down and ruins a day 's work, you will wish you were not around to hear the comments. So instaH the eyes this way: Bore a 7/ 16-inch hole all the way through the pattern, from top to bottom; countersink at the bottom to take a washer and !/ sinch nuts; countersin k at the top so that, with the top of a !/s-inch threaded bolt JUSt flush, there'l l be room to drop over it an upset shackle
fig ure 3-10
Open fema le ballas t keel mold for lead
made of 118_ by 'Ii -inch flat stock, with a hole drilled through its crown. and a full nut to hold it on (or buy a pair of 'Is-inch eye nuts). This assembly is p ictured in Figure 3-8. Female mold A fema le mold, shaped, rounded, and flared, into which you can ladle your own bathtub lead , is built by the same contour system as described in the second method a bove, but reversed, with wooden walls, well-bolted top and bottom, surrounding the grand canyon, whose sides you will pare smooth with an adze, gouges, round -faced planes, and a disc sander. Make the mold in two halves, split vertically, so you can lay each on its side and reall y get at it for shaping- and so you can get it off the cast· ing wi thout breaking it to bi ts. Set the mold level, on a base that will support all those tons
without su bsiding or leaning. Use dry hardwood dowels for bolt-hole cores. Set th e dowels i n shallow holes at the lower end, held by wellfastened deats around the mold at the top (see Figure 3-10). Remember that the dowels will try very hard to floa t when the lead is poured. Paint the cores and the inter ior with something that will prevent charring of the wood. We once used ordinary waterglass, on somebody's recom men dation, and it certainly didn't do any harm. If I were doing the job, I'd pile and pack sand all around that mold, so that if it sprang a big leak , or a lot of small ones, I wouldn't lose the whole damned shooting malCh . Right now (never mind what I said a t the beginning of this chapter), I'm beginning to think fondly of a good sailing dory with beach stones under the middle thwart. I heard somewhere that the pink ones are the heaviest.
27
- -"
Chapter Four
The Backbone: Keel and Sternpost Yo ur designer probably calls for a white oak eel, properly air dried. This is good; he could ha ve heen much more specific, a nd gou en ll S .iJ I in trouble. He might have inherited from his Naval Construction days one of those little rleetrie moismre-content indica tors, a nd gotlen a ll exc i ted a bout what it to ld him . Allhough , confidentially, I've watched him r~d the shielded dial, nod with sa tisfaction. and mark " OK " on a timber that had been 10waying to the summer breezes three weeks before.) H e m ight evcn have bt.-cll able to recognize wh ile oak when he saw iI, al lhough this i..s unlike ly. Bu t he has fulfilled his duty by the book, and said, "white oak, properly air dried," We can take it from there.
fastenings ), a nd shou ld be kept a t that size, througho ut th e building process, by liberal doses of scaler. I favor a mixture of linseed oil and kerosene, w ith a slugof Cuprino l for luck. If th e wood wHl take a pencil mark, it' s dry enough. If it's LOa wet for tha t, use a rase knife, which marks t.he wood by scoring it. And if YOll can 't get wh ite oak, che wood most favored by designers and builders, what then ? Longleaf hard pine, if dense a nd heavy, is as good in almost ever y respect, a nd somewhat better for a boat that 's going into southern fig ure 4- 1
Good timber The keel for the boat in our example will spen d most of its life in the water, and wi ll never. except by awful accident, lose m uch of its moisture. It should therefore be at its maxim u m size when fiued LO the ballast casting (lest, if dry, it swell its normal 5 percent, ha ng o ut over the metal, and strain the fl oor-limher
Flicch culs
Boxed heart
29
figure 4-2
Centerlines on the casting and keel flitch
walers. "Spar-quality" Douglas-fir (which becomes "Oregon pine" on its way to the boatyard) is magnificent timber, good enough for any part of a boat except bent frames and fancy trim. If you were in England you'd sigh with ecstasy over a bit of American elm, which we use for flooring horse stalls. And then there are other varieties of oak, wh ich we won't mention by name, bUl which get whiter and whiter as they travel from the mill to the shop. I cou ld bear the thought of teak, if someone gave me a piece. If I were in Norway, or Australia, I'd ask a local builder w ha t he'd use in his own boat and do likewise. A flat keel such as this one-5 inches deep
an d 14 inches wide at mid-length-should come out of the log entirely clear of the hean, and lie small -face down. This gets you away from possible cup shake, porous pith, and the tendency to check open a t the ends, where stem a nd stern post must attach with absolute integrity. Figure 4-1 shows the "flitch" cuts that yield the best timber for the keel. Obviously, the tree that produces this off-the-side limber wi ll be much bigger than you'd need if you were satisfied to take a boxed-heart keel. (Just as obviously, there will be a twin on the other side, which gives you a choice, and the problem of what to do with the second keel. H you share my passion for good timber, you'll buy it,
figure 4-3
Perimeter of casting marked on the keeillitch
/
holes through the • _ - - - - Bolt keel flitch Centerlines matched Temporary bolts
30
Lofted keel in body plan at station #S
figure 4-4a
4 "
~
L
L
Rabbet line Top of ballast keel
alo ng with all the other full- length pieces out o [ that log. You never know when you might. want to build another boat-and clear toerail stock 22 feet long is hard to rind on short notice.)
Marking method L et's mark this keel and cut it to shape. before we take up the various problems and possible alterna tives in the other pieces of the backbone. I assume that the ballast casting has arrived, or has been revealed behind the bathtub, and
figure 4-4b Kee lbolt holes (bo"d hom
"".0,) ~//
0~ p
/
f71.-,';', II/w.-.._
;Ii/ I
~/l) J.!t7 /
/l.
L-j'--j7- __ F
-.J
/ '
S
}
/W
N ' L :
M"k,d "d,,,,d,
o"h, k"If""h -Topol ",!m, WIdth of tImber keel is twice the offset of the rabbet line from the
"",,,"o,,tth,, "";00.
31
figure 4-4c 3
2
(half-bread~
Loft drawing view) where the rabbet reverses its curve
figure 4-4d
3
Stem knee -i=~'-+-----+--:;;;;
Keel
Filler block
The "look" of a fair rabbet where the bulge of the keel meets the parallel sides of the stem /
Unfair rabbet at the junction of keel and stem -as would result if this portrayal in the half-breadth plan were
4B
:::
that you have it lying comfortably on its side, on 8-in(h blocking, with the plane of the top face ckar of obstructions, and room to get a long auger through the core holes from the bot1om. (l am assuming, fur thermore, that you and I are talking about the full· length casting as shown for OUf example; or that you have, while my back was turned, fitted deadwood to a scarfed casting to achieve the same full-length, under-the-keel, flat-an-lop shape, all the way back to the rudder stock. I'll have something to say about this later, in defiance of slrin chronology.) What you are after right now is the exact shape of the top of that casting, with bolt locations marked on the bOllom of the wood ked, so that you can make the proper allowances ( for widening to the rabbet width, because of the flare of the wineglass sections) and cut it precisely to shape. Mark acenterline on the top of thecastingfrom celller to center of the two ends, of COllrse-as shown in Figure 4-2. If the top of
T~~q===-~t~~fO"OW'd. II 6 B
3
32
Rabbet
2
re 4-5a
SkUyw cuts finished with hand ripper
~cas ting shows a slight discrepancy in width on either side of this line or through the middI~, ignore it, and don't tell the owner.Il's tOO bt~ for tears, and the lack of perfect symmetry on' t do any harm. (We always judged the Imbre of an owner by the way he phrased the lI~vilab l e question at the end of his first sea IIOn_ It might be " Why does she sail ('ven better on the starboard tac k?", but it was more likely o come out " Wh y the ---- is this thing slower _lIh the wind on the left-hand side?" We never Qme up w it.h a really good answer, but we propounded some wonderful theories concernmg the strange behavior of sails, and the lockwise rotation of objects in the Northern Hemisphere.)
figure 4-Sb
Now mark, with great care and consideration. a centerline on the lower face of the wood keel. Get from the loft floor the "expanded" locations of the sta tions, and square them across on this lower face. Gather rollers, peaveys, a toe jack, wedges, bar clamps, and friends , and gel the wood against the ballast, solidly, with center lines matching, a nd precisely located fore and aft. Think hard . and then bore two bolt holes, one at each end of the casting by wayof core holes, through the wood keel , as shown in Figure 4- 3. If the casting was cored with I-inch pipe, it's likely that your 7/ s-inch auger is the tool to use, unless you 've done a painful lot of reaming. Make up twO temporary 'It-inch bolts, and set. them up through ked a nd casting. Now you know that nothing will shift, and you ca n proceed to mark the outline of the cas ting on the wood, and bore the other boll holes. Measure for the lengths of all keel bolts (hearing in mind. and allowing for, the extra lengths needed at the figure 4-5c
Timber turned over wilh chain and bar
Rase knife
33
figure 4-6
Heartwood
Sapwood Rift sawn
Flitch
after and forward ends, where they must reach through the stern knee and forefoot, respectively), and order them now, if they are to be made of galvanized steel. Take out the temporary bolts, lay the timber boltom-up, and mark for the outline cut, which will be exactly in the vertical plane of the rabbet line. Perhaps we should rephrase that, and get the horse in front of the cart where he belongs: The flaring sides of the casting, if con tinued smoothly upward to the height of the rabbet as shown in the body plan, will dictate the width from the celllerline to the rabbet at each station throughout the length of the keel. Join these points with a fair curve, and you are ready to cut. If the rabbet width does not agree exactly at all points with the widths originally laid down, don 't worry too much about it. Later on, you can alter the lower ends of the molds, within reasonable limits, to allow for this shrinking or swelling of the casting. Now , the bottom face has been marked to
34
match the top of the casting; bolt holes have been bored; and the corrected line (to the width of the rabbet ) has been drawn in way of the casting, and continued forward to join with and fair into the rabbet as marked on the stem (Figures 4- 4a, 4-4 b). You w ill have noticed. long ago, when laying out this haIr-breadth of rabbet on the floor , the slight reverse in its curve just before it reaches the stem (Figure 4-1c), and the manner in which it straightens out and follows the paralle l sides of the stem thereafter (Figure 4-4d ). Pardon me if I seem to doubt your aptitude in the spatial relationships test. I know of three designs, one of them widely. buill to , all of them done by designers who should have known better, and all of which contain this glaring fault-the assumption that the rabbet line can show an abrupt change in direction as if leaves a swelled keeJ and encoulllers a parallel -sided stem . I built one of these boats, when I was very young, and it was a painful and costly experience. I hadn't then learned to think like a garboard (that has an unflattering connotation) or to look for possible errors in every set of plans that came along. I finally got smart; and you are expected to become so, now that I've told you how. The keel is cut So we have a fair line to cut to, but a thick timber to cut through . Take your portable electric saw, with its sharp, well-set 8-inch blade at full cutting depth (2'/ 4 inches, that is) and check to see that the blade stands precisely square to the shoe. Try a practice run, around a similar curve, to learn the proper allowance to make from the guide mark on the front of the shoe. You'll want to leave the mark, but just barel y. Cut with the wide part of the shoe inside. Don't push too hard; have a small assistant sweeping and blowing ahead of the cut. When you've gone the length, bmh sides, get aUf your extra-long ~;'2-i nch drill , and shoot holes down through the saw kerf and OUi the other side-one at every station, one or two between, I foot apart at the forward end, where the reverse comes. Turn the timber over. (If you can't do this with a peavey, chain a 6-foOl bar to it, as shown in Figure 4-5b. Take thes"tack out
ligure 4-7
\
q
Pattern board laid o ve r the nails and tramped down
" I,-,,----I'IU ~r-_
\
"'"
~~
..
8 ." " -....
~ ~p",em Y,- .... ~
"
~
-~
6
p',ked'pb,
imPfint of nailheads
~~'~'bbe, - ~,~ ~
~ '
----
6
7~p-
0" """P"" ",,,k-,,bbe' ""e
~ '- , ~
\
", :--... \
" :S:::, '.\
"':::::::::::;;;;;~~~::;;::;; ~ Trabbet em plate to si ze and linecut drilled through ~~
p,;,ked,h,,,,,hd,;IIhole, ~ ~
of the chain by driving wedges under it. ) Sl.3nd tenpe nny nailS In the postholes yOll just pu nc hed through , sprin g a balteo to them, and mark for the cut. Your saw should follow the bottom kerf with no more than lIl-inch error either side. (And what if the keel is 6 inches thick. and the saw Cli lS don ' t meet? Pray that they line up, and finish the job with your ha ndsaw. ) Set your locking bevel to the angle between the perpendicular station ordinates a nd the tOp
of the keel, on the laid-down profile, and tra nsfer the s tation marks up the sides and across the lap of the keel. Run a true centerline along the length of it, using string, a straightedge, and a rase knife, so that you'll be able to find the line through the sawdust and sealer. Look to the profil e, and score the rabbet line (Figure 4- 5c), but SlOp short of the forward end until the stem (w hose lower-end rabbet is also left unfinished) is in place, and YOli can flow a true curve through the interseClion. Leave this now and
__
consider t he remaining members of the backbone-stem, sternpost and its knee, and the tail feather. And now, the sternpost The sternpost, like the keel (and for the same reason ). should be cut from a timber that is not thoroughly seasoned. The perfeCi cut, as shown in Figure 4-6, would have through its middle a radius from the center of the log. with the growth rings crossing it almost at right angles- " rift sawn ," or "edge grain ," in the purest sense-d ear of the heart on one edge, and stoppi ng inside the sapwood on the other. It is un li kely that you would find an oak butt big enough to p rovide this ideal sternpost, which must come from rather less than the half-diameter of the log. The next best choice is a flit ch li ke [he keel, o ff the side of the Jog, well dear of the heart. I would avoid a boxed-heart timber if possible.
35
8
7
6
5
4
figure 4-8a Lofting drawing of the slernpost
~~-t-+---f_ lWl
Sheetrock nail wilh edge of
Its head driven into the lofted line
_LWl
"-----------------7
figure 4-8b Boring from both directions , freehand
Boring with notched jig
36
The problem of transferring a rabbet line [rom a pattern is solved thus: Drill small holes clear through the pattern a t 6-inch intervals along the penciled rabbet line; prick the timber through these holes in the pattern while it is in place, fo r marking the outline. Saw the timber to shape, plane all faces square and exanly to the marks, then place the pattern on the reverse side, and prick through the same holes (Figure 4-7 ). You will, of coursC;', usea banco to draw a curve through all these pricked spots on both sides to guide later on in cutting the rabbet. (The casual "saw-to-shape" above will have been do ne with the 8-inch portable saw, JUSt as you did when you cut the keeL One cut in the propeller aperture is inaccessible to this treatIDe nt, however, and you 'll need to make this one with a series of overlapping auger holes, square through, just clear of the line. Clean off the rough points with an adze and a plane.) L et's bore the shaft alley before we go o n to making th e stem . You will have transferred, from the slernpOS[ pattern, the line of the shaft in profile- marked on both (aces of the timber and squared across its forward and after edges (see Figure 4-8a). The shaft line terminates on the aft face of the sternpoSl in way of the propeller aperture, where you can prick-mark its
figure 4-8c
figure 4-&:1 long shaltlog bored in two halves
Double cutter . Double lip Single cutter Barefoot Single-twist bits
Single cutler Single lip
Straight core
Double-twist bits
~
? D
•
• exact center. and stall a hole for it \\'ith your ex pansive bie At thi s point I usually get impatient, clamp the timber where I can aim along the line comfonably. and proceed to bore halfway through it , freehand, with a barefoot auger (if I happen at the moment to have an electric drill with enough torque to handle it). Then I flip the timber over, cut enough of a flat (with gouge 3lldchisel) to start a hole on the forward face, and bore back through the tunnel. This is a bare 15 inches of hole, and no great feat. You may feel better boring more slowly by hanet with an auger whose shank is running in a notched guide, precisely loca ted by a straigh tedge, in line with the desired shaft hole( Figure 4-B b). With such a guide, you shou ld be able to bore true, all the way through from the aft [Q the forward fa ce, in one operation. Turn the boring tool with a 3·£oot cross handle, or a 30-inch pipe wrench. But if you are using a worm auger (which has a lead screw) instead of a barefoot one, beware: it will crawl to the
• •
•
•
•
•
c
starboard every time. (Figure 'I - Be depicts the variety of drill bits available to the boatbuilder.) While wc're o n th is subject, let me tell you the only easy way to make a long shaftlog, bored exactly on cen ter from end 10 end. Plan the log in twO hal ves. one above and one below the celllerline of the shaft. Score both halves, dead center, fu ll length, on their contact faces (Figure4-Sd). Clamp them vcry firml y together, groove [Q groove, and follow the groove from end to end with the worm of a shipaugcr. Don't worry about splines, feathers, g lue, or outing flannel when yOll join these together. Oak casks don't lea k; neither will these, if you put enough bolts through them.
37
Chapter Five
The Backbone: Stem, Rabbet, and Frame Sockets The stem I'd li ke to read from m y Ode to the Black Locust. but fortunately it's still all in the head , a nd hazy 31 1hat. The subj ect is the Ste m, Out front every time; first to take th e brunt, whatever tha t is; sy mbol of Man's conquest o f the unknown ; stark in the cresting seas, the boiling sun , the creaking frosts of high la titudes. And nOl always up to faci n g these responsibili ties, either, unless it's a pretty good piece to stan with , and capped a t the top to keep fresh water
ou[ o f the end grain . So, for the stem, you want the beslcu t outof the bes t tree that ever grew. This is where the old pro has the advantage over yO ll. For years, he's been pushing choice bits of limber under the shop-crooked, curved, too rough-looking to su it the visiting N.A.s- waiting for that slack spell when he'll build one for himself, or for a friend who's going winter fi shing. He might even have a piece of black locust, grown to the sweep, clear of the heart, and seasoned all the way through . A piece of reall y good, genuine white oak, grown and seasoned as above, is n ot to be sneered at. Den se hard pine would do, but you'd likely have to accept
straight g rain. Justdon ' t give up the search tOO easily. And if all else fails, you can coldlaminate the whole le ngth, on a form, wi th no scarf, out of ' I t-inch hard mahoga ny-and with plenty of through-rivets to quiet my doubts about the glue. We' ll consider this possibility later. Let's assume that you plan to make the stem in twO pieces, as shown in the present plans. It's permissible to shift the location of the scarf up or down , LO suit your timber. Don 't shorten the scarf, o r I'll be disappointed. Don ' t p ut jogs, h ooks, or keys in it. Keep the lower end o f the scarf below th e waterline. Make the whole assembl y of three pieces, as shown in Figure 5- 1a, if n ecessary. Leave plenty of wood on top of the keel, far aft enough to take tha t forward· most ballast bolt with plenty to spare. You can cut ail these parts, e ven some portions of the inside curves, just as you cut the keel a nd the stern post; a lthough with these lighter-weight and easier- to-carry timbers, a big bandsaw does it wi th less fu ss. Dress off the matching faces of th e scarfs with grea t care, square to the sides and right to the template outlines, light- tight when you put them together. Use a rabbet plane across the grain in the corners, a nd a
39
figure 5- 1a
loft drawing of the stem profile
//
Stem~/
// Forefoot
~
// V
,t' ..#" Ballast kee l
Rabbet
~~
./
~
s
4
3
2
2
12A l Wl
128
246
...
Filler block
.---/
36A
368
,
Alignment of forefoot and keel is established by laying a long stra Ig htedge along the side of the forefoot timber. Distance away from the centerline aft should be that of the half-Siding of the timber.
Joining it all together
s mooth ing plane and a foreplane in Ihe open stretches. Transfer wa terlines, sheerline, and station lines to all fo ur faces o f each piece they cross; pri ck in the rabbet line (but do not mark it yet) on both sides, as you did on theslernposl. Lay them out o n th e full-sized lofting, and notice what happens to the h eigh t of the sheer when you cha nge the angl e of that scarf at the fore end of the keel. 40
My fi rs t move, at thi s point, is 10 set the wood keel level, on timbers, and fit the forefoot (lower pan of the stem ) to it. Use a tack le from o verhead, unless you have a strong and patient helper to hold it while you scrambl e forclamps, You were probably tim id in cutt ing the end of the keel and the match ing jog in thefore£oot, so you ' ll probably need to make saw culS u p the j oint-severa l of them-before the reference lines (marked on each piece at sta tion 3) ma tch up. Set your clamps so that th ey tend to pull the two pieces together leng thwise, tightening the scarf as you tighten them. As shown in Fi gure 5- la, ch eck with a long straightedge again st each side of the forefoo l to points 2 inches off center, back o n th e ked top. Now, if you have absolute confidence in your damps, you can lay the assembly on its side, counter-
fig ure 5-1b
Stempiece hoisted Into position
--------------~.
The ends of the scarf are kerfed with a handsaw to bring station and waterline marks into alig nme nt.
__--.J:::~//,;.---;,:o;;:ItS bore for heads , and bore up through them from the bonom o f the keeL The two forwardmost coulHerbores must be nicely calculated for dept h , to al low for fin al fairing and sh aping of the keeL For strength, the idea l is to set th e heads barely below the surface (not enough to hold a n honest bung) in order not to remove too much wood by counterboring. You can thicken epoxy resin with sander dust and get a paste that wi ll Slick to an ything, anywh ereincluding the sunken bolt heads. Note the angle of the bolt h oles, as shown in Fi gure 5- \b. They are laid out to range forward of a line perpendicular to the top of the fo refoot, so that they will tend to pull the stem aft , ag'cli nst the end of the fordool. as the nuts on top are tightened. Bore ha lf o f them square to the joint. if you want to, hut never on a line that wi ll
slanted to pull scarf together
BoilS set normal to the face of the scarf
brin g them a Lit at right a ng les to the top of the fo refoot. Start them all dead center at the bottom, but angle all but the end bolts alternately port a nd starboard - enough to come out at the top I inch off center. Square o ff a flat . with gouge and chi sel, to take a washer and a nut, where each bolt hole breaks through at the tOp. No tice the bolts through twO floor timbers, LO be put in later. L1.You t the fa stenings with care, to avoid interference with these floors. For material, use si licon bronze. lit-inch diameter, for these \\'ood-to-wood scarf bolts- and 7/ 8_ inch ga lvan ized steel, of course, for the aftermost bolt , which pa sses through the iron bal-
41
loft drawing of the stern post assembly
figure S-2a 4-----~~~~~--_1----_+----~----- lWl Knee
post -"---",' RudderposlStern
I
8
~~~~t~R~'b:b:':':Ht":,:::~~ 7
;
6
4
figure 5-2b sternpost and knee
~"f;'"
5 ------
-"'b--1f6~~~~==r:---1 : : :.--:.: : : bl. -/' ____I ________1/
sternpost assem y IS set on the keel and aligned to the centerline with long straightedge.
The matching of the rabbet line locates the position of the sternpost on the keel.
figure 5-2c
Fastening layout
-----last casting. Remember that agiant (theou LSide ballast ked) will plant one foot on this scarf and try to tear the planks and the stem away (rom it, with a strength that might produce 9,000 pounds of pull, so it's wise to keep this ea rncsliy in mind when you're putting these pans together. Very well. then. Stand it up, unclamp, soak the contact surfaces with your favorite poison , reassemble, drive the bolts, and set them up 42
with nuts and washers. Counterbores should be I inch deep, and bolt heads can be made by threading on a standard full-depth hex nut of the same bronze as the bolt. Hoist the top piece of the stem, and sag it into place on the forefoot with two damps to hold it there. Run your saw blade through the butt joint at the top and bottom of the scarf, and let it slip down (w ith, maybe, someone on a stepladder gently tunking it at the top) to make an airtight fit. The load waterline marks should run tOgether as reference marks when fitting is complete. Layout the lines of the bolts; counterbore for same (lh-inch bronze); bore end holes to center, and the two in between aimed to port and to starboard, and slant them all as beforeto pull the two pieces together when the bolts come tight. Sternpost next. This is a tricky bit of business, because you must fasten it first to its knee, then-knee and all-to the wood keel, while leaving room for the bolts from the ballast, and for the fastenings from the outer stern post. Take a good look at Figure 5-2. Bolts I and 2
lofted keel in body plan at station 3
\
figu re 5-3
Wood keel
Exterior of plankinp'
A bevel square is applied 10 the side of the lofted keel and along the planking normal to the rabbet line.
Rabbet line
Ballast keel
,-----1
l ~~
"Clean little board"
________
How good are drifts? Drift, did I say? The word is out at last, and open to suspicion and attack. Drifts will be coming up (or if you care to be precisely literal, goi ng down ) very frequentl y from now on; so I' ll sa y grace over the pork barrel right now. and sanctify all our meals for the next six months. We've had drift trouble. Once we tried boring for them a sixteenth scam, according to the book-in hard. d ry oak, mind you-and had them fold like spaghetti before they were halfway home. We c ured this by using a slightly worn Ih -inch a uger for a fat 1/2-inch galvanized rod-and reamed the floor timber with a ne w barefoot auger, so that there'd be a
?"
__- 2
"'''''~~_ _ _~~_{)" \ _ _ _ _ _ _--. >
hold th e knee to the post; bolt 4 and drift 3 hoid the assembly to the keel. Bolts I and 2 are 112inch bronze; bolts 3 and 4 are galvanized steel, Ih-inch a nd }/a-inch diameter, respectively. Locateand mark theafterendof the rabbet line on the keel from the profile drawing, and bring the rabbet line already drawn on the stemposr to that mark (Figure 5-2b). Check that things are in correct fore-a nd-aft alignment by using a st raightedge to the side,justas you did with the ron'foot. Clamp as bes t you can, a nd have your helper suPPOrt it tender ly as you lay the whole assembly o n its side o nce more. Pray, a nd bore. Bolt and drift.
~L-
""
:/
,,
>
\
B
,
M <,
R /
,,
f
~
fighti ng chance of driving the drift all th e way. The head swelled nice ly to fill the clinch ring, no fe3f. The big trouble comes from the owner. " For goodness' sake," says h e (or words to that effect), "yoll don ' t really think those things will hold. do you?" So we start one for him (with no gr{'ase on it), h and him a hammer (not the best- balanced one we own ), and invite him to drive. That 's all illakes. H alf an hour later, he has been convt!rted 10 drifts; we saw off the baltered rema in s, and tell him these things really get set after they 've been in the wood a fe w m011lhs. Dr ifts are good fasteni ngs. But don't use cast-iron cl inch rings; they're brittle and they'll burs t at the last blow , every lime. Flat steel washers can take ii, so use them instead. Cutting the rabbet H ere we are now, with keel, stem, and stern post assembl y fa stened together and lying on its side, waist high , with room around it. This is the backbone of your boat , a nd now,
43
figure 5-4
Bearding line (established here)
before you set it up in final position for building the boat, is the time to cut the plank rabbet and frame sockets. This operation terrifies some amateurs; and I've even known pros who dared not do it before the molds were up. Be nol afraid; i t's simple. Be not timid about it, either, comforted by the thought that you can alwa ys increase the a n gle and finish to full depth as you go along. T he frame sockets derive their precise depth and angle from the rabbet cut, and you'll compound a windy night with a rainy morrow if you lack bold confiden ce . So gel:1 clean lillie board- say, 4 inches wide, 18 inches long, sLraight on hoth edg;es-and a bevel gauge, a pencil, a steel tape, and the lines drawing of this hoat. We 'll try to lay and cm this rabbel. Drawa straight line down the middle of the board, parallel to the edges, as shown in Figure 5-3. This represents a horizontal line along the flat side of th e stem or the sternpost (a ny load or water line), or it represents just as well the vertical side of the keel a t a ny station mark. And I mean vertical, allowing for the drag of the keel. and not simply sq uare with its top. Go now to the body plan in your lofting on the floor, and set your bevel gauge to the angle made by the intersection of the outside of the planking and the side of the keel at the rabbet mark for station number 3. Transfer this angle to your board-edge o f board to centerlineand mark the poim of interseClion "R " (for rabbet line-representing, on your board, the outside of the planking). Square in from this angled line. at "R", the thickness of the plank-
44
ing you intend to use (i n this case, 15/ 16 inch). Th is new point, labeled "M" (for middle line), represents the inside corner of the rabbet cut, and is a cinch to locate in this view (body plan), but not so apparenl when you look at the side of the keel, as in the profile . But we'll d ig to it. unerringly. Draw a line fro~ this point, paralIc! to the "outside of the planking" lineexactly 1-"/ 16 inch from it, of course-and note the point of intersection with the centerline (side of keel), which you label "B" (for bearding line). The distance from "B" to " R" is what you get from all this, and noth ing more. Mea sure it. I get 2 1/16 inches . Measure up from the rabbet line-along the venical station line, on the side of the keel - exactly this distance. and make a mark. Now go through this whole process for all the other stations along the keel. You'll find that "B" is somewhere above the top of the keel, at station number 6 and heyond . Clamp or nail a square block flush with the edge of the keel at station numher 6. (lnd mark Ihe corno'Cl ht~i ght for "B" on it (see Figure 5- 1). So far, so good . A fair line through these points (marked with a ballen, of course) will give you the bearding line (see Figure 5-4.) Don ' t mark it yet. Fi nish up the stem, by using waterli nes instead of body plan section lines. You are now working in a horizontal plane, but the mefhod is exactly the same . Take the angle at the sheer from the full-size halfbreadth you laid OUlon the floor long ago. Get the angles at fhe load waterline, 12-inch and 24-inch wa terlines. from lhe half-breadth plan in the sca le drawing of the lines (Figure 5-5).
(minimal loft drawing)
;ee' ;" bOd(""" "";0" 6 _____ Exterior of planking
Angle taken from the loft plan with folded paper or protractor. applied here Keel
Rabbet line
Ballast keel
I
B
6
I~
/
U,e of' 'em,o,,', block
'0
i;;;::-::JC=-B~e~':'d~;~"!'~":"~'_c/~ _ extend the bearding line to /} I / the side of th e keel, for accurate -
/
/ /
./
aiming of the chisel when cutting trial spots for the rabbet
/
6
Rabbet line on wood keel
-----You'll be told that this is impossible, but pay no heed-angles stay the same, even though the sca Ie of the drawing changes. Develop the distances from " R " to "B" on your board, just as you did it [or the vertical stations, and lay these distances off along the hori7..0ntallines-never a t right angles to the ra bbet line. You'll get a nice check for accuracy at the load waterline, because you already have a mark on station number 1, only inches a way. Go back to the stern post , and do what you can from th e waterlin es provided . Here's the place to be timid . Save most of the marking and cutting here until you have the molds sel up, battens to go by, and adze in hand. This is not merely the safest way. but also the eas iest.
Out with your banens, then, and mark the bearding line. It should be a fair, logical curve, with no abrupt changes. Cut yourself a gauge stick - exactly the t.hickness of the planking, about 2 inches wide, I fOOL long, and square at both ends . Sharpen your I/~ -inch and I lh-inch chisels. Now lock your bevel gauge to that first angle you took at station number 3, and stand the gauge alongside the station mark, so that its blade represents the gar board plank (Figure 5-6). Stan a chisel cut just clear of the rabbet line , and precisely at rightangles 1.0 that lineof the bevel blade. Start another cut near the bearding line, and try to visualile the point "M " waiting for you down there in the heart of
45
figure 5-5
Dr~wing, "..,.--with waterlines station lines, and the stem detailed
---
Sh
--------- ---------------""'128 4B
' lWl d::!Z I'---
~
/
'''' '" Z4Il
,WI,
'"
lWl'r-
::::,
~,
. / ./ ./ ./ ./
"-
A!
~
Section of t he stem where it is c ut by the / ' load waterli ne in the profile
/ ' Rabbet bevels taken from the waterlines at the stem must also be measured along the waterlines marked on the face of the ste timber.
This is not the same angle as that of the bevel more easily applied perpendicularly to the run of ~ the rabbet.
)'-----...
2
Rabbet bevels on the stem and sternpost taken directly from the half-breadth waterlines of the lines plan or the lofting drawing
the oak. The cut (rom the bearding line to "M" will, of course, be parallel to the line of the bevel blade. Make the cut wide enough, fore and aft, to take your gauge stick-and keep cutting, wi th many trials for depth, until the stick is flush at [he rabbet, resting firmly at the bearding line, and butting square against the face where the lower edge of lhe garboard will bear. You have found "M'·. You'll be quicker o n the next spot, and the next- until you have proved the rabbet at every sta Lion , and at every checkpoi nt on the stem (Figure 5- 7). Now finish cutting the rabbet between spots. J usually rough OUI mos t of the wood with a big chisel, and finish with a rabbet plane. Friends will
46
urge using a power saw and a router to speed it up, but I'd stick to hand tools, myself. Those bevels change very subtly, and ta ke some watching and feeling O UL Sockets for the frames Shall we cu t the boxes for the frames? This is something more than a formal invitation to the dance. No one is going lO change my mind on thi s question, but you may waver to arguments from the opposition. The Herreshoff boalS, the Concordia yawls, and Bill Simms's ocean racers are all built with frames fastened to floor timbers only. This is a mighlY trium-
Trial spots of the rabbet
~
figure 5-6
----I Keel
"3
,/"
"."'.....7 Bevel square is sellO ' - the rake of the garboard at thai station on the loft plan.
~B-;; NI<.-~ ~
Chisel cuI at the rabbet line is at right angles to the rake of the garboard.
/
/ /
/
Chisel enlry at the bearding line is parallel to the rake of
th e garboard.
-+<.u
Middle line "M" is found when your gauge stick is flush at the rabbet line, rests firmly at the bearding line, and butts square against both faces of the rabbet.
" irate to go against. There a re those who will tell you this boxing-in of frame heels is a sheer waste of time, an open invitation to dry rot, a poor subterfuge to hide the lack of properly fiued (a nd properly numerous) floor timbers. With this I disagree. mailllaining steadfastly that direct fastening of the frames to the keel is a fine thing, adding tremendously to the strength of the boat, and fully justifying all the time it takes . So make up your mind; but as long as yo u 're with me, you may as well learn to mark and cut frame sockets . There's a trick to it. Run to your table saw and cut out two or three frame heel facsimiles (gauges I and 2 shown in Figure 5- 8). For this boat, they will
be P / s by P / 4 inches, with sides exactly square to faces, and about I foot long. Make them of hardwood, because they'll be treated roughly. Saw theirends square. Set your locking bevel to the rake of the station marks down the sides of the keel. Mark, on the flat side of the keel above the bearding line, the exact center of each frame-one 6 inches to each side of the station mark, and another 18 inches to each side. Be sure to take these distances not along th e sloping run of the keel. but rather, parallel to the waterline-square to the station marks on the sides. Be precise about this. You'll mark the other side by the same system, a nd you want to wind up with matched pairs. Mark one forward
47
figure 5-7 Culling the rabbet (with an adze)
--- ---
of sta tion number I, and one aft of station number6. There'll be no more boxes forward of station number I, and those aft of sta tion number 6 •.an wai t unti l you've finished the rabbet there, with the keel up. Sta rt wi th a frame between sta tions number 4 and 5. Mark a plumb line. with a pencil and pre-set bevel, o n the flat above the bearding line, half the frame width aft of the center mark-in this case, 7/ 8 inch. Now lay one of your marking pieces againsllhe back rabbet, as if it were the rabbet gauge, and with its after edge precisely in the same plane-square athwartships-as the vertical line marked on the keel. Mark each side where it bears against the back of the rabbet. Hold it still, and slide its ,twin down the inner fa ce to contact with the keel. Mark the line of contact, which gives the necessary depth of Lheculal that.poinl. Slide the first piece lip 1/2 inch clear of the middle line, and mark across its bottom edge. This is all very simple so far. Mark for the forward edge of the cut-up on the flat side of the keel-and pro-
Finishing the rabbet
368
48
43.
ceed LO remove most of the wood inside the marked socket outline with a 1ls-inch auger, boring exactly square to the surface of the back o f the rabbet (which is how the frame will naturally lie). Count the turns, and you 'll soon learn just how many will give you the proper depth-which will be } 1/2 inches, leaving 1/, inch for cleaning up with the chisel. Square the socket. also with a chise l, to a good drive fit for your marking piece. Now move to the mark on the stern forward of station number 2. Mark your vt!rticdlline, 7/~ inch afl of the frame center, on the flat above lhe bearding line. Hold the marker againstlhe back rabbet, as before, with the aher edge in an imaginary athwartships plane that passes through that vert ical line, Use a square from the side of the stem. at the line, to touch (he edge of the marker at the top. Now sight along the side of your marker, and notice (and mark) the direction the cut must take, in order that the frame may stand plumb when in its socket. This line leans away aft at the top, and OCdrs no
Bearding line of the box
exact relationship whatsoever to (he vertical line. You must project the planes o f the sides of your marking gauge onto the fl a t. and cut out 10 those marks. They may look crazy. but they are righ l. Slide the second marker down the inner face of the first one, as before, pardllelto the rabbet, and touching the flat of the stem with its inner, lower edge. Mark that line. Mark around the bottom an d sides of your marker on the back rabbet, with its corner at the beardi ng line. Believe those marks, even if they happen to look all wrong. Bore square to the back rabbet, clean out the socket wi th a chisel, and try the marker for a fit. I truSt that it riL~ well and stands true, and that you now know how to mark frame sockets. Everyone wi11 be a separate problem; everyone must be projc<:ted from the flat sides of your marker. Once you get (he routine established, you'll mark one in twO minutes, and cu t it in ten. Six to the hour-but don' t hurry the first few. Turn it over and finish the backbone's other side. and we'll set her up in the next chapter.
,
.-
,/'
~' , ~~-----
~ "
''I~.
. Mark alongsIde
Rabbet line of the box
;-1)
-- =--=--:::::::-= -
=
-
49
Chapter Six
The Backbone: Tail Feather and Transom, Molds, and Sheer Getting it upright Let's assume tha t this keel is on its side, wi th stem and s tern post in place, and with ba llast keel bolled on. Chai n a timber 10 the e xposed side a nd stand it uprig ht to reston two wide lO-inch blocks-one way aft, and the forward one a t lhe tOe o f the ballast casting. The vessel is obviously down by the head. Secure it al the after block so that it cannot possibly slide
backward or lip sideways. Now cl amp a straigh tedge from the side of the stern post to a temporary upright on the keel, forward, so that its top edge is exactl y parallel to the designed waterline as marked on the Slernpost a nd the Slem (see Figure 6-1a). Go to the lofted profile. on the floor, and determine how much the lOp of the keel ri ses from . say, station num ber 6 to sta tion num ber 4. and be sure that the straightedge approaches the keel by the same amount in the same length. This, then , is your bu ilt· in water level. Jack up the forward end of the cas tin g unt il the straightedge is truly level, a nd bui ld up under (he ballas t keel with firm blocking. You 'll wedge up three times before you
overcome the setliingof th e blocking w hen the weigh t comes on it. Be patient and get it right, or you'll be in a mess from now on . Level the top of the keel athwanships, a nd brace it; plumb the stern p os t, and brace it with diagon als, from th e floor to the after fa ce so that they ' ll be well clear of the rabbet. Now stre tch a tight line from a mid point on the after face of the ste m a t the sheer, all the way back to the middle o f the stern post at its hi ghes t (afLer· most r point. H ang a plumb bob from thi s line to hit the top of the keel j ust aft of slation number 3. where the centerline of the keel is still visible (Figure 6-1 b). P ush {h e top of the stem sideways, as n ecessary. until the plumb bob han gs exactly over the centerline, a nd secure it there, prefera bl y with a horizontal brace from the top of the stem to the side of the shop. Brace it fro m forward also. trying to estimate and overcome its tendency to droop. Vou'll have a final check on this height when you have establi shed the p lane of the cross spa ll s o n the molds a nd can project it to the 24·inch wa terl ine marked on the stem.
51
figure 6-1a 7
6
6
5
4
1
1
I
3
2
Loft d rawing of the profile
----
/Balten
~
"". """"""-
b
l
/'
~
• /'
V
---
:..-
lWl
126
246 366
48.
Fitling the tail feather We've s till got the tail leather to fit before the molds go up, and the tra nsom fra me must be in place before the ribbands go on. Let's get these twO settled. There arc those who will argue that the tail feather 3S I show it is all wrong and criminally weak as compared to the old sys tem, wherein the central member bUllS agai nst the after face of the stcrnpost and is locked there by the twin horn timbers (Figure 6-2a ).The old system is good indeed, especially if you bring the top of the POSt all the way up and lie it to heavy deck beams. The system I show gels worse and fina ll y becomes very poor as the angle between the stern post and the tail feat.h er approaches 90 degrees- as, for instance, in a normal powerhoat or a motorsailer. But it is a perfectly good system in the present ins tance, where the joint amounts almost to a long scarf, so long as the bohs are big enough and properly located. It has to be st rong. The backstay pulls upward at the end of the counter. and this normal laad of a ton or socan increase to a frightening amount when a sea breaks in to the {oat af a big jib. But don't worry about that joint. The maS! will explode before it pulls apart. So much for that argument. Here we have a flawl ess piece of timber, 5 inches deep and 7 inches wide, which must. be bored for the rudderpart , rabbeted on both sides, and fitted at its aher end to the transom fram e. Start with the rudderport. Same auger, sa me technique as far the shah hole-we are not going to thread a tube through the timber in the usual way, and therefore we need only be sure of proper clearance for the I Lh ·inch rudder stock through the wood. YOII ca n line the port
52
Leveling the backbone ;nse mbly by use of the lofted wate rl ines
with a thin -walled copper or lead tube to keep the worms out, if you wam to do the best poss ible job. You will evemually make a pattern (or a bl'onze casting, which will be tapped to take the bronze-pipe rudderport and SLUffing box, and which will be bedded and through-bolted to the tOP of the timber. Save this job for later.
Now the r'
Drop a plumb bob from station number 8, and check its hori zon tal distance from station number 7 on the sternpost. CUI a narrow straightedge ( 5/t inch by P I A inches) and push it down through the rudderport to the keel. This proves the angle of the rudderpon , gives the line to which the ollter pieces of the sternpost will come, and will eventually support lhe skeleton pallern of the rudder, complete with the shape of the aperture and the location of the pintles. PUt it as ide for future use and bore th ose two forward most bol t holes, from the lOp of the propeller aperture up through the tail feather. Coullterbore, as shallow as you dare, for the heads of ~/a -inch bronze bolts. Squareoff on tOp for washers and nuts . Poison thecomact surfaces and drive the bolts. Fit a post from the floor to supp ort the tail feather, just forward of the tr.dnsom, and brace it strongly with diagonals 10 the fl oor. If you are sensible and methodical , you wi ll now fit and fas ten the two pieces of the outs ide sternpost (above and below the shaft hole). These witl of course be tapered from the for ward to the after edge, and grooved for the rudder stock and forward face of the rudder. Use Ih -in ch brOll7.e for all these rema in ing bolt s. Plan locations of the three sets of gudgeons, and keep your drifts and bollS clear of them. Bolt the tra nsom knee in place-and be sure it sta nds absolu tel)' true a thwartships.
figu re 6-1b
Squuin8 the stem by plumbing down to the centerline of the ti mber keel near ~ forward statio n
53
figure 6- 2a
•
7
6
Tail feather
LWL
----~::~~~~~~~~j----------t_-------------
128 ----,'--l---'~ w,~r-----+------
24. - - - - I -L-Y....=t-.:~"--+_____
J6. 48.
Traditional system of S
timbers
Extended
stempos! locks with
deckbeams
Fining the (ransom fram e One last painful job remains to be done before the real fun begins. We need a transom , or at least the strong. exact ly shaped, correctly beveled frame of a transom. If YOli love lofting. you can arm yourself with Chapelle's Ya cht Designing and Planning and go through the
whole process of developing a full·sized tran· som, complete with bevels, on the floor-
~ o
Junction of
()
tail feather and sternpost. as shown
in the loft drawing above
54
projecting sheeriine, waterlines. and butlocks, and using the suetchout. I did this twice, 40 years ago. Since then, I have become reconciled to an easier system that places faith in the designer's ability to do the job in his scale drawing. If he hasn' t done it, ask him why not. H he can't do it. regard him with grave suspicion. Half the transom will probably be shown on the lines drawing, laid o ff at right angles to
figure 6-2b
Aft side of the body plan in the loft drawing
2. . 12A
."
Detail
-;/
LWL
'"
.., 248 368
Curve 01 hull at LWL----------~------~--
The tail feather in profile crosses station 8 at an angle.
Rabbet line of body plan
The bevel taken for the b~c k rabbet here must be applied to the timber at the same angle.
,
~ ~-
figure 6-2c
~
the centerline of the transom in profile, and with enough points exactl y located in its per imeter lOdefine a fa ir curve. Cut aU a 6·foot length of building paper, and fold it once, across the middle, end to end. Crease it, and lay the crease along the profile of the transom on the fl oor, with the ends aft. Tack if down . Lay o ff the transom widths shown on the drawing, sq uare lO the crease, at the appropriate imer· vals a long the crease; these intervals are also shown on the drawing. Bend a banen to the points thus located, and there she is. Cut to the li ne, unfold, and you 've got the full transom to the outside of Ihe planking, with the centerline n icely defined. Now all you've got todo is build a frame to that outline , arched to the proper radius. beveled to the run of the planking, and reduced in size. where necessary, to allow for the thickness thereof. (You will, of course, do
,
Mitered Exposed, Rabbet joint laired, lower lace line Bearding line LWL - ___+.:::::""-""',--...:::"''f tail feather Aft lace 01 stern post
Trim or seating for the transom planking :-",~en the bottom planking ~' ~ IS In progress Bearding line of hull planking
• 55
Test banen to prove angle of rudderport becomes st ron gback for rudder template.
figure 6-2d
Before boring for fas teninl!sCheck alignment fore-and-aft by comparing distance between stations 7 and 8 on the structure with that in the loft drawing. Check alignment athwartships by aiming centerline of tail feather along centerline of the keel. Propeller port
/
Gudgeon locations
/
/
~-
OUler pieces of the sternpost, applied last, permit adjustment of the deadwood to accommodate variation in alignment of the rudderport.
all this in the best locust, white oak, black walnut, or dense hard pine you can get your hands o n . This is the p lace where the rot starts first.) The transom fram e is pictured in Figure 6-Sa. Begin with some bandsaw work. Swing an arc on a board to a radius I inch less than that given on the plans (to allow fo r the thickness of the transom planking) and long enough to reach across the full width of the transom. Saw this out, and usc it as a pattern to mark at least tWO curved beams of 2· inch slack, which will temporarily bolt to the outside of the frame and hold it in shape until th(~ tran som planking replaces them. Now comes the lough one. You need a slab 11/2 inch thick, about 7 inches wide and 30 inches long, sawn (or bent) to tha t same radius, which will make the bottom piece of the (rame across the end of the tail fe-dther. (Lacking a big, single chunk, or the means to saw something of this thickness, you can build it up
56
with four layers sawn from 2-inch stock, doweled and glued edge to edge.) You will save yo urself time and frustrat ion if you now prepare an arched bed, on which you can assemble andclamp the various parts. Saw lWO boards to a radius SI/2 inches less than that of the finished transom-to all ow for the thickness of lhe transo m (I inch) and its frame ( 11h inches) and (he slats mentioned below (I inchl-and separate them a distance slightly more than the height of the transom. Tack I·inch slats square across them, one to take a centerli ne, twO on each side to support the vertical members and joining kn ees . Fit the var ious parts together, facedown, on lhe bed, as shown in Figure 6-3a, and apply the full paper patt,ern you made earlier for the final om line. (The paper pattern represents the outer face of the transom and includes lhe hull planking in its outline. For this particular boat, lhe pallern, if used for the inner face of the
tra nsom-i.e., [or the shape o[ the transom fra me- makes things come out about right. In o ther words, the plank thickness and the transom bevel juSt about cancel each other out. But be careful about using this simplistic approach on other designs-sometimes it doesn't work. Another technique that might not work is that o r ignoring the difference in expanded transom w idths over the projected ones. The designer's plan shows projected widths, and I've assumed, because there's not much curve in this transom, tha t these can be used [or making up the paper pa ttern. If your boat has a sign ificantly radiused transom. you'll have to be more precise here as well .) Saw the individual pieces of the transom fra me to the line, with a standing bevel sufficient to add wood enough [or [airing in the fi nished bevel when the molds have been set up. The rough bevel along the bottom of the tra nsom can be take n directly from the junclion of the transom and the tail feather in the 10ft drawing. The bevel along the sides can be
approximated where the transom joins the sheer on the half-breadth view in the loft plan. Finished beveling will come later. Reassemble. check with lhe pattern, pin lhe corner knee to the bottom and side pieces, and bolt your two temporary beams across from side to side to hold the true arc and tie everything together. Mark the vertical centerline on these crossheams . Fit the l lh -inch by 4-inch vertical pad lip the middl e, the two intermediate vertical timbers, and the pair of big scab cleats that tie the sides to the bottom piece. Figure 6-3a shows all this better than I can describe it. Now cut a notch at the bonom of this heartshaped transom frame to fit the angle at the end of the tail feather, and just wide enough in the forward face to match the rabbet lines (Figure 6-3b) . Practice with a scrap piece umil you understand the requirements . Hoist the frame into place now, clamp and bolt itdeadcenter to the knee (Figure 6-3c), and prepare to square and brace it. To square it. you need a heavenly reference point. By eyeball estimate, project an
figu re 6-3a __- - Half-face of the transom in the loft plan Bevel at centerline
I
LWL and centerline eve! at deck
- - - Full outboard face of the transom obtained from the loft drawing with folded paper template
Due 10 the particular angles at which the side and bottom planking approach the transom in this boat, the transom plank will cut off nearly square to make the . bevel at their ends. ~ Thus the paper template of the exterior face of the transom can also be used to lay out the aft (upper) face of the transom frame on its bed, with sufficient margin of timber to adjust the final bevel.
ransom frame bevel at deck
(figure 6- Ja continues on neXI page)
57
of transom fram Top edgedo beveled wnward to d .e
,,)'pa~
,. ,., ''
ram water
" J '.,> '<>
Fastening to
n
Id
'
transom Ira 0.together .me during lab flcauon Pad behind d the tran~~~r template IfFull·slze ~ exterior ace may b
transom knee
~he aft faceeo;Phlied ~ame durin
fitting.
to I e transom II layout and
~ ___________ll-- <-..
\ Bevel t k en from er-at .tail lea,'h transom In Ihe profile
01 1tess that than J'1lRadius tran som' 1 h. 5
i\rched bed 1
or transom frame assembrinS the
Beams with ilwn curve to hold
frame togeth transom
er whe n mounte d tail feathe~n the
Tempora ry
fastenin gs (beam to transo m frame)
\
~
~ Radius , . less tha n
-~:J
____
of the tail e 1" ""';0, feather
u
-(s lice of a knee) to cover" "...,..___ _1/_-- Gusset on the forward
• 58
r;;nt
the e of futtocks transom / fame
a t face
figure 6- 3b
Bottom of the transom frame notched to receive the cut end of the tail feather
ima gInary line from the top of the transom kn ee, square w the line of its rakin g profile, a nd up to the roof of the shop. Plumb up from the center of the keel in this general neighborhood , and drive (a nd bend) a nail there, to hold the ring in your long steel tape. The nail must cen ter exacdy over the middle line on the keel (see Figure 6- 3d ). Now swing the tape from s ide to side of the frame, and brace the frame fro m the £Ioor, so that the twin points on the two edges are equidistant from the skyhook. If
the boat you are building hasan almost plumb transom, you can, of course, do this squaring from the center of the stem , or from the center of the cross spall on one of the molds . You can also square a raking tran som from a painton a true centerline on the floor, extended well astern of the boa t. But this is not always an easy line to la y off, through all those piles of blocking. Stretch your tight line from the top of the stem to the top of the transom knee; check once marc with the plumb bob w the centerline of
figure 6- 3c
'.
)
'"')(.
.
Gusset
Trans-om planking Transom frame
Bottom plank Rabbet in the tai l feather
59
fig ure 6 - 3d Horning a transom
Plumb line to ce nterline of plank keel
Set up those molds
Measuring tape or tapes drawn from the same nail over the centerline
,I I Same measurement, both sides. when the transom is square to the centerline
Midpoint of the transom
the keel and tail feather , and brace strongly against sideward movement. You may by this time wish you'd picked a double-ended boat wi th a fine. simple stem at the back end, as well. I would understand and sympathize. T ransoms demand thought, firmness, a nd wnstant vigilance in their handling or they'll fool you, every time . But th is one is locked, for the moment. If you havea bell to ring, or a rocket to shoot off, now's the time. You are about to set up the molds and see yOUT boat full-size in three dimension s.
60
Gather a level, a 2-foot square, a plumb bob, nails, a hammer, and half a running mile of pine scraps 3 to 16 fee t long, and I inch square (or thereabouts) to use as temporary props and braces . Find two straight, dean, true. straight-edged planks that, butted end to end, w ill reach from the afterface of the stem to the forward face of the transom knee. Mark centerlines on these, full length, on both faces, using string and the straightedge to get them true. Fetch out mold number 5, and stand iton the keel as shown in Figure 6-4, centered, with the forward [ace on the station mark. Brace it with a prop from the top of the keel aft, plumb it foreand -aft, and hold it level ath\vanships with two posts to the floaT. Measure from the top of the cross spall to the rabbet line, exactly on station, and make sure that this agrees with what you laid down on the lofting floor. Set up mold number 1, then number 3. checking the height to the spallsa nd keeping the forward faces of the molds on the station marks . Brace these from number 5, well dear of the centerline on the tops of the spalls. Toe-nail the bottoms of the molds to the top of the keel lightly; brace number S forward, so that you can remove the braces to make way for number 6, which will stand with its afler face on the station line . These four molds establish the plane of the spal\ s, which is of course precisely 2 fee l above lhe load water line. Set up number 8 on the tail feather, with its after face on the station ma rk;
figure 6-4 Strongback
Post. to overhead
;i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~fj=::
Centerline along this edge ........... Continuous strongback ~ Cross spall set on plane of WllA _
-
"'
Sheer
24A -----'
,lA
Diagonal brace Central vertical member of mold number 5. with edge set _ -\"'" to cel'leriine
Bearding line Rabbet line --=--~
setnp number 20n the stem, forward face to the mark. Stretch a tight string from the stem to the trdilsom knee, touching the tops of all the spalls. and mark the stem and the knee precisely where this line intersects them. You \"ill probably need to adjust the heights of the last two to agree wilh the plane established by the first four. You may find to your dismay that the mark fat" the 2-{oot load line on the stem does not ex.act ly agree wi th the string you stretched. Try to rigure out what went wrong. and correct it; but keep those cross spa lis in line. If you raise or lower one or two out of thaI flat plane. you will perpetuate worse errors than the most careless designer could commit in fairin g lines and scaling offsels. With this cross sp~1l1 plane sacred and unbroken, you know that the sheer marks on the molds arc right; you can extend the plane, by string. strdightedge, or eyeball, and measure up to spot the height of the sheer on the transom-and on the stem, tOO, if any doubt exists. Finally, you can la y a rine strongback down the middle, and tie everything together square and true, thus: Lay the longer of the two cenlerli ned planks fore-and-aft on the spalls; bevel its forward end
Station 5 mold
to fit the slope of the stem; fasten it securely to the-stem. cen tered. exactly, underside on thecorreeled 2-foot load line mark. Let's assume that its after end reaches 2 feH beyond the number 5 cross spall. Bring its centerline 1.0 the center of station number :; spall. Plumb the mold foreand-aft again with your level to the vertical post. Use your big steel square to set the cross spall precisely at right angles to the centerline on the under face of the strongback, and clamp it. Finally, drop the plumb bob from the centerline 10 the keel tOp. and tie the strongback to the side of the shop so that it cannot budge orr center. Anchor your long steel tape on the after face of the stem, dead center, just above the strongback, and measure to the twO sides of the mold at the height of the spal l. If these agree. it must be square to the centerline. Now, bUll the other section of the plank to thi s one; cut it to length to fasten to the- stern knee; join the twO at the bun with a wide board cleat. Hang the missing molds in place; plumb, square, and fasten all of them. Tie the strongback to the shop wall every 8 feet and put a specia l tie, high up, on station number I-and she's almost ready for rihbands.
61
Prove the sheer For my sake, if not yours, let's define and prove the sheerline with light battens. This is a proc!.:ss shrouded in mystery, mentioned in whi~pers outside the shops of the incompe tent, accepted wordlessly as the final touch of the Master Craftsman-if you happen to like the way it came OUL We've all heard of that taciturn genius who spends a da y making minute adj ustments to the batten. \,jewing it from his stepladder, allowing in his subconscious for perspective. haze. highlights-and finall y achieving a line of ineffable grace, which even looks good when she's out of the shop . I'm not ill that class. I decided long ago that the designer probably liked to have the sheer come out about the way he marked iton his draw ing. Thisassumption takes most of theglamouroul of the business. but saves a lot of time and soul-searching. If the molds are at their proper heights and spacing, a nd the sh!.:er marks, taken from the loft floor , are dean and accurate on them, there's not much need for inspired guessi ng. Start a batten at the stem, with its bottom edge at the mark, and wrap itaround as far as it will go. Don't pu ll it len gthwise and cause it to fla tten its curve between molds. Tap another batten over it, tOP edge to the marks, a nd go the rest of the way a ft. Measure up from the p lane of the spall s for the height on the transom. If the curve has humps and hollows. go back to the floor and try to find your mis-
takes. After all , you are the one who laid her down . If some expert (other than the designer) tell s you it ought to tip up more quickly up front. don't just knuckl e under. Tell him you'd like to see a half-dozen of his boats in the fl esh . in order to study his individ ual style ... and mark the sheer as it shows in the plans. The line or th e tuck One morc linc shou ld be detcrmined and marked now, before the cluuergets tOO thick. I call Ihi s the " line of the tuck," for want of a better name. It marks the division between two different areas of p la nking, and it's important to get it in there, with a good ribba nd t.o follow it. JUSt to establish squatter's rights and keep ot hers from encroaching on the territory. Chaos!.: a long, flat batten, I by 11/ 2 inches, say, a nd start it at the point where the rabbet line crosses the joint between the stern post and the tail feath er. Run it forward as if roughly paral· le i to diagonal number 2 in the lines plan. to cross mold number 3 about 9 inches above the rabbet line. and thence straight (without sidewise distortion) to the back rabbet on the stem (see Figure 6-5). If you pulled a str ing tight between these two endpoints, and outside the molds, you would get much of the same linethe shortest distance, or the nearest thing to a straight line between the points. Mark the molds at the crossings.
fig ure 6-5 Designed sheer falred through and marked on the molds
"Tuck" batten Approximately follows diagonal 4. Establishes run of bottom plank
62
figu re 6-6 Culling the remaining fram e weke ts
~
-
--
./
Finishing
lh ~ rabb~1
Go art , now, and study the problem of the un fini shed rabbela l lhe after end of the keel, up the stern post and around the curve to the tail feather. Use plemyof ballens tosimulate planking. T wist a thin board from mold number 5 to the Slernpost, (osee where the garboard wil l lie. COl wi th special care and cautio n a t the top of the slernposf. where Ihe angles change very abruptly. The battens will tell you what todo, if you arc pat ient with them. Use you r adze on the back rabbet on the keel mid up Ihe stern post; use a chisel to cu t the fac~ of the rabbet all the way.
Finish this chore by cutt ing a ll the rema ining frame sockets in the keel. knee. and tai l fcather (see Figure 6-6). These last will angle aft, in order to lie in a true verti cal p laneathwarL<;hips. Clamp a matched pair in place, apply square and plumb line, and st udy them. You 'll get Ihe point. Bevel the tran som frame. Bring the bauens past it [rom mol d number 5, and make saw cuts, in line wi th the battens, all around the edges of the frame. Cut to the bottom of the scores with an adze, a chisel, and a plane. Leave the final and exact cutting to be done one jump ah ead of the planking crew.
63
Chapter Seven
Ribbandsand Timbering Out And now to put on the ribbands. We alwa ys use clear fir. P ia inches thick and a bit wider than that. Half of these we leave solid (at least while they are young, green, a nd flexible); the olhers a re cut with a saw, flal, right up the m iddle, stopping a foot short of the other end . They recuperate between boats, in the darkness under the shop floor, and last for years. You can use two layers of green spruce, and consider them expendable, if the fir is hard to come by; but wa tch th em with suspicion between molds, Fasten the ribbands La stem and transom with o ne 2 1h -inch number 11 screw; use the same wi re,i/2 inch longer , for the softwood molds. These ribbands have one purpose only, and that is to ho ld the bent frames precisely to the shape of the hull , at the inside of the pl anking, until the planking can take the job over. T heir arrangement, therefore, is governed by two considerations: first, to get them on fa ir, as easily as possible, and spaced dosely enough to do thei r job; and second, to hang them so that they follow somewhere near the line the planks will take, and can he removed aIle by one, as the planks go on, without leaving a great arca of unsupported frames alone end of the hull. Study the problem with the aid of a long batten draped around the molds. Think of GreatCirde
courses and barrel staves . Look at the body plan on the lines drawing, and consider each diagonal a s a rihband. They are spaced twice as far apart as the ribbands should be, but their arrangement is about right. Hanging the ribbands Start the first one just below the 36-inch load line on the stem . Drape it in a gentle sweep, to cross mold number 5 barely cl ear of the load waterline, and up the transom frame just helow the line of diagonal 5. Thi s will , of course, be done in two halves, with the butt end screwed to the transom frame, for the second. T he after hal f should lie fair, against and above the forward on e, where they lap by each otlwf. Fasten an exact ly sim ilar pair on the other side of the boat. Check to be sure th e molds still stand, undistoned, in the true athwanships station plane. You understand, of course, that you do nol bevel the molds where the ribbands land. Just hit the forwan.l corners in the forebody, the after corners aft of amidships. Shoot the screw fastenings into these corners, square to the run of the ribbands. I like to have the uppermost ribband just clear of the sheerline, to remain in place there
65
unlillhe shecrstrake is fitted and fastened. You must bevel the forward end to fit aga inst the fla t o f the stem ahove the tOp of the ra bbet. Be sure its inner surface is in line with the back rabbet. Always work in matched pairs, keeping them as nearly as possible at the same height, each side, on every mo ld they cross. Where the ribbands lap past each other and end, forward or aft of amidships, they will tcnd to flatten out in the la.~t hay they cross. Even them up with clamps. and edge-fasten them; back off the screw Ih inch , in the last mold they rt!ach . The final job in this setup is to brace the ribbands, down in the hollow of the wineglass, against the ou twa rd thrust of the frames . Use I-inch ·square pine props, up from the floor, butted sq uare agai nst the ribbands halfway between molds (see Figure 7-1) . Experimenl with a thin slat, jamm ed in to a frame socket, bent outward to the flat of the bilge; and notice where the pressure comes. Hold the tuck ri b· band true al all costs, There's no sadder sight in a boatshop than (rames lea ning stiffly away from their sockets-unless it's the same frames straining the ribbands inward at the turn of the bilge. You can do something about it. up there, as you'll learn in fra ming. Down below, the ribbands must do the job on their own . Now, about those frames". Clean out the braces, pile the firewood, round up your crew, and get ready for the big day. I feel that we've come a long and tedious way, with LOa many side excursions; but pretty SOOIl , now, she's goi ng to start to look like a boat. You are going to enj oy two, or three, or four of the happiest days of your life. You are going to put in steam ·bent frames: you'll breathe vapors as sweet as honey , and shout wit h rel ief as lhoseold bad doubts retreat ... and take up new residence in the pi le of planking stock. You ' ll know how J. Keats fe lt when he fi rst looked into Chapman's Homer. And though the tOO, tOO solid flesh of your hands th reatens to melt, thaw, and resolve itself into cooked meat, you'll still have (let's see. now : seven bays a t four each; add four more in the counter; three forward of mold number 1, double i t)-70 golden nuggets of pure happiness, when the timber goes chunk into the h<:el socket, a nd you ride it down and mold it to shape against their ribbands. Some fun, I assure you. This is Mardi Gras, breakthrough- the only quick and easy process you'll encounter in this whole busi ness of boat· building.
66
Refore we gel going, I would li ke todiscuss in my usual unpleasa nt way some o f the bad advice, incorrect assumptio ns, and pla in ignorance fh at show up in pract ica lly every trealise on steam-bending techniques- and in about half the designs and com pleted hoats you 'll see. The first an d perhaps worst mistake is based upon the pernicious fallacy that Too Strong is better than Too Weak. The Designer, urged on by the O wner, specifies frames built of wood 21/f inches sq uare (by God. thjs a nt is going to be built to lasl). T he Builder, who is an ingenious chap, if long·suffering, uses super·steam. sna ke oil . and compression straps, and bends that timber in so that it touches a ll the rihhands (or perhaps one should say, "so that al l the ribbands lauch j('-there will be JUSt the tin iest suggestion of a hollow at each damp); this way, there will be very little slivering on the outside of the bends, even at the tuck and the turn of the bilge. It 's a beautiful thing. th at curved pit't-'t' of fla wless oak ... and a bea u tifu l thing ilcOnti nues to be, when the boat is p la nked with fine , dry mahogan y (ex tra thick, of course) and cau lked tight in the good, o ld·fash ioned way. (None of that sissy stuff wi th a wheel on this boaL) The boat is launched, and swell s, and swells; they take her Oul and drive her (she was bui lt to take it): and maybe she grounds out o n a bar one day and pounds a few times before the flood makes enough to kedge her o ff (but sh e was built to take that, (00). And then. in a week or two, she starts to leak. So she's hau led O llt for examination, and someone finally discovers that olle seam at the turn of the bilge has, for some strange reason, opened up, and yOll can pull the caulking out with your fingers. That's easy to cure: drive in three strands, smooth o f( , put her back in the water ... and !his time they install that most wonderful of all inventions. an Automali.: Bilge Pump. Ten or twelve battery chargl''> later (or the end of the yach ting season, whichever comes first) she's hauled again, the offending plank is removed, and th e imposs ible truth is revealed. Several o f those mag nificent (rames have broken clean off, right on the line of the fine, one·piece bilge stringer. (The bolt holes are only ' Is inch, but the li s-inch couoterhores for the heads ma y have a sl ight wea kening effect.) Put in siSler fra mes (hal( the thickness of the original ones), replace plan ks (be sure to use good, dry stock to butt again st the soaked planks-this makes for a ve r y interesting devel· opment at the ends) , and maybe the o ther side won 't let go until nex t year. If you think thi s isan exagge;ation, exa mine
figure 7-1 Ribbilnds in place Ends of the diagona ls (picked up with th e molds, from the loft drawing)
Sheer ribband
67 •
some old Navy liberty boats, or yachts built by the master cra ftsmen of European yards. The frames are such as no small boatyard could afford to match-standing square across, beveled inside and out, with the greatest dimension athwartships. They are scientifically correct and lovely to behold. They art' shaped from oversized stock, which had been bent on a slab with a compression strap on the OUlSide of the curve. and cooled in place. The wood fibers had 10 make a vio lent and painful rcadjustmem under duress, and they didn 't like it. Unfortunately. most of them are badl y cracked or have broken clean off. If you wa n t to know why this happened, hearken to the voices of the sa lt yanes: " Do you (of course, you don't!] realize wha l it's like, driving to windward in the Fastnet, wi th the wind force 7?" Or, "Just walch one of these slam into the landing stage with 50 men aboard, and you won 't wonder." If you suggest, timidl y, thm you've seen a heavil y laden seine boat nexing her topsides in and OUI ag~. inst the pilings half a foot every roll for hours on end. or have watched an old Down East lobslerboat twisting her tired length over the short seas as fasl as her migh ty 1917 Buick can push her-and nary a broken timberor open seam in either of themyou'll be treated to a d iatribe on clam baskets and the men who build them. Why, those fa nners couldn't bend a real frame if they tried all winter! The point I'd like to make (and I seem to have spent considerable lime gelling to it) is this: in bent frames, even as in ski bindings, women's voices, alcoholi c drinks, and the tethers Ihat hold thr heroi ne 10 th e mi Iroad trestk, tOO weak is usually bener than loostl"ong. When that frame is shaped in p lace it sho uld have no regrets or hypertensions, no nervous dread of cold drafts or needle pricks on its Southern exposure. It should be relaxed. serenely confident. as it starts in its half-century of service .... Sometimes those skinny fellers'll fool you. They may not look like much. but they're wi lh y, real withy. And don 't feel toO bad when that Constant Visitor sneers at your t"ffons and tells you tha t Manny Lucas never has to la mina te his timbers 10 get th em in. As Sam Crocker used to point out, with patielll forhearance, you'll probably have to wait 20 years to prove you're right, but it'll be worth it. So much for super-frames and [he men who Cdtl bend them. Let's consider the Annual Ring theory, which appears in every good discussion of steam bending. The theory. and the reason SUPlxll"Iin g it. are
68
simple: bend the hame so that the annual rings, when viewed end-on. rUIl as nearly as possible paraJlelto the line of the planking, because the frame bends most easily in this planc, and because faste ni ngs driven through the annual rings at right angles (that is , in line with radii from theCenlerof the tree) are least likely to split the fnmle. It is therefore very smart to use square frames, so that you can a lways present the proper face to the ribbands. The only trou ble wi th this bit of advice is [hat it is a lmost comp letely wrong, as well as being im possible to follow more than 20 percent of the time. even with sq uare frames, which only a trained naval arch itcct would specify. an yway. It cOlltainsonc li ny bit of truth-that one out of five framcs wi ll actually bend slightly more easily (although wit h no less likelihood of breaking) than a piece of wood from the same plank which has the rings at 20, 30, or 15 degrees to the plane of the p lanking. As for resistance 10 splitting-surely anyone who has ever spent two days on a farm knows that oak stove wood is always cleft stra ight through the hearl, in line with the medulary rays. Any faste nings driven on these radialli n e~ are most, ra ther than least, likel y to split the frame. So what do you do? Forget the whole business. and lake them as tiley come! Then there's the Percentage-of-Moisture theory, which tells you to get that oak slUmp to steam box before the leaves begin to fade. This advice appears at first to be sound a nd reason able. Su rel y a piece of dead-green stock, so limber it will almost bend in cold, i ~ likely to give less trou ble thall one that's rully air dried, hard and sti ff as an iron bar? Strangely enough. this conclusion is a lso wrong-at leasl in Ihe light of my own experience, which covers thousands of ocm frames, and the use of frame stock that had seasoned fro m 10 m inutes to 10 years. Thl' dry sluff (at least a ye-dr on [he sticks. for 1112-inch or2·inch plank)seems to require short· er steami ng time, and bends mo re easily and with less breakage. It is admitt<.--dly much more di[ficult to work before it is steamcd, and rough on drill s after it has cooled and hardened again, hut tilat is a ll you can say agai nst it. And now, what magic lubrican t do we apply to this frame stock before it goes into the box, or add to the wat.er in the boiler, so that the wood becomes pliable as rubber and tough as whalebone? Fnmkly, I don't know ! I have tried linseed oil and kerosene. O thers swe-dr by permanent ant ifreeze, creosote, bag balm , and one or two more lhal I won', mention ina book that might fa ll into the hands of small chil dren. All these
tre'dtmcnts work wonders-if you have really s traight-grained white oak to start with, plenty o f screeching-hot wet steam to cook it in, and the s~d of a sleight -of-hand artist toget it bent to shape before it knows what's going on. Unfortunately. the timbers yOli forget to paint. subjected to the same steam and speedy treatment , also bend very nicel y. and the only real differences yo u are likel y to notice are: ( I ) the treated timbers afe darker in color; and (2) you are in somewhat less danger of sl iding 0(( and breaking your neck with the untreated ones. (The hot oil does make things a bit more excit ing if you lose your gloves.) I don't use any of these treatments. But I have nOt the slightest doubt that somconecou ld
(if he hasn ' t already done so ) develop a boiling process involving a good wood preservative, perhaps a fiber-softening ingredient, in a solution lhat would go higher than 2 12 degrees; this might be worth investigating. However, plain steaming, at atmospheric pressure, with no tricks or additives. seems to work satisfactoril y; and I suspect I am no morc likely to try anything else in thi s direction than I am to investigate the possibilities of rock elm or some other substi!llle for white oak. I know about glued laminates , and I assure you Ihat the COS t would be enormo usl y greater than the cost of our good bent-frame system. And don't try lo convince me that putting edge-glued strips around the bulkheads is the answer. I have built strip-planked
figure 7-2 Th ree types of frames needed
Single sta~e {frames between stations 1 and J)
~
Sla~e ripped down the Four-piece lamlnatlonmiddle-for frames between for frames between station stations 2 and S~ S'f1 and T {transom)
~~~
.,
/. "'~~'?' rivet
End of saw cut
69
boats, cross-planked deadrise boats. lapstrake boats. plywood boats-and I still prefer the type of construction we are desaibing here. So, let's gt"l a few thin gs togerher, and bend the frames. I've promised you great joy, and so far I've.come up with nothing but grief. Getting out the frames First. of course, you' ve got to get out the frames. In chis particular boat they will finish 11/~ inches by P h inches, and will be saw n most economically out of rough 2-inch plank. Slice them off 1~/~ inches thick. starting just inside the sapwood and as nearl y as possible parallel to lhe outside of the tree-that is, if the plank tapers, work in from both edges. Don't sk imp on length. Anyone of them, in its proper place, should reach at least 2 inches above the sheerline. The frames that are going in away aft should be a foot longer than that. If the rough plank is sawn oversize, trim the frames on your table saw to a scant 2-inch width. Dress off all four sides in a surface planer to your finished dimensions. Inspect them carefully, choose ends, and square the butts. (You might also make sure that the top ends are even enough so that you'll be able to hit them true with your mallet. ) And now, with your thinnest saw, se t very lightly and filed sharp, split everyone of those frames dead center. edgewise, from the top to within 4 inches of the square butt end (see Figure 7-2). You will have taken out, I hope, a bit less than li s inch of the original ISis-inch thick ness. If you want to be properly methodical, you can mark all these frames wi th numbers to your own system, so that you' ll know where each one is supposed to go in the boa!. (It's embarrassing to get one all bent in and discover that it stops below the sheerline.) Three pairs of frames will need special treatment. These are to go at the after end of the tuck, where the reverse curves at the butt ends of the frames are most severe; that is, two pairs immediately forward of station number 6, and one aft of it. The best way to make these up is simply to lay together four pieces, each 1/ 8 inch thick by 1118 inches wide, and tack the butt ends together with a pair of 11/2-inch screws. Tie a string around the bundle halfway along the length of the frame. Some sharp mathematician will point out that this assembled butt is l/~ inch thinner than the regular frames, and I will counter with the fact that this frame is exactly the same as they are at the top, where the sheer 70
clamp demands uniformity. If you insiston perfection. a nd have read to this point before CUlting the sackers for the frames. you can make those six sockets li s inch shallower. If you wa nt to be absol utel y sure that you won't lose one of these special frames by break· age, make up four spares . They may come in very handy farther aft. There's one more thing I feel obliged to add here, but it should be in very small print, so that only the desperate few will notice it. It's this: I once knew a man who couldn't get any white oak for his frames, and used some tough, young, fasl-grown oak of another variety instead. He pointed out, in his defense, that 85 percent of the boats and yachts on th is coast arc framed with this Olher variety, and most of them are doing tolerably well; and furthermore, you show a piece of this oak to one of those smart young architects and he smells it and says, "That certainly is a beautiful piece of white oak" (w ith the bark still on it, mind you); so what are you supposed La do? Tell him he ought to work in a boatyard for a year, and learn the facts of life? Don't be ridiculous. Congratulate him on his sense of smell, and let it go at that. So if you can 't find any good whi te oak, remember that there is another kind, known (though not to botanists) as gray oak . In North America it grows on, I think, 57 different types of stump (in England o nl y one, strangel y enough), but it's all gray by the time it gets to the boatshop. And if you, like the man I'm speaking of, can get some young, heavy, fastgrown oak of this varie ty, and sozzle it with some potent bug juice after you get it bent into place-don't worry tOO much about its ancestry. There are many OIhers in the same boat with you, if I may be permitted to coin a phrase. Of course, if you turn pro, and contract to use only genuine white oak in the boat you are to build. that's a different matter altOgether. You should not take advantage of their ignorance, however thickly and obnoxiously it may be displayed. If you don't know how to recognize Quercus alba when you see it, ask almost any farmer or sawmill man. Don't bother the botanists. They'll draw you pictures of roundlobed leaves, and have you taste the acorns, which are sweet. Bending the frames Let's assume, then, that you've gOl your frames ready to cook, and get on with the business. If you haven', already done it. make up
and install that steam-box bulkhead, complete wi th pusher and cross rack, jtlst farenougb in [0 take your longest frame. No sense wasti ng steam, Lay the frames on edge, so that the laminations can hang apan. Separate the tiers with cross sticks at the open end of the box , Don't push them back any further than necessary, or you won't be able to see them ' mid the em'irding gloom , and it's no hill [ishing arou nd in there. Don 't try more than a dozen in the firs t batch , unless you own more clamps than I think you do, You'll need four on each frame, and you' ll not walllto stop and fasten, when things are going really well, just to get damps free. C lose the door on th e steam box, whoop up the fire, note the time when the steam starts c.:olll in g through st rong, and assemble your gear, Inside the boat, laid out on the strongback, you'll have a big mallet, a good daw hammer, Ihe stone-crusher shown in Figure 7- 3, a can of eightpenny nails, some cotton gloves-and, evcntua lly, yoursel f, shod wi lh non-skid rubber, uyi ng to rally from a knock on the head. (Young fellers do get a little worked up, first lime they try it, and tend to forget they aren't really sitting on a cloud.) You might also have with you a piece of black crayon , and while away Ihe hour marking where the frames arc to be spaced on the ribbands. Throughout mosl of the length of the boat they will, of course, stand plum b in p rofile-that is, parallel to the nearest mold, from heel socket 1.0 sheer ribband. For· ward of mold number 2, and aft of number 7, we'll start to compromise with this idea l; bUl right now we won't worry about that problem. Outs ide the boat, your assistant festoons the ribbands with all the C-damps you can buy, borrow, or stea l, and provides himself with two heavy carpenter's hammers (one roreach side of the boat, and damned lucky if ei ther one o f them is in reach when he needs it) and a beller pair of gloves than you 've gal. He may decide to make himself a short gaff for hooking the frames out, after he's groped for a few with his wrist exposed, There are some special boatbuilding terms that arc used to describe th is experience, bu t I think we can afford to omit them here. If we've forgotten anything, it's tOO late now. They 've been cooking an hour, wi th the box huHing and puffing and spewing out great gou ts of ink-black water. Take your stand on the ribbands just forward o f mold number 5, and call for the first frame tim ber. Your helper should fetch it at a dead run, shove it to you butt-first over the top ribband, and then dive to the keel with hammer in hand, You start the
figu re 7-3
ij
I! !
Bear down
• Frame
Mcintosh's Slone-Crusher
bUll into its socket, crawl up the ribbands with your big mal let, and belabor the upper end until your helper cries " Hold, enough"-and drives the butt sideways in the socket, while you are riding the frame down to the ribbands, It bends quite easily to the shape, but you know perfectly well that i1's only wai tin g for your foot to slip, All this has taken about 30 seconds, Right now the ser ious business begins. It is not enough merely to bend it out until it touches all the ribbands, and there fasten it to await the planking, It and its three companions will inevita bly distort the fair curve of lhe ribbands between the molds, and cause a flat spot, ugly to look at and difficu lt to plank. Someone is going to get all excited here and point ou t that molds should never be more than 2 fee t apart. I know one good boatbuilder who uses no molds at all, and others who couldn't turn OUI a good job if they made a mold for every frame in the boat. Take my word for it: if you know how to work the timbers, you can keep them fa ir with this 4-foot spaci ng. You've got to over-bend each frame, man ipulate it, shape il with your hands, feet, and the stone-crusher, umil it stops fighting and relaxes into place, And the way you do it is this: the outside man clamps the frame to the l'ibband just below the turn of the bilge, and then you pull the head of the frame inboard all you dare, and half a foot more (see Figure 7-1). Hold it 10 seconds, let it go outboard to lake a clamp on the next ribband up, and repeat the extreme bend and holding. (You 'll learn eventually to bear down on the tOP as you pull it in , to increase the amount of the bend and move it upwards on the frame ,) Continue to move upward, ribband by ribba nd, 71
breaking it in each time, until you end up with Ihe bending 1001 a l the ver)' head of the frame. The frame should be by this time completely tractable, so that one clamp only, to the ribband just above the turn of the bilge. wi ll almost hold it in place. Of course, you leave at least four on it , until you have time to fasten to the ribbands. I hope that you ha ve remembered through all this excitement to keep it lined upat those black crayon marks. As a last act before you leave it. nail the head of the frame to the uppermost ribband, tight at your cra yon mark. And what if the frame refuses to take this punishment-being bent t06-inch radius, when it n eeds ani), to fit 'a curve tI-iree or four times bigger? If it won't take the quick turn without showing sig ns of distress, )'o u don 't wam it in yOlll' boat. Throw it out and tf)' another. BUl if it does lake it- then it 's a good. tough frame. well adjusted within itself, and quite able to withstand all the flexing and shocks it's likely to get in the next 30 years. And it accep ts those ribbands as guides, not C'dptors. in assuming its final shape, so that the curves of the planking fore and aft willl'ema in fa ir. Now, this bending should have been easy to do (I hope much eas ier than trying to describe it). If it wasn't easy. there's something wrongpoor stock, steam not hot enough , too much time lost somewhere. The same rule should apply throughout this business of boatbuildingand possibly in broader fields of endeavor, if you want 10 get philosophical about it. If it comes hard, try to fi gure out when' you've gone wrong. (It might be thedesigner, too. you know. Invite him to come up and demonstrate. You and he might be somewha t surprised at the results.) BUI hang onto th is thought: if it 's done properly, it should be easy. Use up the rest of this first batch here in the middle of the boat-forward and aft of station number 5-10 develop your speed and ski ll. These big frames are the eas i e.~ t to fit, since they require very lillie twisting. There is the furth er advantage thai a frame you break here may still be long enough to reach the sheerline if you go two stations forward with it. Remember to keep the boiler full and driving unt il the lasl timber is out of the box. Take the damps off, one by one, and substitute for each of them a 3-inch number 12 steel screw - fo r which you drill a lfl6-inch hole-through ribbandand frame from the outs ide. Always try to drive those screws precisely in the middle of the frame, because thi s is the one spot you're not supposed to hit with the plank fas teni ngs. You'll break yo ur pre72
cious tapered dl'i11 evel'y time you let it fall into one of these hidden gopher hol es. Finally. before you start another ba tch, check all these newly bent frames to make surt' they are still touching the ribbands above and below the reverse curve, 'way down low. They have a sly tendency to Jift away here as they cool off. It should be safe now to go aft and consider the specia l problems in the counter. These short frames aft of the stem post miglll appear at first glance to be the easiest of all to fit . but they are not. They can get you into bad trouble if you don 't watch OUI. They'll try to stl"aighten out by pulling the bi lge ribbands insidiously upward; and you'll reali ze, too late, with the topsides all planked. that she looks starved in tbe flanks. You can try to blame it on the des igner (the . transom docs look too big, it's true). bUI you'll be wrong. You gave up too soon. You let the clamps lake part of the bUl'den, instead of fighting it OUI to total victory wi th your bare hands. (YOli think I've forgotlen your gloves? Oh, no . You shook off Ihe right-hand o ne early so that you could hang on to the mallet handle long enough 10 drive the framedown the inside curve to Ihe heel socket. ) And maybe you had some foolis h notion that you cou ld twist this frame and haul the head aft, so that it stands plumb in profile. and follows those crayon marks up the ribbands to the sheer. An attempt to do this would impossibly complicate an already difficult situation. Forget your ideals. Let the thing lie almost as it wants to, leaning drunkenly forward from the bilge up. Pull the top of that frame in, and hold it 'til your arms crack , and your foot is paralyzed; and then, having let it fall out against the ribhands;u the turn, tie that lOp with rope. across to the strongback. with enough tension to pull the frame d ear of the sheer ribband (see Figure 7-5). YOll will have noticed in the midst of this sifuggle that the ex tra foot of length on the frdme was a great help to you. You may also have had the fleeting Ihough t that three or even four laminations (totaling the full th ickness of the Iwo-Iayer frames, of course) wou ld have been much more pleasant to handle. Why not? It's far better to have Ihem go in wilh on ly moderate strain on their fibe rs and your muscles. The bUll ends of al least three pairs, as you remember. area lready prepared for that extreme turn at the after end of the tuck. If you have doubts, or troubles, fit all the frames, between station number 7 and the {ransom, in four layers cadI. Ea.~y does it, every time. One more poim, before we go up from
fgu re 7-4 , Bending the fr.me s .Into place
I \ i
\ '-.
\
figure 7-5 Bending stubborn frame s aft
74
("fo rwa rd ," to you purists) to discuss the problems there. In th is matlerof a llowing the frames to lie natu rall y, wil h their heads leaning toward the bo w. try (a s they wi ll try ) to have this e ffec i increa se gradua lly and evenly a s you work aft. T he second frame aft of station number 7 co uld sta rt the trend ; it is permissibl e a lso to increase the di sla nces bt-tween fr'amcs a t the bilge as those distances decrease at the sheer. And , of course, match them up port and sta rboard, and tell a ll your visitors you mealH to do it that wa y, and tha t you 've got authority to back you up. Th e sa me spirit of moderation and com promi se sho uld guide your hand up fo rward. You' ll be ahl e to hold the line aft of the n umber 2 mold, but beyond that yo u 'll enco unter a n increasing desire in the fram e h eads to lean a h . Don't fig ht them too hard. Be tter to allo w a slight la xit y in posture than to ha v(' them presrot a hard a nd unyielding corner to the p lank · ing. And sha pe them , before cla mping. JUSt a s rarnes tl y a s you shaped the fram es in the stern. Rem ember, when you are bending those three terr ibl e pairs a[[ (the one JUSt fo rward of mold number 7, and the next twO aft of it ) that the r ibba nds that form the tuck ate sacred and mus t no t be fo rced ou tward. Beller to have no fra m e there a t all than to allow a bul ge in the fair curve of [he plan k line. f astenings And now to fa sLen these fram es to the foundatio n. I hope you will by thi s time feel that those so ckets were worth cutting if o nly to loca Le a nd hold one end of the fram e while you .....orked o n the rest of it. I think you will get
great sa tisfa ction a nd reassurance fro m the act of fast ening them ; you ' ll k now it 's good; a nd never mind how it looked on the constructio n plan. If YOli estimate that each of these co nn ections will take a SOO-pound load, and count on ly the fra m es benvee n stations numbt:r 2 a nd number 7, you still come up wi th a fi gure of 20,000 pounds, which is a nice littl estart LOward supponing 6,500 pounds of ballast a nd kee ping the ga rboa rd seams tight. And all free . you mig ht say-sinceyout cri tics will mainta in tha t the £loor tim bers do all the work. any\vay. Those sa me critics w iJl shake the ir heads in shocked di sbe li ef if you follow m y advice a nd fa sten each fram e heel wi th two hot-galvanized 20-pcn n y spikes . Drill j/ 16-inch holes fo r them, angl ed out and down , and countersunk so the heads will be out of the wa y when you fa ir the frames off flu sh with the back rabbet. Back o n the tailfea ther, a nd up the stem , where there is less wood to h it. use IO-penn y na il s, or2 1/t-inch number 8 bronze na ils. Pa y no a ttelllio n when the Voice of Doom ge ts going o n the subjec t o f electrolysis. If the two metals are no t in actua l contact with each other, and an.' buried a nd bunged in sou nd wood, they' ll manage a pea ce· fu l coexistence in spite of all the a gita ted experts. Now, w hile you are (having bent the la st frame) in the full £lush of pride and victory. you would do well to ge t down on your knees w ith an adze, pla nes, a slice, battens. thin boards, a big ha mmer. a nd a punch , and fa ir o ff the frames and the back rabuet to make rcady fo r the garboard. You'll want a dear conscience wh en you face the nex t operation .
75
"But put a timber and jack under each bilge... and the ocean drops right out of her garboard seams."
Chapter Eight
Floor Timbers
The g lossary will say something like this: " Floor limber-a n athwanships member, usually of wood, used to tie the heels o f the frames to the keel. " Th is definition comes close to being th e ultimate in oversimplification . Th e fl oor timbers provide a base for the engine bed, interm ediate shaft bearings, and a mast step. T hey tie the two hal ves of the boal together down where it rcally counts . They take in hand the enormous wringing stl"ains of the ballast keel, and transfer these loads smoothly and subtl y to the main fabric of the hull. They connect a fl exible keel to the longitudinal rigid ity of the lopsides. They even provide supporl for a platform to walk on. Unfonuna tely, they are not al ways provided in sufficient numbers, sty les . a nd sizes to do thi s work in a sa tisfactory manner.
Various types of Ooors I can th ink of seven different forms in which thi s member can appear, each one with certain vinues o f its own (Figure 8-1 ). There's the simple plank-an-edge, suggested by the a bove definit ion, which can go before, abaft of, o n top of, 01' between the frames. In its best form this simple floor is shaped from a "grown crook," with long arms up the inside of the planking. You are most likely to find it in a primi ti ve boatyard where the builders li ve close to the forest a nd time is not of the essence-and you can well envy them their pile of sweeps and knees, because we can ' t improve on them a bi t with all our refined techniques. There's th e metal floor-forged from wrought iron or steel, or cast in bronze, or welded in web form from bar and angle slock.
77
figure 8-1
Types of floor timbers
wi th wings
and glue laminate-"spring-Ieaf"
78
This usually is used up forward, where an han· est plank (loor would sta nd 100 high and spoil the headroom. It's a prell y thing, and very expensive; but it someti mes fa ils 10 do its job. I'll have more to say about this la ter. (Once upon a time, there was a special rating ru le in the Great Lakes which for some re-dron penalized inside ba ll ast, as distinct fmm structural members. One boat appeared with a 600-pound bro nze fairing piece o n the lower end of the rudder stock; another used, in the refrigeration system, brome tubing with a 2-inch-thick wall . Needless to say, the designers of these boats we nt wi ld with metal floors. In my innocence I cOntracted for and built Ollt: of them, and the o ld scars act up when I think of it. I have suffered since from the failings of three others that came here in mid-career and droopcd their chins, as it were, on my doorstep. asking to be made whole again-and I learned a 10l about noors from them. ) And there's the spring-lea f Hoor (Figure 8-2), built up of glued lam inations, satura ted a nd sealed with super-epoxy, light, stiff, strong, a nd guaranteed not todclaminateas long as the moisture conu:1ll stays th e same. It is also fright full y expensive, bu t worth every nickel if you arc building a three-p ly featherweight to the quarter· ton ru le. Such a boat is outside my experience and beyond my desire. However, if my boat won ' t get there the same day, it' ll make it the same summer, fortified by massive. heavy, perhaps crude fl oors that'll never let a garboard swin g open. Let's contemplate some of the stresses that occur in a sail boat with olllS ide ballast. We'll stand the boat o n edge and drop her o f[ the top of a 6-foot sea that hi ts beam-on. Look at " Knockabout, 1900" (Figure 8-3). This boat probably leaked very little in its youth, even when driven hard. Bu t despite splendid workmanship a nd tender loving care, the fastenings and joints would eventually work loose and a llow for cruel leaking. Caulking wou ld aggravate the trouble; the only cure would be marc and bigger floors, with bigger bolts through them. And don ' t lell me you can fiberg lass the bottom and ma ke her as good as new. You 've got to slap tha t wiggle first. Now look at ;'Sam Crocker, 1939" (Figure 8-4). Thi s is much better. (We were building Fomalhaut then, and trying to learn all we could from Sam Crocker: there was a lot he taught us-one lesson having to do with that particula r keel·floor-ballast configuration . It seem s that cven h e had had secret doubts as to its ultimate indestructi bili ty, so when he started
figure 8-2
Sprin g-leaf fl oor
figure 8-3 Kn ocbhout, 1900
r:::.~~I~~~~~~~ 2'/,"
. Hinge joint wit h fufc rum at the rabbet
Effective fever arm
Deadwood
Ballast keel
79
figure 8-4 ~m
Crocker. 1939
8ent frame-l'll x 1l;'~ Plank-l '11i~
"""_-1,1/
Oak strap-l'l: x 1'1:~ fastened on top of frame and to the plank floor and keel
Lever
"m
across country, after the 19~8 hurricane, on the trail of one of his 30-footers, h e counted the successive trenches her keel had gouged. His hean sank lower and lower as he approached th e 50 mark-and th~re the little so-an d-so sat, leaning against a n oak tree. "Ch ristmas!" said Sam. "She hadn't even squeezed the pulty out of the garboard scam! " He told ofa nOlher case in which they hadn't. for some reason, boxed the fr:-Imcs into the foundation; that boat always leaked a little when they drove her hard, and they couldn' t cure it. ) If we accept the garboard (in the rabbet) as the fulcrum in this diagram of forces, then the lever arm to the lOp of the keel is at least four times as long in the second instance as in the first. Add the grea ter depth o f floor, the thicker bolt, the boxed-in heel. and the bent timber across the keel and a top the frames, and you have a very strong structure, perfectly sui ted to a stand-up keel. No\v look at the third case, illustrated in Figure 8- 5. This shows th e usual molded keel, wide in the way of the outside ballast, tapering both ways to the siding of the stem and sternpost, and only as deep in profile as necessary to provide an adequate junction for frames, floors, 80
planking, and ballast shoe. A plank-on-edge floor will do n icely here- drift-fastened to the keel, heavily fastened to the two or three planks that cross its ends. But it would be far more effective if it had tapering arms that reached almost to th e lurn of the bil ge, strongly secured to eight or nine planks on a side and directly attached to the ballast keel, if possible. This line of thought (or yearning?) has led me to design and use, in my latest half-dozen big boats, what you might call a composite-construction floor. It 's not difficult to shape, it's enormously strong, it allows easy access to the kee l bo lt, and it spreads the bo lt load across the entire width of the wood keel. The composi te construction floor Start with a piece of 1/2 _ by
Drill the bonom plate for the ke<:lbolt; drill at least five holes on each side of the centerline in the vertical plate; drop the assembly down to the top of the wood keel. with 2 inches of threaded kcelbolt com ing up through the cross plate. Shim it lis inch clear of the lOp of the keel, tum a nut on Gnger-tight. and proceed to fit the wings- sawn to shape out of the toughest whi te oak or locust tha t ever grew. scribed lO fit snug ly against the inside of the plank ing, and extending out and up at least to the under· side of the cabin sale. Clam p to th e p late and drill the wood to ma tch the holes in the plate. Mark where the wings lie on the planking, and pun ch lead holes ou l through to lead thcscrews tha t will go from the planking into the wings . Take the whole business apart; a pply zincrich pai nt to the metal; set the athwanships plate on a fin e bed o f canvas gasket and tar-a nd· oakum grom met, but don 't tighten the keelbolt nu t until everything else is bolted and screwed together. That last 1/ 8 inch (with roofing tar squeezi ng out around the edges) will take up a ll the slack. T he final move is to fit and fa sten a fine timber across from tip to tip, at the heigh t o f the unders ide of the cabin sale. You can s pike and screw-fasten the ends as shown, or you can fit a metal pla te on each side and through -rivet to tie things together. I th ink you·" be satisfied with one of these £Ioors ill ever y o ther bay (say, 24 inches apart) and view with pleasure the chance you have to insta ll worthwhile fuel and/ or water tan ks below th e ca bin sole-but be sure you can get them ou t without d isturbing the joinerwork. You mi ght walll to check a kcdbolt after 20 years, or you migh t have to clear the limbers, or convin ce a surveyor thal lhere's still a sound boa l dow n in that hole. Before we fini sh comparing timbering systems, look at Figure 8- 7, which shows typical big-ship double· sawn fra me-w ilh·keelson construction .
figure 8- 5 "Third case"
Plank-on-edge fl oor
- but more effect ive if it had tapering arms that reached almost to the turn of the bilge
New bootstraps I'd like n ow to consider some of lh e responsibiliti es of the floO!' li mbers, how they can fai l in their duties, and what can be done to get lhem o ut of a bind. There is a subject dear to m y hean best describ<.'{\ as The Case of the Shrinking Gar· board . Th is crops up most frequem ly in " planked-down," "dilch-keel" powerboats like O ld Novis, but I' ve known lhe phenomenon La occur in an anciem Crowninshield schooner
81
figure 8-6 Composite construction floor frame
----'
.,
.'
--
lit · plate '/I" plate
----
••
•
and a classic fantail-stern launch. Theopening move is always the same. " Have you got any rea l good oakum?" asks the owner. " My garboards have shrunk something awful. 'Course. thcy'reoriginal- been on there 15 years-can 't expect them to last forever-anyone knows you can 't do a real ca ulking job with eotlon .... " So you tell him you think she needs new bootstraps more than she needs furth er prying apart. (Garboards don 't shrink, all evidence lO lhe contrary n otw ithstanding. Keels sag under the weight of engines; and if the frame-butts let go their g rip of the foundation, there's bound to be a gap above the rabbet. You can't blame the trouble on floor timbers, because they were not provided in any great quantity when the boat was bui! t. ) If you are as foolhardy as I have 82
•
been known 10 be, you will tell him 10 bring her up, and you'll put h er on the railway; and if he'lllear up four feet of cockpit floor down the middle, you 'll fix h er. So you ha ul her out, with water in her up to the fl ywheel, and not a drop runs outof the old basket. Bul pUI a l imber and a jack under each bilge, JUSt aft of the engine, and take half her weight o ff the car-a nd the ocean drops right OUI of her lovely garboard seams. While she's up thus, rake out the lovely mess of eotlon, oakum, and roof tar from the garboard seams, and let h er down again . Chances aTe those garboards have miracu lously expanded (or something has happened, anyway) so now the open seam looks almost respectable. All you need worry abou t is keeping it that way when she's
fis ure 8-7
Double sawn-frame construction (in U.S. Navy frigate of 1797) Floors and cross chocks are locked to the keel under a three-log keelson. Scarfed -togethe r futtocks were primarily a feature of naval vessels, according to Wm. A. Baker, N.A. Use of chocks permiued use of straighter timber.
Second futtock
Keel
11 1-- - T,,, timber Keelson
Floor timber
Paired floo r timbers were pinched between k~el and keelson in double sawn-frame construction of an 1832 Maine pinky schooner.
83
•
figure 8-8 Installing bootstraps
Th.
boo,"' ",p~,
Propeller shaft Keel-6 x 12
supported by water instead of by railway. Here's wh ere the bootstraps arc applied. First, look at FigureB-B. ThaI timber siuingon edge across the ditch is brand-new lO this old boat, and is one of three, judiciously spaced between the stern post and the forward end of the cockpit. I call it a floor timber for lack of a better name. Bore a hole down through it, far enough off the centerline to clear the propeller shaft. Continue the hole down through the keel. Cut and thread bolts to reach from countersunk h eads on the bOllom of the keel to the top of this cross piece. Do the oth er two likewise; fasten earnestl y from the planking into these pseudo-floors: fit vertical d eats. wedges, and fillers down each side of the ditch, bolted [0 the crosspiece at the top, fastened to the planking below. Tightt.'n the nuts on tht.' bootstraps 'til she squeaks in pain. Ca ul k that fine small garboard scam and shove her back in. You shouldn't have missed more than one tide.
(\Ve did Brooksy 's gramp's boat this way one morning. She was strip-planked, and not too old. and sat on the railway t ighter'n a youknow-what in fly time umil we jacked her a little-whereupon 1,000 miles of hairline seam appeared in view , oozi ng water every damned inch. We put the bootstraps to her, as above, and shoved her back in to adjust herself. Saw Cramp a week or two later looking kind of morose, and felt obliged to inquire how she was doing. " She stinks !" he said. "Used to be you pumped enough water through her lO keep her sweet, but not any more. That gurry just sets in the bilge and rots." Ah, well ... some days you can't do anything righL ) With all these piClures of flat-f1oon.-d, powerboats around , thi s is a good time to consider ano ther specia l responsibility of th e floor tim bers-or perhaps what happens, in this type of boat, when they're too small and too few.
figure 8-9 Deep floors for powerboats Cockpit deck Floor ";mD" ,
,J""---- Propeller shaft
IUr===-- Tw;o bolts -------1 84
figu re 8- 10
It
4 stri ngers
fI"" fo, engine bed
Fitting deep n oors Let's agree that the topsides of the boa t (the side planking from jusl below Ihe waterl ine to the sheer, i n my book. a nd never mind what the Navy calls it) provide most of Ihe longitudinal stiffness of the hull. The keel contributes very lill ie to this (u nless. of course, we are considering a heavily built dragger. with considerable dead rise even in the after sections), and the great need is to transfer this topside strength to the rest of the fabr ic. including the keel . This is one of the main functions of the floor timbers. Go to any ,graveyard of old lobsterboa ts, a nd you ' ll see what I mean. If they've sat lo ng withou t careful shoring under th e bilges a nd transom, th ey'll likely show a dimple at the top of the stern post and a kink in the keel where it rests in the forward-most crossbeam of the cradle. The bilges ma y sag a bit , like the jowls of middle age; and in a planked-down boat there will be a definite coming-LOgether of the sides above the shah alley. You may argue a t thi s point that the boat was designed to fl oa t in wa ter , a nd not sit up there in the weeds. Trueenough; flex ibili ty isa great virt ue if you don't have too much of it, a nd they all have to leak a lillie or they wouldn 't be boats-but what if you hit the sand a few times w hil e wnning a n inlet, or get ca ught in the surf a long the beach? You'll feel better if you know the garboards aren't l ikely to pop out of the rabbet on the third bounce, nor the stern posl 10 come up through the deck, nor the propeller shaft to go so m uch am of line that the engine is losl.
You can take arms against this sea of trou· bles thus: Fit long floors clear across the flat, as in Figure 8- 9_ Make them as deep as you can; bolt a verti<.:al member at each end, pinned to the sheer clamp, where possible; fas ten them solidly to the backbone with dr ifts and Lshaped castings locked to tht: Iwin bolts in the deadwood_ The athwartships Strength of these deep fl oors will hold the topsides a nd centerline strllClure in their proper relationship . The floors provide a perfect base to support the timbers of the cock pit floor frame. And they add 207 pounds to the weight o f the boal, and 15 years to its use£u ll ife, a nd reduce its speed by 9/ 10 knot. You may question the accuracy of these fi g ures, but il won't do a n y good to tell me about it. While we're still aboard this powerboat, leL's consider the engine bed a nd the floors that support it. Remember that the mighty thrust of the propeller must be transm itted frolll cngine to bed [0 floor s to hull , and that the whole assembly will be subject to violent lurches and possible sudden SLOpS. You're not concerned merel y with a weight o f 500 to 1,500 pounds sitting serenely upright. Someday it will lilt 45
85
figure 8-11 Cure for strained and leaking garboards These wooden floor timbers with wings are set between existing frames with their bronze floors. The wooden floors and their wings are heavily fastened to the hull plank.
degrees and drop 6 feet in the trough between seas. The usual plank-an-edge en gine bed won't st and such treatment without strong lateral support. As shown in Figure 8-10, thi_ support can be provided by adding to the height of the [loors, outboard of the engine mounts. Or you can fit one-piece floors, scooped out to take the crankcase, and land the engine mounts on flat stringers notched into the floors . This system allows you to use throughboils in the engine mOllnts, because the lower ends of the bolts are in the clear below the stringers. If you tie all these members to each other, and to the keel and frames and planking, and anything else you can think of, then you can feel fairly certain that the bed won't wrack or loosen. And if you are installing two engines side by side, make these floors high and plenty where they cross the keel; lock the enginebearing stringers into partial bulkheads before and abaft the engines, and don't allow the weight to bear on the frames and the planking. (I've seen three-year-olds with double hernias. )
86
Adding timbers with "wings" Let's now take a good look at the front end of a long-snouted sailboat. She's got a fine pedigree, metal floors up forward, and a frantic owner. He has read all about inadequate mast steps and outside strapping in the Herreshoff manner, but he's not quite sure what to do, because she leaks-not too badl y at rest if the rigging is slack, but fearfully indeed when she's under sail. She's a $50,000 deathtrap that's worth just what the gear will bring on the second -ha nd market-unless, of course, we can think of a cure, preferably quick and inexpensLve. Let's try to analyze the trouble. Obviously, the garboard seam (or much less likel y, the joint between the keel and stem ) opens when the mast pushes down and the shrouds pull up. It·s customary to blame this phenomenon on a mast step that's too short. No one would dare blame it on a weakness of those magnificent cast-bronze floors, or the builder 's refusal to box the frames into the
fou ndation . "Com pletely useless, and just a nother rot-pocket ," he'll tell you , Maybe the mast step is a bit on the limber side: but if it were a ca~t-iron bar twice as long, it wouldn't change th in gs much , The shrouds arc still going to pull the [rdmes and planking away fro m the keel unless there's a very strong, n onstretching li e to hold them there. (And it takes o nly 1116 inch of slackness in a 3- to 1·foot length of seam to cause a leak that ' ll scare you to dea th ,) Believe i( or n ot, the cure for this dreadfu l sta te o f aHairs is reiativei)' simple. The most di ffi cult part of the project i _~ to convince the owner that yo u have to rip out all that lovely cei ling and joinerwork , and leave him with 6 inches less headroom up front, Turn a deaf ear to his \vails and fit some real floor timbersbetween fra mes, bolted strong ly through the keel or s tem as may be, fitted with wings-up the inside o f the planking as far as you dare (see Figure 8- 11 ). Fasten from the planks into lhe floors as if your reputa tion depended upon it, as indeed it may. Recaul k, hard, the garboard seam and twO or three plank seams above it. Say a prayer, shove her in, and try herOII!. You may have gai ned a sati sfied customer and a fri endif you ma naged to replace most of th e joinerwork intact and didn't charge him for it.
Tangs and tie-rods There's yet another way to hold these parL'i together, It's somewhat akin to the bootstrap technique described 'way hack there fo r the salvat ion of old powerboats, and has the great virtue of taking up practically no room at all, h 's all do ne with s im ple tangs and tic-rods, Figure 8- 12 makes it perfectly obviom: Fasten the lang to a frame or rivet it to the ins ide of the planking; drill a ll the way through the stem, as nearl y as possi ble in line with the tang; counterbore for the nu t and rivet the tie-rod up and through the tang end; turn on a nut, and lighten down. The lo nger the tangs, the belleI'. T he more of them you apply, the belleT. The bronze floor s can stay right there to impress surveyors, and the garboards will hold the new caulkin g. Having read thi s fa r, you may have the fec iin g that o ld boatbuilders spend most of their decl ining years repairing their own and o thers' mi stakes . This is not the whole truth. We goon making more mistakes, but we don ' t usually make th e same ones all over again. Profit by our eX
figure 8-12 Curing strained garboards by use of tangs and tie-rods
87
.. ~
Chapter Nine
The Planking Process: From the Sheer Down $0 there she is, set up, timbered out, rabbet
(aired, ready for planking. This is the biggest single job, and probably the most difficult for the beginner-not because there's anything very , co mplicated about it, bUl because much of it depends on judgment, eye, and the unconscious skill of hand thaI you gradually acquire without knowing it. The old pro loves to (it planks because he can do it without thinking, and it's his great talent, with a sort of timeless rhythm to i t, which clothes and defines a thing of beauty. What we're talking about here is, of course, real planking in the ancient, classical manner: fair-seamed, tapered, fiued and through-fastened to the timbers, smoothed fair, and caulked. Learn this. and you are welcome to try edgenailed strips, battened seams. cold-molded laminates, or ch icken-wire-and-fiberglass. (I hope you will sometime try a lapstrake job. because that is beau tiful indeed.) But for now le t's get on wi th the problems of smoOth planking, which keeps the water out, and the people in, better
than anything else I know of, and delineates (at least for you, the builder) the most beautiful shape that man has managed to crea te. So, first, you need to know what shape the indi vidual planks will be, before you worry about how to mark , cu t, bevel, hang, and fasten them off. This boat we are dealing with is in some ways the most difficult and complicated shape one is likely loencounter, with wineglass sections throughout, great area below the lUck , extreme variations in girth, long counter, and plank ends mitered to the cylindrical-section transom, but that is all to the good. I'm sure that if I can explain it, you can understand it, and you may as well know the worst at the beginning. It's like swinging two bats when yOll come up to the plate. Lining out the sheer planking Well then . If YOll will allow yourself to view the hull of our 39-foot sloop in twO distinct
89
/
~
T ----I''''
/"
;Y
/
-----
/"
----
------..
~ ;::r---
~ r-I----
figure 9- 1 The lines
pl~n
----------•
i---
r----------- ~ i'--
'" "- " ""'-- " '-..
-~ ~
,'
~/
•
r-.,
pans, separated for our purposes approximatel y along diagonal 02 in Figure 9-1 (and if we're lucky, also along what has been referred to elsewhere as the tuck ribba nd), you will diml y discern that I ha\'ed ist incI a pproaches in mind for these areas. The a reas, one above and the other below this ribband. are for our purposes completely independent o f each other. Kindl y ignore the lower one, and bear with me as I attempt to line out the planks that will clothe the a rea between this special ribband and the sheer. The simplest way to do this (and entirely satisfactory, if you have skill and time enough) is to line out with a bauen, by eye, the lower edge of the proposed sheerstra ke, cut a plank to that shape, fasten it in place, and repeat the w hole process over a nd over till you get therein this case, to the fl at of the bilge, where I h ope you're planning to put in the shutter. This method is slow, laborious, and lends to irregularities, but it works. I prefer a somewhat more precise system , which is based on lhe following assumptions: Ideally, all scams are to be fair curves from bow to stern; all planks are to taper exacliy the same amounts from the widest point in the middle to their narrowest points forward and aft. Thus, if we have 17 planks, a ll exactly the same width on stat ion number 5, we should have 17 planks exactl y the same width a t station number 3, a nd
90
,"""" ---...---------.::
!
".f.'
a t station number 7, and anywhere else in the length of the boar. This is a simple enough proposition. Find the length, find the girths at each section , divide these varying girths equally into the same number of parts, and you 've got it- the shape of the Ideal Pla nk. which, repeated the proper number of times, will cover the a rea beautifull y. What we wam, then, is to gCt this infonnation into precise, convenient, and graphic form, so that the man geu ing out planking can determine in a moment the exact width of any p lank at any place in its length, at or between stations (e.g., proposed bullS). And the way we do il is Ihus: Measure the distances between sta tions along a sort of Greal Circle course from stem to transom- say, along the ribband tha t lies between diagonals D4 and D50n the body plan of Ihe lines drawing. These d imensions will increase as you go awa y from the middle of the boat. Write them dow n thus: Stem to #1 #1 to #2 #2 to #3 #3 to #4 #4 to #5
46" 50"
49 1/2" 48 1h " 48"
#510 #6 to #7 to #8 10
#6 #7 #8 Ira nsom
48" 49 1h " 50"
53"
Now find a dean board abouI6 inches wide and 6 fee t long, and joint o ne edge straigh t. Starting a few inches from oneend.1a y off these
figure 9-2 Plank layout by use of iI di minish board Sheer, or underside of covering board 5
--
T
7
8
, ,,
,
/
, ,, ,
,
"
,
'Midship girth is marked for equal plank widlhs from sheer to lUck banen, and a similar sel of equal plank widths from luck banen 10 rabbet. (The lower system of planks will be dealt wilh separately, in Chapler 10. )
The faired line of tne tuck batten is Ine demarcation between Ine " lay" of tne plank on the upper and lowe r regions of Ihe null.
Sneer ribband
Girtns for eacn station are measured carefully and divided Inlo Ine same number of equal plank widtns. Plank widths along Ine stem end and on Ihe transom will be obtained from Ine diminisn board.
--+.....,10;-.,.,
--,---,-- -- ---- -- -- - - ,---11:
~ Marked at sneer, or on
underside of covering board
Tne girt h lalh
Girth lalh held snugly to the inside face of the rlbbands
Tuck ribband
Line of the tuck batten (or ribband)
Example:
75'1l~
17
(girth at station number 5) (planlc.s wanted)
The marked girths are carefully measured in inches and fractions, Ihen each is divided by Ihe whole number of intended planks in order to oblain Ihe Ideal Pla nk width at Ihal station.
·P/li· p lank widtn at station number 5
91
figure 9-3 Plank la yout by use of a diminish board
The lengt h of the Ideal _ Plank is taken along a ribband that traver~es the widest region of the 'midship molds.
·s ~
.. __
~
1 ___ _
2 -__ _
The diminish bO
3 4
These perimeter distances between stations are laid off to ,'/zw. "Ow scale on a clean board with one straightened edge.
~ T_.
..•'-
'-'-'-
5 ·_ .•.
6_ •• _. '
-..... --
-...
--
A sharp, fair line
"1."",,;~
......... 4
The plank widths are laid off in full scale at each station from the straightened edge of the board .
The sharp line gives the exact width of the Ideal Plank at any place along its scaled length.
Here, a width may be taken off where a bun is wanted between stations.
92
distances, consecuti vely, to a sca le o f 11/2 inches equals I foot (I!. inch eq uals I inch ), and label each mark clearly (and, of course, correcdy). SO )'OU will end with a mark labeled " lransom " exactl y 4 [ttt 7 1/ 4 inches fro m your starling point labeled "stem." . Leave thi s board now and fin d a limber lath, aoout 1/ 8 inch th ick, ' / 4 inch wide, and 8 feet long. This isa marking stick 1.0 get the girths. As shown in Fig ure 9-2, bend it inside the rihhands, wi th its lower end resting on the topedgt: o f the special tuck ribband. close alongside the number 5 mo ld and snug agains t the illSides of the ribbands. Ma rk the la th exactl y at the he ight of the sheer mark on the mold. Get the o ther six station girths in the sa me way, being very care(ul to measure exactly from the top of that critical ribband to the sheer mark. Don't get the labels mixed. You will h ave to do a bit o f guesswork on station n umber I, because the magic line has entered the rabbet bC£ofe reaching the station mark; and the girths at the poin ts called "stem·' and "tra nsom " ca nnot be measured at all. Now measure the girths, sublract from each the thi ckness o f the deck (I inch in this example), and wri te down the resul ts in inches and quarters. (Fo r purposes o f illustration , we're using only the girth at station number 5, which is the greatest, measuring 7S t / t inches.) It is now time to decide how many planks (and, of course, the maximum width of each one) are to be used to cover this space. A workable rule of thumb on widths goes like this: Max imum width of a pla.nk should not be less than four nor more than fiv e times the thickness of that plank. If we apply this rule here (based on 1~/16 ·in c h thickness o f stock ), we want no less than 4-inch width at station number 5, where the girth is grea test. A mOllumen tal effort in fourth·gradearithmetic indica tes that 17 planks. each 41/ 16 inches wide , will come somewhere near to filling thi s gap. So we divide each of the ~ix other girths by 17. to get the width o f each plank at each stalion. Now comes the mo men t of truth . Go back to the board with the imervals marked on i t in ) 112 inches-to· the-foot scale. Draw a line square across the board at each station , stem , and transom mark. Now measure along each of these cross lines, from the stra ight edge of the board, the width of pla nk obta ined in the process of dividing each correspondin g girth by 17. Now we have a series of marks, arci ng from station number I upward to grea tes t height al number 5 and back down 10 a mark on the ordi nate
label ed nUlllix-r 8. Drive a sma ll nail firml y at each of these poims. Find a fla wless pi ne or spruce batten about lh inch squa re and 7 fect long. Bend it around inside, and touching, th e "enieal na ils, and hold it aga inst Ihem wi lh three or four na ils driven snugl y aga insl the inside face o f your ba nen. T he result (see Figure 9-3 ) shou ld be a faircollvex curve, requiring no local forcing of the banen to make it touch all of the marks. If any grea t discrepancies show up (a point more than l/ t inch away from the line the batten wan ts 10 follow ), you'd better check your arith mf'lic. Pull down the end s of th e ballen beyond the number I a nd number 8 ord in ates until it exerts no pressure at these 1\\' 0 points, and accept its deci sion a s to the corren widths at the end ordinates-stem and tra. nsom. Wh en you arc satislied th at the curve is corren and fair, mark a sharp line on the board the full len gth of the ou tside of the batten. Pull Ihe nails, al]d there she is-the true width of the plank that, repeated 17 times between sheer and tuck, should fill the space wa tertight. 'With this d im ini sh ooard you can now determin(· th(· correct width of an y plank at any point between the ordinates. Suppose a plank hu n is to come in a bay wh05ecenter is 18 inches forward o f sL"llio n nu mber 4. In the longiwdinal s('ale used on the dim inish board , 1/8 inch o n your rul t' equa ls I inch on the full·sized h ull; therefore, measure o n the boa rd 2 1/t inches (I8 divided by 8) from the number 4 ordinate toward num ber 3, and take at this point the correct width (from the edge of the board 10 the curved line) of the butt Clld of the plank you arc marking. Let 's mark and fit a few, before we fa ce the day of reckoning th(lt (lwaits us when we must go down below-down to th e ga rhoard , and the stealers, and the awesome bevels in the lUck , where your knees give out, and you hang upside-dow n li ke a nuthatch on a fence, trying to think of some way to clamp and edge-set a plank that's tOO hot to handle anyway. Fitting the forward port sh eerstrake Ann yourself with a handful of fi vepenny box nails. scribers, a light ha mmer, a crosscut saw, a bevel gauge, a hal f-dozen C-c1amps, and a spiling staff, which is a thin board, 4 to 8 inches wide and as long as the longest piece of planking stock you propose to use. If this spiling board has a gentle S·curve in its length, it will do fin e for the forward p lanks on the topsides; aft of amidships you' ll need one with a gentle
93
figure 9-4 Scribing the sheerline
Sheer Slation locations, carefully marked
"
The "fateful " scribed line gives the curve of the sheer.
co nc;.lve curve the length of its top edge. Before you ' re through, you'lI have short, narrow (and very thin ) boards , wh ich have been used and planecloff and used again until you gC( (0 know them li ke old fam iliar faces. (I hav(' one lung, crooked cedar board that's been in use for 25 years, and it is so thin you can barel y pick it up hy the middle.) Set lip the stagi ng planks on high horses, oil drums, what-have-you-so that the sheerline is waist- to shou lder-hi gh on you. Tack a long, true batten to the stem, molds , and transom so that its lower edge delinea tes the exact line of the sheer. Now get the spiling board into place-its forward end almost lOuching the rabbet and down 2 or 3 inches from the middl e of the sheerline right up to the ballen. a nd its after end probabl~' 100 low. Try to adj ust it (without
94
springing it edgewise) so that you ca n, with the dividers locked at one setting, run the whole length of it with a pencil line that will be equidist... mt at all points from the edge of the batten. (See Figure 9-4.) Before you draw the fateful line, however, be sure the pat ient is comfortabl e-twisted to lie snugly against the frames, relaxed all the way. (You wan t thc shccrstrake to be cut to [it, not edge-bent to fit. With three or four strakcs all around her-and under your belt, as it were- you can ex periment \'\li th edge-setting as much as you want to; but get these binders on firs!. ) Very well, then: DraW thi s line, representing the tOp edge of the sheerstrake. keeping the legs of your scribcrs at right angics to the line of the banen. Now, very precisel y. note (on the spiling board) first , the extra distance to be added to the plank to reach the rabbet line; second, the location of all stations
(molds) for the purpose of marking widths to the lower edge; thiru, the location of the butt. I like to stan the sheersuake from the slem with the longest plank available, for reasons that will be apparent shortly. So now, as shown in Figures 9-4 and 9-5, we have on the spi ling board the exact curvature of the fOp edge of the sheerstrake, from the stem ra bbet to the butt, carefully marked in the middle of a bay some 20 feet aft of the su.:m; and we have notations of the locations of all the molds so far covered. Thi s, with the dimin ish board. provides allthe information we need. Therefore we ca n now take off the clamps, carry the spil ing board tenderiy 10 Ihe three horses where lies the raw plank ( I inch by 10 inches by 21 feel. probably mahoga ny), and mark the shape of the forward half of the sheerstrake, port side. Set yo ur dividers at about 1/ 4 inch greater span than was used 10 mark the line on the spiling board. Use Ihis span as a guide in placing the spili ng board on the stock, and then, with the sharp leg of the dividers on the line, swi ng short arcs with the pencil end on the stock. Do this at 12-inch to 18-inch intervals along the entire length of the line you're transferring (see Figure 9-5). Now mark on the new plank all the other information you 've got on the spiling board: the exact spot where the top edge of the plank will hit the rabbet line at the stem; the location of each station where the plank will cross it; and the location of the but! ·
cu t (which w ill , of course, come midway in the farth est-aft hay that the plank will reach ). Now put the spiling board aside, and drive a nail (fi vepenny box, one tap) at the top of each of the shon arcs you marked. Bend a batl.en against these nails (see Figure 9-6 ), and you should he able to draw a line along it exactly parallel to the one on th e spiling board, and representing the top edge of the sheerstrake. Now get from the diminish board the exact widths indicated at each of the stations marked on the plank; lay off these widths, and the width at the butt (obtained by scaling to the right spot on lhe diminish board, and measuri ng directly from ill; tap in a nail at each mark, lay the batteo to them, and draw a line, which wil l be (he bottom edge of the sheerstrake. And now to cut this p lank. The men of old did it with a hand ripsaw, and no fuss about it. Some moderns use a big bandsaw with a wide blade Ihal won', wander. Others use an electricpowered circular handsaw, which you very likely possess-and a very good way this is, too, if you can follow the line accurately , freehand, or will take the trouble to tack a guide-batten at exaCily the right distance from the line to be sawn. I lise this last system ifT'm dealing with a plank more than 24 feet long. But for anyth ing shorter than that (and it can be very curved indeed ) I always use [he old slow tablesaw, with an 8-inch or 10-inch blade, and a wide extension table streLchingaway beyond it for 16 feet-and,
figure 9 - 5 Laying out spilinl! on plank stock Scribed line of
'1~::::::::'h:~:'::::h~____,--;
----=:=======~=/=",~=,:,=o~'f;.l!ij~ ' Spiling staff
"'7--''- Arcs swung from Ihe
I
scribed sheerline on the spiling staff may be connected with a fair batten to give the e xact line of the sheer.
,
Spots obtained by \' relocating the centers ~\ of arcs swept on the spiling batten gives the ;0'0
mct d;",oce
'he "bbe'.
\1
'\
/
\ I
I
/
Plank stock
95
figure 9-6 Sheerslrake, read y 10 cui
Spiled layout of the sheerSlrake's upper edge is posted with brads-
,-
•
-a nd th en ~" with a lini ng batten.
I
/ f'oinu locatin g the lower edge are slepped off from the diminish board along the station marks.
of courst', a ro ller 8 feeL in front o f Iht: S(lW and a suppon 10 fee t ht!yond that. W ith (I li ll Ie practice, a sharp Sosed edge. Tha t way madness lies .... Go alwad then . a nd cur . Dress off tht' lower edge fai r and Irue- and. squa re, Wi th your bevel gauge. get the a ngle between Ihe shecr ilallt'n and the ra bbet a t the stem , mark a nd cu t the fom'ard. end of tlw plan k. and STO P rig h t there, curb your eagerness, and go mark ou t a n ('xact mirror du p I iGHV of t his pall pIa n k. Bu t do not cu t ou t this t\\' in p la nk until yo u 've trifd the fi rst o ne in p lace. Now 's tht' grea t momt'nt. Pic k up tbt· p lank a bout a t its bal a ncc po int , la y it up againsllhe frames, and lIlove it horizonta ll y unti l the neares t station m ark lines up with the corresponding mold. Clam p jt to th e rlt'arest fram c. with the tO p edge j / I inch below the batlen ; go fOlward ,
,I
%
a nd swing the end in to the stem. If i t's with in lh inch of the rabbe1. damp it lightl y to the fOfeward most fram e. then to the stem: go back and lightly clamp the a ft er end (beyond fh e butt mark. if it rcache.~ ) a l the right hei ght under the sheer ballen. Ta p the bU ll end wi th a heav)' ha mmer, geml y. unti l the forward end fetche!-i into the ra bbet. B{~ \vare that it ha.'i no t sl id up the slope of the stem beyond i ts propel" height. (For deck I hickne s~, ft'm em ber?) If i t's a good fit in the ra bbet, tight. inside a ll the way and showing a 1/ 16- inch outgaugC . clam p it tight. If Ihe fit is no t good . swi ng till' (:nd OUI a n d p la ne il as necessary. Swing back an d clam p; tap ahead agai n ; pron."cd to PUt a cla mp o n every frame, being very careful 1.0 keep that tOp ed ge at i ts proper distance below the sheer ba tt en . When rla nking from tht: sht'er down, I always put the clamps o n the forward face of the fram e, under Ihe plank. and inside out-tha t is, wi lll the Ihreaded. part inside Ihe boat. Thi sarra nge ment kee ps them o ul o f Ihe way of lhe fa sten ings, which (lfe always staggered accordi ng to a fi xed pattern -the lower o ne to ward the a ft er edge of tht, frame , the upper o ne forward. Do no t try 10 gel away with any shortnils, such as clamping 10 every other fra me. because the twO laminati o ns o f the frame must be snug together. a nd the fan' of Ihe p lank must he tight to tilt' frame, before a screw-fa stening can be put in properly. Faslening the sheerSlrake All set, then ? Get Ollt your 1i2-inl"h cou nt ef-
hopelessly o b.~c.u r ing the target that your drill must h i t. An d wil y, you rna}' ask, d id we fa sten th is p lan k with s(:rews, \vhen we're supposed to be using copper rivcts? Simply for th is reason: When you come to bol t through the sheerstrake and·the fram e head s to hold the sheer clamp in p lace, you'll find that about half the bolts will go best where you've already driven plank fas· tenings. Screws you ca n take out, to make way. R ight no w. before YOIl forge I it. mark on thls sheerstrake wi th bright Jed ehal k the bays where the eha inpla tes wi II go (see Figure 9- 7). This is sacred g round , a nd no p la nk bUllS c.a n be allowed 10 happen hereabou ts unt il you 're down at least eight strakes.
bore, with a tapered drill tofi t 2·itH:h number l4 screws, and p roceed to fas ten o ff. '/~ inch up from the hot tom edge and I inchdo\\'n from the tOp . Count eroore a bou t V16 in<.:h deep - no more. Th i~ aCI will do th ings fo r your mora le, a nd you havc to Ket those damps frcc before you can do anyth ing else, anyway. (Th e principal di fference between a professional and a n amatcur boat bui lder, I think, is not that one dot's a bener job than the oth er, or gelS mOTe faT his pains, but simply thaI the pro bas finall~' managed to acqu ire a lmost enough clamps, and ha .~ been forced hy bi ller n ecessi t), to learn more ways of maki ng them work ,) You \"ill have collle up agai nst th is truth whi le strugg li ng to get that fo rward end tightly in p lace without
fi gure 9- 7
Butts ma ted by use of th e severed end
Chainplate marh Trimmed forwa rd $eclion of the port sheen1r~ke - -- _
Rough butt-cut of the severed end gives approximate ang le only. Butt-CUI squared to Ihe sheerline and pla ned smooth _ _
Width ,Jnd curve must match e~a cl l y.
•
Severed end becomes exaci pattern for th e ma1ch ing butt.
••
• Ma rked·oul after section of the port sheenlrake,
/
-'
/
•
i
•
••
•
97
figure 9-8 Fitting sheerstrake to transom
(al Mark the ins ide edge of miter on the sheerstrake.
(b) Mark the outside corner.
(c) Finished mi ter
,
'r__ Tra nsom ...::l
---
frame
--
Block of transom >lOck he ld against the transom fra me
Future) transom frame
Untrimmed hood e nd of sheerstrake
Fitting the aft port sheerstrake
Ign ore, no\v, the temp ta tion of that twin plank all marked to cut, and make ready to fir the after part of the port sheerstrake, as shown in Figure 9-7. I hope that the plank you have just fastened on extends at leasI6 inches beyond the butt-cut (to be cut square with the top edKe, up from the lower edge, with a sharp handsaw) that you are ahout to make. This waste end is your k If ' " out port "an d save It. ' secret ,weapon. '1" Iar Now clamp a spiling board from the butt to and beyond the transom frame (I'm assuming that you ha ve stock long enough to make the distance in one piece) , and repeat all the business you went through on the forward plank: scribe fo r the top edge; mark the station loca tions and the after end a l the transom; indicate the exact distance to the butt from the end of your spilinK hoard; transfer all this information to the piece fro m which the plank will be cut; layoff the widths, for the bo ttom edge curve, from the diminish board; and finally , lay that "o ut port" waste piece on the marks just as it would have overlapped the new plank if it had not been sawn off. This waste piece gives you the exact width and, more important, the exact curvature of both edges that the new plank must have 10 match the first one. You also get from it, theoretically at least, the right li ne to saw for this matching bun end. You will use this trick over and over as you continue the planking, so you'd best geL it clear in your m ind right now . This is
98
the most useful of all aids in getting the hurts fair; and if you think that 's a n easy Ihing to do, . . . or not very Important anyway, Just you wall until you've had to work a real humpy one down with a rabhet plane, and then tried to fit tht, next plank to the irregular curve and the out-of-square edge that you ended up with. If you're Koing to get dear around her with a strah: a day. from now on you can't afford to have th o~e curves anything but fair and sweet from end to end . Having settled this, let's hang the plank. Shave the butt end to fit tight, clamp along and swing in to the transom frame, get the top edge on the marks, and look at the butt. Chances are two to one that the fit is not perfect. So run your well-set crosscut saw up the joint, go aft, and tap the plank ahead. Repeat until the juint is airtigh t; thcn mark at the tra nsom frame for the m iter cut (see Figure 9-8a). The inner line will obviously lie along the outer edge of the transom frame; the outer line is determined by layinK a piece of 15/l6 -inch stock against the transom frame, under your plank end, and marking where the outside .mrfaces of each intersect (Figure 9-8b). If this isn't clear, 10 hell with it. Anyway, the cut will be roughly at 90 degrees to a tangent to the transom frame at the edge (Figure 9-Bcl. And be sure tha t the plank is really at the righ t heigh t on the transom (you can sight from the plane of the cross spalls, and measure up 10 the height given in Ihe offsets) before
marking. Probably you'd be~t take the whok plank off again bdOiC you make this rut, because it's a very awkward thing to do (what. wi I h your h,md !rem bl i ng. and your eyes trying [0 see both sides of the plank at once), and the plank may need just the least bit of backing out a I its after end. "Backi ng ou t" means hollowing (o r, dowll in the wineglass sections, rounding off ) the iUlIer face of t.he plank to lie snugly for its en tire width against the curved frame. You ca n use a shan bit of l/~-inch-square lead bar, bent to the right curve, as a guide in the hollowing process, 01 you can use the guess-and· try method, which wOlks fairly well after you've practiced for a ft'w years. And oh, my fr iend, if you value your sanity, do not forget to mark out a twin to this plank before you fasten it in place. I have seen a man j ump on his hal and knock off for the day when he remembered this too late. Have you corrected lhe bevel on the transom frame where the plank lands? All right, then: damp it in place aga in, and fasten off.
bas been waiting all this while , Saw it out, run your plane the length of the lower edge (if the shaving-lm:aks, find out why), and go lO the pile of planking stock. Choose a piece 3 or 4 feet shorter tha n the one you've jus t shaped, a nd proceed 10 mark the top edge of this second plank from the bottom edge of yQur sheerstrake. Lly off the widths to match the sheerstrake widths, line out. the bOl1om edge with a batten, and saw out. Dress off the edges fair, mark a twin: then use the lower edge of this second plank to mark tht' top edge of yet a third one, which will be sharlfnough to butt perhaps two bays forwa rd of the forward chain pialf'. Re peal t.hf process loget the line of the lower edge, saw out aud mark the twin. Ko\\' you have five planks ready to bevel, ba(:k out, hang, and fasten, all on the strength of the original spiling. This is Proliferation. If you could only mark those after planks the same way, life would be beautiful. It is not entirely r idiculous figure 9-9
Fitting a butt block We've still got the bUlt block to fil. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever get a sheerstrake clear around her. The butt block should be a piece of black locust (or whit.e oak, black walnut, or even dense mahogany) overlapping the adjacent planks, ahoveand below, by about -I/ s inch, and with ends about that much ~hort of touching the frames forward and aft of the butl. T-he block shou ld be little, if any, thicker than the plank stock, and it should be fitted exactly to the hollow and tw ist of the inner surface of the planking. Hold it in place with (:-damps inside-out on the high corners: drill for three fastenings in each end, 1 inch back from the bUll, and two more in each plank, a Third of the way in from the edges and halfway from butt to frame (see Figure 9-9). Drill for P / f-inch number 14 screws. counterbored ~/16 inch deep, for the end fastenings, and for number 8 copper rivets to take the back ones. Ream those end holes (through the planks only) with a l/ l-inch drill, lest you start to split. And now take the clamps off, soak the con tact surfaces and the ends of the block with strong poison, reciamp, a nd fasten. By now you'll know why bUllS cost money , and why the pros like to use long stock.
Butt block
Inside
Outside
Getting out more planking Now far "out, starboard, forward," which
99
figure 9-10 Seam bevels Proper ca ul king seamtigh t on the inside, beveled ope n on the o utside. A 'I,," o pening is about right for the . eam bevels in this boat.
Tight
Open
I
Tight seambeveled tightl y inside and out. Caulki ng cannot be dr ive n unless the sea m is hawsed open wit h a sharp iron.
/ " Hollow sea m"bevel o pens on the inside. Caulking wou ld be dr iven th rou gh to the inside. Replank ing is the o nly good solution.
to hope, however, that after you h ave finis hed thest: thn:!: stra kes a 11 aroun d (spi J ing for each of tht: after o nes -the second and thi rd of which wil l be in tw o lengths ("ach ), you ca n take a notlwr long s pi li n g from fo r ward, a nd go th roug h the wholt' happy bus in ess all o ver . ag"dln.
But right now , wi th a p lank rcady 10 go next to another p la nk . yo u are fa ced with twO importan t p ro b lems: First . how to fit the sca m; and second. ho\\' to squeeze the tw O IOgt:ther whil<' yo u fasten the second one in p lace. At this stage. h igh b tl the tops ides, both jobs arc reiatiwiy
easy to do:
b ut the tech niquf.s a re basic, and you ma y as wel l I<'am the w h o le bus iness no w a s wa it unt i l things becom e m ore comp lica ted .
100
Seam bevels In beveling, what you're aiming fo r is to ha ve a ll the sea ms open Ih e same wid ths o n th e o u lsidt'. and Iigh t -tigh t a ll th e insidt' (see Figu re 9-10). Idt'a ll y, \\'ith p lank ing of thi s th ick ness, tht' opening fOl"<:a u lki n g sh o u ld n Ot be over 1/ 8 i n (" h anywhereon tht." boat. a n d preferably a bit les~ th an th at. A joi nt tha t is t ig ht bot h ou tside and in ca n Lx: ca u l ked, a nd is forgivable but not to be praised . A join t I hat is tigh t Otl the out.side alld open ins ide is a terrible thing' in th e sight o f God and m an, and ca n n ever Uc forg iVt'n . (.J u dgl>d on these g roull(is. and o th ers, of course, vt'Jy few of us old pros ("a n hope for muc'h in th e H t'rea fter , bu t t h ere' s a \'er~' sli(:k s yste m of
caulking a st:am endwise tha t sure v.'orked wonders on the las t shutter I fitted.} To proceed: the bottom edge of tht: sheersnake was left exactly square , as it came fro m the saw. I always leave the open edge of every plan k square, and do all the beveling on the edge of the plank that is to fit against it. Therefore, since the frames are practically straigh t up here, you need only plane a uniform outgauge of a bo ut 3h ~ inch the whole length, and tht: seam should be righ t. But before we go through the business of edge-sett ing this pla nk into plate, let's consider the m ore complicated situation s that will soon arise, and how to handle them. Look now to Figure 9-11. which shows two cross sections: one from the sheerstrake down past the turn of tht: bilge, and tht: other through the reversed ben d in way of the tuck. This drawing is not to scak, and merely illustrates the general charaderistics of the plank seams in these two areas. Workin g down from the sheer, then, we see that plan k number 2 in the draw ing must be beveled off on the outer edge to about 87 degrees. The thi rd plank, landing where the fra me has begun to curve, needs no bevel at all, t:ither way , at this point. Bu t the fo urth o nt' needs cUlli ng down on the inside t'dge, in order to keep the seam u niform with those above it. This need for inga ugt', reverse bevel, o r whatever you want to call it, increases progressively as we approach the hardest part of the bilge curve. reach ing a maximum of 16 degrees (106 degrees minus 90 degrees) on the top edge of plank number 6. The bevel starts the other way on p lank number 7-and by the time you've gotten down on the flat , you 'll be back to the 87-degree outgauge tha t was necessary on plank number 2. Now consider the o ther half of Figure 9- 11the section through the tuck . We plank up [rom th r garboanl, leaving the top edge of each plank square as we fit it, making the planks narrower (and ou t of sli ghtly thicker stock, if we have it) a s we come into the quick turn. The cutback of the outer edge reaches a maximum of 23 degrees (gO degrees m inus 67 degrees) on the lower edge of number 17, which of co urse is fi tted to the square lOp edge of number 18. {Remember tha t these planks are entirely fictitious , and are not intended to bear any except fa mily resemblance to actual pla n ks.} Now, the painful part of a ll this is tha t the bevel on any given plank must be cons tan tly changing, from bow to stern, if the seams are to be constant, uniform, and caulkable. Therefore you 've got to learn 10 takt' bevels , and develop a fee l in your planing hand so
figure 9 - 11
Plank bevels- from inguage to outgauge Sheerli ne Bevels cut on the bottom edge of planking appl ied upwar d from the gar board. Upper edges are square.
---- 1
Tuck line
~
j;'
Be vels cut on the upper edge of pla nk ing applied from the sheer downward to the shutter plan k at th e tu rn of the bilge. Bottom edges are square.
that you can roll the bevel from one spa! to the next w ithout abrupt transitions. You'll do a lot of rutting and trying to the first few planks you fit. (I'm still doi ng a lot of clltting and trying, after some 40 years of it. but I'm beginning to catch on. ) The problem ha sn 't changed in 9,000 vears, which is one of the thing.~ that m ake boatbuilding a fascinating business. Pay no attention to that business with degrees , and make yoursel f a plan ker's bevel (see Figure 9-12 ). Ta ke a bevel every 2 fee t, and m ark the angle on your bevel board . Cheating with the spiting baHen If you are not using good crooked round edged boa t boards, which provide shape.~ to match your spilings, then you must be using straightedged stock- medium widths from 6 to 12 inches , say, with 8-inch and lO-inch boards m aking up most of the batch -and you ' ll be shocked, if not d ismayed , aT the curves you mus t fi t to. If they are cui to precise shape, they will run to terrible waste a nd 100 ma ny bu tts ; therefor e, you can be allowed some discree t cheating. Brnd them edgewise-but not too much . Lt:t the spi ling batten do the thi nkin g for you. Use one
101
about 4 inches wide and not too shaggy, so tha t i t \d ll hend ed gewise even ly; fo rce it up in the middle, tt!ndc riy, and dam p it in place. Sel your sc rihcr.~ to the widest necessary gap, a nd ma rk the line; if you run oU the edge before you get 10 the e nd s, reset the scribers 10 ju st under the en d wid ths of the ha tten, and mark these inner lines a t the ends, overlapping th e original line. As shown in Figure 9-1 3, mark on the batten, exac tl y, the two settings you've uSl:d, even though the overlapping lines will show how much a ltera t ion must be made when you shi ft fro m the \v ide gap to the narro\.,. one. Now, when you p lace the sp il ing ba tten o n the stock to hi: ma rked , spring its midd le slightl y down,
thereby ma king the top-edge line (w hic h yOLi are a bout to tra nsfer, w ith ~' our little a rcs a t IS- inch int erva ls) yel more nearl y straig ht than it a ppears o n the unspr ung batten . The ba tte n has recorded and allowed for the stresses tha t lhe and kept the bending. p lank will undergo, mostly within the middle thi rd of its length, so that th e ends, which can ' t he forced much an yway, are CUI very nearl y true to the actual shape required. And don ' t forge t to mark (on the new plank ) where the hutt comes on the one above it. This is the do ubtfu l pan or the curve, and sho uld be lai d Ou t w it h ca re. And after you get o ne o f these spr u ng on . pu t on the hurrs and head up the
figure 9-1 2 Taking bevels Bevel board
from stem
. . -.
,
" .•
.
.. . . •
16 _6
I
Pla nker 's bevel
'"
J Birch ice-cream sticks (or bras s)
102
figu re 9-13 Edge -selling the spili ng bane n to ge t a more comfortable fit of e dg e-se t plank
NalUrallayof the spiling batten
-Scribed line Spiling ta ke n with two settings of the scriber
....•----'- - _..._.,.-...
__..
Marked spiling batten, re laxed
-
. ....... --' .•.
-~
_..._....._._-- - --_ .. __._ -
.•.. - .._.__ ... ..
,
Spiling batten fo rced up ward (, e o tl) t plank stock y when appl"ed to st ra 'ght
--
IF------- --- -
::rr;:
"-
.-
. .... . -"......._-_.
"1 [
Edge-set K ribed line ru ns more or leu wit h the ma ight grain
Plank laid ou t from the edge-set spiling -~
Edge-set fitted plank has minima l cross grain . Ends ale well filled and relaxed .
rivets o n the lower edge, o r it will try to make itself look like a clapboard when you drive the (astenings into the nex i one below. If you don ' t wanlto ta ke time (or this ri veting, or can ' , find a vict im to hold the do ll y, fa sten the lower edge with screws. Quiet your co nscience with ,he thought that a few days in the good salt water will relax that plan k as if it had grown there. It wou ld be cruel 10 interrupt a t th is point. w hen ever yth ing is going weil, a nd suggest that you shift to thegarboard . So go ahead and plank her dow n to the flat of the deadrise. And if you go o ne plank too far, where it's starting to turn the other way, you'll be sorry. Shutters a re bad enough, even with everythi ng in your favor.
One other thing. As yOll si t inside the hull in the late afternoon , admiring the graceful sweep of tht' planking. you wi ll sudden ly note with horror tha t some of those seams, lig ht-ti ght (or nearly so ) when you fin ed them , now look , against the window, wide eno ugh so you cou ld recogni1.e (riends pas.~ in g by - even though. when you exam ine them closely, you can't ge t a thumbnail into the crac k. I remember Sam Crocker o n thi s subject . back in the 19305, when I"d been trying , unsuccessfully , to keep him away fro m the dark side of the boat. " ) know these seams are all right, and you know they're all right, but please get a littl e cotton into 'em before the owner shows up, because He Doesn't Know Anyth ing. " So we did. 103
, ,,
Chapter Ten
romt
:"' 0 \\' th a ll he upper pa rt of the hu ll is planked, it's time 10 plank u p the bottom , start ing wit h the lowermost p la n k called the garboard. Put as ide I he d imin ish hoard , g ra b a ba u en, fl ex your knees, and gel down where you can cont emplatc that sect ion of boat helo w the tuck ribha n d. :'\Jow , yo u could close in this secti o n with pl a nks that r un thus-narr o \~' ellouKh so tha t th ey ca n easily be shaped to fi t rh l~ bullo w of the \dn egla ss, a ud not too h ar d to fi l. ( sec Fig u re 10- 1), It's pe rha ps worth not ing th at the G erman · built Concordia ya w ls and the S Wt'd i .~ h Fol kbo a ts are li ned Ou[ thus, and Ihey mU.~ 1 be acknowledged as sple nd id jobs of boa thu ilding . I won '. bri ng a rgum en ts for or ag(l i n .~ l this na rro\v-p ia n k a p proach except to say tha t if the work is J o ne perfectly, this system is sati sfa ctory; but ii it is not done perfeLlly , som ehmiy is go in g to ha ve a bad time a few years la ter tryin g to recau lk rhosl: frail , sharp end s where they run o u t o n th e keel rabbet. Of co urse, the g n:at Kat H errcshoff used to bu ild thi s who le th ing u p OU I of dead wo od, spring a colossa l batten keel to the lOp o r it, and stan the p lankin g from th en '- a nd h is boa ts are 51 il l doing vcr y n icd y, thank yo u, some 40 or .SO years a ft er they were put toge th l'L
BLIt we are goi ng to do this m y wa y, and let thl: c hips (all \" here they ma y. Plank layou t, using Stealers Suppose we d r aw th e map a ga in , a nd thi!l lime divide it into fOUl equal taperin g stri p s (see Fi guTt' 10-2). What could be sim p ler th a n to fit rOtH pl a n ks to these liues. and he do ne with it ? Wel l, a n t' Ifo llblt' is that th e plank s wo uld be unnecessarily narrow at the forw ard t'nd. w ith (o ur th in and hard-to -ca ulk ends r unn in g o u t in the ra bbet. The more serio us d iff ic u lty, however, is tha t the three u p per plan ks a t leas t wou ld be i mposs ibl ~' wide from stat ion nu m ber :.l a ft; a nd if you sh a ped tlll'm ou t of :.I- inc h sto{' k, they wouldslill not fir in to tha t reversed curve. as you can tell (.~cc Fig ure 10 - 31· If yo u ma ke th em o ne-half that widt h . you can get them out o f 11 /~ -inch ~!Ock ; a nd i l" you ma ke them o ne -fo urth tht' width. you ca n use standa rd I ·i nch lu m ber. (You will, I hope, han' held o ut 60 to 80 boa rd fet't, random w idths an d le ngt hs, of good fa t ones ,,' hen [he rcs t o f the p lan ki ng stock \\'en \. th rough the surface pla ner.) Th e prob lem . th en , is to have rewl;'r pla nks
105
figure 10 - 1
Na rro w-pl ank approach
I
=
,
)
2
Fou r equal tapering stri ps
I
10<5
4
5
represents the middle of the third p la nk as originally drawn . Now we are up in difficu lt terri tory, where we need really narrow p lanks to ti t that q u ick turn in the luck. S t
;1
I
, ,
=
/
= 2
I )
I
4
5
6
as widely as you ca n, wi lh Ihe lengths o f Slack you 've g Ol , and st ill keep them in the regio n o f least tw ist. Fit and fa sten lhe butt blocks as if your life depended o n their in tegr ilY, as ind eed it m ay. Oo\,'n bel ow the LUck they must be hollowed precisely to fit the round and tw ist of th e inn er face of the p lanks. ThL' butt blocks at th e s tea ler ends should be wider than normal, to spread the load over m ore area . And i f you meet a b UH tha t rea lly fights back , fas ten it wi th Ii i _inch b ronze carriage bolts a t the L'nds. Coum e rbore fo r the heads as little a s you dare (noteno ug h for p ropl'r bung ing), a nd fi ll them flu sh wi lh a proper filler. One fina l word: A lway~' ca ulk bu tts ... even if they fit so bea u tifull y that 'lOll can't see tht: joint , and it seem s a crime to touch them with an iro n. If th ey' re not ca ulked, and fi lled flush with seam compound, they will i nevi ta bl y show a hai rl ine crack in the paint, fu ll wi dth of the b utt joint, before the sum mer's ended. You will undou btedly be using some modern miracle seam filler thai has 50- or 80· o r 100-percent elasl ic ity gua ranteed forevermore, btu th e grim mathema lica ltrmh still sta nds: 100 percent of nOlh ing is st ill nOlhing. Bear this in mind when bedding rail s. m o ld ing, winches. Don 't try to squeeze the compo und a ll o ut the firs I tim e around. Let it se t a d ay o r twO, maybe, and th en tighten up fastenings a nd clean off the sticky stuff. It's a sad, slrange tr ll th that most yac h t o wners a ren 't ver y brigh t a bout such m atters. Th ey get fa r m o re exci ted aboll t a few bead .~ a nd blobs in s igh t th an they do abou t a com plete a bsence o f sea lt'r w here il ought to be. fillin g Ih e garboard plank Yo u ca n make the garbo(lrd in on e ritct, if you have (I good , tough plank 10 in ch es or wider at the bu tt end, and 33 feet lo ng. If you ha ve \0 do it in two leng th s, that 's a l I right 100, a s long as yOll fi t the butt bl ock proper ly. Clean
u,.10-4
iwst 20-fool spiling board , and cla m p it into place, lappi ng il a nd gent ling ii, sl acki ng off and readju sting. un til it settles down in com · p le te comfo rt . and wi thi n scriber d ista nce o f Ihe ra bbet, of course (see Figure LO-S). Draw thaI line wi th the seTi hers pI umb vertical (bc.:ware as you go u p til e curve a t the forward end, lest you relax into an att itude at right an g les 10 the lint' of the ra blle t) and pu t all pe rt i nen t information on the boa rd befort: you move it: theexa(·t locat ion s of a ll sta tion mar ks. the ba y where the stea ler sta rLS, a nd tll(.' required w idlh s a l 2 -10 4 ' [001 intf'rva ls. S ince this garboard is 10 fill o ne -fourt h of the space to be covered , tht' arithmetic in \'ol\"t'd isn 't 100 com plicated , t' \·t'll for me. You ("a ll , if YO ll wish , tack a cross siaff Ii t th e after end to m a rk the line of (he ("u t to Ih e sternpOs t rabbe t; be Slire at least 10 indi ca te th e spot o n your sp iting board that correspo nds exact Iy w iIh t he a ft er end o f the keel rabbet. And if Ihe spil ing does not reach all (h e way 10 the stern rab bet. d o n 't worry. We'll ta ke a nother way. (See Figure 10-6.) P lace thc s p i I ing boa rd o n lhe Slock, a nd be ,'er y careful to leave e nough roo m .II Ihe a fl er end to rea("h I he slernpost raboct ai l lhe way up. Tran sfer the 1i ne as lI sual ; transfer nota tion s of width s, and m ark exactly on the lim: tilt: locations of sta ri o n numbers I and 2 . N ow, mark, cu t. and fi t an exact pattern (ou t of thin pint:. I/ i inch b y 6 in ches. a nd atxlUt 6 teet long) for the forward e nd of the garboard, staTT ing som e where bet w('("n slat io n num bers I a nd 2, and reaching a bi l h igher on the stem rabbet than Ihc p roposed to p of t he g"drboard. This wi ll be good p ract ice, a nd it will tCach you , pa infully, the importa nce of holding tho~(' scriber sexac tl y plum b a tall ti mes. Now, whilt Ihis pal tern is sli 11 tacked in place , m(lrk sta ti o n num ber 1 on its lower edge, to correspond exactl y with th e sa m e m ark on your origin a l sp iling, and on t he plan k you\'c started to lay out. Lay the pattern to t.ht' li ne, Slat io n marks
Plank layout with slealers
I S4
51
1
2
53 3
Garb~ rd
4
S
, 107
figure 10-3
Spil ing board
figure 10 - 5
cl~mped
into the garboard space
/
/
,I
- -
Scri bed li ne of the rabbet
Scriber he ld plumb Not plumb
tog-el her. and m ark around it 10 fin ish out the shape o f the forward end of (he garboard in the rabb(~ t. L tly o ff th e width s to the lOp edge and mark ; th en saw ou t (probably usin g a hand ripsaw on the last 3 fet'! at th e forward end, lower eu ge) a nd plane the top edge, leav ing it square. Take Ihe bevels and dress o f( t he lower ed ge a ccordingly, a nd ma rk a twin 10 th is one before you move another damned inc h . Try 10 round off the in side [ace of t h e p lank to fit the fevene c urve of the frames ... sa y a short pra yer, and Iry bel' o n. If the stock is g'ood, lough wood, nOI 100 terri bly dr y, i t will go on co ld-that is, \\' i thollt prel iminary steam in g. [r it,seems determined n cvcr to submit or yield, cook the after 10 o r 12 fe et for half an hour. (I 'm ass uming tha t you r steam box, like m in e, is too short to ta k£' th e whole length .) Clamp it any way yo u can thin k of, in and down . usi ng ba r cla mps 108
aft, hookel.! into a bolt -hole couillerbore under the for efoot; a stick-and-c1amp systelll to get the lower edge light aga ins t the back rabbet; edge-sets and wedges to tighteJl down where nothing else wiJI work . DOJl 't be afrai d to g ive h er a tunk with a big ham mer now a nd then. Does wonders for the fit. U n less you a rc vcry good indeed , or very lucky . th ere']] be a few 5pOlS in thi s p la nk where t he fit cou ld be im p roved. P robably the garboard sea m shows tigh t on the oUL~jde, in places, a nd you don' t know how much gap there may be o n the inside. Th e after end, w hic h lies in the rabbe t on the sternposl, may not present a good cons istent seam, or may be reluc tant to go all the way in because th e back rabbet n eeds fairing off. An d the inne r fa<:e of the p la n k willi i kel y need more rounding o ff a t the top, to all ow good COIllaCi wi th the frames
and Ihe b~ck ra hht'{ on tht' ked . Spend p Iell 1y of time ~n aIyz in g' , marking, and describi ng (o n the face o f the p lank) these neCl:ssary correclions; t
stopwaters with the thoug-ht tha t ( I ) rh .. y are assu med by all yac ht des ig-ners to be in fa ll ibh:: (2) th ey may do some good, at that; a nd (3) th ey call ' t d o an y ha rm . T hen, after tht' p lanking i s on and ('au lked , I put another set in , right th ro ugh t hE' celll E'r o f tilt' nue rabbt:t line. and cut off flush with the oubidc o f th e planking. Caulk ri g ht a cro~~ the ('nus. and Ihat joint shouldn't W('('p. (Set· Figllle 10- 7.) To put in stopwatt:rs, then: usc a sharp spur auger, )/2 inch diameter. w ith a good worm tha t w ill fo llow the seam. Start right up against the Cl:Tl l Cr face of t he rabbet, bore I hrough un t il the
fig ure 10- 6 End shape of the gMboard established by template
Thi n boa rd template fitled tight ly in to the rabbet
;
Plank stock
Laid-out line of the upper edge
Scribed line of the lower edge
f~--___
Spillng bat1en ended he re
Template given enough overlap to e~tend we ll along the spiled li ne of th e lo we r edge and to be in register with the .tat ion marks.
(The afte r end is also templated if the spiling batte n d id nOi reach the stern post ra bbet.)
109
figure 10-7 Installing inside stopwaters
Inner stopwater let through the middle li ne of the rabbet where the stem join s the keel
-'-- -~~--
- ~ ~- ~-~
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c .
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-- --
- Drive n and cut flush
No Slopwater needed. This join t in the keel structure does not cross the rabbet.
/ /
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/
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Second stopwater set th rough the tr ue rabbet line and cut oft flush with the planking
110
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/
worm shows on the other side of the backbone, a nd bore back from there to dean out the hole, With the same auger, bore a hole through a scrap of hardwood about an inch thick, This is a die, through which you are go in g to extrude a doweL Saw ou t a 2-foot length of straight g rained white pine heartwood, a bit over lh i ndl sq uare, Start your a uger on the end of this stick as if you meant to hore a hole right up the middle, and, of course, quit as soon as the spur cu tters have defined the perimeter of the intended dowe l. Now plane it down-eight sides, then lo- and try the end in your hardwood die, Work it down evenly until you can drive i t thlOugh the die, barely compressing the ou tside fibers in passage, You now have good stopwater stock, which you may proceed to drive into the holes you've bored in the ship's backbone. Cut the ends flush with a finetoothed .saw or a very sharp ch isel. Try that garboard aga in . If you 're satisfied wi th it th is time, fasten off: three screws in to the keel in each bay (and stagger them all you can up and down); screws ahout 3 inches apart up the stem and up the sternpOSI; one screw, top edge, forward, into each frame: one screw, aft edge of frame, halfway down to the rabbet. This will do for a start. After the floors are in, you'll have a chance to do some real fastening. And when you've finished fastening the other garboard and suddenly realize that you 've used some $20 worth of bronze on those two planks, you may wondn if maybe those old wroughtilOn addirts migh t ha ve had somet hing after a 11! To drive those screws you wil l, at worst, have used a good screwdriver bit in a good ratchN bit- .~IOCk. If you have begun 10 suspect that there might be an eas ier way, try the same type of bit (with the square shank cut otT) in your 1/2 -inch-chuck electric dri l l. Once you've attuned your trigger fin ger 10 th e music, this doc~ \"['1''' well. The trick, of coursc, is to let off the sw itch al exactly the right imtant, so that the screw will fetch up snug when the chuck comes 10 a dead stop-with no momentum left to jump the bit out of the slot (or break off the screw head). Some get it, and never miss; some don ' t, and should go back to the hand bit-stock before they do any more damage. Fitting the shutter plank Once upon a time, a smart young man left the home farm in New Hampshire and went 10 the big city , where hl' made out well. Deciding
to give h is old mother a real treat, he took her to see Niag-ara Fa ll ~, at that time considered to he one of the wonders of the world. l\lother looked, sn i Hed. ~aid "Hm m," never batted an eye. 'rhe son, fee ling a bit let down, especially considering train fare out and back, and hotel bills, said, "Gosh sakes, Ma, don't you think it's kind of wonderful, 'way all that water come~ to the edge, and falls over. and drops clear'n to the bottom?" j\Iother looked again. and though t a minute, and said, "'Vell. .. what's 10 hinder?" So why don't you plank her up to the tuck, and swi tch to the to pside di m i nish patteru, and cOl1!inue unti l on ly one small gap remains open; and then we' ll fit. the shutter, withall due ceremony, including shutter grease. You'll fas ten the screws down low, where you 'd lack room to swing a riveting hammer: change over to number 8 copper nails (which take a .1 /s-inch counter bore and follow a 9/ 61 -inch drill) , as soon as you call . Of course, you can use screws all the way if you lVant to, but they must bc long enough to reach almost through the inner lam ination of tht' frame, I prefer rivets, which pull every thing together, last forever, cos t about one-eighth as much, and never break off. But yo u may well decide, after sening burrs, dipping oft, and heading up 4,000 or so rivets, that an all -screw program wou ld have been money well spent. And one more thing. As you approach that happy place where the shutter is to go, stop and consider how you are coming out. If you 're three planks away, you still have time , by discreet adj ustments of their widths, to cover up accumulated enors, and make that shutter plank look as if you'd really meant it to be that sizc, right from the beginning, Years ago, we had a regular visi tor who a Iways pronounced the word shudder-whether from ignorance or intent, we never knew. We someTimes entertained a nasty sllspicion, however, that he had in either case hit upon a great tru th - not Ihat there aren 't plenty of perfect! y straightforward ways 10 fi t this hest of all planks. The simplest and most obvious one, of coursc, is to wrap a pieceo! plank stock around the outside , shore it against the opening, and mark from the inside. This works very well on the flat aft sections of some boa ts, but not well atall arouuda fu ll bow involv ing-a lot of tw ist. A possible refinement of this syMem is to use a piece of thin paTtern slOck-say, III inch thick which can be easilv twisted and tacked in place, 111
figure 10-8 Scribing the shuller plank
,
,
,
,
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,
,
_.- ..--_.._. _.-' ,
-
.. .
----' --
",
,
.- -~.•.
,
.-::;.>;
Rul e or ticked st rip lor widt hs
Clamp the spiling board to the plank below the gap. with the top edge of the spiling board just be low the tOp edge of the pla nk.
01
b:O~'~':d~,~,~;"~":--------l
Scribe onto the spiling representing the top edge of the pla nk below the shutter.
_ _ _ _ __
\ \ Keep the steel leg of the scriber lying in full contact across the edge of the plank. Transfer the scribed line to the plank stock in your normal fash ion.
ma r ked , c u t. a nd p ro ved righ i, Ix-I'o re the rea l p lank is m a rked from it. Th e second method- which you might ca ll the tex tbook, or classical m/:'lhod- work'i this Wil y: T a(:k a spiling ooard to the fram es down the middle of the gap to be fill ed; set your dividers, and scribe lines representing hoth edges of the proposed shutter. Thest suihed lines m a y cross an d recross each o ther, but this ma kes no d iHerenceas lo ng as VI)t1 k1l()w whic h is which . T o Ira nsfer th is s hape 10 t he uncu t pl an k, you proceed as in a no rmal sp il ing, 112
{'xcep llha l you mark two edges instead of one,
and allow no cha nge in the spread o f the d ividers. lL helps your confidence if you take aClua l mea sureme nt s of the gap at one or IWO poi nts and find t hat the widths derived fr o m you r double sjJiJillg are indeed correct. This system works very \\'ell o n a relati vely widf:' and straigh t hoard , but it is very unhandy for a lou g. n
boat ). You may fed that th is is a n easy s,l(:rifice ~n d at t hi s poi n t hope ferve ntl y tha t you never h a\"e- 10 look at a sp ilin g boa rd aga in : bu t the pro has to think ahead 10 the nex t boa t. The- third system , a bou t to be described. is the one I now u se exclusively , n o matter what the shape, size. or location of the shutter plan k. It ruins no spiling bo ards, requires no SiXlhK'nse a ll owances for parallax. height of eye a bove the horizon, or thickness of pencil marks. And it's m y own, my very own, and therefore dt"ill' to me. (See Figure 10- 8.) Take a spiling board slighdy longer than the p lank yo u' re going to lit, and wit h a top edge s ha ped somet hin g like the lower ed ge o f the shu ller gap. Clamp this board to tht' p la n k below the gap, w ith the top edgo::of tht' ~pi l ing board j u st dea r o f (be low ) the top edge of the pl ank. Now shorten the pencil leg of your dividers so that it i~ abo u t an inl'll shorter than the stee l leg. Adjust for the n ecessary gap (as Abe I.inco ln said a bout the proper length for a man's legs, " Ju st long en ough to reach the grou n d "), and scribe o n the spil in g hoa rd a Ii n e re p rel>cnt ing the to p t:dge of th e plank be low the shuller. You w ill realize a nd beware tht! da ngers thai lurk abo ut this act as soon a ~ you start to draw that line, and d iscover that you ca n move i t up and down at wil l b y raising and lowerin g the apex of the dividers. Keep that steclleg lying in fu ll con tact arfOSS the edge of the p lank.. .. So now you h ave a line ( 10 be tra n sferred eve n tua lly, of course) tha t represe nt S t h e lower edge (ou t) o f th e s hu tter plank. Thc top cdgt' \\' ill obviously be fa r e nough above it, a t an y given po in t, 10 to uch Iht' edge of the p la nk above the gap . Therdore, take yo ur good steelt apc a nd measure that gap, a t 8·indl, 12-inch, 15·inch interva ls as seems n c(:essary, an d wrile these measuremen ts on th e spil ing board. being very careful, of w urse, to note ttlt: exact point \\'here they wert: taken. All that remai ns now is to transfer t h at line to the p lank stock in your norm al fash ion . (YOll \Vi II , of COlll'SC, ha vc not iced th at in this transfer p roce~s yo ur sp ili ng board has to tw adjacen t 10, n Ol on, t h e'plan k you art: ma rki n g. ) Ma rk the widll1S fro m it as wriuen on Ihe spiting board, and L'on n ct:! thes!' po i n lS with a line dra wn to a batten, Th ere's a b i t of forgotten bu siness n eeding attention here. The exposed edges or th e fina l planks above a nd below the shutter shou ld have been dressed to a slight Outgau~w (no t O\'t-'T Ill s inch ), 10 en sure tha t the sh uner will fit tiglu ly w hen it hi lS bottom . Wh ~ n yo u saw out th e sh uttt'T. be bold. a nd
cut righ t to the edge of the pencil lin t:. T a ke ht'vt'h as accura tel y as you can, and plane ou tgauge on bot h edges. Then , wit h yo ur plane, j u~ t knock off th e inner corners of the pla n k edge~, al about a 45 ·d~greea n gle, so that they'll be le~ s inclined to Jig in a n d bind when you drive the p lank in. Cut the fo rward end to fit the stern rahht't. (and th is cut had better be at exactl y the right place) ; cu t the butt end just where the spiling board calls for it : get a big wood ell mallei, and urive the forward end in agaillSt th e ra hbet a n d th e fTa me. It shou ld be tigh t enough 10 h a ng t h ere patientl y while you dri II for , a nd dr ive, one screw into the stem n ear t he top edge o f th e p la n k. Now lift the hUll en d up o n LO Ihe h orse, and da mp to the outside of it. right Ou t in line wi lh lhe squared-off end , a toug h pil·ceof 1- by 8-inch oak, with thel'ia!llp at th e upper corner or Ih e plank, but so arranged that it wi ll enter Ihe bay withou t bumping. Th e cross staff shou ld show abOu t an inch above the top edg:t' of the p lank, and a t leas t 13 i n cht'~ below it. T h is is your secret weap on for ndsling shutters. A few tria ls will show wht-'re the push should be app lied on th is le\'er a rm in o rder to tw ist th e p lan k just th e righ t amount as i I swi ngs up to its fina l resting place. Leave sOllleone 10 guard and adjust Ihe shoTt'. a n d go forward wi Ih your migh ty rn allt-'t to work the p ian k ill. Do n' t be afraid of it; work back and forth over a 6-{oot ~pan; clamp the butt end as soon as you can to a p i en:' of wood lying: fort-'-anri-;tft in sid r tht' frames, Dr ive the p lan k home (Figure 10-9), fas ten il to thc fram es, fit a n d fasten Ihe butt hl ock to the end : g et out tht: nt'x t. p iele o f s hull er. fasten it~ forward clld [0 t h i ~ h UH b lock , and proceed as before , ulltil vou can say• wdeaf ears, but with SOUl{' satisla c• lion. " Thert'. by God. that 's done." And as for that shutter gr('(lS/.': il CO UH'.'i in a bottlc' wi lh a sh ip Oil il. a nd will do yo u a lot of good righl ahour noll'. Savl' a good slug. though. for till' end of ttw rivet ing, which is next ill order. Ri Y('ting For this job you IH:t:d, firs!, a bun·sell er. If you can bu y O llt' , il wi ll probabl y be labeled Ri Vl'ti Ilg Tool. You ca n make a ~a tisfaClory on!.' fro m a 4-ind llt-ngth of hard steel tu be. I/ .-inch in sidedi ametel'; or you ca ll drill a '/ Io- inch hole iengrhwist'. and about a n inch deep, in tht, ('nd of a piece of ~/e- in ch rod. If you are lucky, the burrs will h I just tight ly enough so tha t th ey net-'d dri vi n g. and will stay in place umt l t h~ ' r ivets are headcuup. (S('t-' Figure 10-10.) So you st" , h e bUtT do wn t igh tl y aga inst the
113
figure 10- 9 Filling the shutter plank
wood, a nd then wi th your end cutters n ip off all lh t' exCt:ss nail yo u ran g ct hold of. You are no\ li kely 10 ru t il 100 short . l i lhe burrs a rc a loose fi t, roc k I he .ullt'rs sid~ ' way s a .~ you innease the pressu re on the ha nd les. This motion spreads the end s l igh t ly a nd hel ps to keep the burr from popping off before you g t'l 10 it w ith a ri \'eting hammer. You may well decide that end cUllers afe not qu itl:' too l I'nough 1.0 handle number 8
11 4
wire. Try the sm a llest set of bolt-C"uw'rs you (:an find , bu t wiggle the ha nd l e~ up a nd down as you br illg thelll toget h er, togel that sp readillg cHeel m ·er t he burr. And now 10 head up . For th is you need a specia l dolly, w hi ch must be slender, to reach the na il heads whr r{' th<'y lie in t he depths of thei r Vs-in!"!l bun g hol rs, a nd yet hea vy enough to ho ld them from flin ch ing while somebody
hammers lustily on the other end. A machinist friend might taper (he end of a 2-inch steel shaft, and even round off the sharp edges on the o ther end, to make you a real deluxe model. Or r ou can drill and tap a hole in the end, thread a nd screw in a stub of ~/6-inch steel rod, and file this to a slight taper. The rcal problem is to find someone at once devoted and tough enou.gh to hold Dolly, who starts out a lissome Ii- pounder in the morning and ends the day we igbing just under 85 pounds. And don't think there's an easy answer, slH:h as trimming her down to 8 pounds. On the other end of the rivet you need a ham mer. \Ve use a moderately light machinist 's (ball peen) hammer, with a 12-inch handle. 'Ve have perhaps a half-dozen of these around the shop, all looking about the same.
Five of them are jus t good enough to throw at stray cats; the SiXTh one will almost swing itself without any help. If we ever lose that one, we'll join the rest of (he world and use screws all the way. So, if your hand threatens to drop off aftcr the fi r5t fi ve min utes, and the rivet end seems to be a very sma ll and shifty targl't, try another hammer. i'vlaybe you aren't entirely to blame. Try to develop a rhythmic pattern. Hit the end gently, twice, with the round face of the hammer; hit (he wood beside i t twice, vigorously, with th e flat face , to pull the rivet tight; switch back to round, and head it up. You don't ha ve to be too gentle wi th number 8's. Your big problem is the man outside with Do lly. Try to keep him thinking of untracked waters, undrearn'd shores, and what fun i ('s going to be when we get sailing.
figure 10-10 Tools for riveting Burr setter
Copper nail for rivet Dollyor bucking iron
,--
/
Lig ht riveting hammer
115
Chapter Eleven
•
alr
This will he a short chap ter for me, and a long two weeks for you. You aTC going to plank the transom, bung the fastenings, smooth the hull , caulk, smooth ~ome more, and mark the waterline; and you 're going to do these th ings before von take the molds out, Of you'll be sorry. I al ways reverse the procedure, and have all these things to do with shores and staging in the way. But I assume that you have a flawless chararter, and neither postpone the tedious nor reach greedily for the next payment before it is d ue. So keep your itching hands off those molds, and do what I tel l you . Bunging, fitting, and fairing First, start someone bunging. This job may appear to be on a sub-kindergarten level, since i t in volves only rollnd pegs and round hoies, but there 's more to it than meets the eye (see Figure I I- I ), A small da b of integrit y goes into each one of the 5,000 coun terbores, along w ith the glue and the bung, You ream the glue into the hole w ith a tiny brush , start the bung with the grain in line , drive it true to th e bottom of the ho le, and never bru ise it with an impatient hammer. Clip the excess off with a very sharp chisel, using the heel of your hand as a mallet.
Make the firs t cut I/S inch out, to see how the grain slopes; appwach it fwm the opposite side, if necessary, for the fin al cut. Don't bung th e sheerstrake, Plank the transom next, You'll meet with powerful arguments in favor of three layers of 3h -inch plywood, glued together, or laminat ions of th in mahogan y, bent in cold and set in gl ue, I stil l prefer 10 do the j ob in one thickness, with stock that has been steam-hent and dried on a form, and fitted, plank by plan k, from the bottom up. I can get a better fit, in far less time, and have no worries about hidden gaps where rot could start. Th e individual planks can be held in place wi th a reasonable number of large, durable fastenings, instead of a multitude o f small one.~. T he miter .~eam can be flooded with poison and caulked snug. Th e p lan ks can be planed and sanded to shape with no fear of working through the outer layer. Five small problems hold less terror than twO very large ones. Whatever you use, however, the method of fitti ng is the same. You need to know the exact shape of tha t line where the inner face of the p lan king in tersects the au tside edge of the transom frame-the inner corner of the miter joint, that is (see Figure 11 - 2), You get th is shape by 117
Bungs Plug cutter
figure 11-1
Grain of the bu ng is set parallel to the grain of th e plan k
Clue or ~~ heavy ,hellac
Driven bungs sliced off wit h sharp chise l ,_~
10 10
,h.
the ch ise l about
. ,;,; '/.~
Trim ,80I ng the~ other way
fig ure 11 -2 shee r batten of transom cleats
'"
Transom-plank template Plank layout marks
• •
Inner co rner o f the pla nk mite r joint
..
Pa ttern made to the inner face of the transom plank ing
liB
'-_Th in ba tten jo ining the pattern pieces
fi uin g a ske le ton pa u ern [0 the li ne- us ing a thin p iece each side. and join ing the twO with a third . bent a round the ' thwan ships cu rve and tacked to t he tWO with sma ll brads, This pattern will la ter be pl aced on the inside, concave face of the pre-bem stock (see Figure I J - 3). a nd you must th erefore drive those brads flmh so that the pat tern can back into p lace on the piece to be mar ked. From the line thus o btain ed you cut o utward, a t the proper angl e. and proceed to correct it u n ti l it fit s. You h ave the consolatio n o f kn ow ing that yo u ca n lengthen it o u t, so long as you a re still bel ow the turn o f the bil ge. by dress in g off the lower edge of the plank . Above the turn , in the region of the tumbJehome, you ha ve to he right the fi rst time, Finish off at the top with a p la nk w ide enough to crow n to the underside of the deck at the cent er, Fasten each pl ank tempora ri ly, before fittin g the next; drill for all fas tenings (which will be 2-inch bronze screws); lake the p lanks off, a nd sat urate all end grain wilh your fa vorile poison before asse mbli ng them fina lly in p lace. Go for wa rd n ow and prepare 10 fa ir o ff the sides of the slem in I ine with th e p la nki ng. The lines drawing or offset table will give the width s of the face al the profile. Mark the twO lines, as given , fro m the stem head to th e bal las t casting; note and mark the fla t, if a ny, to be le ft a t the tOp of the stem; make §aw cuts at 6-i nch i nterva ls into the corners of the stem , right to the li ne of the p la n ki ng (see Figure 11 -1 ). These Clits shou ld come exactl y to the ha lfsid i ng li nes on the profile fa l·e. I r the cu ts fai I to reac h t hose li nes, move the lines ou t. Yo ur straight sa w blade, tou ching the pl a n king, wi II tell you how much to take off. You shou ld be able to remove mos t of the excess wood, be tween saw cutS, with your adze . Use a big chi sel alld mallet in the a wkward p laces. Fini sh off with a _~moOlhing p la ne, an d be g lad you didn' t at tem p t th is sh a ping before you set up the backbone, She m ight have come out with a p inched nose, wh ich is a horrible thing indeed , Whi le you are in the mood, do the sa me fai ring jo b o n the siernpost (set' Figu re 11-5). Thi s mem ber tapers from 5-inch s iding at the ra bbel to 2- in ch siding at the li ne of t he rudder. Shape a flaT wedge, of soft wood, 11/2 inches thick a t one end and tapering to a po int in the distan ce from the rabbe t to the after edge of the pas!. Tack th is to the [lat of the sternposl , thick e ntiat Ihe ra bbe t, a nd use itas a depth gu id<: for pa ra ll el cu tS made wi th your electric ha nd sa w-set fo r 'h - inch depth o f cu t, o f cou rse.
figure 11 - 3
Side pliln k ~~-\
Be vel is ta ken at the miter joint
Template tran scri bed to pre-ben t plank stock Inner fa ce of stock Inner face o f template
of templa te squared down to the p lank stock
~
Pla nk cu t to a stand ing bevel (
! ..
119
Inner face
figure 11-4 Fairing off the stem
128
368
Rabbet
Half-siding of face of the stem
"flat" shown for this stem
Saw cut to the hal f-s id ing - - _..
.... :::._ Touch the li ne here
Saw should skim the plank here
"Pinched nose" (half-s id ing lines on the stem should have been moved outwa rd)
120
Slab between the cuts wi th an adze
figure 11-5 Fairing the stern post 7
at 36B
11h" softwood ~/'
wedge
Saw kerfs
368
/ Stay well below the line of the propeller shaft with these cuts, adzt' off the excess wood between saw cuts, and plane the surface fair. Shape and fair off around the propeller aperture with all the artistry you can muster, remembering that the base of the stuffing box (which you 'd better have on hand, to check my figures) will require a flat area 3 1/ . inches wide and 6 inches high. Otherwise, take off as much as you dare, and round off what's left as slick as a mackereL And now to plane the planking fai r. You need, for this job, four smoothing planes, about 60 hours of uninterrupted effort, perfect patience, extreme caution, sensi tive fingertips, tough knees, great endurance-and a system. I can make some sugges tions as to the last item. The rest is up to you. Have a loaded gun at hand to use on anyone who approaches with a power tool. Th e idea here is not simply to achieve a smooth surface . Any apprentice painter can do that, given enough time and sandpaper. \Vhat we an:' after is a surface perfectly curved, everywhere, both lengthw ise and up and down. Fortunately, good wood tries to bend in such a curve, so tha t you need worry only about preserving, not shaping, the fore -and-aft line of the planks. The crosswise shaping is the difficul t part. You are dealing with a curved surface made up of a series of more or less equal flats , each tangent to the curved line you must uncover (see Figure 11-6). T he midpoint on each flat is already at this line, and must not be tOLH:hed. Now, if you plane another flat, exactly tangent to the curve, at each seam, so that there
/ figure 11-6
Planing off the hull-longitudinally ,,
. -'- - ,
~'1The
mid-li ne of each flat is already at the final curve
The fair curve to be un covered
Hull
I flats at the
Second I
'0once again Ready for diagonal plan ing
121
Planing the hull-diagonally
figure 1'-7
\'
Diagonal planing of the hull, with long strokes of a sharp smoothing plane, levels the ridges into a smooth contour. i(~ __""
Umbe r batten rubbed with blue chalk highlights the rema ining ridges when dragged sideways.
_--Ca rpenters' blue chalk
will be twice as many as before, ami still all equal in width at any given girth-then the plank edges, as well as the midpoints, will be at the line. Chalk alternate flats, if vou have trouble keeping track of their outlines, and then very carefully plane off the corners with yet another set of flats-ending up with four times as man y as at the start, and all of the same width. Now take your best smoother, sharp as a razor, a nd plane diagonally, with long strokes, to remove the remaining ridges (see Figure 11-7). Cut shavings thin as gossamer. Lead the plane by the nose, rather than push it. Remember that the middle line of each flat should, theoretically, be untouched in this diagonal planing. Lose the centerlines, and you've lost control. That 's the theory. It 's precisely the same techn ique as you'd use to shape a round spar from a square timber-make i t 8-sided, then 16-sided, then 32-sided, and sand it the rest of 122
the way. Of course, the geometry breaks down, in certain places, on the hull surface. The p lanks are not precisely equal in th icknessyou will have been properly timid, in spots, and left too much wood on the flats. So you warm your left hand, place it flat (vertically ) on the planking, and slide it up and down, with fingertips touching. They'll detect a ridge so small that you can't see it on the raw wood. Shave it off tenderly, because it will loom up like a small mountain when sunlight starts to slant across its gloss-pain ted surface. Rub blue chalk on a lim ber batten, bend it to the line of the frames, and rub il sidewise, fore and aft, to mark the high spots (see Figure 11 -7 ). Shine a Ii gh t beam, at night , tangent to the curves, and mark the humps it shows you. Don 't get impatient. Don ' t get overconfident and decide to speed up the job. And don't sand the surface yet, because you are about to caulk the seams, and this operation will rough it all up again.
figure 11-8
Scrapins the hull 10 remolle the plane marks-with the grain, and diagonil ll y
,,
Saw sc rape r (up to 12'" long), mad e fro m a piece of an o ld
ha nd saw blade Th is ta kes off shavings " thin as gos!>a me r. "
Cuts made wit h a cold chisel (edges gro und smoo th )
"~'( Y>O<>""'" 60Zl{'Y"""NV' AI> 00
• I
I
ZJ
.[==-=:.::::.::::c::=-=,. _ J
L •
<'>, ""O(y>"Al\"'"'""~""~"''''"·''.'''~'~'.~,_____
•
Use thi s piece, without hand le, for sc rap;'S curved surlare •.
'
Put a ha ndle on this section fo r scraping f lat wo rk (il
sliffe ns the b lade and enables you 10 pul fu ll we igh t on il). Blade cross secfion
I
•
\
Shar pen with le ngthwise st rokes of a mill file.
Tur n the edge
with a burnishing ",0 'V _"," or vise
1001.
Tu r ned
123
Caulking As a ca u lker, you are req u ired b}' Irad ilion (o e)(am ine t he p lank seam s wit h a h ig h ly ni tical eye, wonder audi bly where that fe ller learned his trade, a nd fi na l Iy allow as how you 've saved worse jo bs than Ih is one. What you are a bou t to undertake is. in short, a very important operatio n , requiring great skill, long experience, a nd absolllle in tegrity. So you ' ll he w id. anyway . Th ere'll be much shaking of heads, and gri m \",arnings about how those ~ea rn s' II sp i ( it ou t ever y t i me if il ain 'I dru v ju sl so. And as fo r using cotton ins tead of oaku m, and ro ll ing most of it in with a wheel- you 'd heller leave her se tt ing righ t on the ban k, ooys, because she'lI never be safe at sea . Don 'I let them bother you. l\'l ore boa ls have been ruined by overcau lking lhan have been lost for th e lack of it. You can do a perfectly sa tisfactory job on this new boat. You don't n eed a li ve-oak mallet with tempered sted rings on it. You need two "_boat pa ttern " caulking irons, one of which yo u file to a mod eratel y sharp edge for openi ng loo- tight butt sea ms. You need si x pou nds o f p lain unspun caulk ing Callan . This comes in one-pound rolls made up of th ree para ll el strands, which ca n be sp lit down the middle to fit th e smalles t seams. (Twis ted cotton and plum ber's wicking are useless. I further ques tion th e vi rtues o f th e n ew, revo lutionary, nO-Ca ll an com pounds fi gure 11 - 9 COl!ulklns wheel
'/
pu lled
124
wh ich are all eged to end your caulking problem s for pe riods of up to fo u r years. Ttl is seems to o ff er very l ill ie improvement over Ihe old system, wh ich is good for a lleast 20.) Fina ll y, if you dare 1,0 do the jo b my way, YOLI need a Lalil kin g wheel (Figure 11-9). Th is can be as crude or elaborate as you want to make it, so lo ng as it consist s of a 21/2_i n ch metal d isc, about 1/ 16 illch thick , sel into a slot in the end of a wooden handle an d free to revolve on a fi xed ax Ie. Yo u ' II hold it in both han ds and lean half yo ur weig h t on it , so it must be st rong. T he one I use is bu shed with roller bearin gs, a nd has gone 50,000 miles in t he last 40 years without an o il change. Moreover. t he seams it has Laul ked ha ve remained tigh t, with a fin e nospilling record. You will. o f course, caulk butts, hood end s, and garboard sea ms in the approved way, with cau lking iron and malle t (see Figures 11-10, I I-I I. and 11 - 12), Ikstofal l. C'dtch an expert in the act , and wa lCh him for a fe w m in LlL.t!S. He'l l tel l you seven years of obser vation and pract ice migh t brin g }'o u to h is level, a nd he's probabl y righ t; bm do n't g ive up in di smay. Your good new wood will swell and (:ome tigh !, even if your malleI rings off-key. Marking th e waterline There are 15 different ways o f marking the waterl ine. Th ey ran ge from the fri endly mu skrat in the calm pool, through a perfectl)' level hull above a perfect £1001", lO a n eng ineer's transit, a nd ([or a ll J know) a laser beam operated by an all-know ing-compu ter. The right3nd proper way is (his: Gf:t the hull reasonabl y level alhwartships. This isn ' t. necessary, but it helps. G el. two straigh t-edged boards, somewhat longer than the beam o r th e boat. Center th em at hwartships, one forward , one aft, at the h eigh ! o f the desired pa int line (2 inches h igh alt , 3 inches forw ard ?); level them p recisely whi le damping them to braCt.xi posts at thei r ends; stretch stri ngs da mned tigh t each side fore and aft, JUSt touching th e p lanking a botJI amidships (see Figure 11- 15). Me.1sure the height to th e slt eer bOl h sides to check wheth f: f the hull and your straigh tedges agree to wha t 's level. You have now establi shed a perfen p lan e, and need on ly mar k it on the boat's skin. Li ne up th e strin g and the lOp of the stra ightedge by eye; bring the pencil pain! to that line, a nd ma rk the hull. When the reach in gets too long for you, you ' ll need a sha rp-eyed assistan t to squint across the
fig u r e 1 1 - 1 0 C a u lk i n g i
" M a k in g - in "
or " \" SS " crea~e o c r e a 5 e " iror'l5io r s u a ig h t g o r "00" making ing in w ;\ 1 h a n d le most yac h t se am~)
" Bent" iro n s l o r c a ulking o r ne)(t t o d e c k s tr u c tu r e "
along~ide the keel
f
" Butt" i r o n s $u aight o r b e n t 101 na rfow-pla nk b u l U
l1S
figure 11- 1'
figur e 11-12
Driving th e looped COlion ho me (working fro m right 10 lefl)
Ap plying unspun cotton by " loo ping" o r "gigging" Nip th e e.te ndi ng end of the COllon wand Is) between th e iron and the forefinger, o r between Ihe iron and the hull, and push the " trapped " COllon into a loop as the - iron approaches Ihe seam. The si ~ e of the loop may be varied 10 suil the widt h of the seam al lha t place .
,
•
loop form ed a .. the iro n pushes in and up
Rock the iron along the arc of the point while driv ing th e cotton In.
!
/
The edge of the iron is now in the seam with Ihe loop laking Its place alongside previ ously looped colton.
!, Looped
Driven (a nd painted )
Payed
platH: and tell you where to mark-and you should end up with pencil marks about a foot apart, fr om stem to sternposl. Now take a perfe.ct so ftwood batten, abou t 1/ 2 in ch square, a nd tack it with its top edge (Q th o.~e mar ks (see Figure 11-1'1). Sight along it for d i ps and hol loh's. Fi na IJy. Clll a smooth and d el icate g roove in t h e planking , hard aga inst th e tOP edge o f the batten . Use a rase kn i fe, if you ar c fo rtunal e en o u g h 1.0 have Ol1e, o r a rounded-o ff saw blade. You a rc now (a("e to (ace wi th lOur cunscience. Obv io us ly, you wa m the visi ble to p sides to llc as fair and smooth as can be; your zea l and young m uscles may allow you to \·iew the lower area with eq ua l enthusiasm - and .t he same ha nd -sand in g techn iq lie yo u'll use above. r confess lha r J have becom e reconciled in my
126
Note th e positio n of th e last two fingers. They' re und er the shank of the iro n. and they rotate it against the index and the midd le linge rs. Ten ~on
of the colton rope is controlled by pass ing it th roug h the fingers. The loop is tapped into p lace and anothe r loop is started. The cotto n is d ri ven home with a crease iron afte r \evera l fee t of the lot'am have been gagged th is wa y. " Loop ing" Of " gagging" the loolot' cotlon st rands (one o r mo re toget her ) permits the caulke r 10 vary the bulk req uired to fill the lot'am at that particular place. He doesn't gag too fa, befo re testing the pack by driving it home. The ri ng of the mallet aga inst the iron tells him whet her the pack is too tigh t or too loose.
figure 11-11
.--level5traightedge
or sighted with the ;,~;,
;,;;d
The plane of the de5i gned wate rline is es tab lished betwee n two string~ d ra wn tightly between Straighte dges leve led to the OWLat bow and stern.
figur e 11 - 14 Scribi ng a waterline ~-~-- le ss
perfect batten, wider than thick , he ld pl umb to the waterline marks with tach along its upper edge
'/t" -square "perf ect" b~lIen
held to th e marks -,
\ RHe knife for CUlling smooth groove
-o ld age to the fa irness you get with a soft p
-,
- _..
Rounded heel of a disposablE' nail-sawn b lade
- - - Fine-toothed circular s.aw blade
127
4.,
Ceiling employed in the lumber schoon er Clipp er Ci ry, built in M anitowOC, WiKon,in, 1854, by W.W. Bates. Drawing courtesy of the Manitowoc Marine Museum.
Chapter Twelve
Yo u have. I'm sure, losl ,ha l innocence which wou ld d irect your eyes Heaven ward (toward the underside of the overhead, that is) at the ment ion of the word "ceiling." You know as well as I do that we're talking a bo ut the lining of th e hull , th e planking on the inside of the fram es that stiffens, protects, covers u p some rough work- a nd complicates my life with questions and u llcenailllies. My trou ble is, I ha ve suddenl y rea lized that the inside p lan king occurs in far g reater va riel Y and purpose than the outside ski n, whic h is a very s imple thing indeed. Consider, no w: La, the pOOT Indian split thin cedar sla ts to spread weight over the bottom of his birch. We lined o llr la pstrake rowboats up to the risers wi th liglu stuff, h eld with tiny screw s, to protec t agains t c.asually tossed grapnels and d am hods (a nd we tried with incomplete success to intercept sma ll eels and crabs tha t headed for the gaps a nd ripened unseen )_ Atthe o ther extreme, big ca rgo vessels were li ned wilh tim ber at least as thick a nd tis strong as the outside p lanking, through-fastened to it with alternate trunnels, caulked hard to stOp slip and contain bulk cargo or stone-and-
gra vel ballast. The new schooner miglll even be lucky eno ug h to get a fi rst cargo of Turks Island sa it, pick ling her hold aga inst rot for year.~ (0 come. (I realize that thi s belief has been jeered at and given scant approval by most of our modern wood teck-nicians , and I suppose we shou ld grieve at the folly of those pathetic million s of sea men who , since the dawn of shipbuilding, have believed that sail is good for wood, even as it sa ves the nelS a nd the bed a nd the haiL ) Pickled wood is good . Let's agree that our present concern is with wooden boa ts la rger than those open ski rrsand somewha t small er than a coasting schoonerin fact, o ur own ideal 'round-the-world ke tch, or cutter, or yawl, or cat, or whatever it happens to be thi s week. This unique and fl aw less douhle-cnder (or counler-stern schooner, as th e case may be ) sits there, in our mind's eye (or even in the (Jesh ), p lanked and decked, a nd crying to be made complete as sanctuary a nd preserver 'midst th e a lien oceans' vastnesses. In short, 'bout lime to do the joinerwork, or we' ll never gCt thc cussed thing fit to movea boord of. So let's cut the guH, and make some awfu l decis ions, to wi t: 129
figure 12-1
-
-
II
7
8 Bilge ~tringers or heavy ceiling are laid in a broad band from stem to transom, just below the turn of the bilge.
Should we ceil her entire, sheer clamps to floor timbers, end to end, above and below a bilge clamp? Or should we fit now our mightily structured bulkheads right out to the skin, fastened strongly to frames and planking (with, of course, light and lovely ceiling between, to protect unwary bUllOCks from spl inters)? Should this ceili ng be laid with g-aps between strips lor ventila rion? Of the same thicknc~~ througho ur? Sprung and/ or spiled to shapt'? Co for aesthetics, or strengrh, or hoth? Or even skip the whole damned business, as Mr. H erreshoff would have us do: no ceiling, no bilge clamp, no grand chimneys between frames, where incautious wristwatches slide down to lodge on hutt blocks, and cockroaches can lurk by day. Frankly, I don't go for this idea. I want ceiling, and I \vant it for many more reasons than its obvious function of hid· ing my rough work from the pitying eyes of those fu ssy, fancy builders. So here we go. I li ke to start out with a broad band of heavy ceiling (same thickness as the planking) from end to end of the vessel, top edge just below the turn of the bi lge, up to 2 feet wide, lying com130
fortably with no great edge-bending, at a n ice height to take the framing of the bunk flats, the cockpiT floorbeams, and the downthrust of the bulkheads (see Figure 12 -1) . Lay it in strips th ree ti mes as wide as they arc th ick; fasten it to the frames with flush-head screw~, and never, ever, bore for large bolts through the frames. Eight strips measuring 1 by 3 inches, or 11/1 by 3~/1 inche~~you can butt them on timbers, or scarf the joints if time is nor of the essence. Bevel the uppermost top edge, and the lower strip's bottom edge to the thickness of the li ghter ceiling that will go above and below this heavy• band . If vour hull is broad and flat• floored (like a Fr iendship sloop, for instance), yo u may need to m ake those strips half as wide in order to bend that fine hook shape below the bilge. Edge na il (as in strip planking) between frames. Or if you will, and fine sweeping stock is a t hand, spile the pieces to shape, as wide as you wish. What YOU have achieved thus is a fine, springy stiffener, with no "hard" line to localile a severe stress athwartships in a frame or lengthwise in the planking. r have seen half a dozen frames in a row broken right off under a
heavy bi lge stringer. They were coen"ed inLO holding that poilU. no malter what. and their strength was their undoing. If they'd been al lowed to pant. and fl ex. and pa ss the load to a less vulnera ble SpOt, they m ight have survived to fight another day. (See Figure 12- 2.) I've also seen frighten ing bu Iges where r igid bulkheads. insta ll ed before the ceil ing. refused to a llow an y adjustme nt in the fo re-and-a ft ru n o f the p lan king , a nd the short sections of ceiling aggravated the h inge-j oint effeCi of the rig id bul khead . (Sec Fig ure 12- ~ .) Some hard choices ,Hva it you now. You' lI d i lOb a boa rd wi th a runn i ng mile of Iight ceiling, less than half the thickness of the heavy band, maybe with exposed corn ers chamfered. A voice loarletl. with a uthority wi ll tell you to space these 1/4 inch apart for vel1tiiat ion. and especially, to start the topmos t strip a full 1/2 inch below the sheer damp (sec Fi!{ltre 12-·1 ). This last \vould be very importa nt if by mme awful accident of misguida nce you fitted the sheer clamp tightly 10 the underside of the deck , English fash ion , or even imit.ated the mighty men o f Friendship, with a !{real plank around the sheer. Obvi o usly, no ai r could escape a t the lOp of the chimneys between
figure 12-2
Frame breakage can result from grounding mains local ized along the edge of a too-stiff stringer section.
figure 12-3
-
-- - -
--
•
-
blerna l unfa lrneu can be caused by bulkheads built through ,he ceiling to the ~kin .
•
131
figure 12-4
Ventilation chimneys behind a tight ceiling
frames, and the whole beautiful ventila ting system would be ruined. (\Valdo Howland invented this system back in the 19305, when we were bo th somewhat younger and more daring. He arranged to warm the topsides of the vessel whenever the sun shone forth; this caused [he air inside the planking to rise and flow over the sheer damp, drawing damp and chilly vapors from the bilge.) The ques tion of air spaces between strips is perhaps debatable. I'm agin 'em, on the grounds that leaky chimneys don't draw well, sawdust and dimes fall through the cracks, and it takes longer to fit and fasten strips precisely spaced apart than jammed inevitably together. And if she's rolling badly, with water in the bilge, maybe some of it will stay behind the ceiling instead of swishing through to soak your blankets. \Ve can even, I think, develop this thought further, in the usually one-sided debate between wood and glass. We know, of course, that the new glass boats can't leak (except through the shaft alley, and where the deck meets the sheer,
132
and a few other SpOlS), bUI they can, and do, suffer from a phenomenon vulgarly known as sweating. In co ld Northern waters, abetted b'),' the fumes from an akohol stove, this process can s[art linl e rivers down the inside of the hul l, ro be absorbed by bedding and breeks and wall-ro-wall carpeting; Ihe inmates squish about as in a swamp, and rush a ll movable fabrics to hang in open air whenever possible. \Vooden walls, on the other hand, do not sweat much (nor leak either, Hamlet, though by your smiling you seem to say so), and if we have this good-smelling ceiling between us and our wooden wall~, we may yet. have one advantage 10 crow about. So here you are, dowIl below, with ceiling srock reachable, ha lf a million l l/i _inch skinny bronze ringed nails in a can, electric drill to punch l/lo-inch lead holes in to the hard oak frames. and a pocket fu ll of fivepeuny box nails to tack strips temporarily in p lace. And don't you move another damned inch until you've fi tied bl ocki ng for th e ehainpla tes . If the plates are to be the simple outside variety, this bloc'king will be sawn to shape, same thickness as the frames, closely fitted up behind the sheer clamp to the underside of the covering board. Mark for th e location of the plates on the ou tside of the planking (takinggreal care 10 line them up wi th the shrouds -to-be) and hold the blocks in place with a couple of screws- until the eei ling covers them and is finally pierced with the Through bolts from the chain p la tes. And if you plan to fit the plates inside the planking, real yacht style, you' ll have to insta ll blocking and chainplates at once (pla te against the inside of the planking, usually, wi th blocking filling the space to the inner face of the cei ling) before you cover it all up forevermore. This means, of course, that the deck, or at least the covering boards, must be in p lace before the chainplates go on. And if you don't think of anything else (excep t a good soaking with v. . ood preserva tive) , you may be able to resume work on that ceiling. Start at the top w ith the first strip nicely spaced 1/2 inch belmv th e sheer clamp, all the way from the forward most frame in the bow to the remote region of the lazarette. And another, and another, scattering the butts nicely, and fas tening as YOll go with one bronze nail in each frame you cross un til you've covered down ro the heavy ceiling at the ends -and view a great gap amidships that tapers both ways 10 nothing (Figure 12-5). You can attack this area
5 figure 12 _
s rrill ge r
_ _ , h I p a g f r Th e S t e a lh wa ysa ' ''pe rshbiOn g 10 n Ot
6
6 figure 1 2 Ce i / lng
t r i n g e rs s e lg i b e b e lo w t h
figure 12- 7
Scribing the bull of a ceiling plank
P:;;::::~:i~~:~":~."
Scri ber pencil held o pen to the directi on of movement the ed ge be ing filled to.
wi th strips laid aga inst t he lOp li ne of the heavy ceiling and running out to points a t the end!>, or yOu ca n keep 'em com ing down from t he top, w ith poims fiued to the hea\·y ceili ng a t Ihe ends , unt il the hook becomes tolerabl e-at which point you scribe and fit (see Figure 12-6) a wider piece with its lower edge equidistam throughout from Ihe tOp of the heavy band, and work up to it from below . The a rea below the heavy band , down to the tops of t he floor ti m bers (o r to the p lane of the underside of the cabin sole, wh ic h is probabl y the same thing) may deserve thicker stock, becau se of the likelihood tha t parts of it will be expo~ ed to kicks and scuffs caused by sta nd-u p wa lkin g on the lee side. (We used to drop the cabi n noor dow n , like un to a shru nken cha n· nel between h igh ban ks, and assured the O wner that he'd be Glad. yes, G lad to ha ve that area between hunk front a nd sole to walk on wh en she was driving into it with the rail down. Of course, if the vessel happened to be wide and fla t-floor ed , wit h bunk fronts risi n g plumb
134
from the cabin sole. we were eve n more e nthu s iastic about that wonderfu l une ncumbered wid th of dan ce flo or.) Except for this possible increase in stiffness, the ceilin g below the great divide shou ld go on wi th less fuss tha n you faced in th e upper region. I truS[ tha t Figures 12- 5 and 12- 6 will make these schemes clear. You may get the feel ing about now that all this swi tching of scenery an d attack is needlessly compli cated and even downright silly - a nd so it is in many boats, especially th ose that a re long and lea n , with much deadrise from garboard to bilge. Experiment with edge bendi ng, a nd do the job the . easiest way you can . But a new proble m rises to confro nt you here: Whal about all those hol es through the p lanking, with their through-hlill sleeves and seacocks? " H ah!" says you . ''I'm too smart for that foo li shness. There won·t be any holes." Nope. J ust tw O cock pit scuppel"S, wa ter in IN , exhaust ou tlet , stack dra in for the e ngine, tra nsducer to starboard, sin k drai n 10 pon , inlet a nd olllie t for the toilet, out let for the bilge pump, above ·water vent for the gas-bottle locker-and so on. You can't, I think, dispe nse with all of these, no matter how p rimitive you' re willi ng to go. And every one o f these through-hull fittings (excep t the exhaust ou tlet, which usua lly g~s through the transom) must be exposed in a hrap in the cei li ng , a nd not a tiny one, either. Figure 12-8 takes a close look a t the process of making a through -hul l fi tting. You've probably messed things up already, in vo ur youth fu l ex ubera nce. You have m v. . sy mpa th y, because I have never yet, in 55 years of fi u ing cei li ng, ever once p la nned a head (0 1" these openings. H owever. I have usually managed to dre nch the p lanking, butt blocks, and fra mes wi Ih a cou p Ie of coats of oil and poison, somet imes with red lead in the mix, before hid ing them forever fr om human eyt's; bur I have a lways done th is too la te fo r dryi ng, and ha ve fini shed the eei I ing jo b bru ised, s lip pery, and smell ing to h igh H eaven . In Ratty's immortal words, th ere's nothing-absol utely nothing- ha lf so much worth doing as si mpl y mcssi ng about in boats. Especiall y if you own a ~econd set of wor k clothes and ca n spare the firs t for a week 's air ing. Be warned. And when you lea ve thOse open ings in the ceili ng , (ir lhe rei n forcing blocks as you go (and even bore for the through -hull sleeves) and make sure you don 't in terfere wi th the updraft, or let sl ide your jackkn ife or bevel gauge behind the freshlaid li nin g.
.
figure 12-6 Through- hull filting
This PUt is turn ed down tigh tly upon the backing b loc k. Couplin g to '----:; - - interior piping
Gasket
o.
Colton wicking
This part screws tightly to the hull in a care fully sized ho le bored through the plank and filler block.
Filler b lock is held short of the fram es for venti lation . Fil ler block is set In place prior to app lying the ceiling at that spot. (Fastened from the outside. I
/
Ceiling is cu t back 10 permi t maximu m operatio n of the val~e handle .
135
•
I , ,•
,.
Chapter Thirteen
It's a great day indel"d when you remove the molds. But don'! be in too great a hurry; a few things need doing before you break them loose. I assume tha t you've been properly cautious, with ties across from sheer to sheer in the middle third of the hull (to prevent spreading) and braces between frames below the future location of the sheer clamp in the ends of the vessel , where she'll try to come together. You should mark a true, pure line, representing the underside of the covering board, identical port and starboard, on the sheerstrake. with due a llowance for the crown of the deck. The sheer marks on the molds will help you get this right. Dress of( the sheerstrakes to this line. Be sure to run a pencil line down the inside of the planking, along the business edge of each mold. If you haven't yet followed my instructions in Chapter I I, I wish you'd roll a strand of cotton in to the topside seams, and even do some smoothing above the turn of the bilge, to calm the visitors, but I'm afraid this is too much to expect-so go ahead and yank the molds out. As soon as you've finished gawking at the vastness of that hold, we'll consider the problems of the deck frames. In its simplest form , the deck frame consists of beams extending from side to side of the vessel, usually spaced about the same distance
apart as the hull frames-with various openings left for houses, hatches, cockpi ts-and damned well fastened at both ends to resist the weight of years and boarding seas. This end fastening has taken various forms through the centuries, ranging from spruce-root lashings, hanging knees fastened to frame heads, martise-and-tenon joints through the sheerstrake, to the system most of us now use, which r will describe here. The sheer damp The first move is to fit and fasten a timber to the insides of the frames. with its top edge below the top of the sheerstrake by the depth of the beams, and ex tending from the stem to the transom . This is a simple enough proposition, with only two inherent pitfalls. You 'l l notice the first problem (as I finally did about the third time around) when you lay your concave beam mold across the hull from sheer to sheer and mark on the inside of the frame for the top edge of the sheer clamp at that frame. If the vessel has tumblehome , p lumb, or even slightly flaring topsides, that m ark must be, below your mold, much Jess than the depth of the beam. The beam must hit the inboard edge of the damp. In the forward sectIOns, 137
figure 13- 1
Square-edged damp timber set to the height 01 the underside 01 the dedcbeam without correction
Deckbeam Notch required
Deckbeam Open Open .
, ~
Clamp
3 o
(Aft)
(Amidships)
Beam mold
Final mark. ........ upperedge 01 clamp I-,(il left square)
Block representing deckbeam
Amount of correction, upward, required Block represe nting clamp timber
where the top~ides very likely flare decidedly outward and the beams a re short, the opposite effect occurs : the inboard edge of the clamp is higher than the outboard and mmt be notched to get full -width contact with the bottom of the beam. Figure 13-1 shows thi~ effect better than I can describe it. The second problem crops up in the forward part of the vessel. It's very likel y that the flare of the topsides will demand a humped-up curve, which you may have noticed when you fitted the sheerstrakes. Since the cl amp is to be a 1112 _ by 4 lh -inch timber, you are not likely to get this curve by edge-setting. Perhaps you'll have to steam ii, or even sa w it to shape; ma ybe you'll split it (horizontally , of course) with a saw cu t. back to the point where the timber 138
(For ward)
straigh tens out and starts curving in the other direction (see Figure 13-2a). The latter scheme works fine. and never mind what people say. By the time you bolt the beams to the split clamp vertically and bolt the fram e~ horizontally every foot or so. it'll be plenty strong. Cut the forward end of the sheer damp to bear snugly against the back of the stem, make the scarf cu t (2 fee t long, horizontal cut; see Figure 13-2b) at the after end, slide it forward on top of your temporary cross-braces, and haul it out to the frames with all the clamps you can mmter. You'll be happy yOIl fastened th e sheerstrake with screws, because you can now back them out and replace them with '/~ inch galvanized carriage bolts. Up, down, up, down-coumerbore the bolt holes to set the heads 1/2 inch into the sheerstrake (fill the holes flush to the planking with polyester p utty if you're going to paint the hull). Assuming you can't get stock long enough to make a one-piece damp, cut a ma tching scarf on th e after piece and spring it to the marb. Lock the scarf together, lay the after end out over the transom, and cut it 10 bear tightly against the transom frame. Bolt the damp to the frames as above, and put fo ur vertical bolts through the s{:arf. Don't worT\'• when the croakers sa\'• , "She 'll hog. sure'n hell, ' thout that damp' s one p iecel" Just you wait until we get a shelf into her.
Mid -station marks
figure 13- 2a
R igh t now, with the deck p la n in hand , you need a be nc hma rk (rom which to plot your bounda r y stakes. La y a straightedge across the h u ll from sheer to sheer, with o n ~ edge exactl y centered above the 'midship statio n mark on the tOp of the keel. As shown in Figure 13-3, stretch a string from th e ceoter of the stem to the cemer of the sternpost to get the a t!n.;art ships c.en ter of the straightedge. Meas ure from thi s p oint, port and starboard, to the ou tside of th e pl a nking. a n d be p roperl}' proud if she proves to be no mo re than an inch wider o n one side th an on the o ther. File this in fo rmat ion in the back of your mind, o r in yo ur no te book if you m ust, and go on to your main object ive, which is to spot two points on the straight edge exaClly equ idistant from the center, a nd as far ou t as is co nven ient-r ight at th e sheer, proba bly . Now hook your bO-foot tape or nonstre tch i ng wire to the exact center of the after
Clamp tim be r at the bow
Split wi th UW cut to facilitate edge-se t in the powderhorn regi on
figure 13- 2b l ocked searl in the clamp
I I
i
figure 13 - 3 Mid-station ma rks established at the gunwales fo r pu rpose of laying out deck timbering
Center ma rk p lum bed upward to a st raigh tedge laid across the gunwales at the ' mids hip station Equal distance s laid ou t to the sheer Stra ightedg e ~ ua re d to the by horning from the bow t readings of two tapes
'~:'-;~_ __ Straig htedge nailed, ~
both
s i de~,
whe n true
---- Ma r k~
are made on the sheer ~t ra kes an d the clamps h om this edge.
Origina l 'midshi p station mar k ~'"" on the ce nterline of the keel~on
139
fa .. !: of th e stem, and proceed to adjust th e straigh tedge unti l the two points on i t are equally dis tant fro m the stem, even as they remain equall y distant from the center. Check your mark s wj th a p lum b bob, from the station mar k on the keel; then nai l the straigh tedge to the sheentrakes, so that it'll stay put whi le you la)' orr a ll you r lo ng itudinal distances from it. Mark these essent ial longitudinal distancesth e ends o f the cockpit, the ends of the house. the forward hatch, the centerline of the mast. the cha in p lates, all of the deckbeams-on the sh eerstra ke and on th e top of the sh('('r damp, being very c.arefu l to indicate on which side of Ih e mark th e beam is to be placed. It's embar· rassing indeed, a~ I've found on several occa· sions. to discover that you've fitted, and fa s· tened, a beam forward of the mark on one side and aft of it. on th e other. Ah, well-unless a bulkhead lands there, probably no one will nOll ce.
figure 13 - 4 To scribe down a deckbeam-
ma rk
(a) Plum b the term inals of the cuts to be made on the molded fa ce of the beam . Pl um b mark
CUlling and filling the deckbeams Now , armed wi th a tri-square with a bubble, dividers with a pencil leg, crosscut and rip saws, chisel a nd ma llet, you are ready to mark , cut, and fa ste n the ma in deck beams, if you have a ny handy. I bli thely assumed a while back that you had a proper beam mold to use whi le d ress· iug t he sheerstra kes fa ir (or the underside of the deck and for marking fo r the heig h t of the sheer clamp . Use th is pa llern to mark those fine, sweeping p lank s you saved Oul, so that the grain fo llows the crown of the beam (5 in ches of crown in 10 feet of length, or whatever your designer call s for). I a lways saw out deck beams with a light· gauge, well·se t, sharp lO-inch table saw or (rare ly ) with th e ubiquitous 7 1/2-i nch portabl e electric circular saw. Either of these tools does a smoo ther job than the bandsaw. Check the sa wn beams carefully against the pattern, because they may cha nge shape after sawing. If you la.. k sweeping stock to make sawn bea m s, you can steam· bend straigh t stock on a for m, over·be ndi ngenough to retain th e proper c.rown when you take them o ff the form . Or you c.an gl ue· laminate the beam s over forms with fi ve plies o f a \vood tha t glues well - a process m uch loved in these times because, we are told, at last someone has come up with a wa y to make wood a sati sfacto ry boatbui lding materia l. I a lmost \... rOt(' Viable Alternative instead of sati sfactory; if I d id, I wo uld have pu t a trademark sy mbol afl er the term .. .. I druther
(bl The ot her side of The beam stave is plu mbed similarly, in order to obtain the sided bevel of __ the butt as well as th e sided bevel at the clamp.
Plumb marks '-,,.-"-made in {a)
140
~~-:
•
saw th em our, myself. l\!la ybe they wo n', IX' co m pa fi ble with the Space Age, ou t they' ll be good oak o r locust, and will hold fasten ings forevcr m o re, a nd won 't de lam inate, no ma Her whCH.
Set ti p staging inside the boa t I() matc h the outside staging to make Ihe .~hee r abo ut be llybutto n high when you climb aboard with yo ur tool kit and o ne of your long be am~, Lay said beam a cross the boat on rap of the sheer planks, exact Iy over the ~pot it will drop to aft er yo u 've cut it to length. Clam p the beam someho w, so it can 't sh ift pos it ion . Look at Figure 13 -1 and procced to ma rk for the end CU LS: Plumb up from the inside edge of Ihe s heerstrak e to th e top of Ihe hea m ; p lumb up from the in side top corner of the dam p to the bot lorn edge of the beam (and a little higher); se l your pencil -bearing divideh l / t inch less than the plumb distance frolll the lOp of th e s h ee r.~ tra k e to th e top of the beam: and scribe a lin e al Ihis distance, above th e lOp of the sheer cla m p , on the forward a nd a ft er faces of Ihe bea m . (The "I/ t inc h less" is nOl imroduced to a llow (or errors. bu t ra ther to a llow you to set the beam into a no tch of thaI depth on the shecr dam p .)
~........ .
,..-,
-.---. C-,
,--_._ .,- -. '."
---"
--'-
.--
".
-.
-.-
- -'---
) ..~
--- , .
•
(c) Transfe r the angle between d eckbeam an d shee rstrake.
Scri bed line
- --
-.- -
-
- -. Scribe r i ~ ~el here (dista nce the ~tave is 10 be d ropped).
cut -::5>~
Righ t angl e with the scribed li ne
Make th i~ scri be 'I. less than the "drop diSlance" if the fini shed beam is to fit into a 1;''' notch in the clamp . •
.
(d ) Scribe the stave's width wh ile ho lding the sc riber parallel to the plu mb line (do this on th e othe r side, too).
--
(f ) Beam in place
(e) Trim the beam along the molded and the J!ded bevels marked.
'] 4 1
fig u re 13-5 To loca le and hold a carl inFore
deckbeam~
Centerline of deck plumbed up from _ . / ke elmn marh 1 ~ 4 na ile d fla t acrOH the bOilt, <<:::-\.",~2: from clamp to clamp, wit h edge o n station mark plumbed from the kee l 1 • 4 post set p lumb to the inside edge o f the cu lln as determ ined fo r that stati o n on the pta n Carl in stave laid on the deckbeam at eith er end and d drn ped to the posts in between
Deckbeam mo ld
-:::::: Point
Now mark, on the side of the beam , the angle o f the end cut from the p lumbcd- u pmark at the tOp. down and para llel to Ihe inside of the sheerstrake. Then mark a li ne on the lap of the beam, para llel to the top ed ge o f the sheerstrake. Tread softly to lhe o lh e.r sideof the boat and go through the whole pro<:css on the other end of the beam. Put the beam down on the stagi ng, kneel on it, and make the followin g three cuts: (l) end cut with a crosscut saw; (2) lIndersidccut with a ri psaw , working to the scri bed I ines on the fore a nd a ft faces and stopping al th e mark plumbed
142
1,
" ~ "~,
Carlin in place
,
up from the corner of the clam p; and (3) a liLLIe sloping cut to free th is p iece. You ca n now try t he beam in p lace. It sho u ld sta nd I i i inch too h igh , a nd this amount yOll ' II Clit into t he top of t he dam p, so the beam will drop dO\,, " jwa flu sh wi th the sheerstrake and with a li ttle jog agaimt the inside o f th e cl amp. I'm happy that's over with, an d tha t I don't ha ve to struggl e through those directio ns m yself; bllt you're lucky to have Sam Manning's drawings to go by. Pl ease hark to my war n ing tha t there are no shortcuts, y(>l rest assured that you' ll be able to mark one of these beams in tWO mi nutes, automa tica ll y, wi th one eye o n t he bu bb le, after you 've done three or fou r. Is th is no t dreary stuff? Fussy, ted ious moves advancing little toward this fa br ic ' ~ fin al sQaring beauty . But when the bea ms begin 10 drop into place-one, twO, three, wi I haU l a III iss-you can be vcry full of joy for a while. Co ahead a nd fit all the full -widt.h beams: a ft er a nd forward ends of the cockpit, after end of the ho use, middle beam in the bridge de<.:k, for ward end o f the house, a nd all the beams in th e for edeck. Use the beam mold t.o ma ke sure you don't ha ve a maverick in the bunch . and fasten them all to the d amps-one !/~-inc h bolt. each end, countersunk, dead ce nt er, down through the center, with nut and washer on bOIlOIll. The breasthook, quarter knees, sh elf, and bl ocking wi ll come later. Righ t now you must in sta ll the fore-a nd-aft carl ins that establ ish the edges o f the cockpit and the house. Th is is the trickies t part of the deck-frame p roject, and takes some plan n ing. Your construction half-breadth plan shou ld give the hal f-br ea dth of th e h ouse from the fore-and-aft centerline at every sta tion . Nail a straight on e- by-four on top and all th e flat across the hull from cla m p to d amp at each sta tio n . Stretch your string aga in and mark exact centers o f all these temporary cross members- and while you ' re a t it, thecenters of all the beams you have so far installed. La yoff on the end beams and on these h orizonta l fl ats the widths to the in side of the carl in. Now at each of these marks fitand fasten a plumb POSt, inboard of the mark. Lay your beam mold against cadl in turn , as ill Figurc 13- 5, and behold - the inner top edge of the carlin has to land exactly at Point X; you have a fine row of pOSIS to spring the carlin around and cla mp . agamsl.
figure 13 - 6 Carlin at deckbeam
Plumb and
"
2iJd
/'
/
Fasten blocks on top of the en d beams where th e outboard edge of the carlin will lie, and bend the timber around the posts and on lOp of th e end bea ms. At this slag£: of the proceed in gs you'll want the lower edge o f the timber to la nd o n the crown ma rks. Use your tri-square to ma rk for the end cutS on th is tim ber j UH as you did on the deckbeams: plum b up from the point where the topof the carlin will land. This point will be lh inch into the face of the beam to allow for a slopi ng notch (sec Figure 13-6). Fi gure ou t the rest of the angl es and cuts fro m the drawi ng , rememlx-ring always that thi s p lu m b busi ness works at both ('nds, unfa ilingly, and that a ny deviation from it spell s
143
figure 13-7 Sheer curve in the cockpit COlriin
/
'
Di p of the sheer normOllly concent rOl ted in the cockpit OlreOl
L __ _ -i
Batten laid al ong run o f sheer per the plan
Pattern boar d d roppe d into the notche s for the carlin s
Sheer curve under the ballen is marked on the paltern bo.ard .
""- Cockpit carlins in place
144
disaster. Cu t the s lo p ing: notches in th e beam s. cu t the ends o f yo ur car li n ti mber 10 ma tch, a n d spr in g it in. P ush th e ca r li n do wn a n d dam p it \\'ith the to p edge at the crow n marks on your tem porary posts; drill for and drive three ga lvan ized 20d spikes at each end through the beam and into the en d of the carlin (see Figure 13-6). Go aft nO\~' an d ht the carlim for the sid es of the cockp it. Th e~e a rt usu a ll y stra ight fore and aft, bu t tb ey mus t be dipped in profile to m;Jlrh the sheer. Th is sh ape ca n be determined by Ihe sa m e m ethod outlined above; or vou ca n nm a batten on tOp of the bridge-deck and the afterdeck bea ms, a longside a pi ece of pattern sl.Ock d ropped imo the no tches in the mai n bea ms. ~'I a r k a fair profile o n the p a u ern. Sa\\' to the line. and mark your ca rli n timbers from il. Saw th em o ut a nd insta ll as above (sec F igure 13- 7), You a re now ready to fit (he short beam s. L ayout the short beams carefully, square LO the centerl in e, exactl y o ppos i Ie each other port a nd starboard . Yo u'll be ha p p y you d id h'h en yo u in stall bul kheads. hanging shel ves, a ud deck eyebol ts. You w ill, o f course, perceive th a t the top of the carlin must be dressed off to the crown of the deck. YOli can do this now Of put i I off undl a ll the beams and tie-rods are holding the carl in agai nst yo ur attack. b ut if you ch oose to d efer d ress ing off, you must be wa ry o f a ile sma ll effect: Un less you shim up th e ou tboard end of th e beam (at the sh cerst ra ke w hile marking them) to mat ch the incorrect height above the ca rli n. yo ur marks will be wrong, be<:a use o n e end will have to drop that small bit. more than ,he other to ac h ieve its fin a l res t ing p lace. The boat bui lder's lot is hard enough wi thout add ing any avo idab le complica tions. so le t's dress off now. Sah' off the POMS fa lei you r p ia ne go by (you' ll ha ve to uepress them before you l a y I h c deck. so why not now?) and dress off the top o f th e carlin to match the deck crown. As you fil all t.hme sh ort beams. remember to p lumb lip from a line L/2 in ch in (ro m lhe edge of th e carlin , the tOp of the slopi n g notch; from tht: inboard ed gt· of the shet>rstrake (10 give the to p o f the beam a t the otltbo;Jru end); and fro m the inboard edge of the ~heer clarup and to scribe up frolll the cl amp with d ividers set lit inch less than the distance the beam must be drop ped (sec Figure 13-8). Fi t hall a dozen ix'inns, tack them in pos ition w it h :')d box na ils. and dri ll a n d fa sten them a ll at once. I like to use twO or three 20d spikes fro m the carlin into the end of the bea m,
figu re 13-8
Shari bea ms joined to a carlin
Note tnat tnis untrimmed snou lder must be com pensated for by sn imming the o pposite end, Iltne pl umb ~nd tne scribed ti nes are to be accurate.
Short beam stave positioned lo r scribing down
...
- --
'"~ -
-
"0' Y.' d;.;;~d::
o ff on the top bce
'---
-
'
'::
."
"
.......
-.
- -_.- ---
C~ r l i n
Short beam
____ Ca rriage bolt tnrough cla mp
Bungs
14S
fIgu re 13-9<1. Beil m she lf Scar f jo int in a plank shelf
figure 13 - 9b
Clam p tim ber
Built-up shelf wit h stagge re d join ts
Belle l chilnge, bow to ste rn, whe le she lf fays aga inst the dam p
146
The beam shelf Now le t 's cons ider the beam shelf. Thi s bit o f furn iwre is a flat stiffener fi tted around the sheer under the d eck bea m s, aga in st th e da m p . It can be sa wn to shape from severa l p ieces scarfed together (Figure 1!i-9a), or it ca n be built up with fourorfi ... e n arrow pieces, say I 1/2 by 2 inches (Figure 13-9b), sprung into place, and through-bolted to the clamp and the deckbeam s. The shelf may go th e entire length of the boat, or it may extend only a few feCI for ward a n d aft of the ma in chain p lates. Wha tever its le ng th, it must be fi tted on its o utboard edge to a con stant ly c hanging bevel on th e inhoa rd face of the da m p. If you a re working with fa irly hea vy timber for the s h elf-for examp le, a p lank 2 inches by 12 inches by 14 fee t long, to produce a 2- by 5-incJl shelf with a scarf at each end- yo u wil l be wise to take a spilin g on a light, curved spiling board and note the bevels a t 2- [00t inter vals. You can tran sfer the shape from the s p ilin~ board to the stock, a nd saw the sh el f out and bevt:! ittO a fit Ih at is fa irly dose before you ever ta ke it ahoard t he hoat. C lamp the shdf in p lace, scr ibe for the fina l li t, re mo ve it, d ress to the marks, a nd bolt it solidly (0 the beams and th e cl am p . (There is , of course, the possib ility th at some adjau'tll beams might not be exact ly th e same depth. If you can't stand frustration and don't, know how to use invisibl e sh ims, you shouldn't be in this business.) W it h th e hea ms and sh elves in p lace, yo u can itl sta ll the li~-rods. Th ese a re very importan t stre n g th m~mhe rs , especially needed und er a cClu lked deck , and especially va luable as th e hig gu n s aga in st those sharp -eyed cr itics who fret abO ll t your cheap fa~tenin gs from the (:arli n to th e beam cnds. GCt o ut your long li s-inch drill. choose like ly spo ts- about 18 inches from l'adl end and no more than 3 feCI apart through the rest of th e length-and proceed to drill holes through the ('arlin , thl' shelf, and the cl a m p ( Figure 13- IOa). Countersi nk for the nut and \\'as h er. o f course, o n the i nooa nl face o f the ca rl in . An a lternat ive is to run the rod abo\'e the shelf and t h ec1 amp, out through the frame and the sheerstrake (Figure 13- IOb) . This ~y s tcm gives the tic-rod a better angle-one th(jr will mak e the rod more closely parallel to th e line of th e deck, that is. This system will require more, and still more, higher bungs in t.he sheerstrake . I t's a tOSS -up which way you do it. Just be sure the rods are square alh wartsh ip s. or yo u ' ll be in trouble wh~n you fit the bu lkheads .
figure 13-1 0a
Tie-rods
Rod fu n thlOugh shelf and cl amp
figure 13 - lOb
Rod run above shelf and clamp
147
figu re 11 - 11 The brea sth ook - -
- -_ _ _"
' .
G=
,
...-
,
,
/ Finishing the deck fra me What more mm l be done before you loan rover all thi s \vi th ~omc thing wa tertigh t? Not m u ch , jus t the breaHhook; quarter knees; l enterline block in g between all th e bea ms in the foredeck, the bridge deck, and the afterdeck; blocking to take bo lts (rom the gallows (rame. the mainsheet horse, a nd the quarter dea ls; the under-deck bases for the life! ine stanch ions, the a nc hor windl ass, the mooring d eat, th e backsta y fittings, and the eyebo l ts~and a fe w more tha t you'd better pre-plan before you sta rt laying Ihe deck . Start w ith the breasthook . This, in m y lexicon, is a block of d urable hard wood with its hot tom surface fi ned to the laps o f the sheer da mps, Ihe en els filled tightly agai nst the sh eerslrakes, and the forward (short) side fitted 148
,
\
agai nst the after face of the stem. T he breasthook gra in must ru n cu hwan ship s. The tOP of th e bl oc k m ust be dressed off 10 the li ne of the un derside of the decking. J usually edge-bore th is p iece before insta lling it to take one bo lt fro m the midlXlim of the after edge through to the fo rward fa ct' of the ste m . Drive two bol ts o n each side dow n t h roug h the sheer clamps, and fo u r good scre ws on each s ide from th e sheerstra kes into the breast hook-a nd you can be rcasonabl y sure (hal tilt" nose of the vesse l will stay toge ther (Figure I .~- ll ) . Wi th all your t.ools up at thc bow, you migh t as well fit the cen (erl ine blocking back to the for ward end of th e house. This blocki ng need not be the fu ll depth o f the bea ms, a n d it may vary in width to a u :ommodate whatcvcr deck f urn i ture will be sited over it: a wide- based wind lass, the staysail boom pedestal, the king-
figure 13-12
Blocking in lieu of quarter knees
plank, or the butt joint in plywood decking, Also fit a good plank, wide enough to take the widest-spaced bolts in the windlass, with the forward end against the stem, underneath all the beams and back to the hatch open ing in the foredeck. Your big bolts from the mooring cleat, the bowsprit socket. and so on, will go down through this plank and tie everything together. Naturally you must fit chocking between the blocking and the plank so you'll have solid wood to tighten against. Move your gear aft and install the quarter knees. These are invariably shown as beautiful grown crooks, dead-fitted to the transom frame and the inside of the sheerstrake, and presumably bearing upon and bolted to the after ends of the sheer damps. I prefer to tie this corner together ,vi th a big hunk of fore-and-aft grained blocking, partly because I lack such crooks. As
shown in Figure 1.~-12, it mmt be bolted to the damps, pinned to the transom frame, and screw-fastened from the sheerstrakes, and it mus t have enough area to take a ll the odd fas· tenings fro m the covering boards, the toerail knees, and all the olher things that come together at this busy corner. I almos t dare suggest that the end is in sigh 1. Locate, fit , and fasten thl· blocking to take the lifeline Hanchions . Dina, ditto , di tto for the gallows frame, the ma i nsheet horse (tie this one under the beams. something like the mooring-cleat technique up forward), the backstay fittings, and the jib-sheet track-grain for e-and-aft on aiL Put some posts from the keel to the underside of the main beams, a nd smooth everything off ready for the decking. As fo r me, I'm going sailing.
149
ar d Plywood with ra bb et ed co ve ring bo
Pl ywoo d wit h '" ''' '
Ca nvas ove r
Straig rll -Ia id pla nk
Spru ng P";, "'
Herring bo ne layup
Chapter Fourteen
•
a In
Sometimes r think that life must have been much simpler in days of yore-Life, of course, meaning Boatbuilding, which includes decklaying, which was (and still is) the most important problem we have to face. Everything you needed was at hand, with no searching of soul or advertising pages. You would have saved out, for extra under-cover drying, enough of your best planking stock to do the whole deck. You'd decide, on the basis of size, form, function, and cost, which of two inevitable, classic
patterns you'd use- and proceed to lay that deck. You fitted and fastened wood to beams in time-honored pattern, caulked the hell out of the seams, filled them with home-grown sticky stuff, and soaked the deck with salt water once a day. No miracle fil lers, no costly coveringsand you could chop wood on it, shovel snow off it, run around barefoot on it. I've done this type of deck in redwood, cypress, cedar, pine, fir, and teak, with bits of mahogany 31 times for covering boards and margin planks. Some of them needed re-caulking after one year, or 12, and some didn't leak at all. I think it's safe to say that this classic laid deck is the right one to use on a big workboat, the best- looking on a yacht big enough to stand the weight, and possibly the least expensive in materials (and most expensive in labor) of all the many choices now available. I'll state here
the rash, biased, and probably foolish generalization that this classic deck should not be attempted in less than 1/8-inch thickness , which means that it's not for small. light boats. I'll make the further observation that if you've got enough sense to come in Out of the wet (a very good comparison in the present instance, and purely coincidental, I assure you), you'll leave this deck construction to us old relics from a bygone agc, and you'll sell yoursoul [or a mess of pot tage that looks suspiciously like thin wood layen buttered WiTh chewing gum. '''le' ]] get to that later. At the moment, 1" 11 share a secret with you: I hope to build the Perfect Singlehander this winter (I've already reduced the choices to only seven hull forms and four rigs), and the one item I'm sure of is the deck, which will he la id, and caulked, and cursed, and patched, and oh, so beautiful that my heart will leap up at the sight of it. And it'll be only '/. inch thick. Once upon a time I built a big boat for a professor, a solemn and learned man, and we sat in the main cabin beneath a splined-teak housetop discussing the next payment, always a fascinating subject. The boat was yet in the shop, under a splendid one-year-old tar-paper roof, and an April shower trickled through the shop roof, found a gap in the splined teak, and dribbled upon the professor's magnificent and 151
figu re 14 1 Straight-la id dee\!.
_ _-
Nib bed 1 0 cov er ing b ~
covering
rd
board
c e n terl i ne blocking
o Quarter
bloddog
_ Nibb e d lO co-re.ri l'lg bo a rd
I-
,><
twitching n ose, a ll to my con siderable embarrassment. But he had assured me that Teak Can' t Leak (see Claud Worth, pp. such -andsuch, ~ t seq uitur ), leaving m e in a stronger posi tion than I deser ved. You ca n be sure tha t I made the m ost of it. An ywa y, we decided thai a ca nvas-covered houselOp wasn ' t too bad an idea after a I I. I have s teadfastly adhered 10 Ihat belief ncr since. As for the main deck, likewise in ) l/ z_inch tea k, laid slrCligh t fo re-a nd-aft. n ibbed illlo the covering boa rd - tha t, too, leaked I ike a ... s ieve until we recau lked and refi lled the whole business, devil seam and all. We (or I , an yway ) d ecided that that tea k must have been towed across from Burm a; it cou ldn' t have gotten so wet any other way. So now, leaning heavi ly on Sam Manni ng's dra·win gs, I 'll try to describe some of the variations on the theme of the la id deck, with special emphasis on my fina l (to the moment, that is) conclusion s as to how it shou ld he done. Straight-laid deck ing As you un doub tedl y know , yOLl can lay this deck straigh t fore-a nd-aft, parallel tocenterline and nibbed into cover ing board and margin planks (Sl'C Figure 14- 1). With no edge-ben ding involved, the su ips can be w ide enoug h to take two good faste nings a t each bea m. The nibbing need not start until the a ngl e between the deck pla nk a nd the covering boa rd ge ts to be less than 20 degrees. I li ke to lea ve the a bsol ute min imum of block ing under the jo ints; if the rain fro m hea ven breaches the fir st defen se, it's far better to let it di ss ipa te its streng th on the skipper's bun k than to confine it in a dark and sa vory rot pocke t. r shudder a t the thought of trying to keep the jo ints between the covering board, knighth eads, and stem tigh t, and the hundred stanchions I 've put throug h covering boards (though their substan ce was the be~t black locus t) arise to haunt my memory . So I say, saw off the stem, run the decki ng right over i t (and over the top o f the uansom, too), and do not pierce the cover ing boa rd with any thing except twice as m a ny fastenings as you think necessary , i nto deckbcams a nd sh eerstrake. When you ca u lk t ha t dev il seam , you want to feel con fi dent that it \vi ll res ist m ig hti ly an y attem p t to spread it. (Of course you know about the de vil seam? It 's the seam a t the inboa rd edge o f th e covering board; a nd when you ' re between the Devil and the deep blue sea, wi th the water seeth ing th ro ugh the scuppers, you want to have a good grip o n a shroud, and
you hope tha t the cau lkers had some pitch hot when it came time to pay th a t seam.) \Ve have yet to decide whallo do where the laid deck is interrupted by o penings-house, cockpi t, hatches. If these deck structures are parallel -sided fo re-a nd-aft, you can lay the deck. to the inside o f the o penings, cau lk wi th infin ite care , and even p ut in vertica l sto pwatcrs where the ends will be covcred by the bedded, be lted coamings. O r you ca n , as you nearl y must do if your life is com p lica ted by a c urved house side, insta ll m argin p lanks on ca rl ins an d deckbeam s, wilh light blocking and doubled-up bca ms, respecth'e ly, to lak.e the ends of thedecking, and keep all cau lked scams in the open (see Figures 14- 3 an d 14 - 4). Th is is, of course, standard practice all big- vessels. I have usually (after a brief struggle with m y conscienre, and wi th sublime confidence in whate .... er sticky stu ff is at hall d) bro ught m yself to omit the a thwartship m a rgin s and go [ or hidden scams under the ends o f tbe ho use. You can always put stopwatcrs in them from the Olm ide-round ones, in drilled holes, or cedar wedges with the caulking hard agai nst them. (See Figure 14- 2.) Wha t m o re shou ld we say abo ut straigh tlaid deckin g? If you want a r ule o f t hum b, and the plans don 't speci fy it, make the stri ps twice as wide as they a rc thic k, th e covering board figure 14- 2 Deck plank laid to the inside of opening
153
figure 14- 3 Mugin pl~nk
Caulk lightl y
I plank
figure 14-4 Sill, or grub st rip
1S4
Covering board
about five times as wide as il is th ick , of consta n t width except at the forward ends where port a nd starboard round in nicely to meet in a ce nterline seam on the hreas lhook and stemhead. (A nd before you ins tall the bowsp rit, caulk that seam, and poison it, and fill it. and bless il, and cover it with sheet lead or copper fo lded down the sides and fa ce of the stem .) You ca n shape this covering board out of a harder wood than the rest of the decking, You' ]] sa\\it to shape, each side in at leasl three pieces scarfed or butted togelht'L The butt joint is the ea sier of the two (done on a block between ) deck bea ms, the same as a p lank butt, peppered with fa stenings, sa tura ted \\'ilh poison, caulked and Hlled). And don't lay OUt and CUt the nibs all at once, before installing the piece, or you ']] get yourself in a hell of a mess, Mark and CUi each strip of deck p lankin g as you come to it, and mark from it the necessary CUI in lhe covering board-done len gthwise with your smallest hand-held power saw almost to the I-inch square joga t the forward end. With no blocking underneath , t he end CUI can be made with a fin e-toothed handsaw, and Ihe corner cleaned ou t wit h a chisel. To support the n ib end between deckbcams, hang a 1- by 3- by 6-inch piece of locust under it, screw-fastened from the covering board and the preceding ~ trip of decking . (See Figures 14-5 and 14- 6.) Thus you'll avoid th e pai nful job of fillin g a solid block betwectlthe beams, and ach ieve the same result with less work and more ventilatio n , l a nce la unched a new schooner, and lhe owner a nd th e guests moved joy fu ll y aboard to spend the firsl nigh t afloal. Came the dawn, and the beams from the rising su n shone through a gap under the covering board and dazzled the eyes of the h alf-awake owner, so that be thou ght his bunk must be on fire. He came ashore wi thout breakfast, not too damned p leased, and laId us about it. And I say unto you , who are about to deck a boat: Pla ne the top o f thai sheers trake smoolh and fa ir, so tha i a fl y a ttem p ting to I ig hLOn it wi ll slip helplessly o ff. Set the covering board in Slicky goo and fas ten i t to the (hardwood ) sheerstra ke wi th a long screw every 6 inches. After you've filled and fastened the loerail (with long drifts or con tinllous -threaded rod), then cau lk Ihe seam ten, derly , and assume that it'll stay light-tigh t and mosquito-proof. O therwi se you, tOO, may awake with the su n in your eyes (or moonbeams, which are more dan gerous). I fo rgot to stan YOll wi th bone-dry decking, CUt to s ile and racked up in the hottest pan of the shop overhead for a l least tWO mo nth s
figure 14- 5 Nibs in Ihe covering board
•
•
• •
tl=== cau before you arc ready fi t it. And after you've lked the whol e deck, maybe you oug ht to to
S~W
remember Pete C u ller'sad\·jceand no t be in tOO m uch o f a hurry to fi ll the seams nush . Sa tura te t hem wi th pa int a nd oil and p o ison; if they show signs of weeping a t the cnd of the first season, harden dow n the cotton, and soak them some more. When they've all seuled down, serene in th eir abi lity to protect your bunk, fill them wi th some th ing old -fashion ed that will soften in th e sunlight and adjust for ever 10 the width of the seam . Fastenings for this straight -laid deck: Ili ke galva ni zed blu nt-pointed boat na ils, about two and one-hal f t imes as long as the deck is thick. Drill and coumerbore (or them, o f course; set them with a ho ll ow-nosed punch made from l/~- in ch mild sleel or copper. Or dig deeper into your wallet and buy Anchorfas t bronze ring nails" number 8 wire or even heavi er. Make the kingp lank wide enough to take the cleat, windlass, and bowsprit, a nd still leave no seam covered . LeI's lea ve thi s and consider the beau tifu l sprung deck a nd its problems.
cuI
Sprung decking
1 x 3 x 6" ~u pponi ng bloch beneath nib end ~
You know, of course, what thi s looks like: narrow strips bent edgewise to the line of the sheer, nibbed into a kingplank (Figure 14 - 6) or herring boned toge ther on the forward and after dec ks. The system works beSt on a long and easy c urve, and the strips of decking must
ISS
figu re 14- 6 Dec k for 56' ~hooner
"\
1\
If
Coverin g boa rd I'll ~ 9-
King plan k l'h ~12H
A
~\
Deck plank
J
l'h x3"
I
- -- - c rl - - -- -- -- -- --
Start n ib s
.
-
-n-
--
--
-- -- -
---- - -- -- --,\:; - - - --
-
.
- \- \- -- - . . - - - ~ f:\ - .....- - - - - -- -- -- - - - - - --
o
-
0
rl
Ih
rI
• •
--
.-
-
---
\ Straight-Iaia
\ Sprung deck ing
--
•
be narrow, limber, and flawless. You can scarf pieces together to reach the length of rhe deck. You can blind-fasten them to the beams, run in a strand of cotton, fill the seams flush with color to show up well against the ,,",ood. You can oil it . and scrub it, and become a ~lave to the lovel iest of a II decks. Sometimes, in some cases, rhe effort is justif ied, and you can dwell wirh beauty and joy forever-if you can gel some reliable party to sluice it down twice a day when you're not on board . And you can hedge your bet with the thought that this is the almosl-perfect base fo r a canvas covering. Not so good as you rould have achieved, with onefifth the labor, in plywood, but still pretty good. And anyway, t'were bener to have loved a nd lost than never TO have loved atall. So turn your back on me and spring those strips. But please try TO mill you r stock TO show edge grain on top, a nd dry it long and hot, and tunk it on end to snug it out to the covering board between rlamps. Consider rh ese questions: Have you installed plenty of tie-rods from the clamps to the carlins? Ha ve you sozzled the timberheads and beam tops with poison? Fi tted blocking for the lifeline stanchions? Beveled for the caulk ing seams, and applied two (oats of paint on the bottom and sides of every strip a week before you 're leady to lay them? Have you weighed using blind-finished nails against the alternative of putting one good bunged bronze nail straight down the middle? Really convinced yourself that this is the way to go? (Remember what young 'V. Shakespeare said once: Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.) And remember that teak was once (a hundred years ago, in England ) con sidered to be at best a reasonabl e su bstit ute for Q uebe( yellow pinewhich is our noble white p ine, Pinus strobus, complete with the Kirlg'~ broad a rrow . For my money, cedar is better than ei ther of them-and a laid, caulked deck, pain ted a light color, is a far better bet than the same deck left bare . And finall y: If you pay any attention to the do ub ts expressed above, you will cause me great disappointment. Th is involvement of ours, this almost passionate and slightly unreasonable feeling we have fo r wooden boats. does not welcome quantitative analysis in terms of man -hours, materials costs, and consumer demand. We're just ornery enough to think tha t we can ta kc a few ancient hand too ls and shape natural wood into a thing of great beauty and usefulness. No mal1er what you may think, I love tha t sprung la id deck.
Caulking 'Vith that point settled, I'd like to say a few words about caulking. I usually avoid the subject hecause my mallet doesn't ring, and let's facc it, I ncvcr apprenticed under a real pro, nor helped hawse thc oakum into a real seam. I have even been known to use a wheelan hull and deck seams (about a thousand miles of them. in 70 or 80 fair -sized boa ts, over the past 60 years) . YOll might as well say tha t I abo advocate feeding every third baby girl to the crocodi les, or even outlawing apple pie . Ah, yes . The competent caulker feels the weight of final responsibility. However bad the planking or deck ing job (a nd they're usuall y pretty bad), he and on lv he can make them tight and save the sh ip fro m tota l worthlessness. That's all tinc and probably correct. All I want to say is this: Thcsc strips of decking (especially singlefasteu ed sprung strips, and skinny ends) are not too steady on their leet. You can caulk one side hard enough to push it off balance and get uneven result.,. So what you do is caulk both sides at the same time (see Figure 14-7 ). This may sound li ke a complicated process requiring at least four hands. bu t you'll get the idea in a very few minutes. Start the cotton in two seam s (even in all the scams, dear across from the cover ing board to lhe kingplank), somewhat less than half as firm as it shou ld cnd up, and work back and forth, side to sidc, ever tighter-until it's tight enough, and all even. How do you know it's tigh tello ugh? You hi t it with your caulking iron, or karl on it with your wheel, of course. And th en you soak it full of paint before darkness descends upon you. I med to caulk lightly, so that the owner cou ldn 't peer up through the gaps, and never thoughlof priming the tightened seams till spring and putty time came round. I understand from recent reading thar this dilatory att it ude is almost sure to bring on ruin. So saturate that new-driven cotton with whatever it says on the can, and hope that you'll remember to get a seam filler that doesn't fight with it.. Canvasing Outside th e window as I write this sits the sloop Micky Finn, built in the year 193 7, and a damned plain job at that. Iron fastenings, native pine plank (w it.h a goodly proportion of sapwood), and the iron fastenings punched and pu ttied . For a de<:k, we nailed tongue-andgroove pine sheathing to deck beams dnd sheCl157
figure 14- 7 C~ulking
Simu ltane ous ca ulking of several seams, o r all seams, from king plank to coveri ng board. prevents the plank strips from crowding o r tum b li ng.
Pulled
Hard cOllonpressed in with caulking wheel
Soft colton-looped. gagged, and d riven wit h caulking iron
sn·akes. smoothed and trimmed it somewh at, primed it with one coat of lead 'n' oil , ;mel stretdH:d and tacked number IOcanvas over the whole bus iness (as show n in Figure 14-8). At this poin t, of course, advice came in from a ll sides. ' Too later· sa id one. ·'Shou ld ha ve la id it in cement." And another: " Soa k it wi th water, and paint it wringing wet; that \\'ay you'll save ha If the pai Ill . " A third: "Fill it wi th glue sizing, and get a really smooth surface!" Ye t agai n : "Shrink it with airplane dope, o r i t"1l never lie smooth,'· So we, i n our per verse ignora nce, mi xed up all th(~ odds and ends o f lefto ver p ain t in the shop. strained it through a piece o f burlap, and brushed it on th e ca nvas until the cotton fibers were completely saturated. I'm afraid we did everything wrong. But th ere she sit~, outside tilt' window, sound aloft and a low, wai ting for spring and ano ther sea· so n a noa t, \" ith most o f tha t orig ina l can vas still intact a nd keepi ng the water out. There's the reaso n, I think, that this plain and sim p le sloop has seen two generations of sli ck yachts come in glory and go in dust. Da mp du st, that is, where the lovely deck jo inerwork opttlcd up JUSt enough to admit th e n igh t dews and Ihe busy li ttle fun g i. Ca n vas I have lm'ed, and it has fun ctioned pred ictably for me for s li ghtly over half a century. Plywood decking with covering board So we come to fiberglass, which is here to stay. As far as I am concerned , it demands more pati ence, skill , money, and time than I am able to devo te to it. A dedicated practitioner can spend 30 hours on a 30·foot deck and fortify it for the ages - i f (they tell me) he works over flawl ess p lywood, uses the Better R es in , a nd sea ls th e raw edges with eig h t coa ts. I" m su re he
158
figure 14_8 Canvased de ck-Micky Finn (1917)
--'"--1ilt--->
#10 canva turned up~ inside of ho use;
tu rned down
o ~ er
shee r
trim Ill" cedar - - 1
Fac e
Dec k plank- '/,"
t o ngu e - a nd - g r oo~e
pine
Guardrail
1'=+,4/ I 1/
, , 2'1>" h.1f 0,,1
._..._.-_ _ Ho use side Toerail , 1" lead under
wou ldn ' t waste his lime a nd substa nce over tha t tong ue-and -groove p ine deck. Not if he were smart . he wou ldn 't. The wood "'au ld let go or the glass would split, and the litt le bugs wou ld flou rish merr il y in the gap. But plywood is wonderful. It depends not on ti e-rods to maintain its integrity as a gluedup rig id slab. You make butt jo int s, halfway between deckbeams , on pl ywood pads tig htly fitt ed to the bea ms and th e sheerstrake. Saturate all contact surfaces with walt:rproof g lue and fasten together wi th screws in double rows 2
inches apart. No need to roUl oul and ca u lk. J ust be s ure tha t the deck paint lies smooth ly. with no crack showing o\'er th e jo int. Yo u can caver this p lywood . as mentioned above, with canvas or glass; you can use it as a base fo r a teak o verlay, which is a kind of upside-down sophistry; or yo u can hide it under roofin g paper. or tar a nd gravel. or deck paint loaded wi th sander dust. If you can get a good overl aid p lywood. equa l to the old Super Harbori te (come to think o fit, nothing is li kely to be that good , but you ca n try), and seal it wi th super
159
l i g u f e 14 - 9
pl y w o o d d e c k wilh IUb rail
ligure 14 - 1
0 plywood d e c k wilh r a b beled coveril'lS b o ard
Top ot be~ 1 f t ab o v e ~m
hee r
'/1 ~ , " r ~b b e t o r pl yw o o d l
~OI\Ce ttn l the lOP oll u
~heentrake
mes and re d u ce d in n e ig h l b y I h musl b e e d e p l h ot I h e plY woOd it th i s sys te m ;~ used.
\60
Slo c k s t o l a k l o n g ~cr ew s e
poisons. and then just paint ii - over the proper saturation of specia l dear sea ler, of coursethen you'll have [he beSt uti li tari an deck I know o f. I'\'t~ llst'd it thu s over the past 25 years fo r decks, foon vdls, coal c hutes, sa w lables, a nd cu ll ing boards in my oyster boa t. Tha t o verl ay is tougher 'n a boiled ow l, or a pictt of old iro n , and the plies Slick logcthcr li ke musk oxen faci ng the woU pack. But }'o u ' \'t~ got to sea l t hose edges and hide Ihem where neilher fog, nor dew . no r unclean thoughts can creep
figure 14-1' Rabbeted covering board across crowned, cylindrical transom
bJOCki. ,,":.~::,,\~~_____ , ~
in a nd corrupt.
The o bvio us way is to carry this plywood out over the sheerstra kc, hed and fasten il as directed back there fo r th e covering board, dre~~ it off and seal the raw edge with six coats o f JX.lison cd oil, and rhen cover it with a wide. tough molding. which you ca n ca ll a rubrail . guardrail. o r wha tever (see Figure 14 - 9) . Not a bad (hin g to have be twecilthe sheerstrake and a piling, incidentally. if you didn't manage to get fenders in p lace soon enough. But thi~ molding mus t be above: reproa ch. bedded and sealed a bsolutely water tight aga in st the sheerstrake and the d e<:k edge, leav i ng not the sl igh test gap fo r fre~ h water to enter. and screwfa sten ed t'xpe ns ive ly, to be remova ble fo r . . Inspection . But perhaps you have good reasons for not usi ng sllc h a raiL Ma ybe it interferes wit h trai lboards, a co\'estrip(', chai n plates, o r your own idea of how a yacht shou ld look- wit h no ru b ra il c heapen ing the sheerstra ke, a nd a full inch o r more of genui ne coverin g: board showing be tween t he sheerslta ke a nd the toera il. Sam 's drawings- Figures 14 -10, 14-1 1, and 14 - 12- w ill show you how to la y a p lywood deck w ith a rabbeted c:ovcrin g hoard, after I get you thorough ly confused, as follows: G o back (wo wee ks a nd fit all those deck beam s alJd (he b reas t hook block li z inch too high (that is, liz inch higher than the topof the sheerstrake). Now cut down those beam ends flu sh with the top of the sh eerstrake, an d fa r enough inboard to take the wid th o f the covering board yOll plan to use. Cut ou t and sca rf th is coveri ng board, a nd (as shown in Figure 14-10) Clil a rabbet in its in board edge 1/2 inc h deep a nd 1 inc h wide, (I 'm assu m ing you'l l use 1/2-inrh p lywood, \\lhich is strong enoug h for a IS,DOD-poun d boa !. ) If you p la n to bend thi s edgewise to the sheer, ra ther tha n cu i ilia sha pe, you are o f course Ii mi ted to a width that will ta ke the bend (perhaps assisted by a w hiff or twO of stea m ). You ']] CUI the ra bbet on straight stock on th e tabl e saw. a nd likely end up with the edge of the p lywood under the
Horizontal lamination
toera iJ. Or yOll can saw the cover ing board to shape, at least 4 inches w ide, lIsing three or more p ieces each side. scarfed together. You can cut the rabbet with your portable elel'lric circu lar saw, before assembly, or you can do it with two passes o f a rou ter after the covering board is fastened in place. Either system , sprung or cut, is perfect ly sa t isfactory, a nd each has its own slight advantages: Th e sprung piece is easier to fit . using less lumber; the wide-sawn covering board all ows for a logical con trast in color o r fin ish around the margin of the deck, and keeps the seam well inboard, d ear of the LOerail, where its integr ity ca n be mon itored witho ut d iSlllrbi ng anyth i ng. W il h ei ther system, you ' ll need to insla ll heavy blocki ng between t he beams to ta ke fastenings (rom the stanchion sockets, ring bol IS, cleats, a nd all th e other vi ta l pieces o f ha rd ware tha t grow a round the edges of thi s dec,k. You m ust also carry this covering board auoss the top of the tra nsom , \\'hich has of course been cut to the crown o f th e deck a nd 161
figure 14-12 Marking the underside of the plywood deck lor the covering board
Flip side of the plywood deck panel
Rabbet dep th added with widt h of prepared batten
Hard-to-ge t ma rgin of the rabbet may also be scribed directly with an ice pick bent
flush with the sheerstrake. If the transom is a slice of a cy linder and set with much rake, this athwartships covering hoard may requ ire the building up of three pieces and some heroic gluing and fastening over the poi soned blocking across the stern (Figure 14-11 ). Here's where trouble will start, if anywhere. Be fo rewarned: Try to out-think the raindrops now, and be on perpetual guard hereafter. Now fit, glue, and scre\...· the lh-inch super-plywood over the beams, ~arlins, and breasthook, and 162
out into the rab beted covering boards. Say this fast and i t sounds easy; but the old piecrust system for marking the plywood is complicated by tha t rabbet. You can get at the inboard edge with your penci l, but there's a lh-inch gap above it and an in~h more width needed on the outboard edge . So jam the slab down from above, mark a line or series of spots pre~isely above that in board edge. flip the sheet off and over, and add the necessary inch with an exact I-inch batten bent outside those m arks (see Figure 11 -12) . Cut a bit full and dress with a block plane to get a perfect fit. Better usc some ligh t, tough blocking bel\veen beams to take longer screws and hack up the joint where the plywood lies in the rabbet. The cockpit I've just now rea lized that there must be in this deck a t leas t one depression, open to (he sky . a nd needing, i£ possible, more sympath y and understanding than the main deck itself. This opening has had different names, such as "standing room .. · " foo twell," "fish pen," · or "cockpit," according to its use . We tender moderns have almost universally adopted the last one, ignoring itSl'onnota tiom (here labored the surgeon. in the heat of battle, cutting off legs and searing- the Stulllps; and red was the color, even as in tht' pen ,vhere the fighting ~ocks tore throats out in the barn back home). We apply the name indiscriminately to vast, open work platrorms and to t iny self-draining boxes, whether they occur aft, amidships, or forward. Each style has its virtues and weaknesses (and complications), perhaps in greater variety than we've faced in the deck itself. Look at that £00twe11. Note that the topedge-to-deckjoint ~an be almost the same as the deck-t'dgc-to-sheerstrake joi nt described earlier. Its upper rim must join tightly and strongly to rhe deck, and it must be able to sustain very heavy loads without starti ng a joint anywhere, top, sides or bottom . Fill it to running over wit.h seawater, add a pair o£ 2DD-pounders standing there knee-deep, drop the boat out from under and catch i t 5 feet down-and you'll see why you need some pos ts from t~e floor timbers and lots of tic-rods from the deck. You should also see why a straig-ht-down , rigid scu pper pipe, a consideration to be wished for devouliy for dean -out reasons, cannot survive th e panting between the deck (lnd hull. Sam has drawn, herewith, some variations on this footwell theme, showing- how thl' creature ~ an
figure 14-13 Footwell framed to the ceiling
'1,· plywood
," hardwood rabbeted coveri ng board
---
l/~"
tie-rod
I--~_ 'II" ~ rlin VI. ~ 2"
pi ne or cedar
oak
Oak sil l
'-, _ ••_Cei ling
beam
JU
!
I~ figure 14-14 Hung footwell Rabbeted (ap-
'1>" ply
'I. x 2"
_ _-VI" rod
Deckbeam Carl in1'/. x t' Cleat
, •
Fo re-and-aft hung from
I
•
floorbeam
1-----
be buill borh of natural Iumber (Figure 11- J 3) and plywood (Figure 14-14). I' ve seen them lined with sheet copper, too, and we 've fitted them with vcntilating port~, outdoor fuel tanks, fl Dating .~ea chc.~ts, and hinged seats- and these are details for you to decide. This seems to be winding down at a fright ening rate , bur we've surely got to have some kind of peroration. Something like this: "The Reader will. we trust, pern:ivt: from the auove that there ~hou ld be no real difficulty experienccd, cvcn bv the complere novice, in rhis matter of laying a deck." The hell there shouldn't, young fel ler. I think back to that cia-y in 1938 when the drip came throug-h two impenetrable barriers and l;mded on the professOl's nose. 'Tis my .~ad experience that \Va ter, like Love, will find a wa\'• , and you'd better • \\"d teh ou t real sharp or Olll' 0) t h(' mher of '('m 'II g('1 yOl!.
163
•
Chapter Fifteen
ouse
So you hav~ the deck o n. with twO o penings in it. T he big one is to be covcrtd w it h a structure (labeled, vario usly, tru nk cabi n , coach roof. deckhouse) that will provide head room , admit air a nd lig h t. keep our water, wi nd, a nd mosQUiIOCS, a nd not d eLran undul y fro m the g race a nd elegance of the vesse l. :VI r. Rud yard Kipling once remarked tha t there are nine-and -60 ways of writing tribal lays. a nd every single one of them is righ t. So i t is with this struct ure. J' ve tri cd mos! o f th em in the la st .,0 years, and h ave fin ally settled upon a routine that works well for me. II even produces a res uh that fulf ills most of the aboveli sted requi re men lS. II dema nds no specjal aesthe tic sen se, in herited instinct. or aweso m e skill of hand a nd eye. T he end p roduct looks amazingly like the picture wh ich ShO\\l5 a profi Ie ha ving a sky line at the top, a Ii ne where top m eets side, a nd a third where side m eets deck. It also shows an end view of the whole business, sh o wing the amountof tumblehome (or lack of it ) in th e sides and ends, and the crown of the beams in the house top . But unless the des ig ner is very good, indeed (a nd un less your work, to th is poi nt , in the,matter of sheer , w idth o f side decks, and consistency of m a in deck crown , is abso lutely fl aw less), you will be laced with lh e need to make small adjustments- which ta ke time a nd shah your confidence if done in a
hit-or-miss manner, but which proceed smoothly and inevi tably with the right techniqu e and . equ ip me n t. The beam-crown pattern The fim t hing you 'll need to bui ld the house is a beam-crown pattern, wh ich in this case shou ld he a lig ht board .d ight ly longer than th e greatest. width of the hou se, with a convex crown cu t in to one edge and ma tching concavity cut in to the other (Fi gure \.1 -1) . We'll a ssum e for the mom em, in charity, that yo ur designer has been comem to use a can · sta m cro wn fo r the fu ll length o f the ho use. (I' ve known som e des ig n s tha t required every beam to be d ifferent from the o ne behind it: bu t I trus t that the perpetrators of these ho rrors have now a ll been eliminated. ) Thi s crown is, very likely . described as an arc with a radius of 7 fcet 3 in ches (or whatever ) and is, o f course, easily marked by tacking one end of a sia l to the fl oor, measu rin g from the nai l the length of the g iven radius. and ma rking the pa th of tha t point a long the le ng th of your pauern . Fo r a known rad ius (and if it is shan enough to Ht a n und ullered space o n your shop floor), this is th e sens ible wa)' to describe it. Bu t suppose t he S.D.B. (this should, of course, read N .A. ) describes the crown as hav-
165
figur e 15-1
7',
1
,- --
I
l
I
I
I
\
\
/
\
/
figure 15-2 To fin d th e cen ter of rad ius fo r a given crown ~
7" lit (a) Connect the endpoints and the center of crown with 5Iraight lines, o r c hords.
• (b ) Draw perpendicular bisectors with compass o r tram mels.
ing a h eight of 8 5/ 4 inches in 7 feel Jllz inches length. You can layoff thi s line on the floo r and swing arcs o f experimental radii unti l your knees and patience have bo th given out and you·ve achieved a curve that comes very dose to hitting a ll those points. Or you can attack the problem as in the acco mpanying drawing (Figure 1.5- 2, steps a,b, and c), ....·hich is selfexp lanatory a nd u ses up wha t li llJe I remember fro m my high school geometry lessons. Then t here' s the tex tbook method, known to all students o f na va l archi tecture, whereby you draw a dou ghnut (wh ich sitS un a line like the su n on the horiton) and carve it intosn ange sectio ns whose heigh ts are spaced at ordained interva ls a long the lines. Spring a batten to these marks . and there you have it-the a lmostperfect are, fla \\'ed min utely. if at all, by the irresponsibilities o f a less-than-perfect homogeneous batten . My h ead aches when I think of ,
H,
\ Ie) These intersect at the ci rcle's cen ter fro m wh ich the arc of crown may be drawn.
166
Then there's t he right way . which deserves a paragraph in itself. You draw a line, th e length of the beam . At each end of the line, sta nd a rubbing pOSt in the form of an eighlpenny n ai l (or any other size you have handy- I don't want to be too damned d idactic), and ha lfway between these nails , measu re up, from the line, [h e height of [he crown you want in the beam. Fi nd two stra igh t-edged boards, each sligh tly longer than t he longest arc you ex pect to need (1 inches sl iced 0 (( the edge of an 8- foot sheet o f plywood come straigh t and handy ). Sni p offa corner on each so that you can bu tt the po ints logether a t lhe m id-crown ma rk \\'hile the- edges are pushed againsll he na i ls (sec Figure 15-3 ). Tack some laths across 10 keep the two Hraigh ledges lauchin g al the point and ,I[ a co nstant angle (() each other. No\\', if you slide the point fro m the
when th ey' re needed. But beware-such sweeps have been kn own to change shape after sawi ng. Do n 't p lan to saw your beams O UI o f straightgrained stock , beca use they' ll be li kel y to check open and brea k w here the grain runs across the curve. You could steam-bend th e stock over a form buil t to a ligh ter curve, precisely calcula ted to produce the arc you wan t when the beams straigh ten ou t-ever so slightl y, indeed, bu t inevi ta bl y, and not all to the same amount. In view o f these difficulties , you' d p erh a ps beSt p lan to make th em o f glued lamination s, th us: Build a g luin g form (or IW O , or three, if you have th e strengt h ) by sawin g O UI a 2- by 2-inch rainbow and mo un ting it on a backboard Jikea prize fi s h (see Fi gure 15- 4). The radius o f the to p edge of t he t\"o-by-Iwo should theoret ica lly be shorter (by the dep th of the beam) tha n the radi us o f the finish ed beam. Saw o ut an d smooth the stock for the laminati o ns. The strip s are too rough as th ey come from the saw and sho uld be planed before glu-
ct!n ter mark to one nail and then to th e other. keep ing the st raightedges against the respeccive nai ls wh ile sliding, the path o f the poin t will be a perfect, fl a wless arc reach ing from na il to nai I, a nd the arc will be exactl y the righl height in Ihe middle. Run a penci l point, of co urse, a t the end of the tip , to ma rk Ihe pattern yo u want to cut. This truth mach ine can be readjusted in moments to fit any beam whose leng th and h eigh t of crown are within its scope. (Soon we'll bt! equip ped to determ ine th e len gth a nd crown of any bea m in a tOrtured housetop, and we'll be h app y we have this quick-a nd -d irty way to mark it o ut. ) Now. in sweet charity, let's assume that the design cal ls forconstant crow n, and that, a bout six days fro m now , you will need 16 bea ms, identical (except for length ) in every respel't . If you ha ve o n hand some clear, sweeping pl ank s that grew in a curve to match your pattern , th en you may rest serene and go on to the next step , knowing that you can saw them o ut figure 15- 3
To draw a "11(> arc witholll kno wing Crown
1-..:::::::::::: -_
Ih~ c~nl~ r of
radills--
s pecifj ~d
{
/
I
r
Dist~nce betwe en endpoints 7
a- pe nn y na il
~t endpoint of the crown
Frame bui lt to tou ch both e n d poj n l ~ and the midpoi nt o f Ihe cro wn
------;
The arc is described by the pend l al Ihe midpo int of the frame as the frame i ~ worked alo ng Ihe nails.
To uchi ng
---
,-0.; -
~
•
-
=
- -
-167
figure 15-4 Rainbow form for laminating deckbeams 2
x
2 rainbow
• " ' Backboard
Newspaper -." o
figure 15-5 Ends 01 the house set into position with bar damps
•
•
168
ing. You muSL use a minimum of five layers to produce a heam that will hold its exart shape when the damps are off. When we planked with mahogany (which was the least expensive wood, all things considered, that we muld get), we sawed up the edgings for beams . 'iVe thereby impressed the owners with our dedication to fine craftsmanship, and doomed ourselves to sanding and varnishing the beams. Lacking mahogany, we used fir or spruce, with an occa sional layer of oak or ash on the bottom. Each morning, first thing, mix a coffee can of \Vel dwood gl ue (consistency of thick cream ), line the gluing form with old newspapers, smear the strips, set one C-damp to tie down the middle of the bundle, and clamp both ways toward the ends, placing the damps no more than 6 inches apart. If you have two more forms to fi lL you'll need a minimum of 30 damps to squeeze three dinky little S- foot beams. Take the clamps off next morning, ship on the lobsters, and set 'er again ... and five days later you'll have enough beams to frame the length of your IS-foot house. And high time, too, because you'll be ready for them . 'Vilhout further arguments, prepara tions, or apologies, let's build this hOllse.
fi g ure 15 - 6
•
Rea me r fot bolt ho les made by fl attening the e nd of a l/. ~ rod
Fi tl ing the h ouse ends and cornerposts
Fi rst, cut Out and fit the twO ends. (I ass ume t hat you have boards wide enough, o r that yOu ha ve glued two pieces together to get the necessary width. ) The cons truction drawi ng should give you the h eight at the corners; your deckbe(lm pallern ~ hou l d g ive you a fairly accurate line for the bottom edge of each cnd; and the housetop beam pattern should give you the tOp edge of each end (allowing for the [hicknessof the decking to la p o ver the beams a nd yet e no ug h ex tra [0 a llow for trimm i ng and beveli ng ). Th e ends wi ll , o f murse, be cut wi th the correct amou nt o f tumble home, as show n in the co nstruc tion section through the middle of the house. If the designer leaves such a detai l to your judgment, which seems unlikely, a nd if you \.;alll my advice, slope them in 1 in ch to the fOOL of height, or thereabouts. (Forty years ago we always set them plumb, and they looked horri bl e,) Make the ends square, and about L/4 inc h short of the corners of the open ing in the deck. Leave the bon o m edges (which sit on the deck) square 10 sta rt wi th . The after e nd wi ll likel )' be p lumb in profile view , a nd shou ld need ver y little beveling after you have scr ibed and dressed it to a light-tight fit to make it stand. Unle~s the des igner goes for a rakish look , the- forward end of the house will vcry like! y sta nd at a bou t 90 degrees to th e cen terl ine of the forward deck-and therefore will need only scri bing a nd trimming to get that perfect fi t agai nst the deck. C ut the openi ng for the compan ionwa y in the after end , a nd set up both ends in pos it io n
fi gu re 15-7 Edge-drillin g the house ends
Counterbored 10 f bolt head: l/, " bit, ,. dee p
Machine-bo re d halfway through with l/a" bit
169
figure 15-8 Cuttins and fiuing the cotnerposts
Forward
corne rpo~t
Alte r corne rposl
170
with twO bar cla mps on each, as ~ h ow n in F ig ure ) 5- 5. (T h eir inner faces will, o f course, be ("xacll y flush wi th the tri m med-o ff deck open ing. ) fI.'lark for t he bo lts that \yill tie the ends 10 the deck frame-at le
rod and then filing it (sec Fi gure 1.1 -6). Spin this up and down th e hole, and you'll know for sure that the bolts will go through without bind ing. Practice wi th three or four ho les, and you'll gain th e necessarr confidell<:e and faith lO tackle those thaI cou nt. (Note, in pass ing, tha llhi s skill wi ll be needed when you bui ldan edge-bolted rudder, centerboard, mast step, or foot wel l.) And hefl' they are, those th at count , to be drilled as fo llows: Clamp eac.h house t'nd to somethin g so that it stands top cuge up, lower edge on Lh e shop floor (see Figu re 15-7). Coun· terbort' I inch dt'cp with a 'It-inch bit for the boll heads (which will be 'Is-inch hex nUls) and stand as tradd le of the victim with dr ill in hand and mind serene. Sight down th e pencil lin e and bo th sides of the board (i t helps if you can wall your eyes a l wi ll ) and press the trigger. Don't bea r down hard. Think of a hum mingbird hovering over a b l m .~om. Haul OUl the bi t ever and anon to clear the clogged shavings. As in your practi ce sess ions , bore halfway and a li lli e more ; lip the board over. damp, and bore 'til the bit brea ks joyfu ll y illlo the tunnel yo u started fro m the ot her side of the mountain. Com fo rt yoursel f wit h the tho ught thai there remai n bu t 23 of thel>c to be done ere the house is fin ished, a nd p roceed, with no further help fro m me, until you ha ve these ends all bored and re-
figure 15- 9 Junction systems- h o use sides 10 deck Nobolt - - - , House side __ .~ Caulk -..
-
English syste m (also ~u ited 10 cock pit coaming in an open boatl
Dovetail
:11\
No bo lt Hou se side _-!
Lo bnerboat system
Caulk
'/," bolt _ _
Caulk _ ,
Crocker'S fomalh~ur (and in large veso;els)
1/. " bolt ___--:-:
House side--sided 1'/." _
System de>cribed nere
_ - Face piece added ,/,&" - -, .. Car lin: VI. x 21/ , " SharI beam: 1l/ . )(
r
171
figure 15 -1 0 Framewor k for the hou~e
~id es
Beam-crown mo ld
Straightedge defi ni ng proTi le of the house alo ng the centerline
:,.,__ TOp of the ho use side
_
~_ _ _-c~.T: empOrary uprights
to th e tu mblehomo'_ _ _~-j of t he house iides -
t
sia l fro m the deck. and prepare to put in the cornerposts. I tli ffc r from most yach t de.~ i gnt'rs, They dra \\' a p erfec tly fi ued. one-pit'ce rahheted corne-rpos !. I make it in two p ieces, for the follow ing reasom : (l ) It 's m uch eas ier lha l way; (2) where the hdl am I going to fi nd a p iece of mahogan y thai Ih ick? (3) if a leak develops. I ca n alwa ys remove, resmear, a nd rep lace th e o uter p iece, JUSt as I would a bea t-up o u ler stem o n a dory; and (1 ) it 's easier m y way, \Vi th tha I po int sen led, saw o u t a p iece of mahoga n y, locus t, black waln u t, o r w ha tever, about 2 by 5 inches a nd long' enough to make the two forward corners, wi th a lillie extra to spart' . Set your bev(!l square to the angle between the end of the house and th es itk -to-be. Ma rk th is angl e on the end of your two-by-five (sec Figure 15- 8), a nd cu! each of those corners wi th a bandsaw or a ti lt ing-ar bor table saw (o r t!ven by hand, if all else fa ils). Now cu t the p iece in Lwo, and fi t each half to its corn er- tapering from the deck li ne dow n on the out.side and forwa rd faces- until it is .m ug to the deck frame and fi ts tigh ti)' against a nd follows the tum blehome o f the house end . Fin ish sha ping 172
th e post to yo ur heart's desire, J always run a groove dow n the in ner fa ce , and cut the edg(-!s square. so the face pieces aud beam ledges ca n butt aga inst th em, as shown in Fi gure 1.; - 8. G lue and screw- fasten the post to th e house en d, hu t do n ot fasle n t he lower e nd to the deck frame. Th e corner post at th e ailer end will be u eat(-!d in jus t the same fashio n , but will come Dllt of a narroWf'r piece of slOck. T h e house sides You now ha ve, with these cor ner poSIS, a bea ring surface for anchori n g your damps when you a rc sprin ging the ho me sides around the temporary fram ework. This last, wh ich you are about to in stall , is the key to the enti re business of sha pi ng, ritt i ng, cla m pi ng, and fastenin g the ho use s ides. H ere is ho w you make the fra mework; Saw o ut a bou t a quarter of a mi le of 1- by 4- inch st.raigh tedge Stock. Climb ~ board, pick likely SpOtS that are Tough ly o ne-fourth, onehal f, and three-fourths of the dis tance along the le ngt h o f the house. Tack a p iece of your one-
by-fo u r to the u nder ed ges o f the fore-and-aft carlins (a nd exalll y squa re across the cente rl ine o f th e vesse l) at ead l o f these spots. Cla m p a v(:n ira l p iece. i ts boltom rest ing o n the insid(> of the hull p lanki ng, sloped inwa rd to match, ro ughly , tht· tum bJehome sh ow ing in th e already installed after end of Ihe hOlne. Scribe and c Ul lhe bOllom end so il (a n be lacked \,0 tht' planki Ilg; fi t i t in the wa y of th e carl j n 10 bri ng its out er edge to the d eck edge: set it exactly at the rig llt amou n t of lumblehome ; and nail it to the crossp iece and the carl in . Fit and fas lI.:n the id ent iea I ,-w i n o n the o ther .~ i de, cross-b race the two as sho"' 11 in Figure 15-10, and gO 011 10 insta ll th t' o ther three sets. You will no ti ce that the a ctual tum hleh ome on lhe for ward end of the hou se is g reatcr than at the a rtp end- this effect is the res ult of the slight ra ke aft in the profi le vi ew, So spli t the differen ct' when you set up the fra m ework at th e three-qu a rter distance- tha t is, g ive the
fra m ework a hi! more tu mhlehome than th e midd le o ne s hows a nd a hitless tha n is a p pa rent when you s igh t past it to the forward corner p OS IS. Oon ' t worry too m uch abou t thi s. b ut Ify to make the th'O !'.id(·s alike. N ow you need only a centerline (p rofil e ) a lo ng th e lniddle of the house, and yo u'll be ready t,o mark th e exa ct shape o f th e housc sides. Thi s n:n tcrline may, conStrue. in vour . ti on profile. show as an old-fashi o ned ~w a y back dip. Ihe look·of-tomorrow hump, or a stra igh t I in e pa ra Ilel to t he wa terline. The last, I th in k, us ua ll y looks r igh l and is certa inl }' the easiest to \,'o rk h' ilh , especiall y if you p la n to det'k wi lh plywood. (T ht' d ipped 01" hu mped profile s inevi ta bl y ge nerate com pound curves, which plywood a bhors .) Stand, therefore . on edge. from the mid· cro wn of the aft end to the m id-crown of the forward . a I · by 6-in ch stra ightedge, damped solidl y in pi ale. (You can obta in the ~atlle ref·
figure 15- 11 Measurements on Ihe spili ng boa rd that determine the whole shape 01 the ho use side (t he interior face)
(a) Lengthmarked at bOlh end,
(b) Top edgeby a set distan ce marked down to the spiling banen with rule or divid ers
Top mark s e>labli,hed with the beam·crown pattern
f inal mar king for lenglh will be done when the side p la nk is actually in p lace.
To p beve l given by the bea m-crown mar k across the side of the uprig hl
.--. --..., ~ ';~~ ~::!I •
•
•
left sq uare lor scrib ing d own
• •
(el Bottom edge- with arcs swung at arbitra ry spots by a com pass set to a , ingle radius
• 173
figure 15-12
Spiling the house side plank
(b I (a)
t
) BOHom edge
~77'- ';,~;'~;'reversed (same
Spiling batten top and bottom the width of the
down where will fit within stock Marks fa ired throug h with a batten
sening) on the arcs drawn earlier will accurately locate the centers from wh ich the compass had swung arcs onto the spi li ng board . This line of centers is the line of the bottom edge obtained by "spiling."
/
Bevel between deckbeams and temporary up rights (leave some wood fo r scribing dow n) Th is is a square c ut. Make fina l marks for le ngth when the piece is clamped in place.
erence line with a tight string. but you 'll be forever pushing it out of true and wa iting for it to stop humming.) The next operation is the payoff for all the effort described above. Take your beam-crown pattern, lay i1 against one of your temporary uprights, with its top edge against the bottom of the fore-and-aft straightedge. Adjust th e pattern ends up or down (above the deck edge, on the outside ofthe vertical uprights) until the heights are exactly the same both port and starboard. Mark a fine, bold line on the athwartships face and the outboard edge of each upright (see Figufe 15- 1 I )-and go on to do likewise on the other two sets. As surely as night must fo llow day, these poims (fi ve in all. counting the ends) must delineate the inner top edge of the house side. at the under surface of the housetop. 174
You rnus t now mark for the lower edge of the home side, which is to fit the deck with a watertight joinl. This line is most easily obtai ned by scri bi ng the 1ine on a spiling board and then transferring it to the board that will form the house sides, as shown in Figures IS-I I and 15-12. (I assume that you know how to take and trans fe r a spiling; my only warning in this case is tha t you ta ke special pains to assure that youf spiling board is comfortable and relaxed before you mark iLl Now, while the spiling board is in p lace, mark each of your five heightreference poinb. and layoff the respective heights above the line of the lower edge. Run a batten through the points for a fa ir line. These heights a re for the inside of the house side, and must be increased a t the top by the amount you'll lose when you bevel the holtom edge to fit the crown of the deck. Proceed now to saw i t out and bevel the bottom edge of the side to fit the slope of the deck. Clamp the side in place, around your uprights and to the cornerposts. If your spiling was accurate, the side should li e comfortably, with its lower edge touching the deck all the way. Snug it down with three bar clamps, note that th e top edge is high enough, mark for trimming the lower edge for fit , mark for the end cuts at the cornerpmts, and climb aboard. Now is the time to mark for the edge bolts. (See Figu re 15- 13 .) As in the house ends, there shou ld beone bolt not more than 6 inches from the curner. For the fest. you need only to bear in mind that they should be roughly at right angles to the carlin, and they must not land where a deckbeam end~, nor where a tie-rod comes through the carlin, nor less than 2 inches from a portlight hole, nor more than 20 inches apart, nor in the way of fas tenings in tbe deck, nor on a ~trength-bulkhead at the mast partners. You rnay make two false starts and squandtcr several minu te~ before you arrive at the perfect pattern. Anyway, unclamp, correct the fit on th.' bottom edge. cut the ends where marked from the cornerposts, and mark oul an identical twin, complete with the bolt locations and a little extra length on one end (you' d be surprised to know how many boa t~ are a bit longer on one side than the other; and it's a lways the shorter side you measure first). Now set 'er up on edge, and counterbore the holes through the carlin; smear w ith \Vonder Cement; drive the bol IS and screw-fasten to the cornerposts. Pluck out all that temporary framework, a nd prepare to install the beams.
and the maST partn ers . and the face piec{·s. you may think ba ck with sadly won wi~d orn to the day when you \\'ere filliTlg pl a n ks. a nd fool ish ly tho ugh t th at the hu ll was the bil{ p roblem . So wha t typ e of jo int do we make wbere bea m meets led g e? YOll r desig ne r very likel y shows l'xqu is ilely fitt ed do\etai ls ( Fi gure 1.r;- 14), the m a rk of th e ma ster (:raftsman who Really Cares. (We are pro babl y sa fe in ass uming t ha t t he man w h o ca ll s fOf fu ll d ovetails is a l lea!".t Iwict' as conscien tio us as the slip shoo fe ll ow who is r.on lf' IH w il h Th e half vers ion. In m y youth . J enco urllered three d e~ i gners, whose awesome talen ts enabled them, rt.·spt:cli"dy, to draw a full -.~ized toilet in a sa ilboat not mueh bigger than sa id fixture , to dr;l\\' quarter-beam buttocks straigh t as a strin g, and even to sp eci fy P hilippine mahoga ny for p lank in g -Oil a lobsterboat. mind you. t\ eedl ess to say . each of these giants of the trade cou ld have dmwll fu ll dovetails wi th absolute precisio n wherever wood met wood. ) I say, to h ell with dovetails, ex cept in the corners of a sea ch est. o r an yother place where th ey're full y exposed a nd wi II draw oohs and aah s. I Ih ink th ey are holdovers, in a very consen'a l ive trade, from the days when
Fastening to the beam ledge As usual w ith any joh you HaT! in a boat, there are a half dOlen thi n gs to he done before you begin Ih e serious bu siness. R ig ht n o w you h a \'e to fa ir o rr 1 he lOpSof th e house sides (to the exact heig h ts o b ta ined from thai temporary frame work ) and insta ll a bea m ledge. Use the co nca ve edge of your beam pa tteTn , or a n t' of the bea ms them se lves, la id a("fOss. to give yo u the ang le ... and be very g lad , indeed, t hat you counter!".un k the bolt heads deep en o ugh . The beam ledge . prohahly made from th e same stock as the house sides, and 1/2 in ch deeper than the beams. can he sawn (Q the correCt hevel (the same a ll both the t.op and bOllom edge) and sprung into place inside the top of the house side. \Vhen you fast.en th e ledge (with g lue in the joint. a nd screws fr o m the ledge into the house side), try to keep the screws clear of the spo ts where the bea m ends will land. This beam ledge. Of a reasonable facs imil e of it. sawed to sha pe. will of course be carried across the tops o f the house ends . By the l ime you h ave filled all th e above, and th e heams. and the compan ionway fra m e,
figure 15-13 BOling the (a llin
-
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-
.. -. -
.
..
. ....
'''~
_. --..-
-
- --
-
•
• •
-
•
-
-------- ..
..
--
-"
."
- -
~
-
-
•
-
175
- -
figure 15-14 Olher systems
-Half doveta il Sq ua re tenon
I
Mortise
Half doveta il (undercut to drain moi5ture j
I I I
- ---....
_..--.J
.J---,.....
~-
.
Full dovetail
176
fin e timber a nd ~killed labor were clwap and pl entifu l, an d metal fastening s w en~ very expen si ve i ncleed . I hasten 10 add Iha t 1 a m not, in the a bove d ia tribe, la lking to earnesl young ideal ists. worsh ipers at Ihe shrine o f ....... (you ca n fill in his name). bu t mostl y 10 lazy old b······s (you ca n fi ll that in , (00) li ke me. who are even yet. in ou r dotage, trying 10 figure our a wa y 10 get the job done on tim e, before rhe money r uns alIt. T o that end, a ile of the first swee t bauies Iu ue tossed Iu the wolves is th e dovetai l. Ha vi ng run myself aground in the great stream of h istor ical continuity, I drag mysel f ou t on fhe bank and reft'r you to two d iagra ms, show n in Figu re 15- 15. Th ewa}' I usua ll y join bea m to ledge is depicted in F igure 15-15a: Cut a p lumb·s ided alcove into the beam ledge. about 112 inch deep, the full width o f the beam -so tha t you get the littl e chin whisker bearing agaimt til(> house side and lookin g as if it grew there . (I a s~ ure you, it was a great day in rh e Mclntosh Boat Shop when I not on ly grad· u ated from Ih ·inch to l/i ·inch putt y, but a lso lea rned to mix /{Iue a nd sa nder duSI for hwis ibk Me nding. It has co me in handy for those housetop bea ms.) Figure IS-ISh shows a sys· te rn easier ye t: cut a ~ I opi ng notch, starti ng at half Ihe thickness of the beam ledge at the top, and runn ing ou t to nothing a t the bottom of the beam . Th is takes some preci se cutting on th e beam end s (or some very delica te work with th e putty kn ife and Mending Compound) . but it's a perfectly sati~factory joint. if yOIl put enough good brome fasten ings in it , a nd if'S muc h better tha n a dovetai l. By the time you have fa stened a p lywood lid
o ver the entire business, i t will he ~ tro n g e noug h to j ump o n fr om 10 [eet up-and YOll can be s ure tha t so me joyfu l 2oo-pounder w ill do it som e da y. (O r so me n igh t, if it 's the dark of the moon, and he doesn ' t rea lize that the Eastport tide has dropped 8 feet sin ce he went ashore. I hope he breaks a leg. ) Back to the construction p lan to get the beam layout. This will be com p li cat.ed o nl y by the length of the companionway open ing, the 10l:ation of the mast partners (if the mast steps through or on th e h Ollsetop), a nd , us ua ll y, a sky light aft of the m ai nmast and an esca pe ha td} forwa rd of it. Each o[ these o penings will req u ire th e (j ([i ng of ha l f-bea ms to fore -and-aft cari ins , stri ngers . o r whatever you want to ca ll them. Loca le, fit, a nd fa sten tht' beams at the en ds o f these openi ng-s; stretch a tight. stri ng fro m the Hem 10 the transom, and mark t.he exact centers of these m a in be am~. Fi t a nd [as ten the fort-and-aft members (including the ma st-partner bl ock ing, if any), a nd ins ta ll the short bea ms two on each side, usually, in the wa~' o f Ihe com panionway, o ne o n each s ide a t the pa rrners, skyl igh t, a nd fonvard hatc h . I a lways make the fore-and-aft me m bers somewhat deeper than the beams, with a si mple b Ull join! again st the beam, a nd th e eX Ira dep th t'xtt'nding under il. for th t' owner to ba ng h is head on (sec Figures 1;) - 15a. 15- 16). The blocki ng between th e m as t-parmer beams is, of course, no deeper than the beamsa nd when I in stall i t, is li kewise a simple butt jo int aga inst the bea m , pinned in p lac(' with p le nt y of sp ikes, and t ied tog-et her athwartships w ith edge bolts hefore a nd abaft the ma st ho le. r-i o re lmtes, lod gi ng knees, o r keylocks. Fit the sb ort beam s to the fore -and-aft m em bers w ith the same end joints as described above: in to the alcove in the house ~ i de, and with th e simple slop ing notch at the inboard end (Figures 15- 15a . 15- 1i ). If the des ign cal ls for hanging klleCs a t the companion \\'a y and pa rt ner bcams. fi t th('s(' ilm,', before the rest of tht: lo ug beams art' insta lled a nd cram p your work sra('e. Yo u \\·i ll fo rg ive me, I hope. if by ma king the fo lloh·ing recom mendatio ns I..see:m to doubt your a bi I it y to mark and cu I so si m p Ie a thing as a deckbeaOl. I only fear Iha t in your you thful cxuhenlllce you'll Iry some shortcuts (in a fig ura ti ve se nse. that is) and wind up wi th some beams tha t don't qu ite reach .. .. I, too, have oft been to ld of the Inscrutabl(' Orienta l Craftsm an \... ho needs o nly look int ently a t the ga p to be filled , and goes lO lhe lumber shed a nd c u tS a p iece that fa lls exact ly into p lace. It's
figu re 15-15 Joi... i... g beams to beam ledge
•
, :
"<~~ :."~'
I ~-.
,:,;
J- 111 4 bronze screw
,•
-
"
,
..
-''---
- 3- #1 0 bro nze
Ibl
an instinc t. 1hey sa y. IOta II y lacking in us Westt:'rners. who can 't do half as well wi th all our sleel ta pes and bevel squares. (And astro labes and pro l apsc~, as o ne critic said. ) All r ig ht . I admi t it; bu t I don ' t think you a re an y bettcr at th is busi ness Iha n I a m . So, study Figu re 15- 1i , then cut. Be bo ld, Cut to the mark. Sta rt with a long beam , and move forward to a short ~ r length if you m ess it up. Tack them a ll in place with a fivt'pt'nny box na il a t each end: anchor a sla t to th e forward end. 5 indu:s d ear of the cellleriine; and space (a nd tack to th e 5l,us) the centers of th e beam s cxact ly as fhey a re spaced at the ir cnds. IVla rk and cut 1- by -I- in ch block ing to fit
177
n~il
fi g u re 1 5 -1 6 8 ea m la you t
Car lin
Pa rt n er ~n d block ing for m an S le pp ed o n th e ho us e to p
CeruerHn e b lo ck in g
f u ll
178
bea m ~
t:o...------
f-...o--------
figure 15- 17 Cutting and fining short beams
Com binat io n sq uare
Plumb
(wi th bu bble)
I
c"' I V11~i..--•
-
--
I " \
\\'~_""'!"'~ - S' ope d note h
-
-
l aminated
short beam
Alcove ____"
bet wt:cn the beams righ t d own the u 'n ter! ine of
Beam ledge _-I
"'----I
the house top. Fas ten th em a~ show n in the diagra m. Fit. round off. and fasten the ou ter p ieces of the corncrp OSIS, wi th p le m y of sticky stu ff in . 111' joi l l IS. Fai r o ff eVe l) '1 hi n .~ s moo th as a smel l.
Lay th e deck (hollst'lO p . t ha t is ). co nsis ting of doubled p JY\\lood with jo ints staggered and glued be tween, o r m a tched pine or cedar in na rrow ~ tra kcs. 01 si ngl e· (hickn e.~s p lywood bl! ned o n centerlin e block i ng, or whatever else yo u fa ncy. You ca n even p Ul w h ile Fo rm ica o n the underside, if yO ll wa m . Fastt'n well , espec ia ll y arou nd thl' edges. Tr im off, a m i g lueand· screw a 3/8- by 2 lf2-inch p iece of trim m o ld ing a ll around. (See Fi gure EI-18. ) Fill all the punched-down fasten ing s with polyes ter putty, the boa tbui ld er's friend. Cover the tOP wit h ca n vas. loaded with pai nt , if yo u 're o ld-fash ioned li ke me; bu t I'll forgive yo u if you use tha t sme ll y s tu ff~ t houg h no t o n m atched p ine, unless it·s plenty th ick and indepe nde n tly strong. Bring this cover down around the edges, a nd seal th e ed ge of th e ca nvas wi lh h alf-o va l molding, hollowed ou t to ho ld st icky st'a ian L Remember tha t any exposed ca n vas unden'dgc w ill a<.·t a s a w ic k to draw sweet water into Ihe joint, and the rot spores will d evou r your fine work hdore you rea lize wh a t' s g oing on. \·Vh en you fit brome pon lights with a sleeve (ca ll ed a "sp igot" in the trade) tha t lines the o pening in the wood , he sure to leave pl ent ), ()f cl ea ra nce at the lOp a nd botto m , beCdu se the
House side
----1
ho use sides will i nevi ta hly shri Il k, and you wil l ha ve 10 ligh te n the ho ld-dow n bolts. Bu t you can't squeeze these po n s, and the house sides wi ll inev itab ly split to re li eve Ihe Hrain . You are n't entire ly out of the woods yet (perhaps we sh Oll ld swi teh th e ri g ure of speech, and sar yOll still m a y need som e gu idance across the ba r)- so read on for more d ct.a il s. figure 15- 18 lfl w plywo od
Ca nvas
/
~,
'I," x Ceda r
House
,
I
bolt
I
II 179
Chapter Sixteen
We onct' built a b ig dipper-bowed cutler, designed by Sam Crocker, and handsome beyond worth to describe. It was a painful job from slart to finish. The owner had haunted the great yacht yards on CiTY Island, and had arrived at some standards of excellence (m ainly in matters of fine teak -and-mahogany brightwork on deck) that were beyond our experience and, I regre t to say , ta lents. They wefe especially beyond the contract price. The really important thing, he felt, was th is: You lie up alongside, somewhere, and people walk along the wharf and look dO\'m on your deck. That's the view that counts. It establishes you as the owner of a real yacht, or it points up the melancholy fact that you patronized a backwoods boatyard somewhere east of Long Island. There are, admittedly, farmers in those dark regions who can build_a strong hull, bu t. ... So, to provide us wi th a sample that we could strive to equal, he made up (in his own shop) a complete set of companionway rails and sliding hatch cover, splined, glued. sanded, and finished wi Ih 10 coa ts of varnish. U nfon unately, the damned thing didn't fit by a m ile, and we spent days beveling, scribing. narrowing. and straightening before we could get it faste ned in place. By that time it had a some· what ba ttered look, but the owner was proud of
i t. 'W e wen t on to fit his colossal r ailcars (milled from straight stock, to be steamed, edge·bent. and scarfed toget her) and his classic skylight and a great hatch in the foredeck- and a houseto p laid in gleaming natural wood. I'll bet it shrank to a sprinkler sy .~tern that ".... ou ld put out a general-alarm blaze. And, you know, the man was right about the importance of Ihis deck furniture, though not entirely for the reasons he lived by . A wooden hull is a simple thing. Keep it wet. and it takes care of itself. A companionway hatch cover lives a more difficult life. It must open and close almOSI at the flick of a finger. thou· sands of times a season. It must cheerfull y sup· port the weight of stamping fee t. It must repel water tha t hits it violently from all .~ idc s and above . It must do all these things (and look good besides) in spite of .<;un and salt. Other deck openings-hatches in Ihe fore · and afterdecks, \vater-trap ventilators, skylights-must meet and overcome some of the same problems. And when I add toerails, deadlights, and mast jacke ts to the list , I alrnmt wish I'd stuck with dugout canoes. However, here we are, Sam Manning and 1, having lured you thus far through the sweet and simple parts of boat· building, and honor demands that \ve try to finish the job. 181
figure 16- 1 Companionway slide
(' 1 Tri m
The small end 01 the rai l must be deep eno ugh to acco mm odate the de pth 01 the hatch cover in its open position.
Groove for slide tongue /'/~ Limbe r hole
Vert ical pieces Beams across the top (bl Twin notch e s for hat ch removal
r---
Slide tongue st raps
-f-Foam rubber -+ here Drop board
(el
\",., ~;4 -_ Hatch planking
edge fastened with 30d na ils - - - Edge piece
' -_ " Beam-to-come"
,/, ~ '/.w groove al both ends 01 ha u:;h cover to cu t dripping
182
figu re 16-2 Hatch-slide S)'$tems
(el (. )
Top beam
Ha tch-slide beam - - - - Har dwood §trip
(b)
(dl
Split _ _ bra ss pipe .... Id e n bra>s rim
Co m pan ion way ra ils Let'.'; cons ider the companionway opening and its cO\'cr. This is a tric ky bit of fu rn iture, with details tha I can vary in m ino r ways, and is frequentl y le rt to the ingenu ity of the bu ilder. I can unde rs tand h'hy, as I attem pt 10 describe m y own \vay o f do ing lh is job. Here's where Sam takes ove r (see Fig ures 16- 1 and 16-2). I'll lead yo u from one drah'ing to (he next, wi th briefest comment o n ea ch . The first move, of cou rse, is (0 shape and fasten the rails , a hit more t ha n (wice the fore and-aft length of the optning in the end of the housetop whi ch form s th e companionway (Figure 16-1a). Th e rail ~ mllSt, obviously, lie exactly parall el and perfectly Hraight, stand plumb on their inner faces, and fit the ·thwartships crown of the h o use. Th ey will be bridged atthe forward end of theopcn ing by a dam that stands flu sh wi th the to ps of the rdils and is crow ned to p and hall a m to ma tch that ·th wartships crown o f the hometop (see Figure 16- 1b). The rai ls must further incorporate so me mea ns for locking t he cover dow n , wh ile still allowing it to trave l smooth ly for e a nd aft. Provide for t his by making a full · length g roovc a long the inside fa ce of each ra i I, exact ly paral lel with the tOp. (I ha ve an ancient 1/ 4- inch dado ("Uller which has done thi s job for m e coun tless t im e~.
You can do the sa me th ing by m a kin g four passes o n yo ur table saw.) A projt:ct io n from ea ch beam e nd , ei ther a nub Idt sticking O Ul (sec Figure 16-2a ), or a fl at p iece o f bronze screw·fastened under the cnd (see figur es 16- 1c and 16-2b), will ride the g roove and p revent the cover from risi ng up.
o. I
fig ure 16-3
183
figure 16 -4 Dorade-type skylight Open and Gla,s "floo r"
~creened
-~
Carlin or blocking
/_--- <:.,,;, beams icabintop
You might also note that the hold-down job can be done in a number of other ways, two of which are shown . The first (Figure l6-2c) uses an extra flat strip, screw-fastened to the top of the rail, and projecting inward over the notched beam end. Make this of dense, hard wood, wax it. with the butt end of a candle, and replace it with ease if it breaks or weathers. Or, if you want to stagger in the foo tsteps of the great 184
(Herreshoff? Alden? Concordia? \-\'hat boat. was it th a t darkens the mists of my memories?), you can do it as in Figure l6-2d . It looks simple enough, once you get that ll/~-inch i.p.s. brass pipe split precisely down the middle , but it in volves some delicate shaping of curves and rabbets. If you 've got the time and patience, go to it. One more detail: I always make these rails about twice as high aft as forward, for no good reason except th a t they look better to me that way. Suit yourself, or even follow the designer's drawing, if he deigns to detail this hit of furniture. Bore the limber holes, j ust forward of the dam, right at the bottom edge, as shown in Figure 16-l b , and line the holes with flared copper tubing, to seal the exposed end grain. ~ow you can fasten these rails in p lace.lJse bolts made fro m 1/.-iI1Ch continuous-threaded brass rod through carlins and beams , and add screws, up from the underside of the housetop, between beams. Don' t forget the bedding compound. And w hat a bout the af teT ends that stick alit over the bridge deck? Yacht designers and other idealists do wondrous endings here. I go through a brief struggle with my con science, and then saw them off (tenderly, and \vith trembling hand, r assure you) flush with the end of the house, ready for the vertical pieces that will confine the drop boards.
figure 16-Sa Flat hatch
Hinge e n d-~
, _ Gasket - - - - - - - -
185
Com pan io n way sill and frame figure 16 - 5b Half lap in an "L"-shaped toaming
Before we lac kie rhe ~ Iid i n g ower. let' s fillish around th e ven iral pa rr of t h I' <:ompan iOllway opt'llillK in th e aher t' nn of the hou se. S tart w il.h th e sill. Thi s is a p iece of teak. locust, or d ense o a k, rabbelt'd as s h ow n in Fig ure 16-l u. notc hed a t both eUlI!. to extend incht'.~ beyond th e ope n in g. Fit \ulical piet:es. Mepped on Ih t'se sill en d s. T h e a fter (o u tside) o nes wi ll reach exact Iy (\ ush \\' i t h Iht' lOp ()f Ibe ra i Is; Iht' fon\"a rd o n Cs will be shone.wn h y the dep th of I h e bea m -to-co me a t the af tt'!" t' nd of th e s l id in g co\'er. These vt'rtica l pieces will, of co urse, lap inward , p ast the inner fa ces of Ih e ra ils a n d Lhe hou se end, and th creby p ro vide slots to confine the drop b oards. You n lll. if you wish, make this front, back. s in n ed ;t s .~(.'mbly Ollt of one solid pi en::, 1 ,tbbe ted and g rnovnl as necessary. Elegant, and m o re n ea rly mt'('[ing City Jsla n n standard s. J sa lve my ('otls('icnn' and jus t ify my simple t wo-piec!" cOll struc:tio n IV i Ih the thought that i t is chea p a n d c:asy to do in the fir st place. and easil y re paired Thl·n·aftcr.
Com p anion way slid ing hatch c.over fig ure 16- 5c Mile r •
This is not a ~truttura l joint. Mite red end~ offer very lin le meat through which to drive 5trong (or crossed) fa~ten in gs.
As a trim joint , as with decora tive mold ings, a miler can be kept closed with substa nti al fas te nings set into muCture behind the join!.
lRD
And n ow 10 th e .~ l i din g co vc r itsel f. w h i, h we tru s t \,'i ll s tay \\,:.Il e rti~h t for Ih e nex i 30 years and g l ide 0' I'r t h (~ ra ib as smoolh Iy as ski s in Id m erti me. (And no t a bad t houg ht. al tha t: il 's a ll i n I h e wax. th e) sa) .) I f you hal'e an'omp a n ied me thus la r wi t hOUl com p la im , YOli art' stuck w ith twO bea m s, sha p t'd [ 0 th t" crow n of the hOUSt'IOp. fl us h with the tops o f [h e ra ih . and ja mm ed n' ~p(.'('t ivel y a~ainst the forw ard face: o f the llpper m os t drop board and the likt' face of 111(' d(JlIl. Yo u r mind 's eye will1ikf'l y be dal.llt'd n ow with a vision of g\t'am illg mahogan y or tt'(tk, l
figu re 16 - Sd Hal/lap
figure 16 - 5f Dovetail
" /
/
/
/ Common nalls, countersunk an d puttied, are ~ hown . Bunged screws might be used , or finish nails. All these fastenings are in shea r. The mength of th i~ join t is In the crossed fastenings. The lo nger a nd slimmer th ey are, the bene r they hold in the end grain.
figure 16 - 5e: Te non
figure 16 -5g Hatch stick and ho ld-down line
/
./
187
figu re 16-6 Toe rail
Scribe both §ides
Tempo ra ry fencepost
Plank on edge _
(, Midsh ip)
40d gafvan iled co mmon, or Sf" ~ 5~ ga lvaniled lag, o r conlirlUOU5-lhreaded bronze rod
1f II
II II II
II Ii
'J
188
,? "" "Ii
"IiIi
""" ,
II ,"I " "Ii
Ii
" ~
II Ii
"Ii "' I "",
drop board. I lih 10 fil and fas len Ihree beams, as sho w n in Figure 16- 1(". a cross Ih e lOp : o ne al Ihe a f ler e nd , to su p por l Ihe overha n g a n d p ro vide a ha n d g ri p; olle in Iht' m idd le, 10 give slre n g th w h ere needcd: OIl<' 0\'t'1" the forwa rd ht'a m , fo r chafin g g ea r ami symmt·IT),. And if you art' wi se you' ll install drills (3 0-pt'nny spikes. Gin c he ~ apart ) to stiffen 'h t' edg/:' g ra in aga inst Ih e sp litting e£fert of \\'figh l on !Op. Bcd ann fa qen ' he edge pieces, fi w'd a~ clost' as you dart:, to sh t'rl \,'a ter dear o f the slides. Cu t th ose twi lillotchl's, 2 inches aft of the da m. up fro m t h e ra ll Ied groo ve. so tha i ~' Oll ca n li fl Ihe a ft e r ht'a m li p a nd O\'er th e d a m and wo rk tht' ("O\'('r o ff [ht:' lorb'ard e nd o f th e ra il ~. S lick a sl r ip o f foam fub ber wrather proofi n g o n Ihe after face o f the forw a rd tlt'am 10 hl:'1p st:'a l aga ins t water coming air along ,he h ouset.op a nd j limping over the dam. and a 1.~0 10 a bsorb rlw shoc k wh en the slidin g COWl" is sla mmed .~ h\l/- [ hope it opens as promi .~t'd. On e la SI ad d it io n, if yo u wi.~h. Bui ld a caver n. for\,'a rd o f the clam , big enou gh to S\"a Ilow Ih e sl icl in g("( )\'I'r when you sho\'e it a h ead (see F igure 16- 3). T h is wi ll stop waleI' Iha l mig h t Ol h en,'i~t' wash back a long Ih e h ousetop. It \\" ill provi de a fine base fO f an a inigillt.tod j{cr. Th is stou t roof ca n be IOppC-tl. with chocks to takc Ih t: tra nsom of an overturned dinghy. It 's a fine thing if you plan to cross oceall S, a nil}' h om e fo r "'asps in wi ntertime, ;m d a nuisance when you pai nt the houst'lop. We' ve roofed il wi lh 1/l - indL al uminum pl ate. ro lled to the proper c.:rOWIl, a nd wt' o n ce fa slen ed the al um in u ll) wi lh bro me screws, which ate a way Ih e mela l in o ne shon summer. We sacrificed, with sar l"O\,', m y heam s anoss the tOP of th e slid e. to kee p tht· ht'igh r o f this cavern
Compa nionway drop boards Dro p boards usuall y com e ill sets of I WO rh e upper o n e cro wnecl, of roune, 10 fil snugly un de r t h e o\'fl"hang when th e cover is closed , and wi lh a sh ip-la p joi nt wh ere it s it s u po n Ihe lower boa rd . Make Ihem w ith ha rdwood dea lS
the t·n ds. sloppy fi t l'n dw ise. w it h 4S- degrlT horizon tal 101l\'en CU I Ihrough them. if you wish . l\ la kt: Ol ~f' 1 of SOTellS to malch. Ma ke a secure stO\,'agf' p lac.:e fo r them unrler th e dec.:kbeam s.
Skylight '\I y oown -gM ing diem of fllt' firs!. 1).1 ra graph . havi n g tic ked off the comp;m ioll sliot' (probab ly wit h a it)l,' ma rk ), wou ld Ilex t a sscss Ih t' sky li gh l, which m ight wt'li ht- considered Iht' nO\\"ni ng gl ory o f a propt'r yachl . I suppose I ha\'e bu ilt a dotcn of dw m in rh/:' class ic sryle-and they all, at some ti lllt', h ;H't' dripped rain upon the ca bin table. I mllch prt'ff:'r ,he constru ct io n sh o wn ill Figurt' 11;- 1. Thi s is si III ply <1 1<1 rge versio n of a Dorade-typt' ven ri larOf, shapt'd a nd tr immed to loo k t'xaClly like th t' o p t'n ing sk yli gh t. bu t wi th ou t tilt: compl ication s of hinges. adj usta blt' opt'nt'l"S, sea ls, a n d g ultf rs- a n cl th t, tigh l GUl\'as cover tha t you la.r; h a bo u t i l
189
roof. wi th its fo ur gl'Ht'd pa llt:! s, r idge pol e, o verha ng in g eaves, a n d bra ss-rod pro tectors, must be bedded to th e wal b a nd ends in sti cky stu ff so it ca n he rem oved as a un it. Y O li will, of course, me sha ttcrproof glass th ro ughout. Yo u ' ll make the o pe n ing lon g' enoug h to span two ba ys hetween the bea m s of the ho usetOP (leav ing rh e m idd le beam intact) so that vo u ca n bol r it solidl y to the houseto p fr a me, , And ,, 'ou n tH sa\", abo ut now, as I do, " Wh y no t fi l a lill(" rI at .o pcn in g h,, ((:h , wi th h inKcs fo rt' ,lIld aft o n the cover. a nd a Ifanspa rent roof 10 le t in tht' li gh t?" BUI you ' ll lose that co nsta nt n Oh' of swect a ir in and o ut. a nd the hea n y if m isp laccd approval of the w ha rf brigade, So st udy Figure 16-·1, make your own adjustm ents, a nd decide fo r yourself. '
Ha tch es a nd co vers A~
for tha t flat hatch, you ' ll need o ne, \'cry li kely, in Ihe a fter deck, and a no t her, certa in ly, up fo rwa rd in the top o f t ht' ho use o r in tht' fo redeck. Cons idcr t ha I th is o ne may be a n esca pc ro ute, o r a passa gewa y fo r hunc hcd sa ils a n d sp arf' a ncho rs , It m a y be buried under solid water at times, a nd mus t be stronK eno ug h so th at no cun ceivablf' accident ca n teaf th e top loose a nd overboa rd. S tro ng h inges sho uld be bo lted or r iveted to the the coami ng a nd cover. An d , Iina ll y, you must provide some mea ns to ho ld the cover tigh lly closed agai nst water and th ieves. I 11
Fi g ure 16- 5a shows three cross sect ions thro ug h coa m in g-and -cowr con fig uratio ns; Figures 16-5b through l 6- Sf show deta ils of jo int opt ions, The fir st co nstructio n is sim ple and o bv io us, and dOl'S \-ery \\'e ll if YOll pro\'idea (oa m-, uhlJ('" r gasket bet wee n the Iit! a nd coa ming. The seco nd u m struc tion is perha ps neater, a nd not d ifficu lt to do if you have tht' mt'am to rabbet stock for a p erfect match between th e coam ing Cl nd r im . H a lve th e corners together, as sh o wn in Figure I f) - Sb. a nd do li nt b(' tf'mpled to jo in them w ith a p inun:- fril 1l1C miler (F igmc 16-5c). The th ird nm Slrllc tion. with do ub le cOCl JIlin gs a nd d e ck - s wt~ e:pillg ski n s o n t he nwn , is probably worlh do ing in a forwa rd ha tch for offs horc wor k_ A wave-top that hreach es the first defense sti ll has 10 cl im b a
190
wall , penetra te a bra~ ket. cross a chasm , a nd sur m o u nt a not her wa ll. Som ewhere o n th is j ournt!y it sho u ld get tired_ So hO\\' sha ll we co ver tht: cover? In o ur t:a rly and pri m ilive days. thcre was no ques , t io n ; roof il with tongul' -and-g rool'e boards a nd nretch ca nvas o ver a l l. C a nw more Y.:1ch ty idt'as . w ilh va rn isheu mahogany co mp.:1 n io n way s lides, a nd we weIll to glued-up n.:1 lura !fin ish lo ps- and in serted larger a nd larger p l exig l a~s rec ta ng les unt il th e ent ire to p I,' a ~ tra ns itKen t , a nd the lJ u i t~ t gl oo m of the fo repeak \\'a .~ no more. T hat bit of ~u n lig ht below did m uch to d ry Ihe a ir a nd discourage Illo ld. R igh t a bou l now yo u m ay we: ig h res pect., fu ll y the advice o f your hard-headed experts. w ho p oin t 01.1 t t ha I (ro r a p elt y fe w h undreds of dolla rs) YO li ca n buy pl ecisiotHll ;'l(\t- cast, a lum in um hatch es, complett', an d S..IVt' yo ur self two days' la hor a nd fut Ult grid , So yo u can , and a good th ing too. But if you'\'e I:o m e thi s fa r wi th your drea m. on blood, sweat, snou lI g iu g, a nd penn ies, you' rt' a hopdess case aO\''''<1I', a nd ma l'' as 1,'e11 cont inue to do " th ings the ha rd wa y. Toerail s a nd bulwarks An d so we ('onw ro the toera il. tha I simple r im around thl;:' o utside edge to keep you a nd \'ariou~ item s of .-:·car from going Il\'t'rhoard , T hi s fe nte LOllles i n a grea t va r iN }' of shapes and s il es. T he si mplest form is a .~qu a re str ip : ill' m ost e labo ralt' is a bu lwa rk, sup port ed by top t im bers or bronze knees, and fini~ h ed wi lh a fi ne w ide ca p on lOp . Most often il \.-ill be a p la nk-a n -edge: p iece, edge-fa.m 'ned to the cov Cl ing boa rd and shctTstTake. usually (apt'red from bOllom to t.o p , an d bevdcd to match lh e fl are or tll rn bkhome of the ~ h('Ns r r ake. A sim ple t hin g indeed. Armed w ith bar cl amps. pro p s from the u ndf'l'side of t ilt' shop roof. a nd l im bers lip tht, tops ides, I ma lla gf'd, fo r Ibe first 20 }ea rs of my ca reer. to fit .:1 lld fasten th is tocra il in a week·.~ lime. It was a process somew ha t aki n to stuffi ng a Ii \'c IKla constrictor i tlW a gar bagf' hag, a nd I ~ ropf'd ever for a ht.'lIer \\",.,", And tbis is t.1w ridic ulo usly ~imple soluI ion. w h ieh you wo u ld 1ikd y h a ve an i ved at in a !l1Ll ch short er l ime; Scn:w-[" slen a row of fe nn'posls ()/~ - by 2-inch oak , a foot long, say) to th e sIH't'rs lrake, as shown in Fi gu re 16- 6, w ilh tht' tOp ends pe epi ng up 3 to ':I illches aho w t he deck edge. S pace them no 1110[(' than 3 feet a p'Ul. Spring a nd da mp your rail st,x k '
figure 16- 7 Bulwa rk, in a Wesl-counlry men:hanl schoone r (c. 1880) (Drawin l col.ine$Y of 6alil Greenhill , The WOOdlhipbuil(/eoj
/ _ _ Topgallant rail and rai lcap / __ Main ra il /~
Scupper (open) Cove ring board ~
_ _ Deck planking
Lodg ing kn ees Bul wark planking Bulwark stanchion~
Deckbeam __-'-___ Hanging knees - - - Paired h ull frames
I
""_ _ Cei ling
\
Bu lwark slanc hio ns mayor ma y nO I be to p limbers of the hull frame, de pending upon the ir localion for bulwark support. \
,, \
It is CuStomary to fasten b ulwark stanchions th roug h planking, beam shelf, and ceiling, independently of the hull frames, to ensure the ir easy remoya l fo r repairs or replaceme nt.
\ ,
I
\
19 1
figure 16-8 C~bintop
grabrail
/Cf Taper
cut dee p eno ugh to pass a line th ro ugh Gr jp~
Hardwood ~ tave
--- 0-
Screwed o r b olted throug h housetop beams
192
o
down to the deck, inside this line of posts (with maybe a l,ls-inch shim on each, to move it in from the edge), set your scribers to the greatest gap, and mark the whole length, inside and out. If your boat bas a full bow, and much flare forward, you may need posts forward at IS-inch intervals to hold that end down (or, if the rail refuses to hook down to the stem, you may even have to cut it to shape out of a wider piece), but at worst you have the nasty thing under control. So take it to the bench and plane the bottom fair and tenderly to the lines you have scribed on the twO faces . Clamp it back in place again (the fonvard end let into the rabbet in the stem-or jogged into the heavy block just aft of the stem-and the after end cut for the scarf, as shown). Scribe once more if the fit is less than perfect, but drill for fastenings now before you remove it for the final shaping. As for fasteni ngs, you'll be shocked to hear that we have used flathead galvanized spikes, from 30-penny in ~/1 6-inch holes up to 3/S_ by lO-inch spikes on 4-inch-high rails over I lh-inch hardwood sheerstrakes. You 'll probably be happier with long bronze screws or, bes t of all, long and skinny galvanized lag screws. For these you will, of course, counter bore to take the thinwalled socket wrench that fits the square head of the lag. If you have more patience than I have, you'll soak the contact surfaces with oil and poison, and wait a day before fastening down in a fine smear of sticky stuff. Fastenings should be two to the foot, deeply countersunk, sealed with a slugof oil before the bung goes in. Fit the next piece to the scarf joint shown; damp, scribe, bevel, fasten ; true the whole length to the proper profil e and either level or parallel to the deck crown across the upper face if you plan to cap it. (A cap is expendable and easily repaired-and you can smooth it and shine it to match your heart's desire.) Look at Figure 16-6, and make up your mind. If yours is a real little ship with a proper laid deck and covering boards, you may be tempted to build this fence big-ship style, with top timbers, knightheads, waist plank, wide cap, kevels-a bulwark that is strong and beautiful, but requiring constant vigilance against leaks around shrinking top timbers. (Shape these timbers from the best black locust, or bone-dry hard pine, oreven teak; soak the mortises with a week's worth of oil and poison; caulk around the timbers with cedar wedges in the traditional way, or fill the gaps with an old-fashioned pitch-based seam compound that
will soften and expand when the sun hits it. ) You understand, of course, that the top timbers in big vessels are extensions of the main sawn frames, rather than extra pieces. Our small ones are mortised through the covering boards, one al a lime, to extend down at leaS! two planks below the sheer. You'll fit them between frames, fasten a ligh t plank around them, and cover them with a flat cap. This will likely be sawn to shape, in three or four lengths scarfed together, and grooved and mortised to sit tightly over the bulwark and top timbers. The wharf brigade will approve, even if you question whether it was worth all that effort. I hope Figure 16- i wil l clarify some details that I have treated lightly . Handgrabs When we were very young (and perhaps possessed of more enthusiasm than knowledge) , we considered stanchions and lifelines to be something for old men and small children. We reserved one hand for ourselves, and sailed in an intoxicating mood of dare-deviltry. But we did have sense enough to provide one more item of deck furniture. This, of course, was a pair of grabrails, running the length of the housetop, port and starboard, shaped to fit the hand, and fastened beyond reproach. These grabrails immediately become anchorage for boathook, rolled-up awning, deck mop, dinghy, sail bags, and anything else that needs to be kept up out of the wet. H they are to sustain, with elegance, all this gear (and you , too, in times of peril), they deserve some careful planning. As yo u probably know. you can buy (or cast from your own pattern) a set ofbronle brackets, fasten one over each beam, and thread a round wooden dowel or bronze tube through them. You can ('ven buy short sections of rai I, shaped from solid leak, ready to drill and fasten. The castings are expensive, and the ready-made rails never come with the correct spacing of gaps, or the right bevel to stand plumb on the sloping housetop. I therefore suggest that you look at Figure 16-S and cut your own to fit with gaps deep enough to take big hands, or 3/ 4- inch lines, and looking as if they belonged to this particular boat. Fasten them with a boh or big brOille screw through each beam that they cross. Your wharf-side cri tic wi 11 approve of scoured teak here, or mahogany shining under 10 coats of vam ish. You ' ll be wiser to put your faith in black locust or tough oak. 193
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Chapter Seventeen
You won't bel ieve i t, bu t you'll have to go thro ugh Ih is bulkhead-fitting routi ne exactly II Lim es as of len as you now th ink likely; therefore. you'd bener learn how todoi! right now . I can Ihink of fo ur m ajor system s, or tech niques, fo r finin g a bu lkhead. I'll end up trying to descr ibe. w it h the help of Sam Mann ing 's drawings. the method I use. II works well for me and ca n be twisted 90 degrees to do bunk flat s and dish shelves. But befo re I get to this last one, I' d li ke to touch upon the o ther three. The first a nd most common technique is what I ca ll the Attri tion Method. Armed with that most wonderfu l of precision instrumem s, the scri ber (di viders, penei I-l eg compasses), the crafts ma n holds a piece of lumber in h is left band and wi th the other makes a sweeping pass t hat would do lTedit to a SCOIsma n attacking wi th his .sk~an dhu . Thanks to the infa ll ible nature of hi s marker, the resulting penci I Iine is everywhere equidi~ta nt from surro unding obs tructions, and bears a certain family resemblance to th e spo t it is des tined for. But thi s workpiece, as we sha ll ca ll it hereafter, having been sawn to the line, comes out a bit short and bum ps in the midille, while the e nds are discouragingly di stant fro m their final resti ng p lace. Well now: scri be her again , a n d cut, a nd try-and after the third or fo urth
tr ip to the bandsaw . the remain ing half of Ih e piece begins t.o look p retty good ... an d a bi t of molding and some putty will fix it beyond reproach. ( But by th is ti me lhe inboard edge is by no mea ns p lu m b a nd will necd recutti ng a nd regrooving before the next one goes aga inst i t. )
You th ink I exaggera te? Not at all. I can show you some qUil·k bu lkheads I've done when I cou ld n't be bo thered to go through all th e pro per moves . Attri tion work s on stone walls and arm ies, bu t you don ·t need it as a way of life. A second sys tem, developed independentl y by numero us p ractitioners, can be ca lled the Staff a nd Feeler Method (Fi gu re 17-1). It 's a good one, tOO, especiall y va luable fo r marki ng a large sla b of pl ywood. I n i ts crude and simple for m, [h e staff and fee ler con sists of a p lumb post like a flat tree trunk a t the innermost edge o f the b ul khead-ro-be, with p ointed branches reaching ou t a nd touchi ng strategic points on the perimeter of this little world: bottom corner of the carlin, tOp and bo ttom edges of the sheer d amp and the sh elf, eight or ten spotS along the curve of the vessel's si!Ie below the damp. Use as many more as you think you'll need. T ack these bra nc hes 10 the trun k; remove the grea t tree intac t, if poss ible; lay it on the p lywood ;
195
figure 17-1 The "Staff and Feeler" system
1 x 41aid flat athwartship.
~--
"Staff" or strongback
This is a template made up of pointers fastened to a strongback.
196
and mark the outline. If you·ve worked careful ly, allowed for bevels, and have remembered correttlv• which branch meant what, vou should • be able to saw out a piece that needs very little trimming to make it fit. A third system, which might be called the Skeletan in the Closet, is really a fleshingoUl of the last met hod, Scribe and fi! small pieces (soft pine or cedar, 1/4 inch thick, easily shaped with a jackknife, to all the flat~ and curves that the bulkhead will fit (see Figure 17-2). Tack them light ly in their places and join them with more of the same pauern stock-anchoring all of this fragile outline to the vertical staff at the innermost edge of the location. (Some tiny "quilting" clamps arc very handy helpers in this assembly business,) Unhitch the assembly, lift it out tenderly, and mark the stock for cutting. This ske letoll pal1ern system works better than any other to fit the thwarts to a skiff, a one-piece flat f9r a bunk platform, a floor timber, or an engine bed. Don't be ashamed to use it even under the scornful eye of a Master Builder. He probably goes for the Explorer's or Surveyor's l'vlethod, which J won·t pursue any further at the moment. Then there's the Lino\cum Layer, or Joe Frogger, Method, excellent in its way, but which I will likewise spare you. And so we come at la.~t to tht, simple, logical way to fit a bulkhead. You should be able to plObe to the bottom of this great mystery in about five minutes. and never again need to worry about it. If Sam J\iJanning and J can't make it all clear by the end of this chapter, it 's our fault, not yours. I don't know yet how many moves we'll make. so I'll just say, First-Decide where that bulkhead is going and take proper steps to guarantee that it starts, con tin ues, and remain~ there throughout your struggles. You may think thi.~ is a silly warning, but I assure you that it's very easy to mark for one spot and then discover it isn ' t exactly the right one. YOll musl therefore estab1i~h a tangible athwartships plane, precisely located at one face of the bulkhead-to -be, and rigid enough to support the staves, by clamps and temporary fastenings, until the fitting is complete and you can install fashion pieces and deats to tic it all together. This backward approach (something like buying a horse and then building a bam around him) may lead you to suspect that I, too, am about ripe for pasture. This I hotly deny, and ask you to proceed thus: Cut a straightedged l -by-1 and nail it to the under edge of the sheer damps, port and star-
figure 17 _2 The "Skeleton In the Closet"
1 x 4 ta cked fl at athwartshlps to establis h the pla ne of the bulkhead alo ng o ne edge
Second 1 x 4 plumbed d ownward from the fi m
Th is is sim p ly a large tem plate rag ged together from any th in stock (includ ing pasteboard). Slrongback
Perimeter boards an d stiffen ers fa stened IOge th er so that the plane of th e bu lkhead lies along th eir in ner Uoined) faces
197
figure 17-3 "Bud'~
Favorite"
U~e
of a spirit level to guide the scribing of a locus of points accurately across a wide distance
1 x 4 laid flat across the hull
Arrows indicate a constant divider setting (or ruler measurement, or marks on a stick) in determining the di>lance horizontally that t his piece must be trimmed to fit the ceiling tight ly.
198
board, exactly where the bu lkhead is to go. (If you or the designer managed to loca te a deckbeam at this magic spot, so much -so ver')' much-the better, because otherwise you ' ll have to pad out the nearest one or inselt an extra.) :-Jaw get out your trusty plumb bob,and spot for another athwanships l-by -1, to be fit.ted and tacked to the inside of the ceiling a foot or so below, and exactly plumb under-end therefore parallel to- Ihe upper one. There' .~ your inviolable plane, nicely delineated and strong , to assist when you clamp up your first piece for marking. This piece, in case you may wonder, is a length of dear white pine healtwood, 12 inches or more wide, with a groove in the inboard edge to take a 1/ 4-inch spline. You may plan to use something clse, but I'd rather you didn't tell me ahout it. (I feel tha t I'm as broad-minded as Henry Ford, who didn't care what color lhe customer wanted, as long as it. was black. Or Nat Hcrreshoff, who admitted that there are two colors-black and whitethat you can paint a boa t, bu t only a dam' fool would go for black . It's interesting to contemplate the diametrically opposi te attitudes toward the buying public of our twO greatest manufacturing geniuses-one opting for black, and the other for white.) So you've got this fine piece of lumber, rough cut as in Figure 17-3. moved outboard as far as it w ill go, and in place. Let's indu lge in a little fantasy here: If that hoard were a flat sheet of wax, and all the pans of the boat were hOL enough to melt wax on contact, you could slide that slab of wax exactly horizontally, melting a~ it went, until it reached the distantmost corner under the sheer clamp. (You will kindly a.~sume in.<;tan t cooling of boat mass, so that the edges remain sharp and tight.) The key to the success of this maneuver is that the slab moved, without wavering, exactly horizonta ll y, as far as, but no farther than, it needed to go. So aU you've got to do to your piece of pine is predict, mark, and remove any parts of it that would prevent its reaching that corner under the sheer clamp. You can'l, by any stretch of imagination, expect to do this marking job accurately enough with scribcrs alone, freehand. You need, in addition, your sliding-blade tri-square, a good level, and a bevel square. Look at the picture. ThaI inboard edge is exactly plumb, a bit taller than the height required when it has moved outboard to its final resting place. Now, with sliding-blade tri-square level , mark lines exactly horizontal, on the face of your workpiece, from all salient
points in the p rofile of the cave: two or three arbitrary sp OtS on the roof; top and hattom corners of the clamp; top of th e hull ceiling un der the da m p; a dozen diUert:nt spots down t he curve of the cei Iing . And now you r dividers become usefu l. (You ca n get the same result wi t h a fo lding r u le o ra thin st ick with a pencil ma rk on it. l Set your di viders to (or measure) the distance fro m th e o utboard edge o f the workp iece to tilt' remOleS t po lm under the sheer clam p . Mark this exact d is tan ce OUI , on each horizont
199
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Chapter Eighteen
'iVhen we were very young, and wished to give wings and magic to our skiffs, we'd go deep into a ~pruce swamp to find a tree that had died standing. Trim off th e small dead li mbs, smooth it with a drawknife, keep the taper that ca me naturally, may be fi I a sheave at the top for a halyard, step it in a hole in the forward Ihwarl, fi tit with some kind of ~ail (made from a discarded bedsheet or a painter's drop doth)-and the winds of Heaven were our l ompanions in a glorioLis voyage to the Happy Isles. These weTe four miles (and half the World away) downwi nd. If the tide didn't favor, we might have to row a spell on the return voyage, It was \vorth it. That Iitlle spar was the ultimate key to romance and advenlure. Now, some fiO-odd years and perhaps 400
spars later, the same feeling flows from a new one, half-shaped on the bench. \'Ve've learned ways to build it to any size or shape we want, and we can m ake it lighter in weight, more enduring in the frost and fog and heat of the sun: but we ha ven't improved its purity ofform and purpose, It's ~till a fine, natural thing that aspires to the douds, (And do you remember Herman Melville's most beautiful spar in a ll the world? I think her name was Fayaway, and she li ved in the Vale of Typee, She stood in the how of his canoe and spread her raiment 10 th e benevolent trade-
wind, and they sailed across the lagoon with no thoughts of the evil in a great white whale.) I suppose I shou ld say something abou t materials for wooden spars, eYen if I thereby damn myself as one grateful for second best. I ha ve known men who, despairing of getting Sitka spruce, have given up the whole project as impossible. I have small sympathy for them. They'd as well starve in the presence of food too plain for their educated taste-which is to say that you can make splendid spars of slowgrown Douglas-fir, Eastern spruce, and dozens of other woods around the world. Elijah Kellogg's fisher boys stepped hemlock masts in their Chebacco boat, and I think some of the Block Island cow horns, li ke the fabled Roaring Bessie, sailed with natural unstayed cedar masts from Block Island's Great Swamp. Back in the '30s, when we first learned about box-section masls and casein glue, we could buy, at the local lu mberyard, a dear fir timber 6 inches by 8 inches by 26 feet long. \Ve'd slice it, painfull y, on the big table saw, scarf and taper the four staves, and glue them together. This was long before epoxy. even before resorcinol glue, but the joints still held-and so far as I know, are still holding in some of those masts, now nearly 50 years old. And we learned (or thought we did: answers came mort' casily and less dusty in that fresh dawn ) that if you had enough spruce and glue 201
figure 18-1 Taper in a solid spar
/
Ta per laid off from the cente rl ine on the top face of the !iquared mast stock
,--__ Slabs are removed with ,P plum b cut (thi ~ is wh y the sid e~ are not laid out fo r tilpe r on t he fi rst mar kin g).
and cla m ps and time, you could build a spar that wou ld reach the moon . Bu t u nti l the g real breakthrough . which ha ppened less tha n a hundred years ago, maslllHtk ing was nOI m uch more complicated i n theory a nd pracl ice than that foray into the swa mp to find a tree. If t he mas t was to be free-stand ing, as in a catboat. you kep t the ta per of the grown Slick and ('heerfully alTepted a very loose fi t of the ga ff jaws when the sai l was h oisted. If the vesse l was a sloop wi th shrouds, and reason told you tha t th e mast was now a stru t in pure compress ion , yo u still knew that con stant taper saved weight aloft and certainly looked belter. (An d furt hermore, you avoided with clear co nscience the ted ious and pa infu l job of squ ari ng and re-rou nding a bigger tf unk .) I went thro ugh all this - with broad· axe, draw knife. spar plan es, special soft fill ers for th e in evitable deep checks-until I discov · e n~d that I ..au ld buy a square tim ber of Douglas ·lir, perle.. tly d ear, cm [rom outside the heart o f the tree, in a lmost an y size I m ight wa n l. O f course, the price was shocking- as m uch as 10 cen lS pel' board foot on the wharf in Port la nd- but even I co u ld see that lile was simpler, the end res u It bener, if I neroed on ly to ta per a nd rou nd thi s p recise piece of heart· free ti mber. Shaping a mast or spar
Mast stave is fl ipped and the taper is ap plied to Ihe fo rm er side face .
Side slabs removed_~
202
This is how it's done-on a soli d or hollow mast, the loo m of an oar, a handle for a boat· hook, or a rI agpo le for the front lawn-in pro· gress ive steps, as follows: Fi rs t, taper th e end o r ends exactly to the d imensio ns given , exactly square a t all point s. (On most spars, such as mas ts for a jib· headed rig, and for booms and gaffs, the side next to the sail should be kep t straight, with all the taper· in g don e on the other th ree. Elementary. of co urse.) You ' ll mark fo r these taper cuts (with a n honest ba tten ) o n the top (ace of your tim ber, as show n in Fig ure 18- 1, and make p recisely plu mb culs with bandsawortablesawo r with porta ble po\... er saw o r even a n axe and a n ad1.e. if the tim ber is toO big to be broug ht to th e mill. Turn it, then, 90 degrees amI make the rema i n ing cut or cuts, a l ways remembering the need to keep a ll cross sections exactly square. An y s loppy work at Ihi s stage wi II persis t to the r.nd of th e job; yo u 'll have los t control, and the fin al product wi ll be some thing less than per· feet. (And don ' t roll self· righteous calipers arou n d a sp ar that I shaped last year. My hand slipped.)
figu re 18- 2a Lilyo ul of 8 ilm! 16 sides o n iI lape red spil r stave
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__ _ _ Beve l squ ar e >el at 45° :to obtai n 8 side s (Re~ul!ing
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203
figure 18-3a Marking gauge for lining 8 and 16 sides on a tapered spar stave
l l I i : Plank or plywood gauge is laid on the spa r stave at its greatest girth, Gaps are made equal on both sides. ,. .-
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The next move is to mark for the cuts that will make this stick 8- and then 16-sided. Figure 18-2 shows the process clearly: You draw a circle the exact diameter of your square stick (preferably on the side of the stick itself). and confine it with lines tangent to it and square across the timber. Then mark tangents at 45 degrees, to intersect those gO-degree tangents, as shown in the drawing. The final operaTion in this exercise is to draw yet another tangent, this time at 67 1/2 degrees, to locate the line for the 16- .~ide cuts. If, now, you repeat this emire process a t convenient intervals along your tapering spar, vou will h ave a series of points to be joined by batten-faired lines, which you will duplicate on each side of t he at her three sides of the stick, Cut off the four big corners to make the stick 8-sided, with a power saw, drawknife. or hand plane, whichever best suits the size of the job. Freshen the marks and cut the 16 flats on it , then 32 (by eye, this time)-andit's ready for final finishing , which will be done wiTh the aid of an inside-out power-driven sander belt. to be described later. In the meantime, let's make a simple tool that will do automatically a ll the marking de2()4
scribed in the a bove paragraph . Figure 18-3 shows it ail, better than I can describe it: the notched board, with an opening slightly larger than the grea tes t diameter of the s par-to-be; the beveled ends of the notch, to maintain a centerline bearing against the side of the square timber; finally, the sharpened markers, threaded through the board's backbone. Theon ly tricky bit is to get these markers located at exact ly the right spots. If you are a lot smarter than I am, you can do this spacing by percentages. As for me, I lay the tool across that circle, with beveled ends snug against the ~ i des of the timber, and note where the A-side and 16-side lin e.~ cross the centerline of the unders ide of the board's backbone. Drill for the markers, which may well be l/ 16-inch screws, ground to a point and th readed through a ~/lz-inch hole. If the scratches they make are too dim, run a soft pencil along the groove afterwards. As for the wonderfu l finishing tool: a rubber-covered drum (Figure IA- 4), spun by a slow- .~peed electric drill, nestles in the bight of a sander belt tha t has been hung, inside out, over the 32-sided spar. H ang the spar up eyebrow-hi gh. Start the drill, walk the length of the spar, turn it over, and do the other half; go over it once again with a fine -grit belt. Don't expect this marvelous machine to correct gross ineq ualities. Remember always that this tool is but a poor thing to save some labor. It can't do your thin king for you. So what more do we need to say about solid, one-piece spars? Mostly praise. They made possible the exploration of the world and a ll overseas commerce for a thousand years, and for lack of them, empires tottered. But that perfect tree is not always easy to come by, nor even a sawn timber of the right size and quality. And the solid mast is heavier than it needs to be, and it will develop checks. So .. .. The hollow spar 'i\le discovered good glue back in the 1930s and very quickly learned that it' s easy, qu ick, and (usually) less expensive to build a mast out of several small pieces. No more need to agonize over imperfections in the one big piece, no need to pickle it in the salt pond, or dry it for a year before it's fit to use. In the 1930s, the jibheaded rig was fast displaci ng the gaff -headers, permitting (and requiring) the more elaborate stay i ng after the sty Ie of Marconi 's radio masts. The four -board, box-sect ion mast suddenly became beautiful. The great breakthrough had come.
figure 18-3b
figure 18-3c
/,.- auger holes (drilled carefull from both sides) These accommod ate stan dard wooden wriling pencils in a stiff slip fit . If the spar is small , U!re na rro w sha rpened set screws in lie u of penci ls.
-_~,_
(All four sides of the timber are scribed .)
All pencils shou ld be chec ked agai ns t - _ layou t marks befo re scribi ng begins.
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l ayout al maxi mum gi rt h drawn on the bull of the stave
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Scribing edge s " A" for 8 faces
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Scribing edges " 8" for 16 fa ces (All four·card inal points ar e again scribed.)
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fi gure 18 - 3d Scribin g the length of a tape red spar stave Marking ga uge set for 8 faces at the slave's widest gi rth Proportiona l narrowing of faces is maintained If the legs of the gauge h ug lhe sides ol lhe timber.
Twisting lhe gauge as the spar Slave na rrows retains the !-arne proporti onal d ista nce belween the scribed ed ges and the sides.
205
figure 18-4 The marvelous spar-finishing machine
.....- - - - - -- --
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We made scarfing jigs and spar damps, and convinced ourselves that the gl ued joints were the strongest parts of those assemblies. We decided that the making of hollow spars is pro ba bly the easiest part of boatbuilding. \V ith enough dry spruce (or fir, or other light and tough wood) of any available size, we could add length to existing spars. mend broken booms. or build new light masts that would stay straight forevermore. \Ve had taken yet another step toward controlling our destiny-and had lost the primitive joy of seeking out that perfect tree in the depths of the swamp. Therefore, we'd better get to the business of gathering the few, simple bits of equipment you' ll need.
206
Make up half a dozen tall (36-inch) horses, and space them 6 feet apart down the middle of the shop (~ee Figure 18-5 ). Shim them to a tight string, tack them to the floor, and brace everything diagonally to withstand all the endthrus t you can put on it with your good right arm. Fit a 2- by iO-inch plank along one side, full length, to tie the horses together and to provide a solid base for scarfing, rabbeting, and edge-joining the staves that will make up the completed spar. Note that this spar bench can be disassembled, to sleep peacefully under the shop for 50 weeks of the year. It's slightly more elabora te than you'd need \ 0 shape and glue a solid boom, and it could be improved to handle all the possibilit ies in a full-tim e spar shop. LTse your own ingenuity, but keep it true and uncl uttered so that you can march up and down both sides, and around the ends, and spread glue at a dead run. And on this bench you'll damp a scarfing jig, which is a very simple device for marking and controlling chisel-like matching cuts. (Sec Figure 18-6.) Two identical wedges, with a slope of I inch in 12 inches, are screw-fastened to a short p lank-exactly abreast of each other, separated only enough to accommodate the w idest pieces you'll be joining. The wedges will, of course, be deeper than the work-piece you're about to slide between them and out to the jumping-off place. To fit an end, you'll
d amp as shown, make cutS across, split off most of the wood bet ween cu tS, and finish with a long jointer , p recisely to the slope of the wedges. You cou ld, of course, cu t these slopes almost to size o n a bandsa\v, or do the whole j ob wi th a h igh-speed rou ter and a special jig, o r even work them dOh' n with repea ted passes on a movable ra mp in a su rface p laner. J USt be sure that the ends match perfectly. Un less you o ....'n or can borrow vast numbers o f C·dam ps, you'd best make upa sel of special spar damps, as show n in Figure 18-7-two pieces of hardwood, twO continuous -threaded '/ 8-inch steel rods, with nuts and washers above and below. You'll need one every fOOl for the longest spar you'll make. You can dis tribute th e pressure (on staves less than an inch th ick ) by insertin g a 6-inch pad above and below, as shown. You ca n even squeeze the staves together with giant host-clamps, or rope and wedges, or spiral wrappings with strips of TubbeT or nylon lint, but you won't have the good control o f pressure that you get with these homemade clam ps. (An d you may say a t this point, " Who needs pTessure? Doesn ' t the old ... fossi l rea lize that epoxy ha s chan ged all that? At last made wood a reasona ble subst itute faTth e mOTe commonl y accepted ma terial s for boal- and spar. ma king? Fills the ga ps, seals against fu ngus foreveTmore, ma kes joints stronger than \\'elded iron ? No pressure needed? "' - Sure enough . But I sti ll prefer cold-water-mix Weld wood, which does nOt require controlled temperature or humidity, COStS very little, and forgives my incompetence as a chemist. And anyway, we grew up togethef.) One more bit of sou l- searching. Wha t about this cau tion to SCalteT scaTfs, the weak spots, as widely as possible? If you hark to tha t implied doubt and accept it, you'd best stop Tight here. G lued wooden spars are not for you. But if you believe, as I do, that the glued-scarf sections are always the stiffest and strongest parts of the Slave, then you ' ll be happy 10 see them all cheek· by-jow l, o r however else chance and available lengths may dicta te th eiT spacing. So heTe weare with a bench , a sca rfing jig, some clamps, g lue, a nd a pileof 18- and 20-£oot s pruce p la nks-2 by 6, which actually measure about 11/2 by S lj2 inches_ We need a masl (o r a modera tely powerfu l jib-headed cu n er, which we 'll sail in the track of the S pra y 10 the Straits of Ma gell an . Nothing specia l, but it 's 10 be as light as we dare make it. It must be strong enough to take a hundred kn ockdowns in a row
figure 18- 5 Spar bench
wi th the spreaders in the water, and never Ihe sligh test doubt th at il can take anal her hundred without a worry in the world. II must, o f course, be able (with once-a-year maintenance) to cope with the tropical su n and northern winters through th c next SO years. Nothing veTY specia l, as you can see- no controlled bending, or internal ha lyards, or engine exhaust up the hollo w. Since time is not of the essencc, w e can afford to spend all o f six days on th i.~ job. (Let' s pray fo r cool and doudy weather for gluing, hal and dry for the cure.) We'll make it round, (or the natural look, and because we might decide to switch 10 a ga ffheaded rig at th e las t momen t. We' ll need to scaTf an 18-foot piece to a 20-£001 o ne to make, com forta bl y, t he 35·foot overallienglh o f each stave, with some left over 10 tri m back on the butt end o f the finished spa r. We' l\ do all the taperin g in the upper section of each stave, befoTc gl uing the scarfs. And when we d amp these scaTfs together, with sl ippery glue on both faces, we' ll be agonizing ly aware o f Iheir desire to skid len gt h wise and out of line when th e clamps are tightened. So we' ll squeeze them between perfectly straight cauls, a foot Ion geT
207
figure 18 - 6 Scarfing jig-l:12 slope for all spar-stave scarfs
Wedge of plank-butt to be hewn off, then planed clean ~.'
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~ Cla mp prevents slipping of the stock in the jig
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Slice (here) _" slick, or sharp axe
Plane rides diagona lly on the wedge-shaped runners of the jig.
208
than the scarfs , exactl y the width of the stave, and with waxed paper between cau l and scarf (see Figure 18- 8). And wc'll use p lenty of damps : fo urC-clampson cach s<"arf to hold the jo in! in line, and four of your special spar clam ps to spread th e load. I.eave them for now. You can do no mo re um il the morrow , when the thumbnail test will tell you if it ·s sa fe to release t he da m ps. (If the oozed gl ue is brittle, the bond is sa fe to handle.) Good enoug h . orr h' ith th e cl amps, clean off tht· gl ue, jo in! the ma tchi ng staves exactly alike and perfectly square on th e edges. Cut that rabbe t, as shown in th e c.ross section in Figure 18-9, full length of the forward andaher staves, to stop inward movement and help wi th alignment of th e side staves d uring the final assembly. (O r, if you wi sh , you loan attach te mporary d eats \0 the side staves to stop that in ward and uncontrollable skid.) Fit a solid pI ug, 2 feet long. at the top end w here the main halyard sheave and all th e masthead rigging tangs come toget her; fit anOlher at Ihe butt end, long enough to reach above the halyard deats, wi nch es, and main -boom gooseneck . Run throu gh a dry dress rehea rsal; rally your hel pers, trained in the ways of clamps and brushes; mix t wO qua rts of g lue, and go to it. Wet bot h s urfa<.-es, work fa st, set up those clamp bolts as ir you had a built-in torq ue gauge in your righ t arm-and let it set for 24 hours. Wh ile you wait , }'OU can soothe your impatience by glu ing stock for a 3·inch-diameler solid boo m, or a tapered mast for your pea pod. Wh en you can wait no longer, strip off the clamps and taste pure joy. You've got all the time in the world, now , to clean, shape, an d round tha t bea utiful thing, and every move can be sheer delight. And when you 've gOt this one done (except for the sheave, spreaders, tangs, sai l track, and a few other things the plans call for ), you'll know about all r ca n tell you about spar making. Stay with that one -in-twelve slope fo r all scarfs; smooth surfacl's to join; keep wal l thickness no less than o ne·fifth of thl' diameter, whether rou nd or box·section-and that's about il. Fi gure 18- 10 shows vario us cross sections using four s taves, o r two th ick ones hollowed ou l and g lued together. You can, of course, buil d up that th ick ness by g luing twO and two together, and then dig out the valley in each of these built-up halves. Use your adjustabledepth circular saw to make nicely calculated lengthwise scores, close togeth er, four passes
figure 18 -7 Homemade spar cL.mp
x 12"" th readed rod
510 1 saves
ti me in opening. I 'll x I'll x 12"" oak
Spar clamps n---about a foot set.la "~-:::=-....
'-.. Pads to distrib ute pressu re
for each setting, down the steep s ides and across th e bonom of the fjord. Break out the waferthin leaves with a gouge, and smooth the ho llows with a round·faced p lane. You will, of course, have stopped the holl owing shan of the ends, for built· in p lugs, and you co uld also leave a solid section \\'here the sprt'aders will thrust an d shroud-tangs will bolt. G lut' Ihest' two troughs together, and round off the outs ide in the u sual way. If you have tools and patience 1O handle the scoop ing-aLit process, you may decide that this is t he s im plest and most satisfat::tory way to makea hollow spar. And if, in theglo !"), of your new-found con fide nce you decide to try an eight-stave construction - go rig ht a head, but do n ' t expect me to help yo u. I ha ve tro uble enough handling rour . (l wi ll , though , pass on a rumor I heard tha t ~add le~ and giant hose clamps are t he answer. )
209
figure 18-8 Scuf.jo ining a spar stave
Sc.nh
---.
..•. .
--
10
be mated
--'-----.- ._-----
Cauls
- -.~.
-Waxed paper, newspa per, o r scrap polyet hylene
C.clam ps are set first to hold sca rfs in alig n ment and to pre ve nt sli ppage.
Spar clamps compress the joint.
Lengthening a spar
O nce upon a (ime, a m a n I k n ~w shaped a m ag niflcen t round spar for a new ca thoat, and he m easured off the len gth fro m th e top (the stick was sev eral fe et too long ) an d cut it offo n t h e wro n g mark, so Iha l i t was 2 feet too shorl. So me a ppro priate words we re s po ke n , a nd a not her me m ber of th e (:few, und e r belter 210
em o d o na l control, cu t th e rema ins into 6- foo t ta pered roll s, wh ich are always ha ndy around a boa tyard. No great harm do ne, yo u m ay say. You'd be wrong . That m all tol d me w ith tears in h i§ e yes that he' d never s in ce been a ble 10 p ick up a c rossc ut saw w ilhnu t his h a nd tremhlin g. T he p iti fu l part of th is is tha t it was com p lete ly Unllt'cessary. H ad he kno wn wha t
figure 18-9 Malr.ing up a hollow spar
Jointing matching ~taves
II Section
",
I~
,
,,
"
.-
.'
. '"
'.. ",
I •
R~b bets
in forward and after staves
,,
,
,
••
!
,,
•
,-•
..
~.-
, ~, .,
~
__ Tangs and sheaves Glue and clamps
I-- ti~-- Spreaders
-
Solid plugs
- -' , ..,.. - .. -' . ,,-.- ..,--.,"...... .
'-, _-' .- .
,,_+-+___
Mast partner
/
,,, ,•
b ·
.
•" • \ ,"
•
If' .
".
.,t •' ,
·, "
"
i:~
• I'
.i
, ,
~ ...
··"' ':.-'.
,
,
C-' >•
. .,- r ,'
...."..
I· "• _E'- -
-
--
Tenon for ste p
Wedges
" ~~
,,.. .. -,'-, -
Wedges driv en to compress sides at each clamp
21 1
figure 18- 10 Cross sections of hollowed spars
•
4-stave round spa r wi th wa ll thickness the diameter allis inner cornelS
F
'/j
Sta ves would be at least 1'/.~ thick to yie ld a 6# diam ete r.
4_~lave
hollowed round
~pa r
_ __ _ _ _ _~
Two staves, hollo wed an d glued - - -_ __ __
o
_,0;"-..0.;,'" :.... .
Hollowing plane
we know now (and h
212
from the Oh'ner's eye. And yet o ne more: so meone comes in wit h a splendid boom brokell dean in twO, and the sad story that it willtak(· six weeks to get a new one from the fa c.torywhat then? Let's first lengthen that m ast. Look to Figure 18-11 . We 'll dress the butt 10 a flat wedge with our standard one-in- twd \"!' slope exactl)' the sam e o n bot h sides. Th i.~ i" most easily controlled and accomplished wi th the aid of a nother SCiufing jig, one slight l~ deeper than the diame ter of the m ast wi th a f ai f Iy sn lIg fit a lon g its sides. Clam p th e butt ill the j ig, as shown. Make saw cuts across, whack off Ihcch unks, a nd d ress the resul t down with a lo ng p la ne that rides loe a nd heel on Ihewed ges. T urn it over e"acll y 180 degrees. e xaclly at the sam e fore -and-a ft location in the trough, and do the o ther side likewise. Nm\" ~aw out. (or build up of two pieces glufd togdher ) two slabs, rectangu lar in section . each about 1/ .. inch w ider than [he d iamet er of th e spar, and 1/ 8 inch thic ker tha n the half, d ia m ete r (a nd, of cou rse, lon g enough for the desired extra lengl h). Cut a chisel -style scarf all one end of each, using the same ji g and tech nique. Cla mp them together, a nd try them for fi t to enclose that wedge o n the bul t of the masl. Fi n a lI y, glue the works together, taking extraord inary precautio ns aga inst endwise slid ing a nd creeping ou t o f line. Dress down the ncw p a rt i n the square to the proper size and tapt'f, then round and sm ooth i t to m atch the rest of the spar. If you paint it, n obody 'll ever kn o\\' what happe ned. (We've lengthened out a gaffheaded mast as mu ch as 8 fee t. to con vert to jib-headcd, a nd we 've Tepl(lced 3 feet of masthead thai wenl soft bem:a th Ihe eyes and sheaw's. In every case, the o peration was successful, and it mrt' hea t making a new mas!.) As for that broken boom: simply do the same joint twice, a .~ shown in Figure 18 -1 2, scarfing your two s ide p ieces fa fhe wedges cu t o n the two broken ends-wi th a flat between scarfs, o f course, Ldkula ted to restore the o rig inal a nd proper length of the boom . O r m aybe you'd like 1.0 make it a bit longer this time, whi lt' YOLI're a t it. Use thi s me thod if you've broken your best sp ruce oar, or you r boathook handle, o r your beau tiful i-fOOL curved tiller -scarfing and glu ing ca n .get to be a ma nia. And o ne last fhi ng. To hide and seal that porous knot, to restore wood to the spot w here your broadaxe has sli ced tOO deep, you p roceed th us: Scoop out a depress io n in way of the defect, smoothly curved fr om end to end and perfectly Oa t a cross. A com pass p lane, set to the
figure 18 - 1' To le ngthen a spa r-
(' ) Clamp bUll in sca rf ing jig.
,.,,'
,
(1) Dress the bUll to a flat wedge. •
'.
••
. .. •
I
,,,
_ ",_ . (5) Slabs fai re d wi t h
•
same slope
• the remaind e r of the spa r
, (4) sl ~ bs flipped ,
aligned with the bull, ~nd glued toge ther
L... •
213
figure 18- 12 Re-joining, or lengthe ni ng, a broken boom
Break _
.....
Scarfs cut to the ~me slo pe in the .. m
-
-
••
r
Stri n ger~,
nailedto preve nt i of the ends gluing
,
. ..
' - Joi ned sla bs
arc yOIl W(ln t, is the besl tool to use on this dip, bUl yOLi ca n do th e job perfectly wdl wi lh a smoother. If yo u want some SOri o f fi gure to go by, let 's say tha t the radius of the arc o f the dep ress io n sho uld be no less tha n 2<1 ti mes the max imum dep th o f the scoop. Ma ke a temp la te, if yo u wish . with a 12- inch radi us, which will , accord ing 1,0 Ihl" a bove, g ive you a n accepta ble length lor a pat ch l/2-inch deep. Th is sou mis 0 \'erco m I-1 1icated, and is thrown in only to sca re you into making that (:ut long and easy, so that the slope of th e g lue joint wi ll nO! be a br upt at tht ends of the patc:h. (Look at Figure 18- 13, and ign ore most o f this wordiness .)
214
figure 18-13 Porous knot
Elliptkal patch
-------~~ "'-<=------------
-~~
"Dished out" (flat aero,s, smooth curve lengthwi,e)
~----/
-----
/--------
i
\ \
/
/
Patch shaped to fit (or) Patch laminated from thin slUff pressed down into the "dish"
The next move, of course, is to fit and fasten a patch that can be rounded off to look as if it had grown there. You can eu t thi ~ to fit, if you wish, or you can bend it in - in one piece, or in several laminations, Whichever vou do, you'll , , apprecia te the long and easy shape of that curve. Clamp as shown, with careful spreading of the pressure. Dress fair, with a drawknife,
plane, and sander-and be smugly modest when the audil'nCt' marvels at the perfection of those joints. "Noth ing to it!" says you. "Any craftsman can do as welL" And between vou and me, that 's the hell of it; he doesn ' t even have to be a craftsman. Ami that, I think, is my final word on sparmaking. All you need is a jig, some damps, glue , a hand plane, and a little confidence.
215
, •
,
Chapter Nineteen
Yo u may find it h ard to believe that there are hundn:ds of way~ to m akt: and hang a l'uddn. and a bou t as man y W
rudder
i~
th e mos t compl ica ted and important part o f your lIew vessel. I'll attempt wdcscr ibe,
wi th the help of Sam' s draw in gs. how I have m ad e a nd installed juSt Iwo 1y pe_~ of rudd er, as I ha vf' d o n e them d Ol.e n s o f limes . (I 'll ski p the pop-u ps. the ba lanced ~ pa dcs. Ihe Vik ing steering-oa rs. the a imab le jets- a ll of which sim pl y move the stern of the boa t sideways. and
but I a m happy that we laler huilders. with aLLe~~ 10 bcnn and (h eapf'!" metal, ha ve m:m aged to d o a neater a nd po5.~i bl y more reliabk jo b in our li tt le boats. Rea r \" ilh me. then . while 1 try to describe my way o f hu il ding. hangi n g. and contro ll ing: this in board rudder. Shaping the rudder stock (in board ) ills lIa ll y Slar! operat ions by m a k ing a skd cIOn pa ll ern . sh owi ng Ihe loca li on a nd angie of th e propell er shaff , Ih e propeller aperlUff'. Ihi' exact angl e of the jog in th e sto<:k. and Iht' loca ti01 1S o f the pintles. Aillhi 5 informatio n is markt'd on or lacked to a 51raigl1l lath tha t H'prf'S('llIS th<: forward edge o f thf' ruddcr-w · be (see Figun: 19- 1). Th t, first a nd a p part'llI lr most fo rm idable job is I f) sha pe thaI stOck - eil h er b\" ma ki n g a pa ttern. a nd ca sting it in bro nlt· (a s we've d Olle several tim es . in agon y and
2 17
figur e 19- 1 Rudde r p.1ttern (In boa rd )
Rudder port test batten (now ~I rongba c k for rudder pattern; ~ Figure 6- 2dl
-
_ _ Tail fe ather
•
Ce nt erli ne shaft
Ang le 10 bend the rudde r stock Gudgeon / pi nt le s
5.ll v~ ge
p ropeller shaft (now rudde r stoc k)
Angle of be nd
218
r Oll da mp it eh ind th is stock . I ha\"e a lways shaped th is of wood, usually in t\\'o p in 'es- the main »
(It m igh t be worthwhile at th is point to can.~idt'f wh~l( happens if Ihis rudder can be made wilhout the bend in the stock-for a boat with an off-center propeller, Herreshoff styl e, or for no propell er a t all. This pleasant sta te wo uld se{'m to allow a simpler. m ore efficient r uelde'r; bu t its strength would depend almost enti rely o n the edge· bohs' resistance to bend ing , wi th· o ut the great powe r of tha t crooked Slack In apply press ure to the blade. )
Hanging Ihe rudder (inboard ) Let's assllmc thai you 've boIled rhe ma in (forward ) piece of the rudder blade 10 thl' stoc k. as in Fi gu re 19- 2, and al"t' ready to hang (o r h inge ) this rudder in place. I like to su ppOrt it on four bearing s: a st uffing·box 01 SO!lW sort on top 01 tht: tai l f(';:t ther. onc bearing abo\'t' tht' propeller apertu re, and twO more belo \\' i l wi th the bottom bearing ilS low as po ~~ihle . To you who h
,
figure 19-2 ' \ . Rudder assembly (inboard )
All fa stenings ar e la id
Inboard piece is hollowed a nd dr illed to receive the rud der stoc k.
ou t on the plank stock befor e any drilling is done.
-
Coun te rbored for carriage o r sto ve-bolt he~d (to be fil ed smooth)
•
\
Hollowed
-
,
--.
-,--/
/
J
,
••
-
r " :...-- Hollo wed ,
,i
Drills are set from the inboard side.
Rounded
Ro unded
.-t-'I
I
Rudde r-Slock bolts set and tigtllened
. Faired
I o
o
o
o
'"":, , Access port to accom modate wre nch, n ut, and washer
,,
•
..._ __ .-"- Graving piece (sh aped carefully to cl ose the voi d
and to lock the nul )
corred diameter to ta ke the thread on the pipe for a perfect fi t, tight enough 10 allow no working or leakage. (\Ve put bolts horizontally through the timber, ahovt" the planking hoth forward and aft of the port, to guard against any split that m ight dcvdop. ) 'We used thi .~ simplc ~ys tem on dozens of boats, with the approval of thc designen and aUf own consciences, and with no catastrophic failures, but we finally chosc a more complicated arrangemcnt-a custoTll-Tllade cast i ng to fi t each particular boat, which was bt"llt"r in several ways, As shown in Figure 19-3, this is a heavy casting, with a wide base, angled to bolt on top of the tail feather, and fitted with a packing gland. This casting prov idt"s a stronger support fOf the r udder stock, and can always he re-seated if any leak develops under its flanged hase. (It's a vcry pn:tty piece of pauernmaking, too, and fint' practi(:e for tht" work you'll be doing someday on goosenecks a nd hawsepipcs.) You'll core for the hole, and clean the casting itself out to a smooth clearance for thc rudder stock; and you' ll wait. for the fina l fittingand bolting, until you've swung the rudder into place (having. of ("ourse, lined the ruddcr port with copper tube or lead sleeve, and the groovn! stern POSt with sheet copper.) Drop the lovely casting down over the stock, shave the top of the horn tim bel' (tail fe(Jther) to ("oned for anv tiny errors in angle, and fasten it down -prdcrablv with naval hronze bolts, to match tht· metal in the ("asling. And I mean bolts . four of them, all the way through the tail feather. Bronze screws are not good enough . I've seen onc of thesc castings, scn'w-fa .~tened, all adrift and leaking torrents, and the boat was only 40 years old. Two mOle warnings. First, the heel of the rudder must sit tightly upon an extension of Ihe deadwood, or in some son of heel bearing, with no gap to catch your overridden anchorline or a lobstn-pot walp. Second, the stock should, if possible, extend upward through a strong bealing at tht' deck , wil.h an exposed fitting to wke an emergency ti ller. This upper bearing helps to wilhstand the severe side-load generated by the lever ann of th e steering device working against the pressure of the rudder-and nOle that the load approaches infinity as the tiller length approaches zero. This sounds like a despera te way to describe the situation. Your knowledgeable friends will poi n t out, patiently. that the torque on the rudde r head remains constant, whatever the length of the lever arm, and that a hydraulic ram w ith a lOO-pound
thrust against a I - inch tiller has the same turning effect (torque) as a I-poullli thrust on a 100-inch ti ller-or words to tha t effect. But these experts a lways ignore the side-Ihrust, which is the cause of much rudder trouble. Therefore , if you choose a worm-screw steerer (and a very good choice it is, if you can fi nd one), get the double-arm style, as shown in Figure 19-4. If you can grab the brat by both ears, you can twis t its neck without b rea ki ng it off. That hydraulic ram looks like a perfect ~olu tion. bill il.s power must be countered by strong bearings, above and below, or it can wring the stern r ight off. An outboard
rudd~r
I trust that t he above has pu t you 1ll a proper frame of mind to appreciaLe the other kind of rudder~hung outdoors for all 10 see, vulncrable to attack by pirates , and terminating the lengTh of th(: ves .~d in a no-nonsense lack of overhang. There are some (myself among them) who feel Iha I after overhang ina \'esst'l is worth its cost and wt"ight when that vessel is runn ing downwind in a big following sea: bill that is a maner of opinion on ly, and fares poorly agaimt the obvious and numerous vinues of the sawnoff stcrn and its outboard rudder: No holes through the hull : a cinch for a self-stcering setup; cheap. strong, all-wood conslTurtion. Beautv• is, after all, in the eve of Ihe heholder, • and most of the present -day beholden; are too you ng to have been corru pted by t he seductions of ancient classics; so let' s get a lit , and build an outboard rudder. (See Figure 19-:).) Begin w ith Ihe technique as dt'snil){'d for the inboard rudder, first mak ing a skeleton pattern from a thin board for the main piece, marked with the line of shafl. the propeller aperture. the top of the uansom. the loca tion of the pintles, the a ngle of the bottom in profile. Now find the best piece of oak that ever grew on the cold hillsidc-a plank sawn from near the cemer of Ihe butt log, bhlt, in ("ohlf, wi th interlocked grain and a tough, mean look aboUl it. Join t one edge of this plank ahsol utely straigh t. and lay it in, waiting until you've insta lled the gudgeons on the transom and the sternpost. Hanging the rudder (outboard) It's un likcl y tha t you can 10("aLe off-the-shelf hardware for hanging this rudder, so you'll do well 10 mdke pallerns and get castings before proceeding any further. Note that the gudgeons
221
on I he .~ I e r npost are o ne-piece <:a ~ t ings. a nd tha I. one pa llt'fIl wi II do for end gra in . and helps wonderfu ll y fa h'i th sla nd warping.
222
The tiller Anci 1101.'. to control Ihi s ourbOilrd rudder: the si m p lest, cheapest, s tron ge.~1. ilnd mosl reliable meillH is il rillpr (lhe longer. Ihe Uelter) that comes inhoil rd above the top of the tra nsom. It need no t ill10w fo r swi ng-ing more tha n 40 degrees fr om cenl er am id sheet blocks and ga llows fram es . a nd it sho uld fetch up against a posit ive SlOp when ha rd over. You can add C'o ml"ols to it in a do~e n diffrn'nt wa ys - li neson lac kl e~ from both si d e~ . ,d th lJu ick-jam locking d evices on them : or a notchl'd com b. as in the o ld lobster sloops; or remova ble pegs in a crossmlr, to stOp Ih e swillg- (and never in exa ct ly the rig h t place)-a nd ("veil that wonderfu l sysll'm, unbelievil blt'. callt'd th e Shin Cracker (descr ibed by Frilnk Bullt:n in Cruiseo! the Cachalot . inc iden til ll y) 1.-11ich mounted a steeri ng wht't'i, wi th drum , o n th(" elld of the til ler, a nd wQu nd itself back and fo rth across the deck li ke a spider tryin g t.o make up its mind . Th e helmsma n gOt a peek a l fhe conr pass whenever h is travel s brought h im past it. (Bu llen 's in itial ho rror, I'm happy 10 Sla te, softened to a g r udging ad m irat io n fo r the system hdon: the Hui se was long underway.) Lt't's suppose, now. that your design (or d c~ ir e) ca li s fo r conventional whee! steerin g, with stub till er o r quadrant en tering thro ugh, rather tha n o ver, the tran som . A quadrant. wheth er grooved fo r cable or toot hed for gear, will felc h lip aga in st the inside o f the tran som when ha rd ow:r. and make you wish il wou ld go a not he r 10 degrees. A stra igh t t iller (p lenty lon g, to keep low the stra ins o n ca ble and rudde rh ( ~a d ) ca n be a rranged to giw you a n easy 40 degrees o r more. and slil1 fetch up against a posi tive stop cleM of the transom; bU I you will have to ilcCept uneven tension o n the cables as the tiller goes from center to hard over. Th is eHen is no t as bild as it. may sound; we've done dozt'ns of rigs like this over Ihe years, a nd they all worked . Inevitably, cabl es wo rt' out and broke, and we learned the hard Will' tha t the fi nest sla i n less SIPel is the least du rable ma teria l fo r steer ing ca bles. Pla in steel, we ll greased, seems 10 last tw ice as long. Bronze ti ller ro pe, ir you can find it. is better yet-and th t~ n , th ere's tha in, and hard-laid Dacron. Design the. parts of Ihi s system to give you at leas t th ree revolutiom of th e wheel from hard ovcr to hard over, and be sure that you've. provided for quick attachment of your emergency til kr, and have done somet hing to bar insec ts and WavelOps from entering your vessel th rough that lill er
figure 19 -3 Rudder burings (inboa rd)
Pipe cap dr illed to rece ive rudd e r 510ck
Flal{ packing _ - Red brim nipple ~ner
Good
'-----
Bronze c,) ~ti ng tipped to receive the nipple
:='"
o \
,, ,
Athwart ~hip
bolts
lined with co pper tube
Sternpmt hollow lined wit h sheet copper
Red brus pipe threaded directly thro ugh the tail fe.t1her
Two-piece casting above, _~ the propeller aperture (one panern)
Pin
o!I
o
ast ings below the propeller apert ure NO
223
slot. \Ve have used a rubber tube, seiztd around the inner neck of the liller, and fastened tight to the ci rcumference of the transom opening. An inner tube out of a truck tire (if there is ye t such
a thing available) does ver y nicely, and endures the flexing for a long time. And, finally , this warning: Ignore t he advice of those who tell you to im ta ll a ll these sheaves, cables , and push -rods while they are easy to g'er at, with no deck and cockpit in the wa)'. That is bad thinking. Some dis tant day. a shcaw will
figure 19-4 Worm-screw steerers
Twisting one ear pUIS a heavy side load on the free-standing rudder stock.
Single arm (continuous thread)
Thrust collar bearing, aft (forward bearing is omitted)
Side load should be countered with a strong rudder-stock bearing at the deck.
There is no side load when both ears are twisted.
, Squared for emergency ti ller
,
/
Wedge-shaped keys in squared channels allow the one-piece collar to be driven upward for removal.
224
Double arm (opposed threads)
figure 19-5
Outboard rudder
Head block
Wood
Pintle _ / (le t flus h )
M inimal aperture
Gudgeon (l et flush)
Lock blocks
Cleat _,
freele, or a cable break, or a key w iggle lome, and you'll have to craw l ill and repair the damage, before you get blown on to a let' shore, \V hen that da y comes, you' ll be glad YOIl planned and insta lled Ihese parts, originally, wi lh even'thing in (he way, If you did it once, you can do it agai n; bu t if yo u did i I the semi ble way , with the h ull w ide open , and thell b uried
yo ur steeri ng i nsrallation behind handy ~hd vt's and impregnable bulkheads, you'll be sorr y indeed , In the meantime, plan ('very thing so tha l it can 't possibly break, or corrode. or j am. Grease those ,s heaves, check the cables, and be sure the as h tiller hasn't rotted at Ihe rudderhead, Should ha ve been black locust, anyway , Happy steering to you,
22 5
Chapter Twenty
•
eVICeS
Long- years ago, we built a boat for a designer who yearned to be Poet and Artist at once; and in his search for lhe eternal verities, and any other justi fication for his 35-a -week-and-found, he once propounded as in a vision his concept (that's an unfortunate choice of words ) of our separate roles- his and ours, that is. He was the father of this lovely thing that we were creating. Guess where that left the boatbuilders. 'iVe thought about it. ..and thought about it. As good red-blooded Republicans, we certainly were in favor of Motherhood, but even then we had a pretty fair idea as to how the work got divided. And there was something else about the setup that was vaguely disquieting .... And if you are beginning to wonder what all this has to
do with the problem of How to Build a Steam Box, I'll tell you: absolutely nothing. Steam box and bending forms [very book on boatbuilding tells you how to make a steam box. You can use infinite lengths of stovepipe, truck-tire innertubes, 6-inch drainpipe leaning over a campfire, open troughs wi th hot water circulating through, wooden chests~and on to Bi ll Simm's ultimate steam box, which was a torpedo tube from a defunct submarine. I like one that 's deep and narrow, built of thick pine boards (to keep the heat in, and stand rough n eatment), and equipped with an adj ustable parti tion, which you push in wi th a long: stick~no sense heating the whole 20-£00t
227
box for a batch of 6-foot fra mes. i\-fake it about 7 incbes wide and 14 inches deep (inside dimensions), and fasten plenty of hardwood deals to the outsides of the wide boards he£ore vou assemble the box. (Fastenings go from Ihe sohwood into the hardwood whenever possible; this is a good rule to remember.) La y on the steam thro ugh a ]l/. -inch pipe nipple, threaded through one side, down low, 2 10 3 feel in (rom the open end. Set lhe far endof the box I [001 or so higher, so the steam will go up back, and the waler will run down front -and into the pail you have waiting for it. The best door is a shan length of padded board, nailed at its m id-heigh t to the end of a leaning prop. Make a slide-in rack to kU:p things an inch or two off the bottom of the box. You can get real fancy, if you want to, and pipe the condensation back to the reservoi r that feeds the boiler. Steam: You want it hot. wet. and plentiful. so that the temperature inside tbat box will go up dose to 212 degrees and stay there. You \Von 't get il from a teakenle on a hotplate. You need a r ig that was used to hea t a sma ll bouse in a Northern winter. If you Lan't find any thing ready-made, lower a IO-gallon drum through a snug hole fa t off-center in the end of a 55-gal lon drum; install crossbar~ to support the boiler. and more crossbars below it for a gTale; cut an oval hole in the lOp 10 take a 6-inch stack; fit hinged door~ to fire-box and 'l.~h-pit opening~; fi t a J 1/-I_i nch floor flange 10 t he lOp o f , he hoi ler for a steam outlet, and I-i nch pipe through the top and halfway to the bottom, for fill pipe. (\Vhen this last starts to blow, you know it's time 10 refill.) This rig is nicely portable, for those sister- frame and plank-repair jobs on re mote river banks. Yank out the boiler. and you've got tht: world's 1I10st efficient heating stove and trash burner. You'll necd various huilt-up forms. for prebending cockpit coamings, transom planking, toboggans fot the neighbor's childrt:n. and the like. You can use some of your crooked boxboards for bui ldin g forms. Assume that the pieLe you are forming will halfway straighten out when you frc e it, and allow for this WhCll you layou t the form. Such members as houst:· lOp heams, which are made up of glued laminations (see Fig-ure 15-4), will hold their fanned shape if made with five layers; no fewt'r. Use cold-wa ter-mix glue, a caul (or cant i nous st ri ps) to spread the pressure of the clamps, and plenty 228
of newspaper between lhe form and the oozing glue. Build one form a day, whenever you can spare the clamps. and they 'll be ready when you need them . A basic kit of hand tools
These pages have shown you some specially adapted tools, jigs, and devices to be used in various steps of boat bui ld i ng. Of cour~e, you 'Il also need an assortment of basic tools. Make your own mallets. If you have a halfdozen of them around the shop, you m ay be able to find one when you need it. Use the heav ies t and toughest hardwood you can find; turn the heads and handles on a lathe, if possible. Fl atten the sides of the handles, which should be 7h inch in diameter through the heads, and 1 I / j inches at the grip. The biggest. mallet should have a head That is 9 inches long and 4 inches Through Ihe middle, and have a handle that is 14 inches long overall: this is the tool fo r driving frame~ into their socket~, and subduing shutwr planks. Everyday mallets might have heads 7 inches bv .'F/2 inches, and 12-inch handles. Experiment, and find out what fits you r bane\. Shun the rubber mallets: theirs is not the tr ue .
mUSlc.
Roam widows' attics and waterfront dives in search of wooden piant's-small ones, not the great, long jointers-that have ~orne life left in theit irons. You can shape their sales 10 the peculiar curves you meet in boatbllilding . Rememher [hat a 9-inch round-faced plane with a sharp dumb-iron wi ll cut fa st across the grain of the hardest oak, when no other tool in your kit will touch il. Also remember that good fitling' depends upon that last pass with a small plane in a skilled hand; all the elaborate power tools you can buy won ' t do it as well-a lthough they certainlv speed up the approach 10 the fina I mom['nt. Therefore, get yourself four standard metal planes: first. a 9-inch smootht'r, with a J ~/-I-inch blade; .second, a fore plane that is 18 inches long, with a 2!/1-inch blade; third, a ]ow-,mgie block plane; and fourth, a rabbet plane. Get good ones, These are the too ls that. make that fin al pass. T hey 'll last a lifetime, and earn their keep every day. Chi,seis: You'll need the standard set , fro m I/i -inch chisels through at least 11h -inch ones. I like the long, heavy fra mer pattern, with big
socke-ts. Get o ne gouge, o f J-inch rad ius. If possi h le, get a 3-inch (or wider) slick , to supplement ),ou r leclric d r ill. O rd er Fuller count eroores, with a l least two tapered drill s for each , 10 fit n u m bers 10, 12, 11 , and 16 wood screws. These are Ihe o n lr combination drills and COU llleroores we ha ve found tha t w i II stand up (,() rt'a lly hard wood . Twi st drill s are not good for the lo ng holes. Wh en yo u bore the big timbers in the back bone, the floor timbe rs. and the m as t p an ners. yo u' ll net'd long sh ip augers, which hau l themsdves
Ihrough thE' ....'ood , and push out the c h ips behi nd th('m . The old -fash io ned " h.,1.I'E'foot " p a ltern (s('e Fi gu re 4- 8c) is the best, fo r sp eed and ease of cu tt ing. a nd espec ia ll y fo r keepi ng to its course in spi te o f diagona l g ra in in the timber. You G ill withd ra w it easily, to clear lh~ chips (a n d be sure you do. much mo re o ften than seems n ecessary , lest you break it a nd your heart a t the sam e time) , and you can rt'sharpen it with a sma ll file. But brwarr of the old "bfoo t a ugers, a n d 3/ ! -in ch, lIt6-i nch , a n d lh _inch Si7t>~ i n singlespur augers with a center worm. P erhaps yo u can borro\\' Ihl' one hig tool you' ll n eed fo r the shaft a ll ey and J'uddt'rport, and n ever need ag(l in: these holes will be Pi. inch es in diam · eter, and very d ifficu lt indttd to bore with any· thing e xcept a ba refoot a uger. Fin ish th is list wi th a full set ( V. · illch to I ·i nch ) o f solid ·ct'nter, d o u ble-spur, smndal'd · leng th wood augers, a set o f the nl'\\' flilt b its, a n d a good ex p..1. llsive b il, wi th cu tt C'l'!> to d o t'vny d iameter from 1 /~ inch 10 'I inche~. Ht'fore gettin g to the power loo ls. le t ' ~ add a few more tools to yo ur han d ki l. Yo u' ll need a lip adze (see Figure 3- 3). and some h ammers: IWO or th rec assort ed na il-driving. curvcd-cJ
229
his lift' had been spent actually working; he'd spent. dw Ollwr fiw years (we II spread ou I) looking for his htvd gauge. Buy onc of the thick, dums\', awkward things that lock with a lever on the side (sce Figure 5-3), or you can make a compact gauge out of flat brass (see Figure 9-12). If you arc vcry deserving indeed, you may find, in a dark corner of what was once a genuine hardware store, a glazer's bevel. This has a 12-inch boxwood handle and thin brass blades at each end. and was made by Stanley in the days before everything came pilCkaged in dear plastic. If you find one, ketp looking; maybe, even far ther bac kin th e store, there'll be a box of plane irons made by Buck Brothers . (This is roughly equivalent to unearthing from a kitchen-midden incontrovertible evidence that Leif the Lucky slept here in the year WOOand not much more likely, I'm afraid.) To continue: Get a good drawknife; an eggbeater drill big enough to take at least I/-I _inch shanks: assorted hand screwdrivers, one with spiral drive: wood rasps, Stanley Surform rasps: a good spokeshave, preferably the old woodenhandle type; a sharpening stone, of aluminum oxide or equal, coarse on Olle side and fine on the other: and, if possible, an adj ustable-bottom "compass" plane by Stanley, which you can set to the curves of knees and dtckbeams. (M ine was patented in 1877, but not madeuntillaterin the century.) Get soft "framer's" pencils; a claw wrecking bar; a 12-foot steel tape; a plumb bob: a good level, atleast24 inches long'; andcarpenters' compasses that take a round pencil fo r one leg, and open to at least a 6-inch span. Tools for working in metal You will spend much time from now on making up odd-length bolts, cut from lengths of rod, threaded for nuts at both ends. Use a good hacksaw frame, \vith 12-inch blades. Buy the high-speed grade, even at three times the cost of regular blades. They laSt three times as long in mild steel and bronze, and will cut stainless steel, I'vIonel metal, and the shanks of your new augers and screwdrivers. The same reasoning applies to dies for clltting the threads. The I-inch-diameter, non-adjustable ones are not good enough. You'll need I/f-inch through 1/2-inch dies, adjustable, in National Course thread, as a minimum set. Take the bigger rods to a machine shop, or perhaps buy threadcutting nuts of those sizes. Automotive supply stores usually sell them.
230
You wi 11 , of course, need a good machinist's vise, various fi les , wrenches of all kinds, Vise Crips and regular pliers, and lubricant for thread CUlling. (\Ve use poured-off bacon fat on iron and steel, and a thin, pale liquid called "Rapid Tap" for threading bronze and hardened copper.) When you drill copper, bronze, or aluminum, or anempt to enlarge any hole already drilled, you will find that the regular cutting angle on the spiral flutes of most drill bils has toO much lead. causing them to grab and break. Cure tbis by stoning a flat along the leading edges of the flutes so that rhey become vertical scrapers, with no remaining tendency to screw themselves through (he metal. And when you drill stainless steel, go through with constant pressure, at the full-load spt'ed of your big drill, and never let the chip break-one free spin, and the drill is finished. Only tht' best high-speed drills wi ll stand this work-and you won't get them at a bargain price ina handy plastic folder. Power tools Power tools are much like governmental bureaus, in one respect: Once you've got the power, it 's fatally easy to add another; but you'll never do away with one. When I built my first big boat, I had one small circular saw, driven by a 1/3-horsepower mo tor. This was a great luxury, after years of building skiffs entirely with hand tools. Two years later, having decided that I was about ready to revolutionize the boatbuilding industry, I acquired a good Stanley I/-I-inch drill, and a very small bandsaw. (That drill is still working very weil, after 37 years of hard sen'ice; I wish I could say as much for myself.) I discovered at the same time that I could get big keel timbers from a sawmill, instead of cutting a tree down and hewing it square by hand. (As I have mentioned previously, I never was much of an axeman.) I built more big boats .. .and I bought a 3-foot bandsaw for S20.00, and a big tablesaw for SIO.OO. I gota surface planer, a drill with a Ih-inch chuck, and-mixed in with the building of more big boats-power sanders, portable electric sav.'s, a drill press, router, more drills, power screwdrivers, a table saw with tilting arbor and dadocutters, and even a power-operated hand plane, which is a lovely tool indeed. And now I couldn't do without a single one of these. The government would collapse. What's the point of all this? I'm not sure, but
I thin k it indicates Ihat (I) you can do a lot o f boatbuilding w ith o ut being fully m("(.h a n ized; (2 ) I am not in a serure position to tell you exactly what pO\ver l.oo1~ you n eed: and (3) ha ving cu t Ihe shanks o ff all those augers. you'd bener gel yourself a pair o f electric drills , and not the cheapest ont's, ei ther. Get a saw arbor , and build a \~' oode n table arou nd it. Ge t the biggest oond &.'Hv yo u can manage. Look into the pmsibil ities of renting toois b y the day. or th e weekend. You can ell! the keel, the sternpost, a nd mos t of the srem to .~ hapc, in a day. Ivjth a big portable circul a r saw. which would be of \'ery li m ited use to yo u a ft erward . A good sabersaw wi ll save you some la bor in fitting p lywood bu lk heads, b Ul don 't believe the man who tell s you t hat it wi II handle every cut you'll ever ha ve to ma ke. Yo u can live wi thou t a jointer, a radial saw, o r a spindle shape)": I ca n count my fingers and thumbs, a ll the way 10 10. and suggest that you m ay even live longer and more h a ppi ly. You can bu y a lo t of hro nze, oak, a nd good red m ahoga n y fo r Ihe p r ice o f these el abora te mac hine.~ , and not one of them is smart eno ugh to build a boat. Last , but not least ... Yo u·1I n eed clamps. Even working a lone. yO ll can easil y (and p rofitably) tie up 30 C· cla mps at one m oment when planking; a nd if so meone is helping yo u bend frames. you'll use 50. They need n o t be the best d amps in the wor ld, and most of th em can be small , with 5-inch and 6- inch openings. You should have I WO 8-inch cla mps, t w O lO-inch cla m ps, o n e l 2- in ch clamp. and three or four sets o f th e fittings Ihat go on 'It-inch pipe or wooden bars to make up any length yo u need. You ca n cut thaI figure of SO down to 20, and still manage, but there' ll be m o m e nL~ of frustralion . Seek the m in secondha nd shops and junkyards, and even buy new Diles if a ll else fa ils. Oil the th reads, and lea rn to spin them open and shut . Get the simple sol id clamps, rather tha n the slidi ng- bar ty pe (these let go when 'lOll jar them with a close h ammer blow). Finall y, ge t a halfdozen liny "quilting frame" clamps. to u sc o n the skeleton pattern s you' ll need to make for bu lkheads , fl oor ti mbers, and such . ScOut around a n d acquire two 10-ton jacks. oneo{ them hydraulic (sec Figure A-5), a nd the other with a low lifdng lOe. Cut 3- inch steel pipe to 4-foot lengths (four of them) for moving the ba ll ast casting around.
23 1
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-.
".
. . -.-
-- ---- . "
_
# .
--
; ........ ~ • I
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Appendix A
a
Su ppose you
J loca le a nd hore the holes in the keel , to get the beSt possi hle comprom ise?
Marking (or bolts El eme nt ary. Instea d of clam ping the wood keel to th e recum bent cas ting a nd marki ng directly, you clamp it Onto a board that is big enough to cover the whole area, mark the ou t-
line on it, a nd bore all the boltho\es thro u gh it , right up t.h e cores. All but the afterrnost of these h oles are sq uare to the top of the casting, and therdo re the top s urface o f the boa rd gi ves a n ue pattern of the rehll ive keclbolt loc,lI ionsexcept ror Ih a l a flermost o ne, \\' hi ch is the mea nest of the lot. an ywa y. T h c safest trea tmcn t fo r tha t one is 10 bore for i t after the ca.qln g is in p lace- wh ich requ ires that you dig a pit under the stern pOSt deep eno ugh to ta ke Lh e long auger a n d the big dr il l. (Do the job when you arc ready to slide the rudder s!.Ork up through its pOrt in the tail fea th er, an d thereby get doub le value for your efforts \\li th the shovel. ) And o h , m y fr iend , when you bore tha t hole- sta rt it with a tw ist drill, ju .~ t en ough to n~ nt e r the barefoot auger- th ink clean though ts as your fing er tremb les o n the tr igge r, and dean those ch ip s ever a nd anon, for if y O ll get thi s o ne sl\lck, or Fate leads it astray , you have trou ble. We seem LO be ranging fa r in to the futu re. Le t's ge t partway bil ek, and consider the prob· lem o f the board Wilh the holt's.
23.1
figure A-l,a Original keel blocking (a~ was requ ired to level the hull during construction wi tho ut the b.alla~t keel)
Chain p reventer (set tight)
B race~
Ja cking just commenced
Wedges atop o rig inal,tern blocking
Space to expand wid th o f stern b locki ng
J acking up the hull "fhe boat is sittin g on th ree sets of blocki ng, as shown in FiRLlfCA - I a, all o f them in terferi ng wi th the pattern board and lhe casting Ihal will follow it. Sh e's gOlIO be raised higher, and suspended \vilh the bOllom of the keel (:om·
Back-up cribwork supplemented with wedges
p letel), exposed, except at the extreme lorwa rd cnd . Th is w ill take SO m e ca refu l doing, for if she fa ll s o ver i n tbe process, you might be underneath, and you woul d make an awful mess on the shop fl oor. You wan t one helper, who is scared but ca lm. (Shoo the eager Oll es away.) H ave at hand plemy of 6-inch by 8- inch
figure A-lb Molded end of casting
Forward block ing _'.,_ bears against timber kee l whe re filler block will be applied later.
Rounded • _ _-,~
pine pad Oak 6 x 6 hoo ked through upper part•.oef",u~, p ropeller gl
-
,
- --r
55· gallon d ru ms
Hu ll shore ~, Preventer-chain reta ined through lowe r part of propeller ape rtu re
234
Hull jacked high enough to ~dmit keel bolts beneath the ballast keel
by 4- foo t block ing , and a d07en big wedges. Brace the forward mos t keel bl ock sirongly, and fun a chain from il.s lOp , aft and through the prope-ll el" apert ure (sec Figure A- I b). and back on lIw o ther side. Set it up with a load binder. Set shores a ll ea, h s ide. exact ly abreast of the pivot po ill t of th e keel a ll t his forward bl ock. p .lote tha t if these shores a re forw ard of the pi V Ol poiIll , they wi lit ig hten into lera bly as the ster n is ra ised; a nd if they a re a f! of it. the hu ll \\·il ll if I a \~' ay fro m lhem, a nd be unsupported. ) Se t a nolher pai r, just for m y sake. above or below lhe others, in tile same ver tit'a II ine. Now go down, a ft, and prepare a founda t ion for your h ydra u li c jack u nder t.h e ked. Make il wide, firm, and abso lut ely level athwar tships and fore and aft. Install yo ur helper just fo rward o f t he jack. H is joh i ~ to keep a fir m cob of blocki ng and w edge.~ ris in g as the ked rises, so that she ca n't dro p more than 1/ 2 inch, no matter wbat ba p pens. Start jacking. You'll go up abou t 7 inches at a Iirk, and will o f course keep what you gain each time (a nd wh il e bui lding up your jack fo undation fo r the next try) by wedging tigh li y from both sides, on tOP of yo ur hel per's l"Ob pil e. Keep going untill he ked is h igh eno ugh . Imagine th e casting as it w ill be w hen in p lace under the keel. and the room you ' ll need to sian the long bolts up through it. And nOh' for a sky hook. If you have been so foolish as to im la ll a propeller shaft and st u f~ fi ng box, remove t ht~ m . Place a heavy 5;,- ga lIon steel d rum on ea,h s ide, abn."dst of the propell eTape rtu re 2 feet ou t from the center. Block up fro m th ese to support a mea n, tough 6- by 6- iIl(h oak tim ber 6 feel long, through the aperture, with a n icely rounded soft pine pad on its top where the stern POSt res ts. Take the load on the jack, tigh ten the tTosstimber upward with twin wedges on eadl block pile, rem ove 2 inch cs fro m your safety block ing ahead of the jack, and lower away. Push it, shah iI, bounce it, sight for sag, make sure iI's res ting easy, with p lenty in reserve . Fi t another p a i r of shores under th e bil ges, fro m the floor . Go fo rward now , jack d ear, and block up to the keel, ah ead o f the spot w here the (:asting will termina te. And there she is. Remove the loose blocking from underneath , a nd rep lace il with a pair o f horses bu ilt up 10 leave JU St eno ugh space for sl iding your paUern board under the keel. Saw the pa tlern rig ht to the line, and slide il un der the keel, remem bering thal the marked face is th e one you shou ld be looking at from where you lie on your bac:k under the boat.
Perimeter of th e casting mar ked on the pattern board
figure A-2
/
,
"'"'- Ang led holes
Bolt holes bored throu gh the pat1em board
1
,.
should be drilled when the casting is on the h ull .
Cen ter it exa ctl y, gellhe after end (tOP su rface) precisely '/I~ inch for wa rd of lhe lin e of lhe forwar d edge of rudderpon , and tack it fi rmly ill place. Let u s hope, pray, and even assume Ihat tb e pa uern at th is point appears to repre· sent a casting that was intend ed for thi s boatwi th the proper amount of p lu m b-s ided wood keel overla pp ing each ed ge, and the port overla p s howing at leas t a fami ly resemblance 1O the starboard . figure A-3
"
Shores (or ho r~ es) for ~ etting the pattern board tigh t to the keel
Pattern ho"d
Ri ght-an gle si ght vanes for start ing the aug er norma l to the pattern board
'/I 235
figure A-4
Boring the holes Sharpen yOUl' doubl e-spur auger lind bore the holt hol es through the keel , us ing every m ean s you can think of [0 gu ide them square to the surface, both fore and aft and ath wartsh ips. (See Figures A-2 and A- 3. ) Rt'move the pa ttern, and gird yourself for th e next opt:nnion. Coping with the casting Ma n}' years ago, in the days of ho usejacks. \,'e lI sed to sta nd thecast ing upright, out in the open, and bu i ld a fin e cradle under it. This was pretty work. A 12- foot timber, dl
236
length of the lever arm , the ca sting had sm a iJ desire to slide sideways. Figure that one out, by ffiomtnts a nd forces. and you'll be eq uipped to smack dow n th e pati en l expert who smi les gen tl y a nd tells you that length of liller ann can have n o poss ibl e effe<:t on l he rudderhead and i Is support i ng bearing. ) On i Is cradIc, tiIt: castin g roll ed eas ily in to po.~i 1ion, and VIlas pmhed up [h e las t inch with screw j acks. Th en we acquired a toe-jack and a hydraulic jack (known as Sears and Li tt le J oe, respenive ly) and deci ded 10 try the Easter Island tech nique of sta nding {he th ill).t up, r ight where it belo n gs. That 's the way to do i r. No cradic-just roll it in o n it s side, dden se less . Start it up wi th Sears: block it; wedge it: and fina ll y roll it
aga inst bract.-d sta kes o n the fa r side. Get room fo r the h ydrau lic, and the ba tt le·s won. Bu t operate everyt hing at a r m 's length, wi lh your feet behind you. So there i t stands, on twO wide blocks , its top 6 inches bel ow (he keel, centered about rig ht a ft but 3 inches off to one side a t the fo rward end, and a bit (00 fa r aft. Now, h ere's where you demonstra te your finesse and CO Ilfu und Ihe onlookers. Bu ild a firm foundat ion u nder the for ward most bolt cav it y, to lake the h ydra ulic jack. Se t il crossh'ise wilh ils head in the ho le, but tipped at a crazy a ngle(see Fig ure A -5) a s if to push the GlSti ng yel fa rther off center . (Note, however, in a sly way , tha t the top of the jal·k is still well to your side o f a p l umb line fwm the fal edge of it s base..) Look at the a t.hwanships bra<:ing a t th e pivot poim o n the after support , move the forwar d bra<.:i ng well cl ea r, and start to pump. The casti ng will stir , trem bl e, and then m ove ma jestically towa rd yo u as the jack p icks it up a nd p roceed~ to sta nd creel. T his is all yOll nero to k now . Repeat as necessary. If it needs movi ng for ward . remember, Atlas, that you ca n move m e Earth if you have something 10 butt a hydraulic jack aga inst-but be wre the blocking cannot tee ter and undo your effort s w hen yo u rela x the preSSlll"t'. Also . read the di rect ions on t.llt' jack: there's on ly o ne position in which the valves wi ll h'ork when it's horizon t.a l. As th e castin g r ises, vertica ll y, o ne end at a lime, choose a nd smear on whatever magic bedd ing co m pound and preservat ive you th ink best. If lhe top of Ihe casting is very rough in deed, I wou ld g ive it a mushy fai r ing coat of Po rt land cem ent a nd fine sand, a nd apply black, asbes tos-filled, roof-patching cement to the und ers ide o f the kt:d . Get the cas tin g lip there, and the bolts in place, wh ile th e filler is soft; wedge up the casting to ta ke al l the weight of th e hu ll a bove it. Set up the nut s on big washers. w ith oakum grom mets and sti cky sl Uf( u ndernea th . Oh , I got so excited back there that I forgot to warn you to ream the holes in the wood keel to a modera tel y easy dr ive fi t for the boils-w hich 'l Oll should have coa ted. th o rough ly, wi th the grease used (or mothballing machimry in idle stea m sh ips. And don ' t try a canvas or fclt gasket be tween wood and iroll. You' ll have trouble enough if you do it th e eas y way . Fill the bolt-head SOCkt!IS flu sh w ith a thick Ponland cement mix tu re, r ich. H o ld it in p lact' while i t's drying wi lh li ule wooden pad s, p ropped w j th Slicks fro m the ground.
fjgure A-5
Ballast cast ing - - -
I I I I Tip of pisto n se t __- - -.. into countersu nk _ keel bo lt ho le
We ig ht-bearing side of the jack's base plate must be outboard of the tip of the piston if the jack is to st ra ighten up under load.
To move a mo unlain 10ward Mohammed by means of a hydraulic jack-
Finishing up Fit , fa .
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8
-
owl.
7
6
5
4
3
2
AppendixB
out wit
Suppose your design calls for a ball ast keel scarfed at its after end that must be faired O ut wilh deadwood to the slernposl. This is the lIsua l cons truction . for good and sufficient reasons w hi ch I will ignore rig ht now. The proble m is. of w hat do you m ake th is deadwood, how do you fit i t, and how do you fas ten it? Let's go through the various moves 10 be made. Suppose we build this deadwood rightside up. working fro m the top down. This plan poses twO small problems: first, whal to hang it LO above. and second . h ow to gel under it in order 10 bore up through the scarfed end by way of the cored holes in the casting. The latter problem ca ll be soh'ed by selling the casting
high up on blocking, or by supporting il over a narrow trench. For the first, the obvious a nswer is, of course, to ha ng the dead wood from the boot 's actual (wood ) keel, whet her a t th is point it is bare or a l r~ad y fined wi th stem a nd sternpost. Let me assu me that the ba llast keel casting is n ow upright: adequately supported on strategicall y placed crosstimbers to a llow access from belo w to all bolt holes, braced to keep the flat top precisely level athwanships, and approximately level fore-and-aft. (See Figure B-1 ). T his care is n ecessar y so that you can determine the true center line of the casting, from its fo rwa rd end to the a ftermost end of the
239
figure B- 1
Casting carefully leveled athwartships
~;;;;2:"- Center of casting ..... ~ at forward end
Leveled more or less fore-and-aft
Center of casting at after end Centerline 01 casting's top su rlace ob tained with straightedge
---.__.v
scarf. which is, of course, below the plane of the flat top. Do th is with a straightedge, centered at the forward end of the casting, a nd located by a plumb bob over the aft end. The point at which this line Ieave~ the after end of the flat is not ntccssarily tilt' mathtmatir a l center at that point (because of possible irregu larities in the top 01 the casting), but it is the one that must coincide with the true centerline on the underside of the wood keel. Place the keel carefu lly in position on the cas ting now, and bore up through it, in the way of the flat, at least two holes for keel bolts. It would be advisable to use temporary bolts at this stage, a bit undersi7.ed so as to be easily removable. The overhanging after end of the keel will tend to sag downward of its own weight. Lay a timber across its top and block up the ends, and thus kce p eVt'rything wideopen underntath . You now have a largt vacancy, a bout as shown in Fig-urt B-2, to be filled with a block of dtadwood tha t taptrs in profile, in plan view , and from top to bottom. This must be fitted worm-tight, if not watertight , to the end of the ballast casting, and it must he strong enough to withstand severe abuse in the event of a grounding. And if you 240
can work it so that the bottom surface is sacrificial (like the after end of that mythi cal snake that steamed away with pilothouse and engine room in tact , leaving only gristle between the pursuing jaws ), so much the better. Your designer very wisely draws an outline, labels it "oak," and leaves you to YOUI own devices. Let' s make it of timber wilh high mois ture can ten I, so Ihat it won't swell and overhang the metal cas ling, nOI yel build up an intolerable load on the bolts that tie it to Ihe keel. Let's make it in layer s, each of which can be cut to .s hape(in p lan view) with the saw that you used on (he keel. Fina lly, let 's finish off at the bottom with an especially hard piece, 3 inches thick, spiked or screw-fastened to the main body of the deadwood, and independent of lhe main fastenings , rudderpost, and gudgeonsin short, a shoe piece that is easily replaceable if it gets chewed -up , worm-eaten, or o therwise obnoxious. \\"e']] use oak flitches, sawn dear of the heart , 4, 5, or 6 inc he~ thick as necessary to bu ild (he p ile an d come out even. A friendl y and patient sawyer can taper one of these in profile to your pattern with the big board saw; otherwise, you'll have to do it with your small
figure B-2
Skeleton pattern (or temp late) fitted tightly into the area to be '-_ filled with deadwood
Layout of deadwood slabs marked on it
-;//;/C .---::;
~""~/-::: ~
/~.............-~
~ ~ ~~
Pattern scribed from the underside of the keel (matches the top face of the slab beneath)
---. Outline of top face, from the keel pattern Bottom face is pattern the slab below.
Side bevel cut from _ _..... section drawn into the loft p lan, or dubbed d irectly on the boat
sternpost
10:';----, Beve l from the profi le template
--..:::...- Ultra-hard shoe piece
241
~_. ~
fi g ure 8 - 3
Shore, to resist upwar d pressu re from below
Shore$, to ram the sla bs togethe r for fairing of the side bevel
fi g ure 8-4
crowbar
Chain " cru sher"an effective device for exerting a crush ing pu ll ove r a long or short distance
t Leve ring is most effective when the blocks are placed as close to t he chain as possi b le.
"::~~.'~" boltsb set from below 242
--
tools, just as you will have to cut the .~lope~ at the scarf. Make a skeleton pallern of the profile, as in Figure B-2. Make a pattern (to match the underside of the keel) for the top surface of the uppermost slab. Applv the skeleton pallern of the profil e to the stock you've selected for this top piece of dead"'lOod. This will give you the angle of the scarf cut as well as the outline of the piece in profile. Mark around the skeleton pattern on both sides of the stock, direct.ly opposite from each other, and cut down to these lines. The easiest way to remove most of this wood is to make saw cuts crosswise and down to the line about 3 inches apart, and then split off the small blocks in between with a big chisel. Smooth it with an adze and plane, shove it forward and up the slope of the ballast casting's scarf, and hang the after end by clamping it to the keel. Taper the sides, cautiously, and remove this first piece of ueadwood to serve as a pattern for the top of the second slab. Keep this system going for all the deadwood pie(:es, fitting them one at a time, rough-tapering each, then going on to the next. Note, of course, that the fixed width at the after end (representing the siding of the rudder stock or rudderpost, as the case may be) moves progressively fon....ard, according to the rake of the rudder, as you work uownward. When you have filled the space down to but not including the 3-inch expend-
able shoe, raIll the pile tight against the ballast casting- (Figure B-3) and proceed t.o bore for the bolts. Treat this deadwood as if it were part of the ballast, and fasten accordingly, with big bolts, staggered off center and planned to be dear of future floor timbers. Score the sides of the pile with adle cuts. so that you can rcasscmble with precision. Take everything apart (i nel udi ng the keel of the casti ng), coat all contact surfaces with worm-repellent waterproofing sticky SlUff, and put the deadwood back together with bolts (Figure B-4). I assume that the sternposl was in place before this final assem bl y. '\-rake the cu t, on a Ii ne parallel 10 the rudder stock, to take the forward face of the outer stern post, ruduerpmt, or whatever you want TO c(lll it, which should propt'rlv extend from the propeller aperture, past the end of the keel , to the top of the 3-inch shoc. Fit, round off, and fa;;ten the shoe (using 50-penny galvanized spikes, which follow a 1/ 4 -inch drill, or 4-inch number 15 bronle screws, set way insee Figure B-5). You C(ln s(lndwich tarred felt between it and the deadwood as a worm stopper, if you like. Fit the outer stempost (with a groove for the rudder stock) and fasten it to the deadwood, end of keel, and stempos! with bronze drifts, remembering to keep them dear of the two pairs of big gudgeon straps that are to come later- and proceed to adze and plane everything fa ir.
figure 8-5
GOd nails
;.-----)
243
"You've done a real good job, boys ... but who the hell put in that centerboard trunk?"
AppendixC
Certain crafry old boatmen wi ll greet the word "centerboard" wi th bitter derision. and a cynica l scorn they'd otherwise reserve toward a proposal of a g ood buy on the Brook lyn Br idge. Th ey've hao experience with centerboards . Thev" know rnavbe no t all o f th e troubles VOIl ,
can have with that fooli sh invent ion . but they k now cIloug-h o f thelll. Centerboards and tr un ks can havl' prohl('ms, as vo u 'll probably be lold - al len g th , with h t'BI. and in luri d detail. Your informant, wist' in the ways of boats. w ill li st a few of the problem s hf" S had with Ihar iovf'nrion of some
Cape Codder, or !::nglish shipwright, or the Foul F iend, which ever carne first. T he trunk will inevitably leak and can tH'Vt'[ be cured; it splits the boat in two, and ma kes i t CfCt:p together to j anl the foolish board up or down; or it chokes w ith pcbbks when you ground out. and the pennant breaks , tilt' pin wears out. and the board drops 10 Ihe bolt om of th e sea, which is a good p lace for it. Be si d e~ that, the centerbOclrd and trunk take up room in th e bes t part of Ihe boat, and rfeale an antisocial barrin in an o therwise friendlv cabi n.
Vou r infOlmant will likel y hold vou with his gli ttering eye a n d tell once mo re a n ancien 1, rlassic n:nterboard story thaI goes somelhing l ike Ihis (yo u \'C probably heard it twin' a lready): 0 Ie! G eorge, the boat bui lder, had gone to hi~ l eward. and the gang gathered in sadn('s .~ at the close of working hours to bu ild him a p roper coffin, shaped with the lov ing craftsmanshi p that the su bjecl deserved. They fetched down boards from oVClh ead that George had been ~aving fOl 40 years past-teak. mahogany, and black 10cusL fit fOI a hell-of-a-lol-belter customer th a n he'd been getting all that time. And each of the boys brought his own jug, to ease the pain and sustain him through the dark hours of ded icated labor. There was no overa ll plan. a lthough the foreman assigned jobs in a general sort of way. So there were a couple of dovetailed comers, and one halflapped, and the fourth mitered-and each lllall d id his best, in the dim lantern light, a s he had been taught in his youth . Finally , Ihe lantern s fa ded . COille the dawn; and the forem an , waking with a start, said, "Y ou've done a real good job, boys. " T hen he rai sed the lid. and looked in,
245
Pivot bolts
IAvoid) This will collapse the trunk when tightened.
Pipe bushing
(Better)
and said, "But who the hell put in that centerboard trunk?" On (he ot her hand, cen teriwards ale wonderfuL Countless thousands of them have been in sta ll fd , to last the life of the boat without !roublf, Consider what they'll do for you: They'll let you explore the peace of shoal walfrs, and sit upright when the tide lea \'es you aground; they 'll bump you aware of shoals; they'll slide easil y OntO trailer or railway; and they 'l l let you ride the ninth wave high up the beach when there's no other escape in an onshorc gale, But thcy do need urltkntanding of their p roblems, or they'll warp, and bind, and leak most cruelly, A maHer of mechanics It's safe to say tha t most of the trou ble comes from failure to provide a good lateral SUppOf1, If you're slamming into a steep chop (or maybe slam ming onto a sandbar, rail down), the board will exert a great wracking pressure against the sides of lhe tTunk, which must therefore be srrongly supp0rlfd by thwarts, or by knees from floor timbers, or by a ttachment to a bulkhead, Anv movement from side to side will inevitably• loosen joi nts, And if the board pivots at a point that is low and far forward , so that it can hang, straight down, with a lmost all of its area dear of the bOllom-i ts prying action agai nst the nun k is so great tha t you'd better provide a positive stop to prevent its going more than halfway, or you can expect real trouble. The simple solution, of course, is to move the pivot point up and aft, so that a goodly portion of the board remains in the trunk when tbe boisting pennant breaks or rllns wild, Lose a bit of area, gain a bit of deptb, and the center· board will end up just the way the designer intended-except, of course, if the boat deve!· •
Waterproof surface plates
(Be,t)
opsan ugly weatherh f lm, or makes lefway at a yaw anglf tha l is greater than 7 degrees, in which caSf it's your tampering that has ruined perf ert ion . Bu t, righ t or wrong, high or low, you've got to provide a pivot pin for that board (unlfss, that is, you have in a cowardlv moment decided on a dag-gerboard instead), In oldfn limes, we used a plain galvaniled bolt, through tru nk sides and board, with a flat washer and ring of cotton under the head and the nut, respective ly. This bo lt would loosen and Slart to leak, and we'd tighten the nut, and gradually squeele the trunk sides together, to jam th e board, and start yet more leaks. So we learned to in stall a sawnoff pipe bmhing- in the board, t.o take the w('ar of t.hf pin and the compression of Ihe bolt against tbf ITunk sides (see Figure C- l) , The final development was a floating pin, ends flush with t.he !Tun k sides, ca pped at each end with a walrrtight pad. And we learned, Ihe bard way, thf most important thing of all: arrange tbis pivot business so th at you can get at it without tearing the boat apart, Pfrh aps it' .~ timr to consider thf design and construction of the rrunk , and some of the variations that have been developed to fit different boats and different conditions. The centerboard trunk The simplest trunk of all (for a flat ·bottomed skiff, for instance) consists of two wide boards separated by vertical posts at the ends, strongly through· fastened, to form a narrow, parallel. sided slot-with an opening to matcb, through the boat's fla t bottom. In our in nocence of 70 years ago, we sawed off the posts (or head ledges) flush with the bottom of the trunk, fastened the sides with screws or long nails up from the bottom, and assumed that we'd have to tuck a bit of caulking cotton under the ends of
247
the head lcdgcs after the s i de.~ had swelled. T hen we got Ll II:~ brill ian t idea (p robably from an older and wiser bu ilder ) of extend ing the head kdges thro ugh the boltom. so that wc cou ld caulk around stopwalers from Ih t' ou tside. a nd th uSavoid allY wait -and-set' period. T his helped our i mage with our custom frs, who fe l t, righ tly. that having paid nigh onto a hundred dollar~ for a flew sa i Iboat. they shouldn ·l lx.' expected to have 10 hail i t out ('very week. And then . a mc bigger boa lS, wi th ~ uch complica tions as outs ide balla st shoes (slo tted , of courst:, 10 lei Ihe cCllterboards drop thro ugh ). \\'hich forewr prevented access 10 I he hottoms o f the head ledges, or to Ihe lower ends of the fast enings that held the trunk sides tigh r to thc top of the keel. This was a sobering thought indeed. Lose the mas!, run ou t of money, havf the cre w quit sh ip in Tahiti - th ese minor misfor tunes co uld be coped with; but if that cemerboard trunk loosenlC'd up. you were in realuou bk. And the refore, I say , kecp it sim p le: do not a" empt to c:opy so me wonderfull y inge n ious sysrem (Fi gurc C-2) of rabbet,ed bt-d logs. sp l ined si de p la nks, angled drift s- \v hich ma y ha\'e been n eces~a ry and desira ble in a ca rgo ~choon eL o r Commodore Munroc's Presto, bUTir is tOO camp iicard for mI'. 1 have always put my faith in through bol Is-plen ty of them, in one lengt h from rlw bo ttom of the wood h'd to tOP o f the tTunk sidt' , and eas ily tighten ed by thl' threaded Illlt on th e upper end; and, cspecially. p lenty of transvcrsc bolts through the head ledgt's , imta lled wi th the though t tha t I migh t have to removl: pieces of the garboa rd plank to get a t a nd replace the lowest ones, Beware of usi ng bone-dry hardwood (oak. or longleaf Southern pinc). which ca n ~well with c normou .~ power and hn'ak a fastening that att.t'lTlplS to confine it. It ·s far ht'ttcr to usC' weak copper. which wi ll stretch 10 percent of its length \\' irhout break ing . rather than a super-brome. \\,hi d l wi ll sll'ct<:h not at a ll. And cons ider tha t cedar w ill 1'\\'1'1 1 very litt le. will cru ~ h undcr the bolt head la rt'l il'vc .01 illlolerable stra in , and wi ll make fine-smt'll ing trunk sides, Anal ht'Tthing we learned-w ht'n fa te o r our ow n stup idi l.Y made it imposs ible to g!'t at the bo tt om of thai kft'i, and the trunk sides were not yet fastened to ii, or tragica lly fl oa tin g on decayed or broken bolrs- was to cut a grt'ar, long thread on one end of a broll7.(, or st"inlesssteel rod. lock two nuts on the L1))))t'r {'nd, and tu rn that lower end 3 inc hes in to a holt' in the kccl. si 'ed to tilt;' roOl d ialll(·ter o f the th read (and ll sli p-fit through Ih(' ti m ber tha t was 10 he 248
pulled down .) What joy was our~ wht'll con li,, uously- threaded rod appeared . in a ll sizc:. and meta ls. and \\' f' no lon ger needed to struggl e with a du ll d ie a nd t'xacl measurements! When we a _~.~emb k d lh t'se parts- trun k sides to head ledges, tht' tlllire works to the top of th e kcclwe did not use m iracle epoxy, which we had never heard of (,)nd would have distrusted a nyway); we la id a strand of cau lking cotton in sticky goo . caref ull y clear of Ihe bolt holl's. a nd reminded ourse lves that barrels managed to stay tight wi th unem bell ished wood-to-\\'ood joint:.. Somf'limcs the trunk sides \\'arped inward whell the wood swelled, a nd rem inded us, unfeelingly, that w(' sho uld have filled stiH vert ical cleat s, fa sU'nt'd from the inside faces o f the trunk sides, before we bolted it all tog'ether. So w(' used infinite wood screws from cleats into trunk sides, to straigh ten the warp and free the board once more. \Ve need a cap o n this trunk- preferably watertigh t. pi erced hy a tube to Icad the pe n · nant to winch. tack le. or dea l- and another sl'aled o lx·n ing. suc h as a deck p late, slra tegi.a ll )· located to allow sho\' ing the %&$# ! board down after an unfriend ly oyster has wedged i Isel r i nt,O th!' hottom of the trunk. An d yOu can hang a lovl' ly. two-sided dropleaf tabl e to (his cap . but be sure you (Om ge t the whok thing off. casi ly. in tact, inti me of need. ( We once drai ned the sink into the centerboard tr unk. in a hi,1{ sloop. and "'(-n: gratified, and even somewhat sha ken up , a l st'ason 's ('nd. to d iscover no tin iest trelce of ma rine grow th on the boa rd or in side the trunk. Th is bit of research ma y ma ke you even more aware o f the eff ect of delergl!nts on our wat!'ry environment. but it will also arm you with brave confidence in the face of the teredo peril. The little so-and-sos necd dean water, or tht'Y get a tUlIunyache. And if th e sink drain disgmts you or ciullers the g'al ley. you can absentrnindt'dly pour fuel oil in th ro ugh tht' pennant hol e until il has displac.ed most of the waler in thc trunk . The oi l will ~tay lhere. th ro ug h ro ugh water and smooth . um i l ha u ling-alII ti me. when you wit! , of course, collect and di sposlC' of it plOpCrly .) Fro m drop keel to centerboard Once, SOllll' years ago, we install ed it magnifi cellt wdded-steel. galvaniled cenl erhoard trunk in a big Crocker-des igned ketch (see Figure C -3 ). The trunk alone weight>d ahoul 700 pounds. a nd Ihe board it housed (a strea mli ned weld mt'nt , loaded with boi ler punc h ings) weighed e\'en mOft'. The sides of this trunk
figur e C-2 R~bbet ed
bedlogs
~nd
vertical stiffe ning
cl e~1S
= =
Softwood sides - --
-
_
Hardwood cleat
o Floo r tim be rs o n alter nate fr
o
Ii
Bent fram e
Rabbeted bedlog (ut ilized when trunk sides are too thin to accommodate edge-bolts thlOugh the keel)
' -- - Side-bo
ex tend ed down through the slot in the wood kee l to tht' to p of the ballast shoe, and 111I"u$ t o ut great flange s, aOOw·. to marry with the ends of d w floo r tim bers. Th is was a drop kee l that added con s idera bl y to the vesse l's sa i l-ca rr yi ng powe r. It was a fi ne piece o f e ll g ill ~ '~- r i n g-so 10 111{ as t ilt' wi nc h a nd ca ble survived Ih e load.
a nd ru st wa s h fJd a l bay by Ih e ga ivani zi nl{. (J wonder whaT 30 years in warm wate r has done to that bO
249
Ihrmt upward on a shoal a nd drop p ing viok n t ly i n lO deept'r wall'r, wou ld snap even a \'cry st ro n g pt'nnanl. So wc we ill 10 lighter boards. ba Ilasted j u st en ough to o\'ercome any buoyancy left in the water-soaked wood, These boards were fitted with flexible pe nnants, usuall y a springy line, over a ~ h t!ave in I he trunk cap, and kading to a clea t in the cockpit. Rut before thl-'ll, sOnJe65 y('a rs ago, Wht'll we had not It'arncd abollt lam ina r fIO\,', or dcvcl· o ped much ski ll o r palience. we would haun t blacksm ith shops and j llll kp rds in scan:h o f a
sla bur I l- inc h stcd p la te that cou ld be shaped
figure (-3 Sleel cenlerboard trunk for a 40' Crocker ketc h (cente rboard 3' x 9'; hollow, balla5ted, weldmenl)
r oa k cap Fl,mge to hold / _ - inbo.ud end of the floor limber
J/.· galvanized boh ___
'11- steel trun k ~ ide~ (ga lvanized after weld ing) - _
[
Flo" ,imb,, - 2" o,k
Weld Flange to floor tlmber'fl· bolt - - - -_ _ _ _ __
Bent frame- 11/,-)(
r
oak
@ Ballast keelbolt1 11. '
Plank- 11J.- mahogany _ / - - Keel-6" )( 1B" oak
Trunk sides extend to the bottom of the wood keel. - - -
Ballast keel- iron casting
'-~
J.
250
Centerboard pin1'/ ," dlam,
figure (-4 Centerboard options, for
~
dory or
sh~rpie
Rope or wire
<...
, ,
<:S
Cleat
Edge ••ealed with wood trim or fiberglass tape
,,
..i
/1
I
30d
nail le~d
weigh t
Drifted or throughbolted (lI,.
Plywood
Metal str~ps (let fl ush)
galY~nized
rod)
Poured-Iud
ce nlerbo~rd
weight Irontlplate clamped y beneath /t-;I':::===~--~ ligh
\
/1 - - Poured flush on lOP
Sides of hole beveled (conve x)
Bronze o r galvanized nailheads protrude
So. to m ake a ~ i lllrl e \,'oo dc;' n centerboard: Procecd with the thought th ru it's likel y 10 wa rp . slig htly , at some tim e in its [
I pour it fu ll of lead to gi ve juSt Ihe riglH a mo u n t of n egat i ve buoyancy (see Figure C -'I), Sharpm t he leadi ng and trailing ('dges-a n d ignore sophi st icated a larmi sts \"ho know a ll abou t c h o rd~. and la m inar £IO\\', aild w h a t you can f;'lbrkate ill al uminulll 0)' fibergla ss. You can a lso SiJve your money for a l'Oll pk of yt'a rs and bu \'• a \'1.'n:• n ice n('\,' sai l baH t t hat dot'!> n ', ha\T a Li t o f t hai naSI\'• wood smell. SO VOl! can . Lut i l • w o uldn ' t be ha lf as 'm uch fu n as buildin g your own - ro mpl ctc wilh centcr board . 251
Ad(~' :
Hulkh~ad l;
S"o u S"~/ IiJ1Pl'rl
p. 21: fi g. 3·3 A,,,;fouJin g p.:Iim: p. 237 Aug~ r~: I' ....... m m~ n ded
t )' P'" and .ile., p . 229
lhd'oone: a ~'(l nbh .
1'1), ;1
~
53: figs. 6-h . . Ib, -2d loo:a l in~ f:Ull'ninFl" p . 6: fig. 1.3 lnfl in f/: . p p . 12 - t ~
Rall a~1 h~l:
.~ d''an t.1g,,).
p p. J:' - 16
a u .. r hin l: u.. al re~uy· b"j lt h ull. pp. 2" ·237: fig', .40. 1, .2, .], _4,." ban ier ]nli m . p. 2!17 . ra.\ 'm~, pr . 1.', - lfi. 24 - 27: figs. S·g, - LO fa iring d ~ad", ood 10 m'li ch. pp. 2~9 - 24~ : (igs. a . l, .2. -], -4,-5 fl'am~ ·a l1d- p13 nk paltern for. pp. 21 _ 24; fig . 3,4 lifl · model p~ll~ru for, pp. 19 - 21: fig. 3·' marking o ",lin ~ on wood kcr l. pp. jl - ' 4: figs. 4.2, . 3, .4b "'0111 for, p. 27: fig. ]·10 prnfi lf , p. 16; l ig. 3- 1 _oolid p.l ll1'rn lor. pp. 16 - 19; fig •. 3'] ,·2 Ral t1 id". p. 15 iro n/ INd, pp. 15 - 16.27: figs. '-9, . 10 &3m ]I'(igf': in ~ l.alling o n hom.. . ides. pp. 17S - 179; h gll- U · 16, ·] 7 joini ll g ho u,;.('top oc;"n. 10. p )J. ] 76 - 11\1; "8$. 1~. ] 4, . I ~ .• 16. ·17 Ikam mold: fot marki ng $httr clamp. p_ 1~7: fig. 1]·1 B~am
shelf:
inola ll ;ng. p. ]47: fig5. 1] · 9. ·1 0 Beams. d('Ck: ( ~ n~(k ka m » fk;"" ~. h ou ~mp: (\~ al,o !)".ckbeam,) beam·crown )k0 o..ckbt--d m ~)
Bta uling line: ma. king on WOUt! ked. p)J. H - 46; figs. 3-4. ·3 Btdding co mpou nd : (,K'(' alv> Worm sl o ppc- r) lor ballaol ket'1. p. 2~7 IQ • plan k hum. p . 107 Rrnd in g fo rm! , p . 228 for Iamin aling beam •. PI' . 167 - ]68: fig. 15· 4 Hr"d gauge. : r~(.om mended types. p. 230 Be"eh: for pl ank ,;.('l\m s. PI' _ 100 - 101 : figs. 9·10• • 11 •• 12 Bi lge stringers: inSlil l1i ng. pp. 1]0 - Il l; fill:. 12. 1• •S Blocking: p p. liS - li9 31 tj uafle ... p. 14~ figl. 13·12. 14· \ c~n lerlinc . p . 14S, fig. ]4· 1 hull ~ nd b.1113.\1 k...,1. I'P- 2M - 237: fig. A·I Boom; rfp~ i! ing or I ~ng( htning. p _21 2: rig. 18.] 2 Bool stl"aps: 10 ! l r~ 1l 8 then floors. pp . 81 - ~4; fig. g·8 R .~~ ~ thook :
in'
filling. pp. 195 - 199: figs. 17·1. ·2.·3 R,d ",.... k" p . 19~; "!t;. 16·7 Bungs: in plank in". p. 11 7; fig. 1]·1
RUll blo.- k!: in~t.:IlI i nll.
p. 99, 10 7; fig. 9·9
BUIll:
in plan king. pp . 97 _ 99. lOb - 107; figs. 9-1, ·9 seri tJ; ng for ("('ili ng p liln h . l ig. 12·1 Ca tJi n ; (,K'(' Dt.:khouse) Ca n" .. , m'er du king. pp. 1 .~ 7 - 158: fig . 14·8 Carlin s. (O<.-kl'il: i", I ~ l1in !t; . p. 11 .~: fig~. 1.1·5. ·6.·7 Culin s. dec khou se: eUge·boring. p. I H: fi g• . 15·9, ·13 itl\lalhn g. J)p . ]4, - 145; figs. 1S·5. -6. Ca~l i ng .l.la ll a$c (SC'C Ballast ked) Cau lkln,, : of ~ k ing . PI). IS] - ISoi. 157; fig. H·7 of " 0.-.'(1 Sta m ." p . 1.~3 of plank bUll •• p. 107 01 pla nk «'3 m_~. p. 124: figs. 11·9. · 10 • •11, . 12 lonl.. and malerials. p. 121; figs. 11.9, · 10, · 11 , · 12 C.... iling: illl ta lli llg. Pi! . 130 - 134; lig>. 12· 1. ·4. ,3.·6 lh ,oll!!'h,twll fi u in!!, > lor. p. B4: lig. 12·8 Centerboard , coniln,uion oJ) liOll!. pp. 250 - 251; fig. C, 4 u,merbo'UU lfUn k; COnSlru('lion (for rlQI)' or .' harpit ). PI'_ ~ 17 _ 248: fig. C·, of welded Sl"" I. pp . 2i 8 - 249: fig. C·3 protJlem ~ ~nd >(Ilu tion , . pp _24" - 248 "';111 rabbt, Ni bcdlQ&>. p. 24H : fig. C ·2 Ch ain l'la(~5;
blo.-king for. p. 132 ma rki ng 10 •. p . 9i: rig. 9-7 Ch i .... !): rl'<"" m tm ll d"u ~ iles, vp. 228 - 229 ( Ja mp, , h«1'; (...." Shter da mp l Chmps: for p lilllking . pp. 96 _ 97 ror "11Ilrmaki ng, p. 207: fi g. IS·7 rt~omm~ n ded types and p . 231 Clinch rin~ s : lor dri lt • . p. 45 Coamings, cockpit j(); n ing 10 dcd. lig . 15·9 Qxkpi l : {;lrliru; (or. p. 14;'; figs. 15·3, -6 •• , f""H,·tll fr.lmMi m Ct'iling . PI'. 162 - 163: fig. 14. " hu ng IOOIWt'Il. pp. 162 - 163; fig. 14· 14 C..omp>lll ion "'ar: con,mKtion . p. 186; fig. 16-1 drop oo;'rd,. p. 189: Iig-. 16·1 hal(h co v~r . pp . 181 _ 189: figs. 16·1 . ·2. ·] h~l( h ·, lid~ !)·i l~m ~ . pp _ IR3 - IR8: fig •. 16·1 , ·2.·3 in hOll.' " ~nd . p. l1i9; fig. 15·7 rai l!. pp . ISS - 181~ lig5. 16.1,· 2 Co nden sa tion ; p.~'·~ntin!:. wilh wood ""iling. p. 132
,i,,,,.
Con. truction p!O/ il~; la )' ing do wn line. lot. pp . .'i -1; fig. 1·2 C..or~ bo~ ;
f()rc..sti ng
Ilil ll a ~t
keel. pp. 2-" - Zi ; figs. $-7. ,9
253
C..ort' hol<."S;
hanl<:'J;
in b.1tb~1 ('auing. p. 33 Cor(' prims: ballUI hd . 1'1'. 24 - 25; fig,,- 3-!>, -6. -9 omi nl! and fiuing . p . 172: fig. U-8 f~irin¥, fl. 179 o.,"(r i1\¥ I)(>ilrd" C.1111kinlll h. " [).,"i1 >('~ ]l1 ." I' l!i.~ for maighl·l" id (kckin g. PI'. 1 5 .~ _ 155: fig~ . 14. 1• •!>. -6 ol','r il u o wnfd Iran.om, pp. 161 - 162; fi gs. 14. 11. -1 2 raUOCt cd. for plywood d~ck. pp , 161 _ 162: figs. \4 . 10, ·Il. ·12, ·1 3
- 68, 131; fig. f2·2 p. 7~ seJ«ri ug a" d m lling srock. PI'. r08 - in: fill, 7.2 )I~u mi ng a nd hrndi n)t in pla(~. pp. 66 _ 75: fi gs. Ga ,1)o,1td pl anks: spiti ng ~ .. d fill ing, pp. 107 - II I: fillS. 10·!>,·6 G;u ho.lrd ~am s: curi ng leak •. PI'· 81 - 87; figs. 8-g. -I) , · 12 Gr.. brait.. l'a binlop: w nSltl'CI;On , p, 193; fig. 16-8 Guardl'ail , : (m' R uhrai ls )
Croc ~ ~I'.
Hal f·m old~:
l~U"''$ of b,-..,a kag". p p. 66 r3~. ~n i ng h.,d s in .\OCk,,!~.
C.ornt'r,>O$IO:
Sfl]l1 lld S.: p.60S
Jun~d()n ~\'!Mm.
hou"" to dff~ . fi g. U ·9 kM-I·floor-balla>t ,)'.u;·m . I'p . 79 - lin: fig. 8· ~ Crow n. dcd and hou." ,lop: p p. ltiS. 167 - 168 dNNm in ingcu rwof. p p. 165 - 167; figs. t!>·2,·3 [K"dwuoU: VI-'. 239- 21~ ; li ~ . · 1, ·2, -3 , ·4.·!:o pa l1 r m lor. p . 2H: fig. B-2 rl<'c'k h~ m~ : hlO(~iull. vp. 148 - 149. 15.': fig •• 1$.11, · 12 ~''':.Ibbhi nll mi(t.sla t io n mar~.,. pp. 1 ~9 - 1.. 0; fig. 1.:'l-3 la)"mn, pp.l:) i , "9 - 140 »fork!>t alll s: (.\'t "lin Ream,. hou ,""lo p) fa,u:'nin R 10 ,h~~r da mp, p , 137; fig. IS·4 filling for rab bi: !",) w,'nin g hnard . pp. 161; fig. 11· 10 in'la ll ing , pp. 111 - lH, 145; fig . 13-8 ~nihi ng. pp. 1,10 - IH; fig, 13·4 Itum·hem or I~m inillcd. p. 140 Oe.:;k hou ,~ ;
l'On~r ""r1ion .
p p. 16::> - 179 l1.nd ng and ;l.\..\('mhli nll: ~nds. pp . 169 - 172: figs. ISo!>, -6, ·7 in ~'l.lJjn s tw-;l m I!'dK'" pp . 1;:;_ 179; fill" 1 ~16 , . 17 joming ~)'~I~m\ for . p p. Ii:; ~ 116; fig). 1 ).1 ~ . · \!:o spil inRa nd fiu i"g ~idN. pp . 172 - Ii!>; lig s. \!:o· 9. ·1 0• . 11• . 12,. 13 nr.- ~ i ng:
ra ulkiul: uf./, p. 153 _ 154; fig. 14·7 pl)"wuo..l. pp, 15 M ~ 1/i2; fig •. 14-9. · 10 $pl'Ulljl,. pp, 1.~.~ ~ 15i; fig. 14-6 . traill:ht ·h.id. PI'. 15~ - 155; figs. 14.1 , ·2, .g, '4, ·~ .-6 tOllllu," anll·gl'oo>T. (a n\'a.,~d, Pl'· 157 • 158; fig. )1·8
m cai urin .~
R_'
18_1~
l . in~.' rlra"'in.~:
8·~
FOCt' lknding form s) FO\lndrl'wor ~,
-'"
lill:' . 4·3, -4b, A-2, .'
anrl patc hing, on spar. pp. 212·2 15: fil!. Lam ina! ing : dfi'khrams. p. 140 floor u rn ocl1j. p . 79: fig. 11-2 f..."nc~, pp. fig ~ 70. 72; fig. 7·2 hom~lop heam •. PI'. 167 - 168; fig. U·~ I .,..arl ' InT hallasl k.d, pp. IS - 16: fig . .J..I O "'~igIH for cemctbo.l rd . p. 2:'01: fig. (;·4 Lilli ng f )'~ : fm halL1.I! k"d pall~rn. pp, 26 - 27; fig. '.8
n.
,-,
2 ~ i:
r~moving
"r hack bon~, pp. J 19 - 121; figs. 11·~ , .~ of hull plan\" i ng. PI'· 1 ~ 1 - 1 2.~ ; fiS" 11·6, ·7,·8 Floo. lim ber"; cOllll-"l r i,oll 01 "aoiOl" S\·SI~m .• , pp. 77 - 8 1; figs. 8· 1• ·2, -3. _4, . j , ·6, -7. -S will pooi r,· .::on'lruui oll. pp . 80 ~ 81 ; fig, 8-6 double .... " ·n·ltamc m llSl ruu ion. fig. 8-7 I]l~ lal . pp . 77 - i9. lIf,: fig. 8_ 1 80, 86; fig •. 8- 1, -5 •• 10 1,I,mk·o n-filRf. pp. p la nk·on....u!;". ",ilh ra pl'ling arm s. p. ~ I: lig. 8-!> pla" k·on·rdgt , Wilh winK" pp. 86 _ 8; ; figs. 8;1. · 11 'prinK·I~af. pp , 79 ~ SO; fig,. 8·1.-2
pp. 219 - 222: figl. 1~.3, lor balla., t1A>dng . pp. 26 - 27: fig ..\ . 10 Ic;.d " 'righl 1m .... nU'T OOard. p. 2~1; fig. e-.. Fm m<' ~()(k ~ rs: markinll: and cu tling ill k.... l. p p . 14, 46 - ~9; fig.!>-II
.md boring fur, PI', 33 . 54, 2~~ -
K n O I ~:
Fairing:
r~ ,!·hIOI1l" tudd~r u.,~ti "g. ,
joi ni nll:, pp. I I ~ 13; fig, 2·!> marking. PI'. 9 - 10 ><~ ,Ii ng. p. II; fi!i:J.. 2-~,- 4 I landlo3','S: rt'Collllllm dHl [)'frs. p. 2Z9 H U I ~h , flar : mnmuclion and jui ni ng. p. 190; fig. 16·!> i-I alrh, !kylighl: ronmuCliu n, PV. 189 - 190: fig. 1S-4 I!al r h (Over. companionwaY: ( ~~ CompJni rmw a)") H~rrflhuff, N ~ lh"nad G .: " li d p lan kin.." p. 1O~ and rudder t>.,~ri ng, . p . 219: lig. 19-3 Hou~ : (.....' Ded:hou,," ) Iron : (m hall as! ked, pp. 15 - 16 J ack ing 1\·S. ~tII" for r.. i.i nll ballasr ~<."C:' I . pp. 2:J6 - 237; fig, A·!:o for ra i~i llil !i"II . VI'. 234 - 2.'.~; fig. A· lb J " in .,: do'·elai l. lig. J6-3of half·lup. p, 190; l ig. 16·5<: m ilN. p. 190; fill. 16·5<:
Keeluult~:
in dl'dhu lI S{' juinn)'. pp. 1i~ - 176: liS ' U·1 4 Urif ... ; for 'l<"rtl lXo>' . I'· 13: fig. '>2c f<)l" rud dfrs.. TIp. 2 19 - 222: fig . 19-2 fOi (~nterbootd •. p. 251; fig. C-~ Urill bil': fl'CullInlcn d('d I)'P<'" and ~il"". p . Z29 Drill., rl'l:omnlc nd!'d 1)"p"O and Silt'S. p. 229 Edi:c"l'uing: (~ Plan kin g) t:: ll'rlw l)".i.: p. i ~ t::njl, ine !>td!: built' UI' noM' for. PI' , H!i - R6; fig. 8-10
of. pp. 79 - 80: lig.
·30
(f nOn, fig. 1 6·~ K.... I: (.~. Wood hr!. Balla'l ked):
U("'~ l aib;
F"mDlh~ul : floor ~oI\SI1'u 'lion
7-~ ,
-~
:.Ind lofti n!;, p , of Lint. pIH!1 : and ))I~ nkin~. p. 'HI: fig. 9·1 l .ofl ing: layi ng rln ,,'n of Ii,,~. a nd m n.r ru( r i"n ~ ' a ll~. ~: ma~i n.~
profil~.
pp . !I ~ i; figs. 1· 1. ·2 .. \
you r o"'n. p. 228 Ma •• parlnfr: bt'3m< and hlor ki nl': ill hou.crop and dNk , p. Ii?; fig. U-16 Mam : ("'" Span ) M ;( ~ ). F"'1>1: l·~ n\';l;.('1./ rlrck nf. PI'. 1.'l7 - 158: fig. 14·8 Molrl. : (~e<' a\.,o H alf-molds) l'O[1
!':O\'i boo n : p. 8 1 O ff!o<'I): (".." T 3 bl~ of off...!.,)
Paut'rnlrul king: fo r oo Jla~I k<'t"l . pp. 16 - 24; figs. $-1•• 2, ",.4 1';"01 pIA; fOl efntcriloo rd, p . 247: fig. C-I Plann; .«ommendtd 5i,n. p . 228 Plank inFl (r.1r\'c!) : edg~ ·~ u i ng (l ]~ .• pjl;n.~ hallen. pp. 101 - 10~; fig. g.]!I filling plankl from . h« r to luck. Pl'. 89 - 10.~ of (raniOU1, I>p. 117 - 119: fig •. 11·2, ·3 plan k 1 ~)'oU! from garooard 10 !lick. pp. 105 _ 107; fig •. \0. 1, ·2. ·3.·4 plank la ),nU! from , h""r!O !lick, pp. 9() - 9~; figs. 9·2. '~,·Il !\Cam ~\'~Ii lor. pp. 100 - 101; lig •. 9·10 , .1 1, .12 spilingaod fining garboard planks. pr o 107 - I I I : fis •. 10·5.-6 .piling a mi fin ing sht<:rsU'
(flllnboard tfunk 01. p. 218 P.opd lrr ap!'nure: lairing mrnpost (or, p. 121: lig.I1·~ Q\"I1' I ~r hlOl"kl: p. H9: fig ~. IS·12. 14-1 Ra blX'( : marking an d ,:ulling (hack). PI'· ;,.~. M; firs. 6·2a, ·2b,·6 ma rki ng and cu tting on ",00<1 ked . pp. 4' _ 46: figs. 5·3. ·4, Rabl~l li ne: fair ing on wood kt'o.-I. 1>. 34; figs. f·fe•. 4d mark ing on !lcrnPOSI. p_ 36; figs. 4·7,·Sa .10p ....·~ 'ff) insl alkd al. pp. 109 - I I I; lig. 10·'
.~ .
-6,·7
R i bban d~;
ha nging 01. pp . 6.',. f>li: fig. 7·} R i"Cli ng: 10015 lor. PI'. 11' - II,,; lig. 10·\0 R ub.ail: fnr plywood decking, p. 160; lig. 14·g Rudder, inl.xJ~al ; conmUUiOIl and in slallalion , pp. 217 · 221 ; lill~. 19·1 , ·2 •. 3,.4 WOr!1\oJ.urw >I~rtr! for. p. 22J; lig. 19·4 Rudder ,ou IOOard: l".onmuc~ i "n and im,,, lI alion, pp. Z'2 J - 225; fill. 19-} R uddt'rpon : hOI i n~ fOI and lin in g. p. 52; fig. 6-2d S3"'~: (I.« H wndsa ,,'S) Sca. li ll " jig: for 'pa rma ki ng. PI'. 206 - 2Oi; lig. 18-6 Shah alley: horing in wood kc'('\, pp . .'I-fi - 37: figs. 4·83, ·lIb
ShafdnJ1:; boring and join inl-:. p. 37: fig. 4·8d Sh~~r damp: filling . •{, ,,rin!,:. ~nd {a'tening, pp. 137 - 138:
flg~.
!.!I.I .. 2a, .2b,·4
Sh('('rlill~ :
marking on mulds. p. 62: fig. 6·5 5piling anti sui bing 0"'0 1,lank uock, pp. 9' · 95; lig~, 9.4 •. 5 Sh""r~I .... kf$: ~p";ng and HttillFl. pp. 93 - 99: figs. 9-4, -.5. ·6, · 7.·8 Shrl f. beam ' (~ Beam .hdf) Sh O(>:
on d~ad wood . p . 2~0 - 213; lig •. &·2, ·5 ShUllt" pla nk : p. \O~ ,piling and l iuing. pp. III - IU; fi8~ . 10-8,.9 Sk}'lil:hl; " oracle· I)·p!,. ( nnstruction. pp. 189 - 190: fill. 16..1 Spars. ho ll ow: dan,ps [or, p. 209; fig. 18·7 ronmUCliuIl. PI>. 200 - 202. 20~ - 209: fig •. 18·6, ·7, ·8, ·9. · \ 0 jig for >o:... lfing SI'Wrl . PI'· 206 - 207: fig . 18·6 .\Uen.!:lh 01 . p. 207 SfUrs, wl id; lI:a ugt' fOl ma l king 8 and 16 ,id~. p . 204; fig. 18-' i('nglhrn ill lt or repa iri ng. pp. ZIO _ 2 15; lig" 18.1 1•• 12. · 13 shaping m .... hud •. pp. 200 - 204 . 212 - 21!!: ligs. 18·1. ·2• . J .. ~ , ·13 ti mber for. pp. 200 - 202
Spil i' lg: ( >o:."t"
PI~n ki ng )
SI~alfD:
10 pla nk ing from g-.. rboa rd 10 lU~k . p. 106: fig. 10-.. Slram·ht:ndi ng: . o f fra m.., . PI'. 66 - 7", figs. 7·4, .~ Slunl oo x: wn ~tTllrr ion and u ..·. pp. 66 -11. 227 S '~erinl:: in~l~ lIa l i on . pp. 22Z - Z2~ ,,"orm ·scr~w .)">!~ms . p. 221; fig.
liller
19·4
Stem: fairinll 0 1. p. 119; fig. 11 ·4 f~ .lc n ing! for. pr. 11 - 42; lig .... ·16 join ing 10 wood k~d. pp. 39 - H: fig~. 5· h , ·lb m ~ I"i ng a nd cutt ing. pp . ~9 - 4fJ: fig. ~· I l ~ uari lOg (u p .igh ll. p. !i I; fig. 6·1b "milt'. for, p. 39 Sternposr: ~."'-C'mlli r. pp. ~2 - i!1: fig •• !i-2a, ·2 b r u u iug nmlX"r for, P. M; fig. 4·6 f~lT1 ng of. pp. 119 - 121; lig.l l·5 f~s, c n ing~ l.1ynut. p. 43; lig. 5·2c ~q u ~ rin8 (upti!:/lt), p. 51. 5~; li8". 6-h. ·2d lcmp l at~s lor, p. 13 Slnp ..... aters: i!15Wlling;1\ b~(kl>on e, pp. J09 - III : fig . 10. 7 Stu lfinlt 1>0,,: fairiul: .a·rnIJtl" for, p. 12J; lig. Il.~ ; n,,~ lIinFl , pp. 36 - 3; T aMe of offset.: and loh ing . pp. 2.1 - :. T all ,,",,' hc-r: Iluing 10 SIC'mpml. pp.:'2 - 53; ligs. 6·23 , · 2b, ·2c '~mpl,n~ for, p . 13 Tal1l:~ :
fort'urin!! strain",{ garboo m .•. p . 117; lig. 8· 12 Tfmplal<:S: for \),10'kl>o n ~ , pp. 12 - 13 [or tr3nsom . Pl'. 117 - II'!; fig •. IJ·2.· S Through.h ull fi llings: ,HId [i lli ng re iling, p. 134; lig. 12·g Tir· IOO,: for ( u ring Itrainffi g~rboo ld,. p. 87; f'2 . g·12 in dec k fra me. p . 14i; fig. IJ-IO T illrr: i'mallanon. pp.222 - 2'l.~ To.-r.. ih; ( on
vri billg Inc lh nd~ . pp. 124· 127; li g~ . 11·15, · 14 Wood k~d : (lining out . pp . .~4 - 35 {"\lItill g limbc:r fur. pp. 29 - 31..,~; fig. 4· 1 markinx (I ufting ). pp. ~I - 3-1; fig,. 4·2, ·5, ·~a •• 4b Wor m SIorrlf>r: lll rrect f~lI . p . 2-13
255
