The Lost Coast Chapter of thePage 2: Gunnels & such through fitting out the interior |
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The completion of the hull was a big accomplishment. We are well past the point of no return on this project. We now have an identifiable boat, and it looks pretty good. Those St. Lawrence Skiff lines are wonderful. The narrow entry is prominent, but then it widens out to a reasonable capacity. The interior is cleaned out as much as possible, and the inside gets it's turn at a good penetrating epoxy soaking.
September 9, 2008
It was decided to use chinquapen for the gunnels, rub rails, and seat risers. This wood turns out to be pretty hard to work with. The long strips that would comprise the gunnels and rub rails were ripped. Each piece, as it was ripped, twisted and bent severely. But, when the strips are clamped in place, they work fine and look pretty good.
Once again, all those clamps come in handy. The gunnels and rub rails were glued on with epoxy, and the clamps held everything, so no metal fasteners were needed. And don't forget to cover everything up well every night. It can get pretty wet out here, and water can do a lot of damage.
September 12, 2008
It's amazing how much strength the gunnels add to the hull. The gunnel and rub rail combination look pretty nice here.By the way, the string going the length of the boat is what holds the tarp on. (Previous picture on the right.) If it gets in the way, it can be taken down easily, then replaced easily. Later, a more robust rope was put in this twine's place.
September 18, 2008
Here is one way to do the ribs, or "frames". Pieces of cardboard are cut the to the widths of each strake at each place where the rib will sit in the boat. The pieces are taped together, one by one going up from the bottom. It was necessary to make a pattern for all ten of the ribs in this boat, which took a while, but was worth it, as all the ribs fit snugly after they were cut. (The decision as to how far apart to put the ribs, given this type of construction is beyond the scope of this narrative. There are excellent boat builders who feel that NO internal bracing is needed, given the strength and rigidity of the lapstrake-glued-with-epoxy construction technique. There will be a seat rail inside this boat, so ribs are as good a thing to hang them from as any.)
September 20, 2008
Two 30" square pieces of Russian birch ply are stacked, glued with epoxy. The rib patterns are copied onto the resulting 1" thick stack, and can be nested to save on waste. Be sure and mark which rib is which, and keep track during the shaping process, so there's no consern about putting a rib in the wrong place. After taking a band saw to this pattern, we end up with ten ribs as shown on the right.
September 23, 2008
The ribs are set into their stations, and the cleaning and shaping process begins. Each rib is cleaned up, shaped, and cut to size, then the whole thing is dry clamped to the boat. Here's where knowing which rib goes where comes in handy. Note that the junction of the end of the rib and the floor board is screwed. This is temporary; after the rib is glued in, the screw is backed out, the hole re-drilled and plugged with a dowel.
September 27, 2008
After another round of filling, sanding, and scraping, we are happy with how the ribs came out. Everything fit well. Well enough, in fact, to be able to leave some of this bright . . . . Well, we will have to think about that.
October 15, 2008
Progress on the boat is halted because of conceptual hurdles about setting up the rowing stations, configuring the oarlocks, etc. Might as well build the floorboards. Chinquapen is used, again, mainly because it is hard, looks interresting, and is available. Remembering how it likes to bend and twist, the boards are cut to size, stickered, and clamped. On the left is a stack of 1/2 X 1 1/2 strips that will make the inwales and the seat rails. As soon as they were cut, they were clamped and left here for about 10 days. They were then bound together and stored in the shade. The picture on the right shows how the floorboards are cut on the table saw. A ray pattern is adopted for the spaces between the ribs, which fits the bottom nicely.
October 18, 2008
Two pairs of floorboards are made, employing sliding dovetail joints in four cross pieces under each panel. The picture on the left shows how a fence is clamped to the table, and the rays of the floorboards are butted against the fence using 3/8" spacers between each board. The lay-out is squared up, then battens are attached crossways in places that can be used as a guide for a router with a dovetail bit. The router is passed through at the fence and each batten; a 1/2" batten is then used against each of the guides, and another pass is made, so that a 1" dovetail is created across the floorboards in four places.
A properly-shaped cross piece can then be passed through each "slot" and glued to hold each system together.
October 25, 2008
Floorboard panels are planed and sanded to fit flat on the bottom board, then cleaned up further, soaked with penetrating epoxy, and finally varnished. They fit well.
Details of the rowing stations are still being worked out, but there's more to do, otherwise. Now its time to install the seat rails, the fore and aft decks, and the deck cowlings. May have to hurry; it's starting to rain.
November 3, 2008
The cross-braces that support the decks fore and aft are cut. Some nice old-growth Doug Fir was found that seems to be plenty beefy for its purpose. There are a piar of compound angles that need to be carefully measured and transferred. Meanwhile, the seat rails are sawn and smoothed.
November 10, 2008
The cross-braces are glued into place and left 1/2" proud. Using various types of planes, a 1/2" crown is shaped into the brace. Seat rails are glued and screwed (the latter for the time being, only) into place.
November 14, 2008
It's time to install the decks. 1/8" oak plywood was selected because of its availability and interresting (but not striking) grain pattern. Notches are sawn into the stem- and stern-posts to recieve the thin plywood. Decks were marked off and cut, with the hemi-circles cut with a router on a radius arm. Decks are glued in, held in place for drying with clamps and weights.
November 20, 2008
Looking good at this point. No doubt that we've got a St. Lawrence Skiff, here. Note that the stem- and stern-posts have been drilled and shaped.
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September 9, 2008
It was decided to use chinquapen for the gunnels, rub rails, and seat risers. This wood turns out to be pretty hard to work with. The long strips that would comprise the gunnels and rub rails were ripped. Each piece, as it was ripped, twisted and bent severely. But, when the strips are clamped in place, they work fine and look pretty good.
Once again, all those clamps come in handy. The gunnels and rub rails were glued on with epoxy, and the clamps held everything, so no metal fasteners were needed. And don't forget to cover everything up well every night. It can get pretty wet out here, and water can do a lot of damage.
September 12, 2008
It's amazing how much strength the gunnels add to the hull. The gunnel and rub rail combination look pretty nice here.By the way, the string going the length of the boat is what holds the tarp on. (Previous picture on the right.) If it gets in the way, it can be taken down easily, then replaced easily. Later, a more robust rope was put in this twine's place.
By the way, the string going the length of the boat is what holds the tarp on. (Previous picture on the right.) If it gets in the way, it can be taken down easily, then replaced easily. Later, a more robust rope was put in this twine's place.
September 18, 2008
Here is one way to do the ribs, or "frames". Pieces of cardboard are cut the to the widths of each strake at each place where the rib will sit in the boat. The pieces are taped together, one by one going up from the bottom. It was necessary to make a pattern for all ten of the ribs in this boat, which took a while, but was worth it, as all the ribs fit snugly after they were cut. (The decision as to how far apart to put the ribs, given this type of construction is beyond the scope of this narrative. There are excellent boat builders who feel that NO internal bracing is needed, given the strength and rigidity of the lapstrake-glued-with-epoxy construction technique. There will be a seat rail inside this boat, so ribs are as good a thing to hang them from as any.)
September 20, 2008
Two 30" square pieces of Russian birch ply are stacked, glued with epoxy. The rib patterns are copied onto the resulting 1" thick stack, and can be nested to save on waste. Be sure and mark which rib is which, and keep track during the shaping process, so there's no consern about putting a rib in the wrong place. After taking a band saw to this pattern, we end up with ten ribs as shown on the right.
September 23, 2008
The ribs are set into their stations, and the cleaning and shaping process begins. Each rib is cleaned up, shaped, and cut to size, then the whole thing is dry clamped to the boat. Here's where knowing which rib goes where comes in handy. Note that the junction of the end of the rib and the floor board is screwed. This is temporary; after the rib is glued in, the screw is backed out, the hole re-drilled and plugged with a dowel.
September 27, 2008
After another round of filling, sanding, and scraping, we are happy with how the ribs came out. Everything fit well. Well enough, in fact, to be able to leave some of this bright . . . . Well, we will have to think about that.
October 15, 2008
Progress on the boat is halted because of conceptual hurdles about setting up the rowing stations, configuring the oarlocks, etc. Might as well build the floorboards. Chinquapen is used, again, mainly because it is hard, looks interresting, and is available. Remembering how it likes to bend and twist, the boards are cut to size, stickered, and clamped. On the left is a stack of 1/2 X 1 1/2 strips that will make the inwales and the seat rails. As soon as they were cut, they were clamped and left here for about 10 days. They were then bound together and stored in the shade. The picture on the right shows how the floorboards are cut on the table saw. A ray pattern is adopted for the spaces between the ribs, which fits the bottom nicely.
October 18, 2008
Two pairs of floorboards are made, employing sliding dovetail joints in four cross pieces under each panel. The picture on the left shows how a fence is clamped to the table, and the rays of the floorboards are butted against the fence using 3/8" spacers between each board. The lay-out is squared up, then battens are attached crossways in places that can be used as a guide for a router with a dovetail bit. The router is passed through at the fence and each batten; a 1/2" batten is then used against each of the guides, and another pass is made, so that a 1" dovetail is created across the floorboards in four places.
A properly-shaped cross piece can then be passed through each "slot" and glued to hold each system together.
October 25, 2008
Floorboard panels are planed and sanded to fit flat on the bottom board, then cleaned up further, soaked with penetrating epoxy, and finally varnished. They fit well.
Details of the rowing stations are still being worked out, but there's more to do, otherwise. Now its time to install the seat rails, the fore and aft decks, and the deck cowlings. May have to hurry; it's starting to rain.
Details of the rowing stations are still being worked out, but there's more to do, otherwise. Now its time to install the seat rails, the fore and aft decks, and the deck cowlings. May have to hurry; it's starting to rain.
November 3, 2008
The cross-braces that support the decks fore and aft are cut. Some nice old-growth Doug Fir was found that seems to be plenty beefy for its purpose. There are a piar of compound angles that need to be carefully measured and transferred. Meanwhile, the seat rails are sawn and smoothed.
November 10, 2008
The cross-braces are glued into place and left 1/2" proud. Using various types of planes, a 1/2" crown is shaped into the brace. Seat rails are glued and screwed (the latter for the time being, only) into place.
November 14, 2008
It's time to install the decks. 1/8" oak plywood was selected because of its availability and interresting (but not striking) grain pattern. Notches are sawn into the stem- and stern-posts to recieve the thin plywood. Decks were marked off and cut, with the hemi-circles cut with a router on a radius arm. Decks are glued in, held in place for drying with clamps and weights.
November 20, 2008
Looking good at this point. No doubt that we've got a St. Lawrence Skiff, here. Note that the stem- and stern-posts have been drilled and shaped.