Favourite tools

Still raining in here in 'sunny' Newcastle (Australia - not the really wet one) so I thought I could show off my favourite tools. In no particular order they are:

• Lap gauge - Of course I use it on laps but I've found it helpful to get accurate scarph lines
• Hand drill - easy and not as aggressive as the battery version, from Father in law
  
• Awl - old but sharp, very useful when marking planks
  
• Japanese Saw - sharp and makes quick work of planking
• Sanding block - nice and comfortable rubber version that holds the paper in place
• Veritas honing jig - I could not sharpen accuratley without it, I tried. It gives me the same angle everytime
• Block Plane - kept sharp always. Makes quick work when lapping
• Respirator (with nose peg) - a pity is doesn't fit without the nose peg but when the peg is fitted I can't smell the fumes from applying or sanding epoxy
• Hand Saw - new and very very sharp - I got the hardwood version and used it to cut the angles into the Skeg
• Ratcheting screwdriver - probablly my favourite tool, it's the top Stanley and well worth the $30 - never binds, swivels freely, comfortable
• 4.5 Stanley plane - kept sharp - a real workhorse for scarhping and lately for laps
• Wife and dog - easy going and enjoyable, I got the extended warranty :-)
• Bench Grinder - Another boon from Father in law, used for hollow grinding my chisels (also from Father in law)
• Grinding stand - used to keep a consistent angle from one chisel grind to another.
  

Halfway there

After much faffing I got under way with a good burst of activity. I've now managed to reach the halfway mark for the planking. I've changed my method as well, now I concentrate tasks in order to take advantage of the little lessons and hints I notice as I go. For example, I scarph and glue four planks at once, then I move them to the boat and plank the boat with four planks, one at a time but still it allows me to avoid the little gotchas I seemed to repeat when I interrupted the planking for the scarphing.
You might notice the outbone (skeg and keel) is attached. This job took longer than I imagined. I ventured into it early in the project to ease the gymnastics required when working on the centrecase with the full beam's planking attached... afterall, I'm only a small bloke. I still have the outer stem to go but I'm waiting until the planking is finished to see what changes I need to make to the inner curve (I already know of at least one flat spot created by over zealous planing). As you can see from the bow shot, I have managed to skew the path of the plank lands on the inner stem, the portside #4 plank is skewing too much to starboard, I'll try and neatly correct this worrying deveation.
I have found the shaping of the curve goes easier when I screw the top (bottom) edge of the plank to the mould ie through the mould-alignment holes. This tends to let the glue dry in place and keep the planks firm against the mould landings. I'm still not sure why this is necessary, it seems to me there is about 10mm too much plank at stations 4 and 5 causing the planks to lift off the moulds. I've either made an error in the layout or the moulds are in the wrong position (interestingly the mould alignment holes aft of Station 5 are 10mm forward of the mould but my moulds are in the correct position). No matter, it seems to be all coming together and certanly the glued-lapstrake is a strong method of boat building.

Fitting the outbone

Well, it's a while since I last posted. We've moved from Canberra to Newcastle and settled into our new routines. Unfortunatley given the nature of my new job there isn't as much time or energy as before. The move went as well as could be expected and the boat-trailer towed very well, my big Falcon didn't even notice. I had all of the loose timber and planking strapped to the bottom of the trailer inside the frame of the boat. Here are some pics of the trailer and the arrival (note garage is a little shorter than before)...

2nd plank complete

Both second planks went on ok. The portside (ie the first of the 2nd planks to go on) is a bit wonky but I think I might be able to straighten it out later. Now that's done it is time to start prepping the boat to be towed up to Newcastle, at least I know it fits on the trailer as is. I'll post more pictures when I've completed loading the trailer with all the spare wood and some of my tools for the trip up to Newcastle. Next, I have to cut a hole in the boat for the keel...

Not far off the 2nd plank...

The first planks (called the garboards) turned out surprisingly well, now its time to get a smooth and constantly flat overlap (or lap) between the grboards and the 2nd planks. This involves planing about 5/8" of the lower edge of each garboard so that it meets the angle of the second plank. I then needed to ensure that at the bow there was a smooth transition between the garboard and the second plank ie moving from the bow aft you should see and feel no difference between the two planks and then leading to the pronounced difference you would expect of one plank overlapping another. To achieve this effect at the bow I must blend the two planks together by cutting a Gain (also called a rebate/ gerald/ rabbit depending on your heritage) in the Garboard so that only one layer of the very thin ply remains. This was a test of my woodworkin 'skill' but I managed a passable job. Next is to do the same to the other side then clean up the second planks and glue them on. We move to a different city in 13 days, so I must have the second plank fastened by then. stay tuned.

To the Glue pot!!!

First off, we're moving interstate so I had to buy a trailer, my intention is to move the boat on its frame as is on the back of the trailer.
Erica has been on my back to get on with the gluing and stop faffing. So, after discovering a misalignment and running one of the planks through the bandsaw to remove a 1/4" of one edge I got down to the task of gluing. As you can see I glued both planks at the same time but only one end at a time, the idea was not to upset the plank alignment that I had worked hard to obtain (actually I must confess that the alignment is all Erica's work). Good use of a day off.
The next step is to bevel the garboards then glue on more planks, hopefully they won't all take as long as these garboards.

Cutting the first plank

Not much to show for a month but I've been purposefully taking things slowly. The photos are of Crookesy and me cutting out the first plank (x2) followed by the scarphing process to get the joins as flat and even as possible. Following the scraphing came the first glueing of the planks together and lastly the dry-fit of the glued-up plank. Currently I'm working on the fairing of the Keelson to get the plank to lay flat on the keelson where it contacts the keelson. Erica has been a great help with this difficult step....

Holiday's work

...keep the plane Iron sharp!
Stern shot showing transom to Keelson join with a bit of glue ooze
Bow shot showing the 'ooze' of glue as the keelson is epoxied to the Stem
Crooksey earning his beers...

Well, time to go back to work. I've put in about 100 hours thus far and have managed to get the backbone glued on and mostly faired into the moulds. There has been a few 'noodle stretchers' as my mate Croookesy calls them but between the two of us and Erica we have been able to figure out most issues. But some issues could not be resolved by us because there were some flaws in the plans (not Ian Oughtred's plans). Here are some photos of were I'm up to at the moment. Next is to finish fairing the keelson into the moulds so there is one continuous curve along the length of the keelson upon which the planking can sit... so plenty more wood shavings to come.

The building frame

A bit of a surpirise was that the strongback or building frame were not included so I set about building the frame from the plans. This required me to purchase straight timbers from my local hardware store and get them as perfectly aligned as I could before the moulds went on top. In the end I got to a difference of 1mm on the diagonals (4000mm in length) so I'm pretty happy. Ian Oughtreds plans are very detailed and whilst there is no idiots-guide written on the plans there is plenty of information on them to solve problems.

The kit arrives

I changed my mind again and went with the full 'hull cutout kit' plus enough timber to get the boat to the 'turnover' stage. All up the invoice was about $3800 which is a lot of money for not very much wood. The hull cut out kit design comes from Jordan Boats in the UK manufactured by someone here in Aus (NIS boats?) and then I purchased it through Duckflat Wooden Boats. There has thus far been a few problems but nothing to be concerned by and Jordan Boats have been quick to respond. Crookesy has been staying with us lately and has pitched in and helped and believe me I needed all the brains I could get when the mould numbering was not correct on the kit layout...

The decision is finally made

Well months after the original post I have finally made a decision on which boat I intend to build. I will build the Ian Oughtred designed Tammie Norrie (name of a seagull in Scoatland). Here are some pictures of Tammie Norries...
After much faffing I have elected to get a pre-cut hull kit which has just the plywood parts pre-cut. I went this way to lower the overall risk to the whole project by having the hull professionally cut and shaped. I still have to put it all together and cut the keelson and stem and transom however now the planking will be cut out and ready to glue onto the boat much earlier than before. This also helps becasue I will only have three weeks available to me in the Christmas break in which to hopefully get the first three planks on. The cost will be $4200 delivered for all timbers and planking up to the 'turnover' stage. I have splashed out a bit and purchased red-cedar for the thwarts, transom, knees and gunwall spacers. I intend to either finish the boat in Decks Olje #2 or, paint the hull cream with a bright-finished sheerstrake. The interior will most likely be painted cream except for the red-cedar portions but once again I may end up using Decks Olje #2. I will update you when the wood arrives next week.

Get the blog then the boat...right?

Instead of purchasing a boat I have elected to build a boat out of wood just a small boat that I can handle on my own but one in which Erica can join me when the idea ceases her. The boat I was originally thinking of is a PassageMaker designed by CLC in America and sold here in Australia by Capeboatworks in Canberra as a pre-cut kit. Here is a picture of one from the CLC website. I'm not overly impressed with the Pram bow but I'm sure it will grow on me, my favourite selection for a boat was a Ian Oughtred 'Tammie Norrie' made in the Clinker style and assembled as a pre-cut kit by Duckflat boats in Adelaide but at almost twice the price (approx $5.5k) and with a more complex method of construction I think it prudent to start out cheap and safe. I have bought some good books that might help me in the process of building as I'm not very confident in my woodworking skills (unlike my brothers who are courageous and bold with wood). I can't imagine I'll have the time or inclination to record each step but hopefully I will record milestones for my own memories. Estimated costs for the PassageMaker are:

• Pre-cut kit (inclu sails and all glues)--$3100
• Trailer-------------------------------$800
• Paints--------------------------------$300
• Tools---------------------------------$300
• ----------------------------Total: $4500