Before the bulkheads can be set up a
special basement has to be built. It is
made out of cheep spruce timbers and
bolted against the floor. A wire stretched
from bow to transom and centered exactly
is a very important help to set up the
bulkheads exactly.
Some
bulkheads are set up already. It's
useful to do this work with two
persons.
The picture shows how a
spirit level (using a transparent
tube) is used to position the
bulkheads: The ends of the tube
stick inside a piece of wood calmped
against the bulkhead. The piece of
wood has somethind like a window to
control the levels. The level of the
waterplane inside both ends of
the tube (fixed at different
bulkeads or different sides of the
same bulkhead) has to coincide
exactly with the drawing water line.
For this reason it is strongly
recommended to draw the waterline on
the bulkeads.
The bulheads have to be set upt very
exactly - a good oportunity to use
what you learned at school about
geometry :-)
Now the longitudinals are placed.
Firstly it's done in a provisional
manner to measure the angle between
the longitudinal and the bulkheads.
Especially near the bow this angle
is not 90 degree.
Preparing
the bulkeads for the stringers
(longitudinals)
Here you can see how to prepare the
bulkheads for the longitudinals. To
cut the wood I use a multi-tool.
I work on with a broach
carving out both sides of the
bulkhead before the piece of wood is
resected completely.
These pictures provide an example
how to remove ugly bulges of epoxi.
The Fein Mulitmaster once
again proving as a very helpful
tool.
The bulkheads are prepared for
putting the longitudinals. I use
more stringers than depicted in the
original drawings to avoid bulges
inside the hull when fixing the
veneers of larch.
Due to the increasing weight of all
parts to be fitted to the hull the
framing has to be reinforced by
several braces.
The shelf
The shelf is made out of oak
wood. It can be bent without any
special preparation of the wood, but
be aware of the forces exerted on the
bulkheads. Bulkhead A and B have to be
reinforced by temporary additional
timbers clamped horizontally against
the bulkheads.
The shelf is prepared. On the right
hand side a detai is shown: Each
bulkhead has to be fitted to the
shelf.
The
stringers (longitudinals)
The stringers are cutted out of a
huge plank of larch.
A "sideboard" like this is helpful
when working with long pieces of
wood. It is fixed on the wall.
Normally you won't get wood longer
than 5 or 6 meters. This means that
the stringers have to be mounted by at
least two parts. This work is not
difficult but has to be done
carefully. The stringers must not
differ in their bending strength along
their length - otherwise their natural
spline will differ. An uneven shape of
the hull follows.
The
picture shows how two pieces are
mounted in the classical way: The
two ends are positioned forming a
stair. Than an inclined plane is
made.
You
can use electrical devices for this
work - I prefer this plane. The
blade can be adjusted very exactly,
it is a pleasure to work with such
hand tools.
The
plane has to be checked - in this
case the work is not yet finished.
Now
the tow parts fit well and are
ready to be mounted.
A
few examples of mounted stringers.
They have to be sanded now.
The stringers are sanded. Than
they have been placed provisional
in the finally position to
determine where the edges
can be shaped round.
In the near of the bow the
stringers have to be fitted to the
keel For this work a hand plane
and a japanese razor saw a
recommended.
The japanese razor saw (beyond
other tools): A very good tool.
The stringers are fitted and ready
to be glued.
Fastening the stringers.
Now the stringers on both sides of
the vessel are fastened.
These
pictures
illustrate an easy method for
detecting buckles or lumps: Two
straight strips are connected
with a felxible one. The
flexible one has to cling to the
stringers easily. The picture on
the left (below) shows that the
stringer has to faired a little
bit. On the right the amount of
wood shavings can be seen.
The
shape of the bow is finished.
The bottom of the box for an ancor
is installed. A hole for water
draining is drilled using a simple
pattern made out of a hard wood
timber.
The Tramsom
The
transom is fastened. It is made
out of five layers of larch
veneer.
The hull of plywood
Finally I can start to fix the
veneers...
Many
small pieces of wood are used to
protect the skin of plywood.
The
following pictures are turned around
so as if theboat was floating ;-)
This
pictures shows the bow (inside). You
can see bulkhead A and the I-Beam
(part of the keel).
The
following pictures show how to
adjust the veneers.
Two
veneers
A and B are fixed. The
distance between A and B is a
little bit smaller than that
of a third veneer which has to
be adjusted to fill exactly
the space between A and B.
Then the third veneer is fixed
provisional (not shown),
overlapping a little bit with
A and B.
The third veneer, overlapping with
B and A. Its final shape aligning
with the edges of B and A is
determined using a simple pencil.
The third veneer is adjusted (see
picture above) using first the
multi-tool, then a plane.
The third veneer is fixed between
A and B. It fits very well!
These pictures show how to get rid
of the cramps: The cramps
are staved through a pp-band.
Afterwards this band will be broke
off so that the cramps get
partially out of the wood.
Now I decide to build a special
staircase to facilitate the
procedure.
The following video shows how
difficult and toilsome it is to
remove the cramps in case that
an unsuitable pp-band is used.
For this reason we decide to use
a better band out of polyester.
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The first layer is almost completed.
The first layer is almost completed.
Bulkhead A with a hutch.
This video gives an impression how
to laminate the veneers.
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During
this toilsome period of work it
becomes more and more obvious that
using european wood means
developing new strategies in
laminating the veneers. Due to their
inhomogeneity resulting from the
fact that european trees experience
different seasons with different
grow rates, they bend not all the
same way. Therefore, it is difficult
to laminate the veneers in a way
resulting in a straight surface.
For this reason we decide to
stabilize the surface with a thin
layer of glass.
This picture
shows the veneers. The surface is
not yet absolute straight.
The
clamps are used to stabilize the
veneers from inside the boat
while laminating the thin layer
of glass.
The
first layer is completed, the
first part of the second layer
is already mounted.
These
pictures show laminating th thin
layer of glass (163g/qm).
The
second layer is finished. One
side of the hull is coated
with a thin layer of epoxi.
This will be done one the
other side as well. It seems
neceswsary because the whole
dockyard will be moved to
another town some hundred
kilometers far away. For this
reason the hull shall be
protected against dust and
water.
To get the boat to the new
dockyard, it has to be turned
around. Many friends are the
most important help...
This is the first time the
filigree inner parts of the hull
can be seen.
The fist journey of the boat...
The hull has to be turned around
a second time.
The
following video shows how we
try to turn around the hull.
Much time is needed to discuss
how the job is to be done and
meanwhile the crane almost
falls down. But in the end
everything is done very well!
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A new basement has been built.
It is designed like a cradle.
The hull can be leaned to one
side so that there is no
ladder or staircase
needed any longer. This will
accelerate the ongoing work.
The last layer of veneers is
going to be completed. In the
middle a belt-like area can be
seen - in this area there are
five layers of veneer, behind
and in the front there will be
four layers when the hull is
completed.
After having been busy four
years for building the boat
there must be something
already completed: A small
boat for our child to play
with in summer time...
The little boat at the beach
of croatia. With a slight
breeze its speed is already
respectable. A center board of
aluminium allows sailing into
the wind. A swimmer has to
make an effort to keep up with
the boat.
Thousands of staples have to
be removed out of the wood.
The boat on its craddle-like
basement at late night after
having finished the work for
today. The hull seems to be
completed - but there are
still some veneers left - see
the following images.
The shoulder plane is fitting
best for this task: trimming
the veneers to fit exactly.
The area below the drawing
waterline is coated by a layer
of glass and serveral layers
of epoxi. The coating is
limited to the area below dwl
because above dwl another sort
of epoxi will be used: Above
dwl a more UV-resistant and
more expensive hardener will
be used. The bright spots are
caused by relections of the
lamps in the ceiling.
The three pictures above show
the hull after coating is
finished. About five layers of
epoxi, later two layers of
PU-varnish after having sanded
and polished serveral
times the surface.
Turning around the hull may be
turn out to be tricky if the
ceiling is quite low...
This is the result after seven
years of building the boat.
