Thread: The Little Black Dog - MSD Rowing Skiff - Adelaide OZ

Mik, I find myself a little confused about the gunwales.
The plans talk about gluing on one gunwale, then laminating the next layer to that. Meanwhile, the materials list refers to the gunwales being 19x38 but gives the quantity as '2'.

Am I right in assuming that the gunwale consists of two layers of 19mm timber for a total thickness of 38mm and that the materials list should actually read '4'

Richard

Richard,

Interesting take on WBF, and it somewhat matches my own thoughts. Used to be I believed the only way to build a boat was the careful, finicky, and complicated methods espoused by some on WBF. Accordingly, me being me, I just knew I couldn't build a boat.

Discovering the Mik's website and the GIS pretty much changed that - and here I am, building a boat!

The thing I figured out is this: It's all good. If somebody likes the finicky and complicated methods, good for them. Just don't tell me the finicky and complicated ways are the only ways to build something.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobWes

The thing I figured out is this: It's all good. If somebody likes the finicky and complicated methods, good for them. Just don't tell me the finicky and complicated ways are the only ways to build something.

Bob

Spot on cobber

Richard

Now, seeing the discussion that triggered that was 'what to put under the head of screws', here's something that's come out of it.

When assembling the hull, you need to screw two spreaders into place at the top of the sides, right where the gunwale has to go - these hold the top of the hull sides apart and help give the right shape to everything. You are also advised to clamp the gunwale in place while doing so to help form the shape of the boat. Now, if you have a ruddy great block of wood under the head of the screw that holds a spreader in place, you won't be able to clamp the gunwale in place. Go without a pad, and the head of the screw digs into the timber side ... which is why we use pads. However, at a later point the spreaders will be removed and the gunwale glued in place, thus filling the hole left by the screw head, so you don't need a pad at all here, or could use a washer.

I'll probably go without anything because not only will it allow the gunwale to sit flatter, the larger hole (from the head of the screw pulling in) will be easier to fill with epoxy when gluing the gunwale on later.

It's all obvious really, so why did it take a bit of thinking to wake up to this
And I don't really want to admit to when I realised why you don't glue the gunwales in place at this stage

But before I do anything, I need to find some long bits of oregon. First stop? Recycling centres.

Richard

Howdy Richard.

I think the designer was on drugs or stealing too much from the GIS plans.

There is a wider section where the oarlocks are with an extra lamination added later for a short distance of the gunwale.

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Howdy Richard.

I think the designer was on drugs or stealing too much from the GIS plans.

There is a wider section where the oarlocks are with an extra lamination added later for a short distance of the gunwale.

MIK

Ah ha, so it's only a single strip for the gunwale. Good thing I asked.

Richard

Stopped off at a timber recycling centre today (South Rd at Richmond for you Adelaide types). Came home with the plank shown in the attachment. Old growth Oregon - slightly cupped at one end and with a couple of knots - 3.4m long, 250x45mm - cost $30

Now for the rain to stop so I can get outside and machine it down ... only the grass is too long to work over and because it's wet, I can't mow it Ah well, I have a couple of job applications and my tax return to do today

Richard

The other day, I reported buying a recycled plank of oregon. That plank is no more, rather it has been converted into sticks that will eventually become the inwales and gunwales ... plus some spare bits.

Now, assuming I haven't got this wrong, this pic shows my super modern and up to date working area. You'll note the disgusted look on the face of the foreman and the fact that rather than working on the lawn, I'm down on the paved area - this leads to problems with power cords but because of all the rain we've had recently, my backyard is essentially mud



And here's the plank in its natural glory - she's a big brute and quite hefty to move around.

First runs through the thicknesser. Being recycled, the plank is dished at one end (note the uneven planing, particularly at the top end) and has a very rough surface which isn't immediately obvious here.



And here it is reduced to the required 37mm. The plank started at 45mm but thanks to the dishing and the very rough surface grain, it wasn't smooth until it had hit that required thickness (which is a bit lucky I guess in that it didn't go any lower). Note the knots - on one side fortunately, I use that side for shorter lengths. There are also nail holes and deep cracks.



Has anyone noticed the way the pile of shavings keeps growing? Keep watching

Man she was a heavy lump to wave around. Fortunately, my son had a day off school and was able to help me feed it through the trusty Triton, it would have been too dangerous without his help, not to mention a bit of father/son bonding (as soon as I didn't need him anymore, he went back to watching Top Gear DVDs )

Here are the results of the ripping. The gunwales need to be 19mm and the inwales 12mm. Because the plank was so hard to handle, my cutting was sure to be a bit rough, that and the fact that I'm using the standard blade in the GMC saw fitted to the Triton, so I cut five sticks at 25mm and the rest at 20mm, thus giving me plenty of meat to smooth out later ... and it turned out to a good thing that I did, this was NOT an exercise in precise cutting until the plank was about half its start size. Note the sawdust under the saw - this happens when you hook up the suction to the saw but forget to turn it on



And the results of the final runs through the thicknesser. The gunwale stock is a lovely 19mm as required, but I stopped working on the inwale stock at 13.5mm instead of the required 12mm. This was done because the sticks all looked pretty good at that point and were starting to look rather thin - this boat's going to be as dainty as some of them canoe things that we see on here. Of course, I've now given Mik an out - when we weigh the final boat and it's waaaayyy heavier than expected, Mik will be able to point to the oversized inwales



Note the impressive pile of shavings? That took a bit of cleaning up I can tell you.

So that was my afternoon. Fun it was ... and noisy ... and dirty ... and I managed to finish just before it started raining again

Richard

Is does make you weep when so much of your expensive wood is turned into dust

Daddles the bright side is there is not a snail brave enough to venture into your backyard they hate saw dust.

Originally Posted by m2c1Iw

Is does make you weep when so much of your expensive wood is turned into dust

Expensive? Mate, that plank only cost me $30 from the recycling centre

Richard

Scarfed up my gunwales and inwales today (see piccy below).

Funny, it looked like I'd cut a lot of sticks yesterday but by the time I'd worked my way around the nail holes and resin filled cavities and knots and cracks, there wasn't a lot to choose from, especially as I'm toying with the idea of finishing these bright so the fewer flaws the better. Ah well, she'll either be painted or have character

Now I'm off to do something really boatie ... kill off all the weeds in the backyard

Richard

Daddles seeing sixpence in the pic there waiting patiently for her coaming got me thinking we should have another lash at steaming sometime soon.

Whadya say, I can borrow a really big LP burner from a mate just down the road should be able to get up enough steam to clean off the neighbors roof.

Originally Posted by m2c1Iw

Daddles seeing sixpence in the pic there waiting patiently for her coaming got me thinking we should have another lash at steaming sometime soon.

Whadya say, I can borrow a really big LP burner from a mate just down the road should be able to get up enough steam to clean off the neighbors roof.

I whacked a pattern onto her soon after the steaming incident and reckon I can coerce a coaming out of a standard plank ... the width of which I can't remember The biggest issue will be getting one wide enough without having to turn 80% of it into wood chips - I was looking at some Tassie Oak (since rejected, too heavy) and if we could have set up the band saw, could have cut two coamings out of the one piece. Thoughts for the future, but if you come across some reddish timber, really really wide but really really thin (I need 14mm), give a yell. It's either that or steaming or **gasp** plywood (not a bad option actually because the curve around the front has been laminated so looks like ply anyway ).

Richard

Daddles i must bow down and beg for forgiveness, i can't believe i have missed your thread i hang my head in shame (i don't tend to view this section of the forum much)

good to see you have been in your shed creating sawdust again, she looks like a very nice project.

with so many craft it looks like you have a boat yard in your photos