Scott Dunsworth Posted December 9, 2017 Report Share Posted December 9, 2017 New project, basically a total rebuild, very little is savable. 75% of the cedar planks are good, the hardware and that's about it. There are some odds and end parts like the dash, deck beams that are still usable. Here's some pic's of the general condition. I will have to re rib the whole boat, they are white oak. The inner keel is white oak also. I have made a new mahogany transom this week all it needs now is fairing to fit the boat. It came in at 3lbs heaver than the original mahogany transom that was rotted through in a few places. My plan is to install the new transom, new battens and outer keel. Then start replacing every other rib starting aft and working forward, then start aft again and replace the remaining ribs. We will see how it goes over the winter. I got this boat about ten years ago and sidelined it till I needed some winter entertainment. The ribs steam pretty easy, the hard part will be not losing the hull shape. I'm trying not to remove anymore planking then I have to, that should help keep the shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAR Posted December 10, 2017 Report Share Posted December 10, 2017 I'm glad you noticed this. If I was doing that rebuild I'd have removed the garboard, likely skipped a plank and removed the next, helping retain as much shape as practical. Additionally, when there as bad as I think you have, I'll rip 1/4" (on that size boat) into 8" - 12" wide strips and use these diagonally over the existing planking, again to help hold the boat's shape and stabilize it. I'd also likely build interior frames to push up or pull down on certain areas that seem obviously out of whack. All of this done, before the ribs get removed and replaced. These would be done every other or every third one at a time, also to preserve the shape. The aft most ribs will be the toughest to bend, as that bilge turn on those old sea skiff hulls is tight. The last 1/4 of the hull don't be surprised to break 50% of them if you're not laminating. I've done a number of that style of hull and I usually do laminate, at least the last 1/4, where the turn is tight. Maybe every other one, to save some effort and goo. At midship it gets a lot easier to bend them in as solid stock. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted December 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2017 Thanks for some pointers Parr. I wasn't thinking about breaking any ribs in the aft area. I noticed when the boat was built that they cut the first three ribs in the bow section under the keel, guess there's no way to make that hair pen turn. Don't really know why I'm doing this, the boat is really ready for the burn pile. Just want to save an old boat and learn some new things that have nothing to do with technologies I guess. The planks are 3/8 x 1 cedar bead and cove. Going to try and find some cedar locally, if not, I do have access to clear cypress that I used on my cold molded 28. The wood seems pretty similar in weight and stiffness, what do you think? Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirilonde Posted December 10, 2017 Report Share Posted December 10, 2017 5 hours ago, Scott Dunsworth said: Don't really know why I'm doing this, the boat is really ready for the burn pile. Just want to save an old boat and learn some new things that have nothing to do with technologies I guess. This is the last place on Earth where you would have to explain or justify working on a boat. All you need to be able to say is that you think it will be fun, but we already assumed that. Have fun! I'm going to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted December 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 Well got the transom dry fitted, Douglass fir keel. Cut some notches in the transom for the inside rib battens and then I think I'm ready to start replacing the ribs. Going to temporarily fasten the keel at bow and transom to help keep everything in shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Potts Posted December 14, 2017 Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 You probably already know this, Scott, but you'll be able to bend those ribs into tighter curves if you use green wood that has been split along the grain and shaved/planed to size rather than lumber that's been dried and ripped to dimension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted December 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 Never thought about using green wood Ken. I have about 25 white oak ribs already cut they are 1 1/4 wide by 7/16ths thick. I bent two of the easy ones a few years ago by just soaking them a few days. Hoping that they bend even easier steamed. Read somewhere that soaking them a while before steaming that they will take the bending even easier than just steaming. I have seen red oak soaked where you could just about ty a knot in it. But white oak is a different animal, doesn't soak up water real easy. Red oak does like a straw and will fill up its whole core till its water logged. The only thing that worries me right now is the bow work. I can see this whole boat would be much easier to build new, than trying to replace stuff in reverse. Anyway this is a new woodworking class for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAR Posted December 14, 2017 Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 When bending stock, it's all about stock selection. Avoiding grain run out, defects, using a sheet metal backer as you bend, and green stock helps tremendously. When bending questionable stock (dry, grain run out, etc.) expect 50% breakage in the worst of the aft bilge turn pieces. Even if you use perfect stock, you're going to experence breakage, so have a 10 - 15% over supply of stock (best case). On ribs of those dimensions, you'll get some "bust out" on the outside of the bend (unless quite rift sawn), so back it up with a steel or aluminum strap as it's bent (assuming in place on the boat), to help prevent this occurrence to challenge your inventive cursing techniques. Moisture content is important and soaking helps, but it's the heat that gets the job done, so have a heat gun (a good one) ready, to convince the last bit to go in. Lastly, consider over bending about 10% of the radius in the tighter areas. You'll have some spring back once it's released and relaxes a bit. Placing a 1x2 or 2x4 (or wedges/shims) under the rib as it's bent in, can get this accomplished and use the eyeball method, for the amount of additional bend you might need. On repairs and restorations like this, I usually make adjustable bending jigs, so I can bend them on a bench, rather than fight with them in the boat. This insures I get accurate bends, including spring back and of course makes laminating much easier. Lastly, these puppies are notorious for "tension cracks" in the aft sections of the bilge turn. I almost always laminate these, to avoid them in the future. Contrary to popular opinion, all the oaks epoxy well, once you remove the tannins with a chemical scrub, just prior to applying goo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted December 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 Thanks for more tips, I need everything I can get. I was wrong on the thickness of the ribs, they are 5/16ths not 7/16ths. Hope this helps me out a bit. Got everything ready this morning to turn it over and start this adventure Monday. Par I the new ribs have very straight grain, but I cut these out about four years ago and they are very dry I'm sure. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAR Posted December 14, 2017 Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 What kind of grain; flat sawn, quarter, vertical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Potts Posted December 15, 2017 Report Share Posted December 15, 2017 If you've already got the ribs there's no reason not to give them a try. At 5/16 you'll probably get most if not all of them bent and if you do have troubles you can laminate the difficult curves as Paul suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted December 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2017 The board was flat sawed, but I cut the ribs width from that then turn them on edge and resawed each piece, so I don't know what you would call that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAR Posted December 16, 2017 Report Share Posted December 16, 2017 Post a shot of the end grain . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted December 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2017 Didn't replace any ribs this week, went sailing instead. Going to have to remove the inner sheer before I start. Going slow trying to think this through before jumping in. Here's a few pictures of the condition and job ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAR Posted December 24, 2017 Report Share Posted December 24, 2017 I typically use the sheer clamp (what I think you're calling the inner sheer) to hold the replacement ribs as inserted. I do often loosen up the sheer clamp fasteners to provide some gap, so I'm not fighting with them and enough space to over bend them slightly, to counteract spring back. It's not necessary and I know several that remove it and just clamp the ribs in place instead. In the end, I think you'll have to decide how much shape are you going to lose by its removal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted January 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2018 Got some strips soaking in a tube yesterday. Got the steam box pretty much finished also. Now if I could just get some weather warm enough the steam doesn't freeze in the air. Looks like Monday it will get up to 40 around here after two weeks of teens for highs and singles for lows. So the plan is to give this a try on Monday sometime. PAR the end grain in the cut strips are flat, hope this is good. If not, going to try them anyway and see what happens. My old Sony cam uses a 3 1/2 disc and just wont show something that close and detailed. Some will find it hard to believe that someone still has a 3 1/2 inch floppy on their pc, but I do, also I still use a flip phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Ribs are going in in the morning, see how it goes, Steam box is done, cant wait for this new adventure, good or bad it will still better than watching CNN or jerry springer!!!!!!! Both about the same to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAR Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I hope your "steam box" isn't a galvanized tube or pipe. I made this mistake on my first steam box, figuring it would be easy to use a galvanized chimney pipe. Steamed things like a charm, but . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Potts Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 "But..." Okay, I'll bite! Why is a galvanised tube bad for steaming? And what's wrong with Jerry Springer? That was good old fashioned fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I used steel duck pipe with a ladder rack inside and insulated it well. Going to start in a few hours, Adventure it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.