Iain Oughtred plan set problems?

[Greg Luckett]

I am very interested in building one of Iain Oughtred's designs but have heard from a local amatuer builder that the plan set he purchased for the Tammie Norrie was incomplete, and of poor quality, even having blood stains and correction marks, etc. I am having trouble understanding why that happened because Iain is held in such high regard world wide.

Do Iain's plan sets have problems being incomplete or contradictory, such as the offsets, etc.

I am most interested in the Puffin and the Guillemot designs at this point and the Tammie Norrie looks interesting too.

Thank you,

Greg Luckett

[John Turpin]

How strange. It almost sounds like a set of plans that were sold and then returned. Oughtred's plans are available from several sources, so that might have something to do with it. I'd be inclined to buy directly from Iain. I also suspect that Oughtred would replace that set of plans with a new set.

The blood stains, of course, make perfect sense. I usually mark every page of my plans with blood. My tools and clothes too. And the floor. Sometimes, the ceiling.

[Greg Luckett]

This particular set came directly from Iain. I speculated that a developement set might have been shipped by mistake, but the builder then mentioned that he was discussing a similar problem with another builder in Nova Scotia, which then made me hesitate to order any plan sets. I am considering calling Iain directly, but would like to have some information from other builders before I do. Incidently, I need to find his phone and address too.

[John Turpin]

This contact info is about a year old, but may still be current:

IAIN OUGHTRED

Struan Cottage

Bearnisdale

Isle of Skye

Scotland IV51 9NS

01470 532 732

[Greg Luckett]

Thank you John.

[Greg Luckett]

Does Iain have an email address which he uses?

[John Turpin]

Sorry, Greg. I'm not sure Iain lives in this century. I asked the same question once, and was told that writing him a letter is the way to go.

[Greg Luckett]

I questioned this person again since it did not seem to add up. It turns out he purchased his plan set via Ebay. I guess we now know why the set seemed incomplete and used... :roll: .

I have not gotten any negative feedback as to Iain's plan sets, but just the opposite. I have no qualms about buying a set from him now, but do have a problem deciding which one. They all look interesting.

[Mike Pennington]

Greg,

My set of plans for the Caledonia Yawl are in excellent condition. Definitely new. I did perchase his book as well, and although it is fairly general by covering several of his boats, and not just one, it does explane his methods.

I purchased my plans from the Wooden Boat Store, and I later found out he sells an updated set for a seven plank boat versus the four plank set from WB. I have also heard something to the effect about him living in another centry. However, from what the builders say from the site we both joined, he is very good about honoring his work. Though he may be a bit slow and someone also made a joke about him using a pencil to write an appology. His plans may be a bit more expensive than the ones WB sells, I payed $150 for the four plank set and the seven plank set cost $200. That may be because there was more work involved in laying out the off sets for molds. Or todays prices.

The conclusion I came to about the detail of Iains plans is that you have to put your thinking cap on, study them well before beginning. A more experienced builder might breeze through them, and have no trouble. But I plan to make plenty of paterns and check the build out as I go.

I am itching to start, but my time is taken up by the Islander 23 I just bought.

Mike

[Greg Luckett]

Mike,

If you go to the lofting section in Iain's newest book, it will tell you how to set up however many planks you want, within reason. I think the 7 plank hull would look prettier. Maybe Iain would sell you that part of the plan set at a reduced price?

That yawl is pretty. The fellow teaching my boat building class has one in his garage next to the shop, and he sails it every summer.

[Mike Pennington]

Thanks, Greg

I am assuming you mean section 3-7, lining off?

That part made my head hurt

I will probably stay with the four plank for now, since I already started the molds.

Stupid me, hired on with Providence Medical Center in Anchorage, at least for a short contract. My wife wants to buy another house, tax deduction :roll: It seems I can only stay retired for a few months at a time.

So, this means I am not going to set the molds up on the frame, until I move into that new place. Thus I am reduced to small progects like restoring the Twin-Keeled Islander 23 which is out at my homestead and making ten foot oars out of white spruce and cedar in my garage.

Actually, the oar project has caught my interest. I am not sure about my choice of woods, but it is what I have on hand and what the heck, I'm having fun.

Mike

[Greg Luckett]

Yes, Mike, 3.7, but actually all of Section 3. I am glad I had an instructor teach me this because reading about it makes my head hurt too... At least I can understand it now, and this method works better than the method all the other books talk about. Iain's book is the only one that I have found teaching his method. If you go to the March/April 2006 WoodenBoat magazine and look for The Landing School ad on pg 19, you will notice the planks start out wide at the garboard then progressively narrow moving to the shear. At least they are evenly spaced and look ok, but using Iain's method, the plank widths will all be of equal size and look more uniform (my preference).

Another example of planking mistakes causing uneven planking is the Puffin built by an amateur. It is still a very nice boat, just not of a quality to be sold by a professional boat builder.

The last pic is the Lobster boat being built using Iain's lofting procedures.

[Mike Pennington]

Okay,

I'll go make my head hurt again you convienced me.

[Mike Pennington]

Argh! I just lost a long post that I spent some time writing. GRRRR!

Basically all over again, yeah, I'm starting to get the picture. I'll lay out the girth widths of my CY using the graph technique to see if I truelly understand. I have my plank widths per station already, so I'll see if I can come close. :idea:

My next hurdle will be the planking, I plan to buy some battons to help out with making the patterns, and also investigate the scarphing jig Iain illistartes in 5-6. 19 foot plank lengths seem a bit awkward to handle.

Later Greg, thanks for the swift kick in the brain pan :wink:

Mike

Here is the reason I lost the post, a view from about 2/3's of the way up the Eagle's main mast.

To see a few more neat pictures, check out Lars Opland's User Gallery at www.aurorawolf.com only the index page comes up, the site is still under construction, just click on gallery.

[Greg Luckett]

Mike,

Are you planning to scarf the planks while in place on the boat? If so, I am not sure how this could be done and have the hull fair out nicely.

Boat building class method: We first make a pattern using the cheaper Luan 6mm stuff, then transfer the shape to the expensive wood, positioning the sections (two 8 foot, and one from 4 to 6 ft long), laying out where the scarf joints need to be positioned, then scarf the pieces and then glue them together. Once the plank blank scarfs are hard, we again lay the pattern on and draw out the shape, then using a circ saw, we cut the plank, then put it back on the boat to double check. At this point the plank is about 20 foot long. One person can do this but it is much better to have two. Use planking clamps attached to the molds to rest the plank on in order to get it into the proper position.

At this point the stem cut can be determined. Leave the transom overhang alone for now, but cut the plank stem angle, leaving some proud of the cut line mark, then using a right angle grinder with a 40 grit to custom shape the plank. This point is where each plank needs to be checked for alignment with its sister on the other side and to make sure you are not getting creep in the widths. A 1/8" or 1/16, for example, creep on each plank will cause the shear to move up on the stem that amount times the number of planks.

The rest is a matter of beveling the previous plank, putting the stem and transom gains in, and fine tuning the position and edges to be fair. Incidently the inside edges should have a small bevel to relieve any sharp corners. We use a low angle block plane for this.

I have probably left some things out, but this is the gist of it.

[Greg Luckett]

Mike,

I looked at that link you provided. Those are some cool pics. Is the bear part of your crew?

[Mike Pennington]

Yep, we send him across the boarding plank first, to take out any resistance.

You of course noticed how nimble he is on his feet.

In truth, he is a professional dumpster raider. He was really upset when they dumped the bin early that day. :wink: I wouldn't have believed he could walk along the edge of the dumpster like that, but a picture is the proof.