Skinning Ravenswood

[vttramper]

Progress continues on my Ravenswood, in fact the end is clearly in sight! So.... how many more months until the lakes ice out in Vermont?

 

I used the double-corded stitching technique to sew up the hull and, while I really like the way it looks, I think that approach might be better suited to the heavier 11.5 oz cloth with its tighter weave (as shown in Jeff's video).  I found that I was constantly struggling to avoid pull holes when tightening up. This is certainly due in part to my complete newbie-ness regarding sewing, but it is a technique that seems to call for a cloth that you can pull tight.

 

I am much happier with the aft deck.  I got better at working with the material to get it tight before snugging up the thread, and also seemed to be better able to deal with the inevitable challenges at the stem.  Got a little straighter with my seam too!

 

I continued the cording around the cockpit and I really like how that worked out - I like the look and it was surprisingly easy to stitch. There is a tricky bit as you make the transition from the hull seam into the cockpit, as the cloth needs to be cut to allow the cord to be moved to the other side, but it is reasonably straightforward.  In retrospect I was not consistent enough in pulling the stitching taut as I worked along the combing - next time I might use sinew to sew up the combing just so I can really haul on it as I go along.

 

I stapled the cloth at the ends, but for both the bow and stern there was only about 6 inches of closure required - the rest tightened up well during sewing. I am using stem bands made from laminated strips ripped from a piece of mahogany I had in the barn. I think it looks nice and it hides those ugly staples.

 

As has been my experience with prior boats (canoes) the fabric tightened up and wrinkles vanished like magic with a little ironing.  This is actually why I went with the 8 oz cloth - I had worked with it before and liked the "shrink wrap" feature. I think I will use the heavier cloth in the future, however.

 

The deck is painted and I really like the color.  The hull will be a deep blue/green of a much darker hue and I think the contrast looks good - at least it does on my piece of test cloth.  I experimented with painting the deck color, taping, painting the deck color on the seam, and then over-painting with the hull color.  I was able to get a pretty nice line with no bleed-thru on the test cloth.  I'll find out if it works as well on a large scale in a few days!

 

 

[Hirilonde]

She looks great!

  I experimented with painting the deck color, taping, painting the deck color on the seam, and then over-painting with the hull color.  I was able to get a pretty nice line with no bleed-thru on the test cloth.  I'll find out if it works as well on a large scale in a few days!

I was able to get a nice line without the painting of the first color over the tape first.  But that technique takes you to a whole new level of perfection.

[Kudzu]

I just removed you double post to save confusion.  Boat is looking good.

[P Doug (WA)]

That is really looking nice and you sure did a lot better job sewing the coaming in than I was able to.  No matter how hard I tried, I could not get that part of mine looking anywhere near that nice.

[Deltabravo]

Looks great, like the color.

[vttramper]

That is really looking nice and you sure did a lot better job sewing the coaming in than I was able to.  No matter how hard I tried, I could not get that part of mine looking anywhere near that nice.

I claim no talent for sewing! I think what worked well was carrying the cord around the combing.  It was tricky to make the transition from the deck to the combing, but then the stitching went really well and having the cord seemed to make it easier to keep the edge consistent and it makes for a nice clean look, I think.