help with cradle boat

[Fretz]

I ve been asked to help a friend build a cradleboat. I'm honored but he picked the most complicated one with oak ribs and copper fastenings. the baby is due in october and id like to spend most of my freetime sailing this summer. What do i do?

I recomended a kit but at 6-700 he thinks thats expensive. I've never done lofting but i have restored a lapstrake skiff.

[JimD]

Fretz, define 'help' :D On the plus side its only going to be about 4 feet long. What design is it? Can you talk him into the Jordan lapstrake instead? It comes with full size patterns for station moulds, strakes, and backbone and could be glued. Sounds like it might go together faster. Has he built a traditionally framed and fastened boat before? Maybe if you can convince him how much time it actually takes he may reconsider. On the other hand if he wants something very traditional for the ages have fun rivetting (or whatever method of fastening he has lined up for you).

[Fretz]

He has 0 experience but is not afraid of a challenge. work would be done at my shop to hide it from his wife. He keeps saying "4 feet how hard can it be" I see the same # of ribs, laps joints etc eating up alot of time.

[JimD]

Perhaps suggest to him to make a two foot model of the boat first, to get a little practice under the belt and give him the key to your garage so he can let himself in to build the model in secret. He'll be tired of rabbets and strake lands in no time. Not to mention slivers in his fingers :D

[cdragon]

I built two for my twins, and yes, it is pretty much like building a regular boat, just the pieces are shorter...
Unless he's an experienced builder, it's not that easy-I used kits and recommend it.
I loved building them and loved seeing my boys in them-two problems-one is that they only sleep in them for a few months after all that work and two-now that they are 5 they are desperate to take my works of art and use them as toys (translation:gradually destroy them..)!

[Kevin G]

Fretz:
I built the Jordan Baby Tender. The plans were clear, and I found it quite rewarding to build. I had some experience rebuilding a couple of canoes and boats, but not much when it comes to boat building. There were some challenges, but nothing that couldnt be overcome by taking time and care. It is quite a gift for a new child.

I also built the Bahama Dingy cradle for another grandson. That is the cradle in the Fathers Boat Cradle book. The book is for sale at the Wooden Boat Store. Either of these is a good choice for someone who is willing to put in the time, about 9 months if I remember correctly. They were both launched on time. Look up "Sea Squirt" and "Sea Pup" on "My Wooden Boat". Tell your friend to go for it, they were boat good learning experiences.

Kevin

[Keith Wilson]

Well, I've built three; all different, all my own designs. Several ideas:
- Try to talk him into glued lapstrake construction if you can. It's a LOT easier, particularly on such a small scale, and IMHO it makes a much better cradle - no lumpy frames, no rivets, no little spaces under the fames that are hard to clean when the baby throws up or his diaper leaks, much easier to finish. I maybe had 100 hours total in each of mine, and that includes drawing up the design.
- 1/8" doorskin plywood is the ideal planking material. It's cheap, easy to find, is very flexible, doesn't split, and IMHO is quite pretty when varnished. I've always used lauan (oak has too coarse and obvious a grain) with varnish outside and ordinary latex paint inside for ease of cleaning. I think it looks pretty good.
- Double-enders are a lot easier than boats with transoms, both in construction and design
- Remember that it's not a boat. There are all sorts of shortcuts you can take which might affect strength and durability of a boat that don't matter at all for a cradle.
- I used epoxy rather than Titebond or some other furniture glue; it fills gaps MUCH better.
- A little brass hardware dresses it up all out of proportion to the cost and effort.
- If you design one, I'd suggest starting with a dead flat panel (football-shaped on a double-ender) for the bottom, sort of like Steve Redmond's Elver. It makes the inside more hospitable, simplifies construction, and gives you an excellent place to bolt on the rockers.
- It has to contain at least some wood from a real boat that has sailed on the ocean. I don’t know why, that’s just the tradition.

[ 04-21-2005, 11:58 AM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]

[Fretz]

Well he ordered the plans for the jordan lapstrake baby tender. We will go over the plans when he gets them and lay out our plan of action.
It says about 120 hours is this realistic?
it is also riveted. can i adapt it to glued lapstrake easy enough?
If he is set on doing this i cant see it being 2 hard to build 2 at once. with no kids on the way i have to wonder if that would be wise though...

[JimD]

Yes, you could easily glue instead of rivet. And if you can notch the rabbet into the backbone accurately you'll already be a better boat builder than I am. On the other hand if it doesn't turn out so well a glue with gap filling property can be a wonderful thing.