Steaming floorboards - video

[Songololo]

A nice video by Eric of Hvalsoe Boats showing the floor board steam bending and fitting process: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7187839141896839101#

[Eric Hvalsoe]

A thundering response. Yeadon shot the video, It was kind of a fun to do.
Why this layout?
The 13 and 16 have full length gunwale to gunwale ribs, a common round bottom build, some scantlings on the light end of the spectrum. No floor timbers, unnecessary and unwanted in this kind of hull construction. Never heard anyone accuse the boats of being high sided - I don't want to lose interior depth by raising the height of the floorboards, thus the floorboards lay against the existing hull ribs. I don't want to pierce the hull ribs with floorboard fastenings and I want the floorboards easily removable for maintenance, thus the independent panels. I want the floorboard surfaces clear and clean with nothing to catch my arse or by feet. Underway quite a bit of time is spent sitting on the floorboards in the aft cockpit area, and in general a fair amount of moving around especially single handed. The floorboard system combines with my removable foot rests. The floorboard ribs index and rest nicely against the hull ribs. The floorboard panels are truly shaped to the hull surface, there is very little springback or tension. The outboard brass clips are kind of a back up and prevent the panel perimeters from being wrenched or floated upward. Keep in mind this is round bottom, plank over frame construction.
Very rarely do I get water above the floorboards.
I can hunker down nicely in the aft cockpit area for a sound sleep.

[Lulworth]

Thanks for the video. Interesting.

One question/observation. Without an easily removed, sponge sized section of floor board, it seems like the boat will be impossible to fully bail on the water without serious contortions. Am I missing something?

Thanks again, David

[Don Kurylko]

Nice work Eric! I learned something today. One question though: do you spile the floorboards at all, or taper them? Or, are they just a straight fit between the spacers? (Oops, that's three, I guess.)

Cheers,
Don

PS You and Tim should do a series, with a better quality cam though. You could sell the DVD's and earn a bit of pocket money for Friday night beers. :D

[Eric Hvalsoe]

Thanks for the video. Interesting.

One question/observation. Without an easily removed, sponge sized section of floor board, it seems like the boat will be impossible to fully bail on the water without serious contortions. Am I missing something?

Thanks again, David

Good quesiton, but it does not seem to be a problem. If there is enough water to bother me, I usually move to the side, bring the rails down a bit and pump out midship about the turn of the bilge. I never seem to use a sponge. We are only talking about 3/8 cedar (plank stock) over the bent ribs. There is not any depth of bilge under there. A cutout does not seem necessary for the pump or a sponge.

[Eric Hvalsoe]

Nice work Eric! I learned something today. One question though: do you spile the floorboards at all, or taper them? Or, are they just a straight fit between the spacers? (Oops, that's three, I guess.)

Cheers,
Don

PS You and Tim should do a series, with a better quality cam though. You could sell the DVD's and earn a bit of pocket money for Friday night beers. :D

Don,
The short answer is that the floorboards are spiled to mimic the plank lines. Garboard, broad, and third strakes.

The only permanent spacers are set between the center flbd pieces and the flbd panels, as an indexing mechanism. The individual floorboards are carefully 'gapped' when fastened to their individual bent frame pieces. The margin piece, to which the brass tabs are fastened, is carefully 'gapped' around the perimeter of the floorboard panels. There has to be just enough clearance for the panel to lift up and slide outboard of the margin piece. This allows the floorboard frames to slip out from under the 'permanent' centerline floorboard.

Yah I think this and a few other operations would make great videos. I have a much more distinguished beard now.

[Don Kurylko]

Thanks Eric. Yup, a distinguished beard would really sell it!

[Yeadon]

Hah! I'd forgotten about this movie. We shot it at least a year or so ago in Eric's shop in Shoreline. I think it has stood the test of time.

That however, was the beardless Eric. Here is the new Eric.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4654278674_2db4d1e3a0_z.jpg