Wayne Jeffers
01-29-2002, 10:21 AM
Well, I got the last of the old paint burned and scraped off of the bottom of my Comet yesterday evening. I think I now know a little bit of how archaeologists must feel when they uncover clues about the past. I found a number of surprises.
First surprise: The boat was originally finished bright. At the bottom of the many layers was a healthy thickness of varnish, followed by several coats of white paint, followed by red paint, and finally the red-lead primer(!) brushed atop it all by the guy I rescued it from. I also found what appears to be a gray fairing compound in spots atop the white layer, before the red.
Three planks have been replaced at some point in the past, the two middle planks (should I call them garboards on a boat without a keel?) and the last plank before the chine on the port side. They did such a great job of spiling and finishing them that I failed to pick up on early hints of the replacement. The first middle plank I cleaned had puttied screw holes, during the varnish period, while the other planks had bungs, and I didn't think too much of it. When I began cleaning the second middle plank, the difference was obvious. It was flat-grained. The original planks are all beautiful vertical-grained with tight skinny growth rings. I then noticed the difference on the first middle plank. It is surprising to me that someone who did such good work would use such inferior materials. Maybe good vertical grain wood was no longer available?
The other planks have 7/16" bungs, which suggests to me that they may be fastened with #10 screws, as opposed to the failed #8's I found when I pulled a few screws from the middle plank. I'll pull some more screws tonight to find out.
The bottom is all edge-glued plank. The four seams that had "come unglued" turn out to be those adjoining the replaced planks. I've picked through one of those joints and found an assortment of goops, from putty, to globs of epoxy, to bathroom caulk. Most interesting find: it appears to be caulked with twisted three-strand cotton mason's twine! At least that's what I found at the bottom of the seam.
Other than the issues with the screws and the seams, the bottom is in excellent condition. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif I'll probably start cleaning off the sides tonight.
Wayne
First surprise: The boat was originally finished bright. At the bottom of the many layers was a healthy thickness of varnish, followed by several coats of white paint, followed by red paint, and finally the red-lead primer(!) brushed atop it all by the guy I rescued it from. I also found what appears to be a gray fairing compound in spots atop the white layer, before the red.
Three planks have been replaced at some point in the past, the two middle planks (should I call them garboards on a boat without a keel?) and the last plank before the chine on the port side. They did such a great job of spiling and finishing them that I failed to pick up on early hints of the replacement. The first middle plank I cleaned had puttied screw holes, during the varnish period, while the other planks had bungs, and I didn't think too much of it. When I began cleaning the second middle plank, the difference was obvious. It was flat-grained. The original planks are all beautiful vertical-grained with tight skinny growth rings. I then noticed the difference on the first middle plank. It is surprising to me that someone who did such good work would use such inferior materials. Maybe good vertical grain wood was no longer available?
The other planks have 7/16" bungs, which suggests to me that they may be fastened with #10 screws, as opposed to the failed #8's I found when I pulled a few screws from the middle plank. I'll pull some more screws tonight to find out.
The bottom is all edge-glued plank. The four seams that had "come unglued" turn out to be those adjoining the replaced planks. I've picked through one of those joints and found an assortment of goops, from putty, to globs of epoxy, to bathroom caulk. Most interesting find: it appears to be caulked with twisted three-strand cotton mason's twine! At least that's what I found at the bottom of the seam.
Other than the issues with the screws and the seams, the bottom is in excellent condition. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif I'll probably start cleaning off the sides tonight.
Wayne