26' Calkins' Bartender framed up

[L.W. Baxter]

I've spent about 250 hours in the shop since August, building frames, stem, sternpost, breasthooks, deck beams, keelson, getting up the jig, laminating chines and clamps, and now fairing...

This is how she looks as of this afternoon:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid154/p18c60063f5cc105f5a48f63f9b4863f0/f5760db9.jpg

The Bartender is a double-ended planing boat. George Calkins designed it for plywood plank-on-frame back in the 50's. George and the Bartenders were featured in the December 2001 Woodenboat. I bought the plans shortly afterwards. I doubt I was the only one to do so.

Here is a look at the straight run aft, with the chine running into the sternpost in the foreground:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid154/pd17e154e7bbfb60b4a16ac0c52b1f920/f5760dbd.jpg

I laminated chines and clamps out of Douglas Fir, as I had plenty on hand. The glue is epoxy, which fills gaps nicely. redface.gif

In fact, I've used Douglas fir for everything except the deck beams and breasthooks, which are spruce. Here is the laminated stem, as it is nearing final shape:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid154/p30783996440305f8d23713db2a5d5291/f5760dbb.jpg

I still have some fairing to do before I start planking. Here I am shaving the keelson:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid154/p3972b923d3d0b4cb48ecb929fcf132cd/f5755438.jpg

A link to an imagestation album with exhaustive documentation of the framing process:

Bartender album (http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=4285867349)

--Lee

[RonW]

Good deal, you will have to report back on how it rides.Suppose to be one mean rough water boat. How big is yours, and what horsepower.

http://bartenderboats.com/

http://bartenderboats.com/images/calkins.jpg

[ 01-15-2005, 11:48 PM: Message edited by: RonW ]

[imported_Steven Bauer]

Very nice Lee! I know a guy in South Portland who is building one, too. He's using all mahogany for the framing and backbone. I haven't seen it for a while, I should check in on him.

Steven

[JimD]

Looking very, very good :cool:

[alteran]

Very nice, that must explain your smile. smile.gif

Keep smiling till its done...........

[Dave Gray]

Looks great, Lee. Is this the doug fir you "harvested" from Home Depot and other places? Where did you get the spruce?

[Ken Hutchins]

That sure looks nice, keep up the good work. smile.gif

[Kevin G]

Nice boat. We had a fellow in the boat club who had built one meny years ago. He built it out of steel and named it 'Titanium'. Claimed it was the only Bartender built of steel. He has passed away and the boat got sold and haven't seen it in about 10 years.

[videoguy]

NIce job you do fine work but your shops to clean. what are you trying to do make me look like a slob. smile.gif smile.gif keep the pictures coming. smile.gif smile.gif ....Phil

[Mike Vogdes]

Nice looking work... And, what Phill said, you shamed me into cleaning up my shop.

[L.W. Baxter]

Ron, I don't have a motor yet, but will be using an inboard with a direct drive, between 140 and 200 hp.

Dave, you do remember right, I got my framing lumber (about 300 bf total) out of beams I selected from local lumber yards last early spring. (The best place is the Parr store on 185th in Hillsboro, in case you ever need posts or beams, they've got a huge selection.) Anyway, by August, it had dried out to ~15% moisture content so I was able to get going.

Here's a couple pictures of that:

Resawing beams for framing (http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4286688709)

The spruce I'm using is selected from 2-by fascia material. Most of the local builders use this pre-primed spruce for fascia. As near as I can tell, it appears to be mostly Engleman Spruce. It is fairly nice stuff, in terms of having tight, straight grain and few knots, but it's a poor choice for home fascia, especially around here. The sapwood is frequently black with fungus before the house is even done.

I'm using heartwood only in the boat, of course.

Well, thanks for taking an interest everybody.

Ron says I should report back on how it rides, so I'll let you know...in a coupla years! ;)

--Lee

[Bob Smalser]

Nice work and great wood selection.

[JimConlin]

I've admired that design for close to 30 years. Remember vividly a Bartender at Moore Harbor, Isle au Haut, named Fishhawk. Looked like a very purposeful boat. Anybody seen it since?

[Bill Childs]

Way to go Lee - looks awesome.
Kind of a shame to cover all that pretty framing though. I would leave it just the way it is. :cool:

[L.W. Baxter]

Nice work and great wood selection.Yeah, I got some good advice early on. ;)

[L.W. Baxter]

I would leave it just the way it is.Well Bill, as you know, the Bartender does have lots of reserve bouyancy... but prolly not that much.

[Ed Harrow]

Hillsboro! One of my favorite places. The Greenwood Inn was nearly my second home for a few years. One could even get a damn good dinner there; first rate.

Nice work, Mr Baxter.

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

I have to agree. ;)
Very nice work. :cool:

[Ross M]

Mighty nice stuff, Mr. Baxter - well done.

Ross

PS: by "stuff", I mean the design, the materials, the workmanship and the photography.

[edsr]

LW - Did you go with the , 8' or with the 8-1/2'x26? Looks like a boat already.
edsr

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

By all accounts a very capable boat. Good work :cool:

[gert]

nice work, your skill shows.

[L.W. Baxter]

edsr, I went with the narrower, lower, original model.

My principle use will be fishing, and the occasional picnic tour(with fishing on the side), so the wider, deeper accomodations of the "cruising" model didn't seem necessary to me.

--Lee