Simmons chines attn Hal

[Ellis Rowe]

Hal, sorry if I confused you. I didn't mean that the chines of the Simmons skiff were 6mm , The bottom and first plank that meet on the chine are 6mm.The chines are 3/4" by 3 1/2" At least that's how I build them. Yes, I am doing a how to series for WB.

[Hal Forsen]

Ellis, I'm still confused; my plans call for 9mm, are you building an Ultralight model?
When will it be in the mag?????? I am sure I'm not the only one looking forward to it.
HF

[Ellis Rowe]

Hal, the plans do call for 3/8" or 9mm , but I use 6mm Sapele. Mr. Simmons built one with 1/4" fir and it held up well. My own boat which I built 12 years ago has been rode hard and put away wet, and is in excellent condition. I didn't sheath the bottom, but I think sheathing the bottom and first plank with epoxy and glass or dynel is a good idea. Of course the boat is lighter with the 6mm so you can go ahead and eat that extra biscuit. I'm just finishing the boat for the article , so it will probably be a few issues down the road. Good luck on your project.

[G & T]

I'm building the 18' Simmons using the stich & glue bottom from Old Wharf. I used 6MM for the planking & 9MM for the bottom. I am ready to put the first side plank on now. I have had a hard time getting it to lay fair with the plank from the stitch & glue plan particularly in the stern.I'm using the rounded transom. The 6MM plywood is too flexible, doesn't want to bend fair. Now I'm trying to run a batten around it to get it fair. I also put in some frames so I have something to bend the batten around. I'm getting there just the last couple of feet at the stern still giving me a problem. Wish that magazine article was comming out sooner.

[Hal Forsen]

Ellis, Thanks for the info; A 1/4" boat definitely has it's advantages but I want the extra strength the 3/8ths provides.
Really looking forward to the articles and am anxious to get started; I've started gathering materials and experimenting with adhesives, finishes and lay outs but I still have a couple more honeydo's before I can get the strong back up and get rolling.
You must have some pictures of your boat???
HF

[pipefitter]

I also had some problems at the stern that started at the bottom side plank of the pan of the boat. I cut the frames to specs on the plans but luckily I tacked the chine battens in place before i decided to glue anything. Could have been my error but i ended up remaking the last 2 frames slightly longer to take the pucker out of this area or i would have been chasing it all the way up the sides of the boats. But alas, in the plans Dave states not to stick to the dimensions but to make sure the curves are fair and sweet.The batten showed a ¼" deficiency on the last frame ends but like i said,that could have been my error.