Building the Maid

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  • J.Madison
    Senior Member
    • Mar 2011
    • 3976

    Re: Building the Maid

    All right, how bout an update. It's been a while and the main reason is that I'm waiting and waiting for some decent weather to do the ballast pour. Oregon is just sopping wet with record rainfalls that are showing no sign of abating. Tomorrow has the best forecast for a long while so I'll keep a weather eye on the horizon and just maybe I'll be able to do it tomorrow.

    As it was, today was lumber day. I went down to the mill to pick up the load of logs that they had taken for me a week or two ago.

    Two cedar and two oak logs flitch sawn at 8/4". I am very happy with my mill- the entire job, including driving out with the self-loading truck, loading, and milling- cost me $280. It worked out to about 30 cents/ bd ft. Basically free as far as I'm concerned. A friend just bought some old growth WRC for $8/ bd ft. Lower quality "planking grade" stuff has been going for more than $2/ bd ft. Oak sells for something above $5 if I remember right, so I feel like I did pretty good.

    In order to properly dry the fresh stuff I needed to move all the dried lumber that is left over from an ambitious few weeks with a wood mizer. We got to estimating and I think I've got about 6000 bd ft of home grown lumber, pretty evenly split between fir and cedar. Its not all boat quality but I darn well better be able to find enough that is.



    I wanted to put the new wood where this wood was laying so I needed a way to store the old stuff elsewhere- preferably a way that did not ruin my careful air drying and made it easy to inspect each board as I wanted. Here is the contraption I came up with.



    It is built of some old soft spruce masts that are left over from a restoration I did. I remember reading something about a rack like this a while back so that is where the inspiration came from.

    After hours of heavy lifting...



    Those boards are all 16 ft long and quite heavy. I alternated sides to create an air gap so that the boards will not gain too much moisture. The bottoms are resting on scrap to keep them out of the dirt.

    Here are some shots of the freshly milled wood:

    The cedar..


    These are all 25 ft long and about 16" wide.

    The oak....


    The long ones are 18 ft long and the short ones are 8 ft long. All of this wood looks much smaller in pictures. The big oak planks took 4 guys to lift.

    That's where I'm sitting now. With any luck I will get the ballast poured tomorrow and we can get back to the boat building. Then if you have the patience to hang out long enough, you just might see all this wood start to become boat shaped. Perhaps someday it will even float. That will be a good day.

    Comment

    • Larks
      Larks
      • Jul 2007
      • 16793

      Re: Building the Maid

      Talk about wood envy!! That's a terrific load you have there. We'd never be able to stack timber on its ends like that here without getting it off the ground, a few weeks and it'd be riddled with white ants.

      Does it make any difference to it as it gets rained on? I imagine that it'd then dry at the top first with moisture sort of draining to the lower sections and possibly drying unevenly??
      Larks

      “It’s impossible”, said pride.
      “It’s risky”, said experience.
      “It’s pointless”, said reason.
      “Give it a try”, whispered the heart.

      LPBC Beneficiary

      "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great!"

      Comment

      • PeterSibley
        Senior Member
        • Dec 2001
        • 70993

        Re: Building the Maid

        The other reason for block stacking Australian hardwood is that the internal tensions can twist it quite badly if it isn't firmly stacked and weighted down .
        '' You ain't gonna learn what you don't want to know. ''
        Grateful Dead

        Comment

        • chuckt
          Senior Member
          • Oct 2009
          • 4970

          Re: Building the Maid

          Great project. I've been a lurker here a while.

          I'm curious what it costs to have a keel cast and what the savings is for DIY. I doubt I will ever do this but I'm curious since it seems like everyone who does this, and posts about it, has some trepidation about the task. It would downright scare me I think
          Chuck Thompson

          Comment

          • Alex Low
            Trad Rad
            • Mar 2007
            • 460

            Re: Building the Maid

            Nice pile of lumber man! What about that Yew log?

            Chuckt - we just had the ballast cast at a foundry for a restoration project here - 6,000 lbs.... and as for price the old saying definitely applies:

            'If you have to ask....'

            Alex

            Comment

            • J.Madison
              Senior Member
              • Mar 2011
              • 3976

              Re: Building the Maid

              Originally posted by Alex Low
              Nice pile of lumber man! What about that Yew log?

              Chuckt - we just had the ballast cast at a foundry for a restoration project here - 6,000 lbs.... and as for price the old saying definitely applies:

              'If you have to ask....'

              Alex
              I decided not to saw up the yew log with this load because of the high wastage of the wide kerf circular blade used by my local mill. I am going to take that log, as well as a load of black locust my uncle is giving me, to a guy with a band mill to minimize the waste on the smaller logs.

              I know nothing of the price of having a foundry cast lead. Truth be told I never even considered it. The boat building books all have a chapter on pouring your own lead so I just thought it was part of the job. Besides I've actually been looking forward to it. That said- if you do not think it would be safe to do it then by all means hire a pro. There are a lot of ways that a lead pour can go wrong and they all need to be addressed if you are going to do the job.

              First and foremost if any moisture at all contacts the molten lead it will explode and spray everywhere. Things have to be perfectly dry for a safe job. Then there is the health issues of the fumes and dust and the fire hazard and many other risks I'm sure.

              But in the end- it is completely doable by a home builder. I can say this with confidence because today I did the pour for the Maid of Endor.

              The forecast changed from 20% showers to just "Cloudy" when I woke up so I green-lit the operation. Things looked like rain the whole day but luckily it never showed up. We kept a lid on the tank and didn't even bring the mold out of the shop until the fire was going nicely. Then we had a tarp ready to keep the mold dry if a shower passed through. Its not ideal but we had a plan in place in case rain came.

              Things started out shaky- my system for holding the tank aloft didn't pass closer scrutiny so I had to jet off to buy a bunch of cement blocks. Then the fire severely weakened one of the cross beams and I had to put out the fire, jack up the fully loaded tank, and put a stronger beam in place.



              Here we are gingerly threading a stronger beam in place after round 1 failed. (Its an old hitch off a truck I no longer own.) With the tank re-settled and the heat shields back in place a second fire was started.



              The mold was positioned and lagged down to the supporting cant to keep the dadoes from splitting out. Sheet metal was used to protect the cement from the heat. These cheap blocks are not very strong under high heat so I deemed the plates necessary. It worked well in the end.

              Here is a close-up of my favorite part of the melting tank.


              There is something about that stenciled writing that just reminds me of a James Bond movie.

              I kept feeding the fire with my mold and backbone offcuts. This shot shows the pouring mechanism. It is a common method for pours like this. The bottom pipe is hooked to an elbow that is welded to the bottom of the tank. When it is time to pour the pipe is just rotated down and the lead comes rushing out.





              It wasn't a super big fire but it did the job nicely. At one point I said "things are probably starting to melt- let's pop the top and have a look and then it is probably time to put on the respirators." I looked and the lead was almost completely melted already. I didn't even use up all my shop scraps, let alone the big piles of firewood I had standing by. It didn't take a huge fire and it didn't take very long- melting lead is easy.



              Here are all the ridiculous plywood devises my dad set up. (He refers to himself as "safety man.") The vertical pieces were to catch the spray if it came out of the pipe before the pipe was all the way tipped down into the mold. The flat pieces had a bit more obscure purpose but I think he figured that if the mold over flowed and was going to hit the sopping wet ground it would give us another moment or two to run away. In the end they partly worked.

              tbc....

              Comment

              • J.Madison
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2011
                • 3976

                Re: Building the Maid

                Carrying on....

                When all seemed well with the world I got a long 2x4 and pushed the pipe down to the mold. Nothing happened. But this was expected. Just a moment or two with the big torch and it was like the plug had been pulled. The lead rushed down into the mold incredibly fast. Just a few seconds and it was over-flowing.



                The liquid lead was bubling and popping so much that even though there was more than enough lead in the pot to fill it to the brim the top half inch or so was all thrown out by the violent bubbling. If I was doing it again I would try to control it in a slower pour so that I could add more once the first most extreme bubbling was over. It didn't actually stop bubbling until the top had solidified about 40 minutes later. I guess it was just moisture leaving the wood as it heat up. Perhaps painting with waterglass could have lessened this but I'm not sure. The excess all ended up on the ground so tomorrow I'll have to collect the chunks and remelt them to get the rocks out.



                You can see all the steam here that caused that first wild bubbling after lead hit the wood. My mom was quite scared of this whole operation and built herself a little bomb bunker to hide behind for the big moment.



                That is why all the pictures of the actual pour are from so far away.

                Then she got brave and came forward for a few closeups. This is about a minute after pouring. You can see that it is still writhing like there are hot-tub jets in the bottom.



                The I got the genius idea to pour some lead shot in the top thinking that all the heat would melt it. It didn't. So I pulled out the torch and tried to help it along but as predicted- the mold started to burn. I didn't really need that extra height as the mold was built a bit tall- so I gave up. Tomorrow I'll have to scrape off the loose BBs before flattening.



                Finally all the stress and adrenaline was over and we sat down to celebrate our success with a milkshake.



                It was very hard work, and a bit dangerous too, but I feel like it is not a huge obstacle for building your own boat. I will definitely do it again for my future builds. (yeah yeah... doesn't everybody have a build schedule 8 boats long?)

                In the future I will put more effort into the support system for the tank as that had us nervous at several points. I would also put a bit more time into placing the mold and tank relative to each other so that the mold is in line with the arc of the pour spout. Other than that I think things went pretty smoothly. This really isn't that hard. I keep saying that at every step of this build because so far it has been the most shocking revelation. Its a lot like work, but if you just go out and do it, it is quite doable.

                Along those lines there is a saying I often use in the shop- "First you build it, then its done." That is really all there is to it. It is boat building simplified. And its not even that much of a stretch....

                Comment

                • JoshuaIII
                  Have you seen something?
                  • Apr 2011
                  • 1042

                  Re: Building the Maid

                  Good job! Looking forward for final result.

                  And you are right, most people over think things before actually doing it. If you stop thinking and get at it, you figure out it is not so bad.
                  http://www.peacefuljourney.ca/
                  BEWARE: I am a native french speaker

                  Comment

                  • Sailor
                    Senior Member #4610
                    • Feb 2002
                    • 5229

                    Re: Building the Maid

                    So when will she be done then? All you have to do is build her, get on with it!
                    If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
                    -Henry David Thoreau-

                    Comment

                    • Larks
                      Larks
                      • Jul 2007
                      • 16793

                      Re: Building the Maid

                      Terrific job, sounds like quite a success despite the minor hiccups that you mention, well done indeed!!!
                      Larks

                      “It’s impossible”, said pride.
                      “It’s risky”, said experience.
                      “It’s pointless”, said reason.
                      “Give it a try”, whispered the heart.

                      LPBC Beneficiary

                      "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great!"

                      Comment

                      • WX
                        Uki NSW Australia
                        • Feb 2002
                        • 35916

                        Re: Building the Maid

                        I've been rendering scrap down into ingots ready for my big pour in a couple of months. Well done.
                        Without freedom of speech, we wouldn't know who the idiots are.

                        Comment

                        • Texasgaloot
                          Yacht Design Student
                          • Jul 2006
                          • 119

                          Re: Building the Maid

                          Awesome post, Jonathan. This is getting a bit like one of those serial Supermans from the 80's or something... what'dya mean I gotta wait until next week?

                          Mack
                          Life is too long to live with an ugly boat...

                          Comment

                          • floatingkiwi
                            country member
                            • Nov 2008
                            • 3603

                            Re: Building the Maid

                            I am surprised you encountered the problems you did, with all the info posted about those very things, right here on this thread!!
                            Were you in a hurry or do you suffer the same disease as me, in that I can read something till I am blue in the face, and it don't mean jack until I actually become immersed in what it is I am reading about? Which brings to mind, you were damn lucky you weren't immersed in lead. Surely you knew it was going to bubble like it did? You were lucky the whole lot didn't explode, sending you and that drum of yours, back to Kazakhstan,as it could have you know....
                            You guys were well dressed for it. Good to see. I don't think your Mums idea was anything near overkill either.
                            Did you consider making the mould of concrete? That would eliminate a lot of things but maybe introduce some new ones. Like any air in the stuff. A good vibrating should get the air out if the mix is the right stuff.
                            I gotta tell ya mate. I admire the way you have posted things that were slightly less than smart. Like throwing lumps of lead onto the cooling poured lead, hoping it would melt. Beautiful.I don't think I would have bothered mentioning that.
                            I am not exactly sure what the story is behind this.....

                            Just because this wood is dry, it is still going to bow and twist stacked like this for any length of time.
                            ..don't judge a man till you've walked a mile in his shoes..

                            Comment

                            • J.Madison
                              Senior Member
                              • Mar 2011
                              • 3976

                              Re: Building the Maid

                              Hey now, lets keep things in perspective...

                              I was not "lucky" that I didn't end up immersed in lead- I was well aware of the possible dangers and prepared to handle them. Adding cold dry lead to already melted lead is not particularly dangerous- it is often done when rendering dirty scrap for ingots and I have done it many times. The only problem was that I could not get enough heat to melt it without catching my mold on fire. But nothing was lost. It was just an experiment.

                              Lead does not spontaneously explode. It requires moisture and precautions where in place to make sure that didn't happen. A cement mold would work fine but would be overkill for a ballast this size. Wood worked excellently. It did bubble but it would have done that in a cement mold too. Even pouring into a cold steel mold would have yielded bubbling, though not as much. Perhaps I gave the wrong impression about the "bubbling." It did not throw lead many feet into the air- it threw it about one inch up and over the edge of the mold. Not as safe as sitting in your living room watching tv, but not very dangerous considering the ground was protected by plywood and we were standing well back with full protective gear.

                              Just a bit of a teaser... I have pulled the lead out of the mold and flattened the top and I am very happy with how it turned out. Its a big solid block of lead the right shape, sitting in my shop, and made by my own two dumb hands. What more could I ask for? I consider the operation a resounding success.

                              Comment

                              • floatingkiwi
                                country member
                                • Nov 2008
                                • 3603

                                Re: Building the Maid

                                I wasn't suggesting the adding to the already poured stuff was dangerous. Just odd that you thought it would melt, and cool that you didn't mind admitting it..
                                I didn't think the lead had exploded. I just think it was fortunate it didn't. If the wood had of been wetter, all those bubbles could have wanted to form at the same time, very quickly, and boom. Isn't that why it bubbled. Water and or air from the wood. Are you sure concrete would do the same thing. Ya wouldn't want ANY air spaces in concrete as that could explode too.
                                I agree with you that it was a complete success. The thing is done. Nobody was hurt.
                                Awesome.
                                Well done mate.
                                Have ya got a photo off the thing?
                                Last edited by floatingkiwi; 06-03-2011, 01:12 AM.
                                ..don't judge a man till you've walked a mile in his shoes..

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