Building Another Barge?

[waltwood]

What thickness, type ply will you use? Enjoying the build, thanks.

I am using Fir marine ply and the curved part of the bow will be doubled 3/8", the rest of the bottom 3/4" and the sides 1/2".

[Breakaway]

Looking on with continued interest, Walt. A barge fascinates me.

Kevin

[waltwood]

Hey everyone. I finished gluing up the curved chines with 7 layers of ply. I think they are going to work out good. I have roughed them out with the power planer and will finish down with the belt sander. I want to be on my game when I do that because I don't want to cut them too low or at an angle that is not on the same plane as the 2 X 4's.




I am going to get off topic and show you what I do professionally. This is the project I worked on today which is a complete gut and remodel of a small house I built in 2004. We are nearing completion of adding a bathroom addition, porch and loft to this small house. This is the loft, stairs and railing that we built. Shown is the entire house except for the bathroom that you can see the doorway to on the right side of the picture. It was not built to be lived in originally and now it will be a full time residence.

[Breakaway]

Cool small house!

Kevin

[waltwood]

It is situated on 300 acres and you can not see another house.

[boat fan]

It is situated on 300 acres and you can not see another house.

Cute little place Walt !

Nice work as always .

[Gib Etheridge]

Nice clean solid unpretentious work Walt, a lot like you I bet.

[MN Dave]

It looks great, but last time I built stairs, the code required an awful lot of balusters or other closely spaced impediments to the passage of a building inspector's 4" ball. I had similar spacing on some basement stairs in an old house and my 3 yr old daughter launched herself right through. Nothing broken and no concussion, but it took a while to stop hurting. 20 years later and she remembers it well. I hate to bring it up, but if you have to pass an inspection, it is better to get it right now than later.

[Peerie Maa]

It looks great, but last time I built stairs, the code required an awful lot of balusters or other closely spaced impediments to the passage of a building inspector's 4" ball. I had similar spacing on some basement stairs in an old house and my 3 yr old daughter launched herself right through. Nothing broken and no concussion, but it took a while to stop hurting. 20 years later and she remembers it well. I hate to bring it up, but if you have to pass an inspection, it is better to get it right now than later.

That probably varies from place to place.
These are compliant with industry H&S standards

[waltwood]

It looks great, but last time I built stairs, the code required an awful lot of balusters or other closely spaced impediments to the passage of a building inspector's 4" ball. I had similar spacing on some basement stairs in an old house and my 3 yr old daughter launched herself right through. Nothing broken and no concussion, but it took a while to stop hurting. 20 years later and she remembers it well. I hate to bring it up, but if you have to pass an inspection, it is better to get it right now than later.

You are correct and these are not finished yet as you see that there is only a top rail in the loft. There will be a metal grid installed over this that I really don't like but the owner wants.
Walt

[MN Dave]

That probably varies from place to place.
These are compliant with industry H&S standards

Industrial and residential codes are different. Containing the rugrats is a problem in a residential setting that doesn't come up in industrial applications.

[Skiff]

There has been very poor interest in this thread based on the number of views. The first day I posted I got 100 views while "how to say Hair is off" and "Hey should I put my boat on top of my car" threads got 800 views. Not saying they were not interesting but I thought the actual building of a boat would have garnered more interest. It did not improve after other posts.

This was a little different than some of the other projects featured on this forum giving it broader scope of projects. We also were getting very much done on the project instead of just talking about what we are going to do.

Walt, this tread is what made me become a member. I built a 8' x 20' shanty boat 4 years ago I love where you are going with this houseboat Thanks

[waltwood]

Walt, this tread is what made me become a member. I built a 8' x 20' shanty boat 4 years ago I love where you are going with this houseboat Thanks

I am in it now and will continue to post. Thanks for the encouragement.
Got any pictures of the shanty boat to show us?

[Skiff]

I am in it now and will continue to post. Thanks for the encouragement.
Got any pictures of the shanty boat to show us?

I do here is one https://flic.kr/p/wcbJ4p once I figure out to post I will do it right I do not want to hi jack your thread and mine shanty close to a true shanty and not in a goodway (used lumber, pallets, a propane tank for a wood stove this forum is more about wooden boat building and I love the skill I see in every post / photo I am in awe of the work I see in your build mine was built more with a sledge hammer, chainsaw, and a lot of bandaids

[waltwood]

That is nice. Glad you showed us that. lots of detail- I like the door latch especially!

[ben2go]

I do here is one https://flic.kr/p/wcbJ4p once I figure out to post I will do it right I do not want to hi jack your thread and mine shanty close to a true shanty and not in a goodway (used lumber, pallets, a propane tank for a wood stove this forum is more about wooden boat building and I love the skill I see in every post / photo I am in awe of the work I see in your build mine was built more with a sledge hammer, chainsaw, and a lot of bandaids

Click the arrow below and to the right of the pic on flickr,then copy and paste the BBC code below your text in the reply block.

Shanty pulling into motts creek inn by kevin kennedy, on Flickr

[Skiff]

Thanks Ben
Shanty woodstove smoke by kevin kennedy, on Flickr

[ben2go]

Thanks Ben
Shanty woodstove smoke by kevin kennedy, on Flickr

You're welcome.

[boat fan]

Thanks Ben
Shanty woodstove smoke by kevin kennedy, on Flickr

Love it Kevin.

Looking forward to what develops with your build Walt.

Should be very interesting.

[waltwood]

I am using Atlantic White Cedar for the chines and sheer clamp. I started a thread a while back to see what everyone thought about this and most gave a thumbs up. AWC is a soft wood and that was the concern. There will be 2 layers of 3/4 x 5" cedar.
It was suggested, I think, by Chuck to place a layer of 6" cloth tape between the layers. I am doing that so it will strengthen the assemby and hold fasteners for the side planking better. I am using 6 oz fiberglass cloth with West System Epoxy. This is the first piece of it to go on the chine. I have alot of experience with bonding with Epoxy but using it with fiberglass cloth I only do it every 2-5 years and it seems like I have to learn all over again. Don't get me wrong, I have done some large fiberglassing projects including a 29 foot and 32 foot boat. It does not come natural to me like working with wood.

[Skiff]

Walt looks great I love the fiberglass layer idea. It like a flinch plate beam for a boat . That AWC is beautiful did you get it local?

[swoody126]

Walt. are you beveling what will be the tops of the chines, to reduce their water holding tendencies?

sw

[waltwood]

Walt looks great I love the fiberglass layer idea. It like a flinch plate beam for a boat . That AWC is beautiful did you get it local?

That is a good analagy.
The AWC came from Gatesville NC and it is great.

[waltwood]

Walt. are you beveling what will be the tops of the chines, to reduce their water holding tendencies?

sw

I am not beveling the tops of the chines because the hull should be fully covered by the decks and house. Perhaps they should be beveled. I have done it on the open boats I have built.

[Wavewacker]

Walt, that's great work! You certainly have the skills going at it without plans, amazed at how this comes together. What will you power her with?

BTW, good looking mini mansion too!

[waltwood]

Walt, that's great work! You certainly have the skills going at it without plans, amazed at how this comes together. What will you power her with?

BTW, good looking mini mansion too!

It will pushed or towed in the beggining and I would like to put twin 60 HP Yamaha outboards if I can somehow afford it.

[Gib Etheridge]

I bet 20 HP would get it up to hull speed Walt. Twin 20s would provide redundancy and maneuverability and be much less expensive.

[waltwood]

You might be right. There are a couple of guys around here who put large motors on barges and they don't go any faster.
I am using it on the Chesapeake Bay and the wind blows most of the time. I don't want it to be under powered and stop me in a headwind. I think towing it would give me an idea of what horsepower would push it. i really don't need it to come up on a plane but it would be neat if it did.
The Oyster Barge I built goes 20 knots with a 115 HP Yamaha when its light. They are putting a 150 HP on it soon. It will be interesting what it does with that.

[waltwood]

What has been done: All chines and sheer clamps have 6" fiberglass tape and epoxy. Installed bow awthartship angled piece that was tricky to fit. It is the piece painted white. Milled the boards to double the chines and sheer clamp and epoxied on the first section.

[Stiletto]

I am enjoying following this thread. Thanks Walt!

[waltwood]

You are welcome!

[waltwood]

Well I am working on this almost every day. There are tasks that take a long time but don't show much progress such as doubling the sheer clamp and chines. We have finished doing that on the starboard side. The alternating 3 -1/4" ply layers with 3/4" AWC at the bow worked out good.






For 2 days we have been preparing stock for the frames. The wood is old growth pine that I am sure will be naturally rot resistant. It is very dense and came from several sources over the years. The frames will be 2" X 3". I think there are 34 of them.

[waltwood]

I don't take pictures when using epoxy or polyester resin. Good way to ruin a camera and it takes enough concentration as it is. I am bonding the 2 layers of AWC with the layer of fiberglass tape in between with West System Epoxy. I have been using West for 26 years and they have always been good with technical support.
The weather has been unusually cool but the bowshed warms up nicely if it is sunny. One problem though is that the humidity is high at about 66 to 70 percent. If I run the fan to lower the humidity the temperature drops too much. West System assures me that humidity does not effect epoxy when bonding. It can affect epoxy when clear coating or glass reinforcement. Seems to be working good. Every other product I use is affected by humidity so I was pleased to know epoxy is not so I could continue work.

[Paul Denison]

This is a great build!

[Rick_NJ]

Great build and I am enjoying watching, I think what you are building is like a garvey with a sled runner bow.

Rick