Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
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Re: Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
Just saw this thread for the first time. Love the duck concept. Not a big fan of many power boats, but pretty hard not to be inspired by the ducks.
Earlier in this thread are comments about round boats not being harder to build... I can only guess that as the years go by builders forget the details of their projects... or maybe it is just me... but my experience is that building round is a hark-load more work during lofting, during shaping the keel timber, during planking, during fairing, and every single part of the interior has to be fitted in a round hull even though the cabinetry is normally full of straight lines. If the builder wants to get the project done in a timely manner there is something to be said for a chine boat.Originally posted by wizbang 13I set them in with a yankee screwdriver that I inherited from my godfather Jesus Muhammod Herreschoff in 1848.It has the original red oak handle.Alas, the rest of it rusted away and was replaced with an impact driver.Comment
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Re: Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
Lofting is lofting and once one breaks free from the tyranny of the straight line there's not that much difference when lofting larger boats. And if you're building plank on frame - carvel or lapstrake - then the build is not really so different either. For larger boats. Like what a couple or family might go cruising aboard.
But the hard chined boat can be designed to take advantage of panels with simple or even no curves, making way for plywood or metal construction which can be quite rapid.
In a manner of speaking.
Looking at a boat you could comfortably cruise a couple or a family aboard, you must remember that the hull is only about 1/4 the cost of the boat and it works out to only about 1/4 the work also. The accomodation is often more work to install and finish out and having a straight but never plumb line for the outboard edge of any bulkheads does not really save much time. And then you must install the mechanicals, rigging, the tasks are endless.
You might save 30% labor on the hull if you build a hard chined boat - maybe. That's a whopping 7-1/2% off the whole effort.
There are boats that are very hard to build. Many catboats are hard to plank, especially at the waterline area of the bow. Bolger designed some nice units that are about like the Beetle Cat but 1/3 the weight and easily built with plywood. But some round bottom boats are easily planked. L Francis Herreshoff made the Golden Ball's planking very easy to line out and make. It's all in engineering for the material. For example, a fully developed steel or aluminum hull often requires sophisticated bending plates on two axies. Such complexities lead people away from round bottom metal boats. But John Alden designed the magnificent 57' steel ketch Minot's Light with all the plates part of conic sections so that each plate was bent on only one axis. Navel architects can be pretty slick that way.
The savings of building in hard chine are real, especially in materials. But the biggest advantage is that people feel they can do it, nothing special or strange. Building in the round does require a learning curve that frightens many. Buehler's genius is that he designed seaworthy, seakindly, efficient, and pretty boats that people actually build, not just dream about.
G'luckComment
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Re: Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
Ian, I don't think it is just the hull, but anything which has to later conform to the hull shape (I.e. The interior). When I built my sharpie (admittedly a tiny whee thing) it was possible to transfer shapes just knowing length and angle of lines. Now I am fitting the interior to my round boat the only way is to spile shapes for pretty much every piece of every cabinet, shelf, or whatever. Not hard, but relatively time consuming... Oh... and btw, did I mention the round lump of lead bolted to the keel complete with undercut on the top surface (ok not every round boat has a round lump of ballast I agree). I concede that it may just be my methods leaving me with the impression that chine boats are less work to build. Certainly Wizbang would totally disagree with me, but you know that bloke is some kind of super-human when it comes to boat building. If Buehler was still around he'd say chine is easier (I think, maybe that is presumptuous of me).Originally posted by wizbang 13I set them in with a yankee screwdriver that I inherited from my godfather Jesus Muhammod Herreschoff in 1848.It has the original red oak handle.Alas, the rest of it rusted away and was replaced with an impact driver.Comment
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Re: Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
I don't have anything to compare to of course but Ian is right about mindset. As I am building this duck much of seems very similar to framing a complex roof on a house, angles, angles, angles. My experience is remodeling my own homes and building furniture as a hobby. Angles are tough, but doable. Angles and curves very challenging for me. When I read, see pictures or watch videos of people building these beautiful rounded boats it does not inspire confidence in me that I could do it well. Doing it well is the key. I'm sure I could do it, eventually figure things out, but I don't think I could get the finish I am after.
I'm not sure if it was Georges writing style, salesmanship or my own misconceptions about other types of boats, but the Duck made sense to me. I could see how it went together, one system on top of another. It was never about cost or what type was cheaper to build. For me it was all about something that would not remain a drawing on the wall, but something I could actually build. More importantly, I believed, still believe, that I can not only build it, but get the quality of finish my wife and I are looking for.A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for.
http://www.seadreamerproject.com
http://www.youtube.com/c/SixPointsWoodWorksComment
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Re: Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
I'm not sure if it was Georges writing style, salesmanship or my own misconceptions about other types of boats, but the Duck made sense to me. I could see how it went together, one system on top of another. It was never about cost or what type was cheaper to build. For me it was all about something that would not remain a drawing on the wall, but something I could actually build. More importantly, I believed, still believe, that I can not only build it, but get the quality of finish my wife and I are looking for.
My old waterwitch had a chine planked wide enough to have quite a healthy radius on it. No one has actually told me how tight a radius has to be to be detrimental, or how big to not be an issue. I would not hesitate to build a Captain Eddie for use on the lake here.
More power to your elbow, thats a lot of wood going in there! Oh, and there is an Olga being built down the road......Comment
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Re: Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
With the passing of George Beuhler we are even more motivated to build a Duck he would be proud of. Work continues on as time allows. After marking our bearding and rabbet lines we made some cuts with the circular saw just shy of the finished depth. I think we'll use a combination of a multi-tool, turbo plane on the angle grinder and a chisel to hog out the remaining material.
We drilled some more big holes and installed the first of our homemade, galvanized 5/8" bolts that support the transom knee. We coated the hole with preservative and then used some cotton caulking and tar to try to keep the water out. As one of our followers on Facebook stated, "pretty salty stuff"
As soon as we get some warmer temperatures we'll epoxy and bolt the transom in place and then move on to laying out floors, drilling keel bolts and installing frames. We got started with dry fitting station 38 just to see how things look. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well things fit and lined up, fingers crossed going forward.
A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for.
http://www.seadreamerproject.com
http://www.youtube.com/c/SixPointsWoodWorksComment
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Re: Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
There is a place in Buffalo NY, which is about an hour away, but they did not have the centrifuge required to spin the bolts to clear the threads of the galvanizing material. They referred me to a place in Cleveland and I shipped it to them. They did a nice job.
Cleveland galvanizer:
Buffalo galvanizer:
A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for.
http://www.seadreamerproject.com
http://www.youtube.com/c/SixPointsWoodWorksComment
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Re: Building a 41' Diesel Duck: Sea Dreamer Project
Nice work, I've watched some of your videos.
Are you going to bevel the bottoms of the floor timbers?Comment
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