A Lawton Dory Skiff in Cape Breton

[adamarthurryan]

Hey all, just want to kick off a build thread for my 13' Lawton dory skiff. Designed in 1950, redrawn in 1977 by John Gardner.

Here's a look at my lofting floor. Not very photogenic. The main build will be outside, so it should be easier to take some nice pictures.

_DSF2010.jpg

I've got the lofting done (very simple) and I've taken up patterns for the frames and stem. Tomorrow or the next day I'm going to go to my neighbour's to cut the frames out of a bit of white oak he had laying around.

_DSF2012.jpg

Still trying to source wood for the stem. And transom. The design is a little sparse on detail and doesn't specify a wood or thickness for the transom. Any thoughts? What about white pine, maybe 1 or 1 1/8"?

[koederfischgriller]

Subscribed!

[johngsandusky]

Cool! I would look at similar boats in the Dory Book and see what was specified for the transom.

[adamarthurryan]

A modest update. I've got the frame parts cut out and ready to assemble. Just waiting for my nails and rivets to get here. Slow going so far, a few distractions turned up along the way.
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Once I get that done, I'll build the transom, bevel the stem, and set up the building frame.

[adamarthurryan]

A bit behind on the pictures, but here are a couple more.

The inner stem is in two pieces to fit the piece of wood available. I've rough beveled it from the lofted pattern. Hopefully it is fairly accurate (no pun intended), but I'll see once I get everything set up on the building jig.

There are three sawn frames, with plywood gusset plates glued and riveted. It felt weird using the ply in an otherwise all-wooden build, but it really does seem like the best material for the job.

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[adamarthurryan]

Meanwhile, I'm putting together the fastening schedule for the bottom (7/8") and planking (1/2").

Can anyone give me a sanity check on this? I got the sizes from the Nevins rules.

bottom to sawn frames, cleats, stem, etc: #12 x 1 3/4" screws
plank to sawn frames, stem and bottom: #8 x 1" screws

I've also considered using ring shank nails for the plank to bottom and transom. Though I'm not sure what size they would be in that case.

[adamarthurryan]

An overdue update.

* I finished the transom - with a fashion frame, following advice and discussion in another thread.
_DSF2287.jpg

* Then I set it all up on the building jig. Well staked into the ground and leveled.
_DSF2284.jpg

* Faired the frames, stem and transom with a trying batten, per Gardner. Good use of the scrub plane getting this down to thickness.

* Jointed and attached the bottom.
_DSF2351.jpg
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[timo4352]

Looks great. Keep the updates coming.

[adamarthurryan]

I'm waiting on some linseed putty and cotton for the seams on the bottom. Incidentally, jointing the bottom was a challenge I didn't really expect. Light tight is hard! A few times I was like "probably good enough" and had to step back and ask myself, "is this going to keep water out"? Every part of the project has been an amazing learning experience. I'm constantly being forced to level up my skills.

Oh, and I noticed above I mentioned that "hopefully" the stem bevels I picked from the lofting board were fairly accurate. Not even close. In the ballpark actually up near the top where the stem was mostly vertical, but way off towards the bottom. Clearly I was doing something wrong there.

One final note on building outside. I had the stem, frames, etc set up for several weeks without the common sense to get some linseed oil on them. They got a few soakings and dryings and there was some splitting in one of the frames near the gunnel. I might have to sister that bit later or something. A spot of splitting in the transom too, right near the bottom. That's a worry maybe. Anyway, it just didn't occur to me with the linseed, though it's obvious in hindsight.

[johngsandusky]

Interesting. I built my first boat outdoors and don't remember any splitting. I did cover it with a tarp when I wasn't working on it.

[adamarthurryan]

Interesting. I built my first boat outdoors and don't remember any splitting. I did cover it with a tarp when I wasn't working on it.

Ah yeah, I guess the tarp is another common-sense measure that didn't really occur to me. Tbh I do so many projects outdoors I get really sick of tarping / untarping all the time. Thought I might not have to with the boat. It's doing better with the linseed on, so I'll probably just keep with that.

[adamarthurryan]

Been a while since the last update, but not a huge amount of progress. I got the bottom beveled and everything faired up. It was tricky fairing the stem and bottom together. I didn't do the best job there. I still don't really understand the geometry. There is a tiny light-showing gap where the garboard meets the joint of the stem and bottom. I'm relying on polysulfide for final water-tightness there. :/

I relined the garboard and next plank into three planks to better use the wood available to me locally.

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I got the garboards on and one of the next planks, but I had to scrap the matching starboard plank. It just wasn't right.

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I'm feeling a bit discouraged right now, but I'm sure I'll rally a bit when I get some more planking stock and get back at it. It's been one step forward two steps back for the last month or so.

[Rich Jones]

Planking a lapstrake hull is a lot of work but will look great in the end.
Keep up the good work.

[adamarthurryan]

Okay, another update. I've got the bottom four planks fitted both sides. There is one lap on the starboard side that I'm not too happy with now, but I'm going to have to live with it. I like how the boat is shaping up overall. The process has been a humbling in terms of seeing the limitations of my skills as a woodworker. Though I'm certainly learning a lot.

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I have some concerns about rivet spacing. I'll post that question as a new thread though to be sure it gets seen.

Oh, and a shot of my workbench, just for fun:
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Other than a battery-powered drill and circular saw, I'm using hand tools only. An adventure!

[timo4352]

From the look of these pics you don't have any problems with your skills ... she looks great!

[adamarthurryan]

Thanks timo.

I'll take a couple close up pictures of the ugly spots, just so you know I'm not lying.

[johngsandusky]

I think we all notice the flaws in our own work. When it's finished and in use, no one else will.
Nice work. My dad built a couple of dories, this reminds me of them.

[Breakaway]

Keep at it. Looks good!

Kevin

[John Meachen]

Building outside in the snow earns lots of respect from me.

[adamarthurryan]

Thanks for the encouragement all.

[adamarthurryan]

Building outside in the snow earns lots of respect from me.

I have an old Mustang Survival "floater suit" that I got from a neighbour. I put that on and I'm pretty much good to go. If a little less flexible. Keeping the fingers warm is the tricky part.

Tbh, it's pretty mild here though. It's only been snowy for the last few weeks. I'm used to Ontario winters.

[Ian McColgin]

I discovered Mustang in the early '80s, first a float coat and later a work suit. The foam means that it's hard to get rid of body moisture, thus not ideal for physically active workouts, but wonderfully comfortable for watch standing. Mustang now has working drysuits that are good for activity. I love being bundled up in something from Mustang and sailing through a little sleet storm knowing that there's no such thing a bad weather, just bad clothing.

But to the thread: Great pix reveal good work.

[adamarthurryan]

I discovered Mustang in the early '80s, first a float coat and later a work suit. The foam means that it's hard to get rid of body moisture, thus not ideal for physically active workouts, but wonderfully comfortable for watch standing. Mustang now has working drysuits that are good for activity. I love being bundled up in something from Mustang and sailing through a little sleet storm knowing that there's no such thing a bad weather, just bad clothing.

But to the thread: Great pix reveal good work.

Yeah, I've got a proper drysuit that I kayak in. There's a real pleasure being out in the rain or snow, cozy dry. We don't have enough "good" weather here that I can wait for sunny days to work or boat!

[adamarthurryan]

And... an update!

I got the final pair of planks fitted today.

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After the usual amount of worried squinting, frowning, etc. And a couple just-in-time aha moments.

Nice to see the complete hull shape for the first time.

[adamarthurryan]

Still need to rivet them down before I pop the whiskey bottle.

Next up is a bit of sanding and painting, then I can flip her over and see what I got!

[koederfischgriller]

very nice

[KenStocker]

Looking good, stay the course!

Ken

[timo4352]

Looks great

[koederfischgriller]

The last Book i would give away is my Dory Book. Love it.

[jim_cricket]

I've just now seen this thread. I love this Lawton skiff. I've looked at it many times, and the Dory Book is still close at hand for me all these years!
Good job.
Cricket

[adamarthurryan]

A few updates to catch up on. For starters, I thought people might get a kick out of my device for solo riveting with the hull upside down:

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I called it "the apprentice". It worked pretty good, though the whole assembly would fall on my head about once per plank lap.

I could slide it around it from underneath to do a few rivets in a row, then stand up and reposition it to do the next frame bay. For the lower planks there was enough gravity that I didn't need to keep a hand on it even, but for the upper laps it was enough to just apply a bit of gentle pressure to keep it in place.

[adamarthurryan]

After flipping the boat and watching some videos of Marcus Lewis riveting, I've decided that I made up the entire boat a bit too loose so I'll have to go over a lot of them again and tighten down, but that's another matter.

I figure this one is pretty good:
_DSF2481.jpg

But this one seems loose:
_DSF2482.jpg

My thinking now is that the roves are supposed to be biting fairly deeply into the wood. For some reason I made them up previously so that they were not cutting into the wood... Any thoughts on this?

[adamarthurryan]

A couple more updates. Looking good with a coat of paint:

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I'm using the Allback linseed oil paint. My first time using it, but it seems great. The boat builder at the Shelburne maritime museum recommended it highly.

Next, a template for the stem:
_DSF2473.jpg
(Eventual results show I should have had more control points.)

A mold for steam bending:
_DSF2477.jpg

And the first try - a failure:
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I tried to bend it out of a single 1"x3" blank of green tamarack. I decided perhaps the piece was a bit too big for the way I was trying to bend it. I needed maybe a backing strap. So I decided to laminate two pieces of 1/2" tamarack. They bent fine, but more on the stem later.

[johngsandusky]

Looks great.

[adamarthurryan]

And it's flipped!

_DSF2508.jpg


I had a very easy time flipping it - I built out a pivot on the side of the building jig that came out a little outboard of the sheer and then just tipped the whole assembly over onto its side and then lifted the building jig to roll the boat onto its back. I removed the building jig from the boat when everything was right side up.

_DSF2507.jpg

Worked a treat.