Cockle Replica Post #1

[Jim Ledger]

Like a breath of fresh air.

Are you going to bevel it before you set it up?

[Alex Low]

Jim,

We have the bevel from our lofting, but we are a little unsure about cutting it in before we have a batten to check - the fashion frame is currently going on, so perhaps we will bevel it 90% of the way and finish off on the strongback...

Alex

[Jim Ledger]

Yeah, you can always bevel it a little more if need be. It's nice to have some battens bent around for a visual reference for the bevel angles

[Alex Low]

.... and her backbone is all bolted up!

[Duncan Gibbs]

Transom timber??
Spline stock???
Room in the shed?????????????

Keep in coming Mr Low!!!
You too Mister Jim!!!!

[Duncan Gibbs]

"Bumpety bumperama!!!" he typed with impudent impatience!!

[skuthorp]

Watching this build with some awe.

[Duncan Gibbs]

I know what Alex et al are doing: Those pointy ends to the molds are coming off so that they can look useful all set up on the backbone rather than pretty all stacked neatly at the end of the shed there!!

[floatingkiwi]

This looks like a nice setup you have here, mate.

[Alex Low]

Duncan is right - hopefully we will have the keel up by Friday - we have done a test hoist, but being a superstitious lot we didn't photograph it until she is in final position for the planking job.

The lofting is up as of today! We have been scarfing all our ribbands - clear yellow cedar offcuts from our sawyer:



Will try and get a big update on this weekend.

Alex

[Alex Low]

We are up!



Everything is nice and level and plumb and so on...

The transom went on and we started beveling the moulds.



Some test battens seem to indicate that our lofting is sweet - soon the smell of Yew frames will abound...

more to come!

Alex

[Alex Low]

A little inspiration shot as well:



Oh that shape!

Alex

[Duncan Gibbs]

Coooooooooool!!!!!!

[Jim Ledger]

May '07

[Sailor]

How did I miss this? I wish I was in the area so I could stop by. My brother lives in Victoria and I may be posted there for 5 months this fall. Maybe........... Great work. Keep up with the updates.

[Alex Low]

Phew... a 7 day week. We were very lucky to have Ian Mackenzie on site this weekend to help us bend in some of the Yew frames. He is a local shipwright that was kind enough to lend his experience to our project.

We got the keel up and into position with triple checks of all the waterlines, centers and plumbs and started to bevel the moulds. We lofted to outside of planking, and then reduced for ribbands and frames. On goes the first ribband:



And some more...



Until we are happy with this beautiful shape!

[Alex Low]

And here are some frames going in... we milled to 1"x1" and knocked of the edges. They went into the steam box for a full hour. We pulled them and immediately set them in a floor jig to bend in some of the serious recurve to the keel. This got the fibres nice a stretchy so when we offered the frame up to the boat - it went in without all that much protest.





Thanks again to Ian for the help. What a beauty!



Alex

[Jim Ledger]

Fantastic, Alex. Both quality and quantity. Really moving along.

A question about your molds. Deducting for the plank, frame and ribband thickness is fairly straightforward and accurate on the midships molds. Did you just deduct a constant dimension through all the molds, or did you adjust the deduction near the ends to account for the increased bevel.
I could see, if you were to only deduct the plank thickness, then the error would be tolerable, whereas the three thickness added together might throw things off a considerable amount.

Jim

[Alex Low]

Jim,

If you look closely in the forward mould - you can see what we had to do. Since we are working from the Mystic plans - which are very short on detail - and we wanted as close a replica to the hull shape as we could get - we decided to loft to outside of planking (as this is what the lines from Mystic are drawn to). When we reduced, we hadn't considered the bevel change in the reduction. This error was caught when the rabbet didn't mesh with the ribbands and planking+frame fids.

After much back and forth to the lofting and the plans - we managed to figure out where we needed to be and spent a little time fairing and re-shaping the moulds to a sweet line.

It was a serious head-scratcher for a while - but I think we got it, as she has such a fine entry forward and a touch of hollow as well - so far she looks good with some fairing battens.

It would be interesting to see if we had lofted from the other side of planking to see what would have developed in those spots. I will leave that for the next one!

Alex

[BBSebens]

looking good. Ill be following along... and I expect to see you in a finished boat in PT this sept.!

[Duncan Gibbs]

Terrific stuff Alex! You really are zooming along there! Such a beautiful shape to her!

Gotta name yet?

[P.L.Lenihan]

Terrific stuff indeed Alex ! Not sure why it appears to my eyes as if there is NO rabbet cut into the stem in posting number 68,first picture.( I saw it earlier when the stem was flat but....) Or is it just the camera angle and a very very fine entry playing tricks?



Peter

[Alex Low]

Duncan: we do have a name...

Peter: the rabbet is indeed in there, but hard to see from the forward angle. I will post some pics of the rabbet soon, once it is faired and finalized! We are getting close to lining off!

Although we are off for a week to attend the Vancouver boat show...

Alex

[MiddleAgesMan]

That is some incredible work, Mr. Low, and very good progress on something as complicated as this very heavy small boat. I had been scratching my head about the notches in the keel--with the red lead paint in them. All I could come up with was a chase for keel bolts but that just didn't make sense on any level. The way the notches take the ends of the ribs/frames is really sweet.

Speaking of ribs/frames, not long ago I came across something that explained what constitutes a rib and what makes it a frame...IIRC it has to do with whether they are full length (running from gunwale to gunwale as in a canoe?) or if they are in two or more pieces, spliced at a chine or divided in two parts by a keel. If my memory hasn't let me down that makes yours frames.

[Alex Low]

Frames they are! There are a few more notches to let in fore n aft - but then they will beveled to match their landing a la the original:

[Don Olney]

This is one of my favorite threads in years. Wonderful boat. Great work, Alex. If I can't get out to help on the construction, I bet I can make it to help sail.

[Alex Low]

Thanks Don,

We have been framing away here - hit the stern knee today!



Emily, a friend and cabinet maker from Vancouver, was by for a few days to help us steam in the bilge clamps. They are visible in this photo - the massive 2"x1.5" yellow cedar running for n aft with the ribbands. Steamed beautifully...

Our Yew pile is getting smaller and smaller:



We also got the bowsprit out of a sweet piece of Fir. It is the 4x4 on top of the larger stock (a boom for a future project of Trevor Henderson's).


Alex

[P.L.Lenihan]

Looking really sweet Alex! I can see the stem rabbet now much better from this angle.What's with the clamp on that last rib aft around the turn of the bilge?Sliding aft to much? Those rib pockets along the keel look like wonderful future rot pockets,red lead notwithstanding. I'd be darned tempted to use some modern technology here to seal those pockets"forever" against water/rot.

Continued success!!!

Peter

[Alex Low]

Well... after a little birthday sailing distraction (bright and sunny - 10 celsius - for you East Coasters)



we are back and she is all framed up! those are some killer curves. We bent in close to 70 frames and broke about 8 of them. Milling the Yew was time consuming, but hopefully will be worth the work in her longevity.

looking like a boat:





we are now onto the floors which will be bolted to the keel with 2 x 1/4" bronze bolts in an X.

here is the drilling jig:



and here are the unshaped floors:



they should go in tomorrow...

On we go!

Alex

p.s. I forgot to mention the frame heads are much longer than they need be - to try and bend in the tumblehome - thus the zig-zagging in their length where it mistakenly looks like the sheer should be. The covering board is between the 2 and 3rd ribband from the bottom.

[Duncan Gibbs]

Terrific stuff Alex!!

I've got to think of something better to say than that but every time you add to the thread I'm gob-smacked!! Maybe I should just start speculating as to the chosen name!?!

"Maid of Gabriola"... Made in Gabriola??

[Alex Low]

Duncan,

Maid of Gabriola... you are close... perhaps maids? In Plural? There are two of us building this lovely craft.

In other news we got our mast yesterday. It's huge and took 8 of us to move. Thanks to the Silva Bay Shipyard School for the man and woman power. I will get some pics up this weekend of the massive timber.

Just to whet your appetite - 200 bd/f in one 35 footer - Sitka. The keel was only 144. Our sawyer is the thing dreams are made of!

Alex

[floatingkiwi]

That stick of Sitka will still be cut down and scarphed back together, right?

[Alex Low]

Of course!

And all the sawdust will be made into presto logs to burn in the ships stove.

[Alex Low]

As promised:

8"x8"x35' with minimal grain run-out. The moisture meter reads it at 12ish%



The whole rig will come from this timber, plus dinghy rigs and oars for a loooong time.

While we are at it - here is the planking, decking and other various bits and pieces. Red Cedar 1x8x24'.



More to come.

Alex

[Alex Low]

Here we go.

The floors are all in!



They either bear a keel bolt (we have ready-rod in there to hold it temporarily) or have been double bolted with 1/4" silicon bronze. We then managed to rivet them to the frames - hopefully avoiding the wedge of a screw and split frames down the road.

The good old misery board came out today to fair and bevel a little off the frames.





Lots of sore tomorrow!

Here you can see the deck height in black marker:



And her new speed stripes!



The garboard is next! The garboard is next!

Alex

[Duncan Gibbs]

Yeeehar!!! Way to go Alex!!!

[Jim Ledger]

Just beautiful, Alex, the shape and the workmanship.

BTW, are you going to rivet the planks onto them skinny frames?

[Alex Low]

Well Jim - that is the thousand dollar question. We have screws, but those frames are looking wee...

The original was clench nailed I believe.

Alex

[Alex Low]

What a slow week! Lots of little tasks...

The stern Rabbet is faired into the transom and fashion frame:



Then out came the bevel board for lining her off:



Battens on for lining off for'n'aft:





Some Garboards! They are some beautiful Douglas Fir.



And their soon-to-be new home. We are going to tar the joint as well.



Phew... Planked in a month?

Alex

[P.L.Lenihan]

It's getting better every time Alex! Really sweet!! Out of curiosity, any particular reason why your battens for lining off aren't shooting past the transom and, the heels of the after most group of frames appear awfully square, will these be beveled down or will their ends be given a good soaking in some poison?

Planked in a month?Naw, she'll be planked when she's planked!

Love your work!


Peter

[Alex Low]

Hey Peter,

The battens are short as we couldn't stomach cutting up a full 20' plank (we had a checked up/split 16 footer), so they get moved aft as we need them - we have some scarfed as well to finish the job. The heels are square - turns out they make a sweet limber for any water that might make its way into the boat... they are getting the usual treatment - red lead, sika and when we flip her over - a good soaking in tar. We are sure the Yew frames have a lot going for them even before the modern goo goes on...

Alex

[P.L.Lenihan]

Ah yes... natural limber holes! Brilliant Alex! Oh, and I hear you regarding squandering a nice 20' plank

Continued success!!She's going to be a real treat for the eyes on the water!!!

Peter

[Duncan Gibbs]

Once more with gusto:

Terrific stuff Alex!!

Planked in month?

And singin'

Super Spiler!
Super Spiler!
He's kinda spiley!!!



Carry on! Don't mind me: I'm just a mere bonehead!!

(Although I did get around to sanding the mast and gaff today. Woohoo!!!)

[Jim Ledger]

Beautiful shot of the sternpost and rabbet. That lot must have took some figuring.

Screwing the planks on?

[Alex Low]

Jim - screws it is!


Just for interests sake, I got out the calculator and tallied up the hours on this project so far...

This includes trips to the chandler, requisitioning wood piles, lead, steel etc.

... ready?

1,200 hours to the start of planking.

Time to kick it up a notch!

Alex

[P.L.Lenihan]

Throw away the calculator Alex before it is too late!! That way leads to madness

Besides, you are having fun with this build,aren't you?


Peter

[Alex Low]

Peter,

Oh, we are having the time of our lives on this one... it's only interesting to see if one can make a living at insane projects...

Here we are after day 1 of planking... luckily with 2 planks on:



We fastened with silicon bronze screws - #10's and 12's in the hood ends and #8's in between. We red leaded the surface and then hit it with some fibre gum - this will make future repairs quite easy, yet still provide a good bedding material.



We have done the Garboard in Douglas Fir -the Broadstrake will be Fir as well, as these planks cover the seam between the top of the keel and the rest of the planking - so tougher is better. The rest (other than the sheerstrake and bulwarks) will be red cedar.

We hope to be able to keep this pace and be planked by mid April...

Port Townsend is coming!

Alex

[Jim Ledger]

Mid-April Don't you guys have jobs, family, houses to fix?

Seriously, though, the work looks fantastic. It'll be interesting seeing red cedar used for the planking. You'll have to be careful about splitting at the ends, but you know that already. How does it steam? Is it less brittle when its air-dried? The only RC we get is KD stuff, so I'm unfamiliar with its greener stages.

Also, what is fiber gum, what's it good for, and where can I get some?

[floatingkiwi]

Looks like you could use a few more clamps there, mate.

[Duncan Gibbs]

One can NEVER have enough clamps in one's workshop!!

Drumroll.........

Terrific stuff Alex!!!