Duck Trap Wherry

[Roy Morford]

I've had the plans for some time and spent many enjoyable hours wondering how and where to start. Yesterday I had the staples removed after hip replacement surgery and I'm now beginning to think ahead to the build.

Thoughts please. I've built several boats with solid wood transoms. Some with the grain vertical and some horizontal. I liked them all but now I can't make up my mind. Any preferences out there and, if so, why? Structural, visual, traditional, ease of building, maintenance. I've almost always used walnut in the past but I'm thinking of cherry for this one. Any and all thoughts welcome.

Thanks.

[WI-Tom]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

The decision might depend partly on width vs. height--whichever one requires you to join fewer boards?

I used horizontal for my Alaska, not sure why. I didn't think about it much. And I ended up painting the transom anyway.

Tom

[John Meachen]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

Horizontal.

[Capt Brew]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

The decision might depend partly on width vs. height--whichever one requires you to join fewer boards?

I used horizontal for my Alaska, not sure why. I didn't think about it much. And I ended up painting the transom anyway.

Tom

I built the same boat and glued up several pieces of mahogany vertically for the transom as I had the stock left over from building my deck. Over the years the end grain has chipped a bit and is a pain to keep varnished. If I were to do it again I would have gone horizontal.

[Roy Morford]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

Thanks gentlemen. I'm leaning more and more to having the grain horizontal. The vertical grain transoms I did in the past I had to laminate a piece across the top because I was afraid of the grain being susceptible to moisture penetration at some point in the future. Now I have to find some nicely grained wood. So much fun.

[The Q]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

It shall be interesting to see how this turns out, I'm guessing this is nothing like a wherry round here.

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Wherry-Mini-Cask-2019.jpg

[Peerie Maa]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

It shall be interesting to see how this turns out, I'm guessing this is nothing like a wherry round here.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]65029[/ATTACH]

Think Thames Wherry.

Not so dissimilar.

[Roy Morford]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

The last image is what I'll be trying to produce. This may be my last boat (advancing years etc) so I plan to take my time and make the best boat I've ever built. Then I'll use it and enjoy for as long as I'm able.

[Roy Morford]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

Emerimat if you're still looking at this site I'd love to hear from you. In your build you mention using one sheet of ply for your keel and cutting it into three pieces 16" by 96". I'm having difficulty visualising how this would work as you basically need four pieces 96' long doubled to give you the 16" by 96" keel member. Maybe I'm I'm just mentally/visually challenged. Anyone else is welcome to jump in with advice and ideas.
Thanks.

[Roy Morford]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

Problem solved. In fact there was no problem just my misunderstanding and I haven't even started yet! My skill at fixing my own problems is going to be called upon a lot.

[J.Madison]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

There is a lot more plank fastening on the sides of the transom than the top/bottom. I would run the transom vertically for this reason. Fastening into long grain is stronger than fastening into end grain, whether glued or traditional. This boat does not have a transom frame to receive fasteners, they go into the transom itself.

You will also have a more enjoyable time working the bevels into the plank lands if the staves are vertical rather than horizontal.

[Dusty Yevsky]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

I've almost always used walnut in the past but I'm thinking of cherry for this one. Any and all thoughts welcome.

Thanks.

I'd definitely vote cherry rather than walnut. I've used both and will never use walnut on a boat again. Cherry will darken to a beautiful hue that will last as long as the boat. Walnut's initial stunning color fades quickly to a bland tan. This happened on boats that were dry sailed and stored indoors.

Cherry is stronger to boot. Save the walnut for indoor furniture.

[Roy Morford]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

Great thoughts on the cherry for my transom. Also, I hadn't given any thought to securing the plank ends into the transom with vertical vs horizontal grain. Two more decisions made - cherry with the grain vertical. I'll have to see if I can find some pieces of cherry with a nice grain pattern and then book match it.
Thanks everyone.
Now if only my surgeon would clear me to drive again I could start accumulating the wood I'll need.

[Ben Fuller]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

Some thoughts:
What does Walt recommend? Both for grain orientation and wood species? Cherry does move around more than most and the wider the piece the more it will move ( expand/ contract) Keeping things horizontal gives you one free edge.
Many boats that have horizontal grain use fashion pieces into which the plank fastenings go. In the case of Walt's design, the only place where there may be grain problems with horizontal grain is right at the bottom and I suspect there is a big knee of some kind there which can take the

[Roy Morford]

Re: Duck Trap Wherry

While not disagreeing with Ben Fuller, my experience with cherry has been good and I've never experienced expansion or contraction. I think a lot would depend on how the wood is finished, how well is the finish maintained, where is the boat kept etc. With regard to an issue raised by Dusty Yevsky, I too have experienced the walnut colour changes noted. I'll never use walnut again because it does fade over time. My preference now is mahogany instead of walnut. For gunwales I really cherry. I like the colour, I can get long, straight grained, knot free pieces and it's a pleasure to work with.
Over the past few days I've been gluing small scraps of thin ply cut offs together to make a "patchwork" plank 16 feet long which I'll use to make a template for the plank keel. I won't show a picture because it looks truly awful. However, the glue has set and the "plank" will be stable medium for the template.
Please be patient when it comes to my actual start date. I hope to get permission from my surgeon in the next couple of weeks to drive again. For now it's probably a good time to get busy and sharpen all my planes and chisels.