Bob Easton

The stem pieces are the same at each end and are gotten out of a single board. There are no splices or scarfs. As with many small parts that have duplicates, I temporarily glue two boards together and cut once. The challenge with the stems was getting them positioned correctly on the bottom. They are so small that it is hard to find a method that works well. The 1:1 version can probably be done by setting the stem in a vise and positioning the bottom over it. That didn’t work for the model because it’s too hard to see the joint that way, and the tolerance for a good fit is incredibly small.

It took three tries to arrive at the method shown. The bottom is aligned on a cutting pad, where we have lines drawn to ensure angular accuracy. That’s weighted down. The stems are then clamped to a machinist square and glued in place. 1:1 fastening is bedded with glue and fastened with two screws for each stem.

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Setup is always a boat building milestone. Whatever is used to define the boat’s shape gets affixed to a building base. Shape is usually defined by frames, forms, molds, bulkheads, sometimes temporary, sometimes an integral part of the structure. This boat uses the two watertight bulkheads and the mid-frame to define the shape. They are integral components, not temporary shape forms.

The building base for the 1:1 version needs to be any simple flat platform that is 12 feet long, about a foot wide, and on legs that provide a convenient working height. For the model, I used a strip of composite board. Part of one of the drawings is glued to the block to make parts placement accurate. A few strips of wood provide anchorage for the bulkheads and frame. The parts are placed on vertical boards to allow access to the hull interior as it is being constructed. This technique is used for the 1:1 version as well.

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A renown naval architect, Howard Chapelle, advised that every boat shop needs a “moaning chair” where one can sit and look at a problem and think about how to fix it. It’s moaning chair time. Woodworkers often lament the way wood behaves when it is cut. Just after cutting the elliptical openings in the bulkheads, s-p-r-o-n-g! They both turned into curly things.

Several attempts to reflatten by steaming and clamping did no more than delaminate them. The resolution was to remake them using thicker boards. Then after all the cutting was completed, I milled them to the correct thickness.

This is one of those areas where it’s good to learn the lesson on a model. It turns out that builders of the 1:1 version have reported similar problems making these bulkheads.

The extra parts in the picture are for the hatches in the bulkheads. The bulkheads are intended to be watertight, providing a flotation chamber in each end of the boat. The plans define a hatch which uses a screw mechanism and gasket to close the opening. Or, one can buy a ready made closure from a boating supply outlet. I chose to mimic the one in the plans.

The screw is operated by a knob. Let’s make one. Of course it’s too small to operate like the 1:1 version, but can be made to look like it.

This made a good excuse for doing some refurbishment of an ancient Unimat lathe. It will never be a good metal turning lathe again, but it’s good enough for this task.

The port closures turned out very well. They can be installed and removed much like the full size version. These details add a “Wow!” factor and help define “fine scale.”

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