Door Furnature

I had a call fron the wood shop to tell me he was ready for the door furnature. So I thourght Id go to a local long established iron moungary store.  My needs wernt difficult, or so I thourght.  I wanted some 3" polished SS hinges, and a SS rebater door lock.  All they had was tat, the hinges were so bad IMO it was a waste of SS and no rebated locks at all.  This is supposed to be a specialist shop.  I then went to B&Q, Homebase and Howdens.  In 2 of these the concept of SS seemed to be alien.  They did a huge range of nasty plated stuff, but not a whiff of SS, and as for rebate lock......Well?  Howdens did have some very nice SS hinges but they wanted over £13 a pair and that was on my trade account!

I resolved to go on the net. I like to support local shops where possible, but they really have to do more.

A Net search turned up a company called e-Hardware  Absolutly brilliant!!  and the even better part quite local to me and were happy to indulge my fussyness in person.  In the end I got EXACTLY what I wanted and even some concealed  door latches I didnt even know existed.

So, excelent quality products, brilliant service and great prices......... How great?  Well the exact same hinges that I liked at Howdens were at e-Hardware for £3.50

I will post pics of this stuff when I get the doors.

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Transom Build

The transom is built from 3/4" Okoume plywood. The layout lines were transferred to the plywood with carbon paper to show outer contours and added inside frame locations. For some of the curved areas, the added frames allowed using them as a template for final cut of the transom plywood with a router and trimming bit. I angled the motorboard just because I thought it looked better. I also raised the height of the transom at the motorboard to 16.5" from the plans 15". The "Mustang" boat plans show different dimensions up to 17" depending on make of old outboards and Im told that performance can be enhanced by tuning the height upwards and the transom can always be cut down if too high. Since I dont have a motor yet, I moved it up, but 17" didnt look good, so I settled on 16.5". The Okoume 3/4" plywood is very dense and heavy and after bending a couple of silicon bronze nails when trying to glue and nail the transom knee together, I increased the diameter of the pre-drilled holes. Bent nails were broke off and another hole drilled adjacent for another nail. Close inspection shows a couple of curious bronze spots in the transom knee....

The bottom of the transom has a shallow "V" cut at a 12 degree bevel. I used the method in the "Boatbuilding with Plywood" book by Glen L. Witt. I added an auxilliary fence suspended about 1/8" higher than the transom thickness off the table saw surface, and then screwed down a straight board to the transom along the line to be cut (one side of the "V" at a time). With the blade angled 12 degrees and the outside of the blade set just below the edge of the aux fence, the cut turned out super. I think the above mentioned book is a "must read" for a new boat builder like me as it answered many questions that I had and hopefully prevented me from making poor choices for materials, assembly and building techniques. I also enjoyed learning about something I knew little about and gave me the confidence to begin and avoid many mistakes that would have happened otherwise.

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The Decision to Build a Boat

"The desire to build a boat is one of those that cannot be resisted. It begins as a little cloud on a serene horizon. It ends by covering the whole sky, so that you can think of nothing else. You must build to regain your freedom." 

-Arthur Ransome, 1923

If your goal is to sail the world on a limited budget (in my case, very limited), it really makes no sense to build a boat yourself. The materials for the bare hull are often far more expensive than a turn-key secondhand boat. Most would-be backyard boat builders dont want believe this-- they think, "Well, those people must be using expensive, exotic hardwoods for their boat. Im going to build mine to workboat standards." or "I can buy un-milled lumber and do the milling myself" or some variety of, "Well, Im different." I know people think this because I thought it, and Ive heard it from many armchair boat builders. I now know that it is not true-- I got some amazing deals on materials, found salvaged hardware on eBay, Im using roofing tar as my bedding compound, galvanized iron fastenings, and white porch paint to finish her off. Luna is not just a workboat, she is a down home workboat. And I have still spent way more than I would have on a used boat. In fact, had I purchased a used boat, I might already be out on the water like these awesome folks. Sometimes in life you have to do what you want, even if it doesnt make sense.


I really just wanted to build a wooden boat. I knew it was impractical, nonsensical, and that I didnt have the skills or know-how, but I was taken by the romance and beauty of wooden boat building. Funny enough, Ive found you dont need to know much about wooden boats to begin building one. Lucky for me, I came across George Buehlers designs and book. This guy is really extraordinary. Hes pared down the beautifully complex combination of art and science of boat building for those of us who just want a safe boat to go to sea in. No treatises on hydrodynamic theory, no hand waving, no boat building mysticism. Just practical, lay instructions on how to build a boat. Simple. 

(17 bucks on Amazon)

Granted, due to my lack of experience, I will be churning out a vessel more akin to a swamp boat than a fine New England yacht, but Id be willing to bet the Clampetts had a helluva lot more fun than the Vanderbilts.
Lastly, this documentary perfectly captures the essence of wooden boat building (click below to watch it for free!):





"Building Charlotte"-- A beautiful documentary about the Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway, an extraordinary boatyard located on Marthas Vineyard.

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Lets Build A Rudder

There is a sister boat to mine.  The owner reported that the rudder design he felt was poor and needed improvoing.  The rudder that comes with the boat is a plain flat one.

A bit of reserach came up with several designs that are better and give more turn for your buck.  In the end I decided to go for a type know as a Schilling, or Fishtail rudder.  It has several other names but these are the most common.  Having read a great deal about them and the maths involed I came up with my design.

Here is the whole rudder in parts form.

Once all marked up I tack welded the parts together so I could drill them all together.

The small parts are the attachment parts

Then the drilling.  The large holes are to take the rudder stock pole which is 50mm.

 

Once drilled I tack welded the parts together.  When making things it like this its best to tack it all just in case it need altering.

Once its all together its fully welded.

Once the supporting ribs are in place the outer skin needs attaching.  This a 4mm sheet of steel and its best forced over the ribs cold to prevent any distortion that heat might cause.  The flow over the rudder would be affected by this.  This is a slow and gentle process using g-clamps to ease it into place.

1st side done

The inside

 This is the finished rudder

The two smaller parts earlier will be used later on the rudder pivots and will bolt on tho the top and bottom of this part.  This is to enable the rudder to be removed if the the drive shaft needs drawing out.  More on that soon.

Also on the go at them moment is the construction of the pram hood.  Again more on this as there is something to show.

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