Preview: Carvel Planking a Wooden Boat, Part 1 – Spiling

31 Responses So Far to “Carvel Planking a Wooden Boat, Part 1 – Spiling”

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  Charley Humphrey says:

  Thank you for this!!

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  Steve Grube says:

  Born and raised in Illinois, about as far away from an ocean as one can get in the United States. Yet (or perhaps because of this) I love all things even remotely related to boats, boat building and sailing. I have sailed around the world at least four times, never leaving the safety and comfort of my Barcalounger. But I digress.

  I`ve read many, many well-intentioned articles about spiling, appearing in countless magazines and books, some with large color photos, detailed drawings and ultra-detailed step-by-step instructions. I never really got it.

  Now, with this video, I get it. It´s all so very simple when you see it done in real time. You´re marking top and bottom data points on a batten, then transferring them to a suitable plank. Done.

  Trying to explain the spiling process in written form is like trying to teach your seven year old son to ride a bicycle by handing him a manual. You start by demonstrating it yourself just to show how easy it is, then you put the kid on the bike and give him a push. This video puts me on the bike.

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    Peter Buxton says:

    Thanks Steve, that makes me pleased that I participated in this video process!

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  Gary Porter says:

  This was great video. …if a picture is worth a thousand words, this video is worth ten thousand. I have never tried any of this but want to learn…and it may be outside the scope of the video, but I have a question. At the start Peter marked a plank width in several places. I assume this had been pre-determined. But by what method? Since the ends are narrower than the middle, can I assume that at the start the distance to be covered at each point (end, middle of boat, etc.) was measured and divided by a certain width to yield a number of planks; a width that he had boards wide enough to make? …probably at the middle, and then the ends divided by that number of planks to determine the plank width there?

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    Peter Buxton says:

    Hi Gary, I’m just seeing your post and the short answer to your question is yes…you divide up the distance from keel to sheer in 5 or 6 places by the number of planks you intend to use and then use a long batten to make sure the marks line up and are fair, then mark it off.

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  David Hubbard says:

  I’m a little late to this video, as I just joined up. Very interesting. I note that you eyeball the top of the curve, rather than taking two points on the batten and then using the intersection of the arcs of them when transferring to the plank. Thoughts on the relative merits of the two methods?

  Great video!
  Dave

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    Peter Buxton says:

    I think that would be a fine way to spile a plank, even tho the method in the video might be a little faster. But…the smaller the boat , the more accurate things need to be and what you describe would work well for a 16′ Whitehall or something similar!

    thanks for watching Peter Buxton

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  Michael Seibert says:

  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You – I am just about to plank my Lightning build and could not be more thrilled to actually see spiling in action! I never felt like I really understood the process from the written descriptions I have seen, but now I think I get it!

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  Steve Nocita says:

  Great video. Thank you for sharing.In this case it’s a lot easier done than said!
  Steve Nocita

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  Stephen Kessler says:

  I noticed that Peter spiled to the inside face of the plank but then placed the spiling batten on the outside face of the new plank stock to transfer the dimensions rather than transfering the dimensions to the inside face of the new plank stock. Any comments or thoughts on this?

  Looking forward to part three. Parts one and two are great!

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    Peter Buxton says:

    I think that’s a great question that will answer itself with some thought!

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    Dennis Wahlberg says:

    You’re right, never but on the frame. Third generation shipwright.

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      Peter Buxton says:

      well I may be doing it wrong but the Nellie H has lasted 111 years with planks butted on the frames, only some of the newer repaired planks were butt blocked and the idea here is to rebuild her as she was.

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        Peter Buxton says:

        Ralph and Richard Stanley of Southwest Harbor fame have always butted all their planks on the frames, because it’s one of the 1st places rot will start and then spread to the frames and planking.

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  Gary Shinn says:

  It appears that he has fastened the ends of a couple of planks where they meet at a frame instead of using a butt block between frames. A shipwright told me that this is wrong, that butt blocks or scarfed planks are much stronger. Your thoughts. Great video BTW.

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    Peter Buxton says:

    I would normally use butt blocks when building a boat, but in this case I have double sawn frames that are 5 inches wide and give a lovely chance to butt the planks.
    It also makes for a smooth/clean interior with no place for dirt or moisture to collect and start some rot, so I have no reservations about doing it this way in this particular case!

    Pete Buxton

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  Mark Ritter says:

  Thanks for posting this. Though I’ve read through several descriptions of spiling it’s much clearer to see it done start to finish. Getting ready to plank my Harry Bryan Rambler 23 so this is very timely!

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    Steve Stone says:

    You’re one lucky dude to be building Harry’s Rambler Mark. She’s one we lust after for sure.

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  David Johnson says:

  Now this is the kind of video that keeps me coming back for more. I’m build a Snipa form Swedish plans and this is really going to help me figure out how wide a piece of wood needs to be before I cut the real stuff.

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  Lee Fox says:

  Spiling a plank demystified! Thank you Peter Buxton and OCH crew for a great boatbuilding video!

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  Anne Bray says:

  Almost thought I was watching Nathaniel Parker acting in the Inspector Lynley series.

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  Charles Yarnell says:

  Thanks Off Center Harbor, looking forward to the rest of this series. This is the direction I want to see Off Center going. Videos like this help me with my own restoration project. I will be referring to this series in the future.

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    Robert Nash says:

    Yes, indeed. I agree!

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  Walter Connolly says:

  Thanks for another great video, is not only about the learing process but about keeping it alive for future generations.
  Cheers

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  Percy Simmons says:

  I did a waterline up, complete and authentic restoration for an L Francis H23 Prudence back in the 70’s. Since then the floors and fastenings( clenched boat nails) have badly deteriorated. Had given up on any notion of doing more work, but, this Guide Post and excellent videos have given me the incentive I’ve been missing for a while, thanks.

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  Joseph Flynn says:

  Wonderful. Love the videos here at OCH, but have been hoping for a bit more coverage of specific aspects of the traditional wooden boat building process. Videos like this make me want to buy a lifetime membership.

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    Steve Stone says:

    Thanks Joseph. Next week we’ll be sharing our goal for our series of boatbuilding videos… we’ll now be moving into traditional methods to compliment the “stitch and glue series” (the Fox), and the “plywood-epoxy series” (Caledonia Yawl), so that ultimately we have a deep library of videos that answer most any/every question a boatbuilder could have.

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      Bill Stewart says:

      Fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed the Caledonia series…Traditional boat building tips like this (Peter Buxton) are the best I have seen yet…very well done!

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  David Tew says:

  I like that method more than Chapelle’s in “Boatbuilding”.

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  Howard Sharp says:

  Loved it, thanks. Looking forward to the next one.

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  William Boulden says:

  Very cool to watch an artisan at work.

  This makes it much easier to understand why all the marks. I’ve seen where people make templates and now that seems like a whole lot more work to frame out a template than to line it off this way. ;D