Preview: How to Build a Wooden Boat – AROHA, Part 10 – The Sheer & Chine

26 Responses So Far to “How to Build a Wooden Boat – AROHA, Part 10 – The Sheer & Chine”

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  David Sinclair says:

  Marcus Lewis (Traditional Maritime Skills videos) describes steam bending thick laminates to the form, leaving for a day or so for the wood to ‘learn’ the shape, then unclamping, followed by a drying period prior to final glue up (laminating the stem, part 1). Perhaps this approach would be the way (albeit slower) to soften that ‘stubborn’ ribband, chine or sheer log, if the plank was not first spiled. Cheers.

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    Robert Whitehouse says:

    The upper sheer clamp on Doug Hylan’s Bowler takes two curves and a twist in the forward stations. Steam bending just would not do it. In the end the sheer clamp was spiled and laminated from two 1/2″ pieces of Douglas fir. That should have been done for the lower sheer clamps also, instead it had to be faired and filled. Vertical concave and horizontal convex conic sections with a twist are tough to realize, but the result is beautiful.

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  Ed LaFontaine says:

  What head room above the boat is necessary to flip it when the time comes? What height garage door is needed to roll it out of the shop before the house goes on?

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    andrew donald says:

    I have the plans Ed. Would you like me to measure some diagonals of the sections?

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    Steve Stone says:

    Hi Ed. Good questions. The answer of overhead space needed for the flip may depend more upon the way you intend to support the boat in the flip than the boat itself. As for the boat itself, you won’t need much more room than the beam of the boat. For both situations, keep in mind that the skeg will be on the bottom. A standard garage door should provide plenty of height if the house is not yet on.

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      Ed LaFontaine says:

      My hope is for a discussion of the rigging and gear necessary to accomplish this. I am in the design stage now of a house and shop with a 36’ bay to allow this build. Some discussion of lift points to be incorporated overhead would be appreciated.

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      andrew donald says:

      The diagonal measuremement at its broadest part of hull with one or two of the moulds still attached would require a bit more than beam of boat. Once you have hull suspended you could cut off moulds to gain a little more.

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  Mike Anderson says:

  This was a very good episode, No 10. I feel these areas of subject matter which concentrate on the real life problems of constructing any part of a wooden boat in a “show (with camera) and tell (with a practiced expert)” are the most valuable ways to educate the less practiced. Every aspect of conceiving and building a boat has a problem or two and these need experience to flesh out. I also thought the comment “are you scared of your boat” was marvellous and most of us would say yes immediately. That includes sailing or operating the boat. For example I am so grateful that Tom Cunliffe spent the time with “Haul, Reef and Steer” on operating gaffers, a book I have read and studied countless times. Thank you OCH and I hope you consider my comments positively. An Amateur Friendship Sloop Owner aged 73.

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  Ben Marris says:

  Great. Thanks. I am developing a serious respect for the guy who built the original without these plans etc.

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  William McCaffrey says:

  Surprised that you didn’t test the sheer clamp before wetting it out. Why didn’t you consider steaming that section? I have only built half dozen boats, but study all the books and many designs for years, so not an expert.

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  Simon Houlder says:

  Hi David Sinclair, I thought about steaming too, but how long would the shaped pieces of timber need to dry before they could be effectively epoxy glued? Sure you can stem bend and then mechanically fasten, but I don’t think you can mix the technologies/methodologies ……

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  Steve Zimmermann says:

  Great episode. “We’ll just start taking away everything that doesn’t look like a boat,” says the man confident in his skills and comfortable in his skin.

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    Kit Laughlin says:

    PERFECT.

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  Tom McFarling says:

  I looked up “spile” in the dictionary and I’m still at sea. Can anyone explain what Eric means.. I’m a newbie, obviously. Thanks.

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    Simon Houlder says:

    Tom McFarling, yes he said spile, turn off the damn self-correct!
    Spile, here means lifting marks from the boat frame/jig to determine the width of the sheer clamp and chine that will wrap and edge bend around without requiring further fairing to the planking line, and end up thinner, as he showed after 24 hours at the end of the video. He suggested next time he would start with a 6 inch wide board to spile down to the required 4 inches but in a S curve when layed flat.

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    Gordon Stewart says:

    To “spile” in general means (roughly) to take measurements for a plank off of the molds, then cut the shape from a plank that is wider than the final plank will be. There are various methods of this measurement procedure, but essentially you can reduce the amount of edgeset the plank needs to have by cutting the top and bottom of the plank in curvy ways.

    In this instance, Eric was saying that since he already prepared the plank to the final width, he is stuck trying to bend the plank to the shape, and can’t spile, because he has no extra width to cut off.

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    Steve Stone says:

    Hey Tom. I’ve added two videos above in “Related Videos” where you can see Peter Buxton demonstrate spiling. Peter is a top-notch Deer Isle boatbuilder.

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  Suzan Wallace says:

  Excellent!! Here in Down-East Carteret County, NC, boat builders call that building by the “rack -of-the-eye” (spoken in a Down-East brogue)~

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  Michael Seibert says:

  Two other things that I learned the hard way. On my Lightning, I made the chine log oversized and glued it in that way. Everything seemed fine, but overnight it developed a big and ugly split. My mentor told me I should have used spruce instead of cedar for the log, because spruce would have taken a curve much better. I have also wondered if making my log 2″ instead of the final dimension of 1 1/2″ made the cedar too stiff and also contributed to the split.

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  Jay Knight says:

  Excellent as always. I and I am sure all your viewers agree, I appreciate both the efforts you put into the boat and your patience in sharp your skills on video. I am quite sure it takes a lot of additional effort to video record the build.

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  nikola drmac says:

  fantastic!
  thank you Eric

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  Glenn Holland says:

  I like it!, “what can we get away with?” AND, “lay your eye on it”! Both are important concepts, especially the “eye”. Just because the designer seems to have it figured out doesn’t mean you can cut it, glue it up, and walk away untill in the morning and all will be well. Good and important points. THANKS Eric.

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  David Sinclair says:

  Comprehensive video on ‘understanding’ and coaxing wood Eric – good stuff. Might steaming the sheer and chine allow a bit more 3 dimensional distortion with a solid piece? Beautiful lines on this double-ender. Cheers.

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  Philip Myer says:

  Master Class Eric- great clear explaining that wood will do a lot then says ‘no more- I’m done bending’.

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  andrew donald says:

  Best episode yet Eric. Plenty of material and building tips for us hacks.
  Thanks very much
  P.S. at the end you say you’d spile the chine and sheer clamp, is that that just at stern or bow as well?

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    Steve Stone says:

    Just at the stern Andrew. Good question. You could spile the bow as well, but it’s not necessary.