The Wooden Boat Thread (picture heavy)

[deutschman]

Hey. I wanted to have a place other then the woodworking/carpentry thread where I could share some of my experiences with you guys. As some of you know I am currently at the North School of West Wooden Boat Building in Port Hadlock WA. I want to share some of the cool stuff I get to do and experience with you guys, and I would like to invite any other carpenters, sailors, or wooden boat lovers to share there work and experiences as well. Please keep it to wooden boats. No fiberglass or plastic in this thread please, composite wooden boats car cool though. Racing boats, working boats, day sailors, tall ships, what ever, sails, motors, what ever.

Just as a general guide to boat building you start with a drafting of the boat. Then you loft the boat out on a white washed floor, which is basically just drawing the drafting to full size scale and checking for fudge ups in the drafting. Then you take your master measurements from the lofting and use the lofting to make all the forms that the boat gets built around. Then you build a strong back which is basically a stable, level, plum, and square work bench that the forms get fastened to according the station spacing on the lofting. Then the Stem, stern post, transom, and apron and/or keel get fastened to the forms along with some stringers. After that the boat can get steam bent and/or sawn frames and all its planking. Then the boat gets flipped around and gets all its interior tid bits, rub rails, and so on.

Any ways I will start with the first boat we built as a class. By the way I am taking a cores in traditional wooden small craft so I wont be doing anything longer then 20'.
Our first boat was an 11' Monk Skiff. Mostly red cedar and a bit of sapele and yellow cedar as well. Carvel planked, very simple boat. It has a two part stem which was kind of cool. I got to carve that out of sapele. Its a day boat because your suppose to be able to build it in a day ;)

[deutschman]

Ill be adding a few more boats we have finished sins the Monk Skiff, and also include some boats we are working on currently along with updates as they progress.
Some friends and I also visited Jay Smith's shop today, who is currently building a 52' viking trading ship replica for a group of people who will be using it for educational purposes up here in WA. I got lost of pictures.
If anyone has any questions about any of the stuff I post, ask away. I will do my best to answer. Remember, I am learning this as we speak, so I will not get everything right.

Cheers

[Dozyproductions]

Great looking craftsmanship! Im not so into boats but holy hell you could make some crazy looking speaker enclosures ;)

[Andy.B]

Amazing work! How long did that take to make?

[deutschman]

Great looking craftsmanship! Im not so into boats but holy hell you could make some crazy looking speaker enclosures ;)

I had the same idea. Maybe some cool looking cribs for small children as well.

Amazing work! How long did that take to make?

That small Monk Skiff took us about a week, but thats with three hours of lecture time every morning, interruptions for explanations, and sharing the larger tools like the table saws and band saws with the other group who were building a different skiff at the same time. I think an experienced carpenter (not necessarily a boat builder) could build a simple skiff like this in 2-3 days comfortably with enough planing and the right tools.

[roguetoaster]

Yawl must have had a good time on the water! (Yes, I know it has no sails.)

[deutschman]

Yawl must have had a good time on the water! (Yes, I know it has no sails.)

I think I see what you did there hehehe
Depending on body weight you have 15 minutes to get out of that water before you are dead. :(
But yes it was fun!

[swingard]

My grandfather was a master woodworker. Unfortunately, I do not seem to have inherited his genes! lol I always look forward to your updates. Your pics have inspired me to finally build the workbench in my basement I have been putting off! lol Please keep the updates and pics coming!!

[roguetoaster]

I think I see what you did there hehehe
Depending on body weight you have 15 minutes to get out of that water before you are dead. :(
But yes it was fun!

Maybe when they fish the corpse out it will be stiff as a board. Zing! I know the way out.

[blunttech]

So badass. I love craftsmanship.

[archie]

That is awesome! Thanks for posting that. Very cool!

[deutschman]

Here is a bit about my adventure yesterday.
I think viking boat technology is some of the coolest and most functional boat tech out there. The things the Norwegian and Danish people managed to accomplish with their ships while most of Europe was still slopping around in the mud is amazing to me. The fit and finish they managed to achieve with out any kind of power tools, or saws of ANY kind just astounds me. Every single one of their ships pieces was cut by hand, most often with some form of broad ax.
I recently discovered that there is a local guy who has a well known name in the wooden boat building community, building a viking ship replica in my area. I managed to track down his number through a few of my teachers, and called Jay Smith up to see if a few friends and I could head out to his shop and take a look at his creation. So yesterday we all took a field trip. It was AMAZING!!!
The ship Jay is building is a scaled up version of a viking trading ship which was one of five found sunk in Skuldelev Denmark. The original was 40' and Jay's will be 52'. It is made of yellow cedar and oak along with some yew and a bit of some other wood I cant remember the name of right now. The boat is being built for a group who will use it for educational purposes.
Its been a trip for Jay to get this boat put together. Finding all the right wood including naturally grown oak crooks for the curved section of the ship, getting all his tools made such as his custom made precision trunel cutter, and dealing with the coast guard inspections and regulations being applied to his build.
Any ways here is is.



The planking technique used by the Vikings is called lapstrake, so every plank is technically a strake not a plank. This means the strakes are over lapped one on top of the other and riveted to each other. There are no rabbets cut into the stem or stern for the ends of the planks to fit into. This is why the steps are cut into the stem and stern, so that the end of each strake can be riveted to the stem or stern.




There is a decorative groove cut into the top and bottom of each plank along the line that the planks are riveted. This decoration was a sort of boat builders signature with which each builders work could be told apart.

On the inside of the ship the planks are fasted together by frames sawn out of pieces of wood that have grown into the shape needed for the ship. These are called crooks before they are cut into frames or stem or stern pieces. The fact that all the grain in the wood grows into a bend gives each individual piece a lot more strength then a piece of wood that is forced into a bend or cut into a curved piece. The frames are fastened to the strakes with trunels which are like large water tight wooden pegs.




A few more random shot.


Here are some of Jay's rivets, two of his axes and one of his adzes. Quick shot of a work bench as well ;)


This is the machine they use to cut their trunels. It was devised by Jay and two local machinists. Its kind of like a big pencil sharpener, but it cuts trunel pegs with in a thousandth of an inch. The fit has to be perfect to make the trunels water tight. The amazing part is the viking ship builders would have carved these by hand.

Here is Jay's collection of hand picked and harvested oak crooks which will make it into a viking ship some day. Some of you may understand how hard it is to find pieces like these.



Quick shot of a viking ship shaped joining plane I made. I love it lol


Any ways. More boat porn and stories in the next few days. Thanks for reading

[DaveNorCal]

Thanks for posting. I love this and want to see more.

[acolella76]

Holy shit, that is so awesome. That takes some mad craftsmanship skills, huge props to both you and Jay.

[myinfernalbmw]

Even without hoes, boats are rad