Posted by John Nichols on March 24, 2005 at 19:14:45 from 165.91.196.105 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Re: Mary Anne - Construction posted by andyb on March 24, 2005 at 18:06:52:
I am using 1 inch planks as the base material. The keel plank was sprung in as a 1 inch thick plank - I want a strong keel. The rest will be planed down to 12 mm after I have cut out the planks to the correct shape. (I have access to a planer). No one could spring a 1 inch plank to the shape of the boat, they are to stiff. The keel was a different matter, I still worry it will try and straighten when released but I did not want a 0.5 inch plank on the bottom. I am conservative. I am also looking at what works on this boat to go back and alter the plans for the Swallow. She is next.
The cost for buying 1 inch planks was 3.50 a board foot. The cost for buying 1.5 inch planks and getting them sawed to two planks and faced was a lot more than 3.5 per square foot of finished board. The mill guy did the costs for me and I picked the cheapest. It means more work for me, but I do get a lot of useful odds and sods out of the cutoff. So for example I made the tiller out of cast off stuff from the boom. And I learn to deal with my own timber. If I had time I would make my own resawer and buy 8 quarter planks.
Jon - how did you cut down the 8 quarter planks?
As an example the cost for the timber for a canoe - 12 feet is $750 from Canada, excluding shipping. That timber is 6 mm by 17 mm. I spent time considering the alternatives, if I made a mistake then at least I am the one who has to fix it and enjoy doing it.
I can not afford a 1400 dollar band saw to cut the 10 inch 1.5 inch planks myself, if I was building lots of boats that is a much cheaper option for me.
Now maybe I am a fool - I know that I am not a bairn, but cutting down the timber only involves my time - so far I have lost a jigsaw - worth about 28 dollars. If I buy another jigsaw and get a two year warranty then I spend 3 weeks cutting out the planks - I know the total cost. The difficulty with the jig saw is that it does not always run straight but it is very handy. I have learnt to leave a bit and use the plane to finish it square.
I am seeing problems in handling 10 inch wide planks in a small bandsaw. The blade thickness worries me that I will not be able to saw the curve into the plank.
If I bought close to 12 mm planks precut to 14 feet by 8 inches from a boat lumber yard I was looking at 10.5 per board foot with shipping extra.
My wife tore my head off for buying $500 worth of oak and mahogany, I had to be able to argue that I got value for money. She is a structural engineer - her questions were quite pointed and she wanted dollars and cents. At the moment I only need the mast timber, the sail and the running rigging, and the tiller metalwork.
I spent 170 on fasteners, 50 on epoxy, 50 on planes and sand paper, 38 on a small sander and now the saw.
The Stanley plane from England #4 is brilliant. I love it. Trust the Brits to build good tools. Pity about their TV - I am mean it makes you laugh a lot and it is funny. Then again Texas TV makes you laugh but it is not funny. People in Texas are talking about some British thing called Monty Python - they ask if I have ever seen it. Jethro Tull tours here a lot, so y'all get the idea of the country - but the people are nice.
Finally - God looks after fools and idiots. My ex wife says I am both and a scum bag.
A picture of a finished boat is attached.
I hope this answers your questions and raises more as I need help thinking on these matters.
John