Posted by John Nichols on March 31, 2005 at 22:09:20 from 165.91.196.105 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Plank ripping. posted by John Nichols on March 31, 2005 at 19:24:56:
Sorry puter crashed in the middle - so I just got the last lot sent.
Where were we.
The plans, that I was bought by my wife for Christmas, called for half inch (12mm) planks. Although the book included a note that it was ok to go down to 3/8th (9 mm) of an inch.
The difficulty with 3/8th or 9 mm is that the plank is thin for planing the edge down to get a fit between the planks. The planks fit at an angle and the angle has to be cut onto one of the board. If you have a look at the pictures of the bow and stern transom on my web site you can see the angles cut onto the board. (Bevelling is the correct term)
And so I am a bit leary of going down so thin the first time.
The book listed Fir or oak planks, and I could not get the Atlantic Cedar(?) or fir and I always wanted an oak boat. - Snob value only of course. Fits the description of the average AR person a little bit. Not snobby just proper - dig the hole deeper John.
When I went to buy the oak planks I had no experience buying such planks and I really learnt a lot between then and now. The thinnest planks I could buy were 4 quarters which is actually 15/16th inches. I had hoped I could use the wood shop at Uni to saw them in half as I had previously discussed on this board with J Larabee. But the workshop is still down and out. Also after doing some sawing it is easy to make a mistake and end up with an unusable board.
So I have the problem of getting the planks to 12 mm. I should in hindsight had the 6 quarter planks ripped in half which would have given me 2 three-quarter planks. Tehn I could plane them to 12 mm.
Or taken the eight quarter planks and had them ripped into 3 planks. The ripping is done with a saw, which has a certain width so you loose a bit of plank each time it is ripped. Assuming that the eight quarter is 30/16ths and the blade is 2/16th thick one ends up with 9 mm planks, which still need to be planned smooth. Again I end up too thin for my skill level at planing.
In order to plane the planks I need to buy or borrow a electic plane. See the link to a planer site. These cost about 200 pounds.
Or I can use a 14 inch band saw which will set me back about 600 pounds. This is more than the cost of the whole boat. hence my search for an alternative solution, which was to borrow James Planer (Dewalt)
So I hope Peter this explains the issues a bit - it should be clear as thick cocoa now.
I have to apologize to both Laurence and Andy - I mixed them up - I am so sorry. Thank you Laurence for the note on the rove punch.
This is a lot of fun, even it appears hit amd miss.
JMN