Buenas Notches

Many many notches later I finally finished the notches up to where the floor timbers start and then I ran out of wood for the longitudinal battens.  I would have  to save up some money which was getting a bit more difficult now that I have a new room mate (whom I married on October 7, 2012).  Nevertheless, I was able find enough money to get 500 board feet of lumber from Davie Ashley Sawmill in Elora, Tn. 

Stopping in Elora Tennessee for a quick drink after buying another load of white oak at Davie Ashley Sawmill.  This 16' trailer has paid for itself over and over again.  To the guy who literally took the next to the last corn dog out from under us at this convenience store (not pictured), you might want to avoid my wife for a while.  We actually ordered two corn dogs from one person behind the counter to have the guy behind us (yes he heard) order one from someone else who was quicker to the draw.  What is this world coming to when corn dogs and respect are in short supply.

I have at least one batten installed in all the notches up to the floor timbers.   You can see all the new battens that I made from the new load of wood waiting on the table in the foreground.

With this new load of wood I've changed the method of how I make the longitudinal battens.  Before I cut the wood to be as straight as possible and glued the battens together to be as straight as possible.  Now I'm ripping the lumber and following the natural curve of the wood.  The finished battens are then sorted by shape (straight, slight curve, radical curve, etc.)  I then select battens to fit the actual curves on the boat.  This has resulted in less waste and a much easier time fitting the battens into place at the cost of a little more time sorting and selecting the pieces.  I also gain increased strength since now the grain always carries true the entire length of the batten.  Before, I glued as manny battens as I could together.  Now, I can only glue up a few at a time and I've got to label and keep track of them.  I think its worth it though. There is less fighting to install them and I'm sure less internal stress in the final assembly.

The longitudinal battens finished up to the floor boards.  I've even faired the bulkhead to the hull contour in this photo.  Notice how the longitudinals flow smoothly into the stem.  This is no accident.

Back to the notches.  I've put together a series of photos that explains this grueling process.

After measuring for the approximate placement of the battens (they should be as evenly spaced as possible), a long batten is clamped in place.  There is a trade-off between the best placement of the batten and the natural tendency for how the wood bends.  This was more of an issue during the more radical transitions between the barrel shape of the mid-hull region and the bow.  The gentle curves near the keel seem to follow a natural bend for the wood which means I laid the hull out in a smart fashion or more likely I got lucky.

Clamping the batten in place on top of the bulkhead frame.  This bulkhead also has a 3" floor timber bonded to it.

It's important that the batten is clamped so that it lies flat against the bulkhead.  Of course it can only lie flat on one edge of the bulkhead because the edge is square and the batten does not fall normal to the bulkhead.  I had to be careful not to over clamp the battens because I need to measure the angle between the batten and bulkhead.

I use a square to project where the notch sides should be drawn.   Even this is not straight forward because the square will not lay flat against the frame and sit flush on the batten at the same time.

With the batten sitting naturally on top of the frame I measure the distance between the lowest part of the frame and the bottom of the batten.  This measurement plus two inches is what I will use for the depth of the notch from the bottom of the batten on both sides of the bulkhead.  Since the batten is at an angle to the bulkhead the final depth of the notch will actually be a little more (note the angle the rule makes to the batten and that the width measured at this angle is larger than the one inch thickness of the batten).  But this will get me close and I'll take the final measurements after I fit an actual batten into the notches.  

Marking the depth of the notch.

Notch drawn on the frame.

I've moved the clamp to the other side to mark this side.  The clamps often get in the way of marking the notches.

I start the cut for the sides of the notch with a hand saw.  I then use a Sawzall to cut most of the remaining side of the the notch.  I then finish with the hand saw.  I originally used the hand saw exclusively but I kept hitting screws hidden in the frames and after ruining 4 or 5 saws I switched to the Sawzall.  Ironically, the Sawzall is not really much faster than a sharp hand saw but the 4" floor timbers and frame combination is way too much for these short mitre saws and there is just no room for a long saw and once you hit a screw your done with that saw. 

The net step is to slice up the notches with a skill saw.  The skill saw is set to about 1 3/4" depth and I make 1/4" - 1/2" slices out of the notches.

A closeup of the slicing.

Some rough chisel work and the bulk of the material is cleared from the notches.

Notch cleared of the bulk of the material.

Using a hand saw, I make of cut in the center of the notch down to my depth lines on both sides of the frame.  I then can use a chisel and finish the notch.  Once a run of notches is cleaned out with the chisel I lay a temporary batten in place.  I note the places where it's too high and where the notch has the wrong angle.  Remember, I purposely designed the notches to be too high.  Now is where I measure the correct depth of the notches.  I also check to make sure the notches are not too tight.  A firm push or light hammer work should bring the batten flush to the bottom of the notch.  The most work is when the notches are too tight and I have to widen them.  This is painful chisel work especially where there are floor timbers.

A finished run of notches.  I hope there is not an air vent 2 meters wide at the end of this trench because my defenses are built around a large scale attack.

13/02/02

This is my nephew Joshua learning how to make the notches.  It sure is nice to get help occasionally.  This is the last run of notches on the starboard side.  My goal is to have the hull ready for "planking" this spring.

13/02/10

Finally finished all the notches on the starboard side of the hull.  I have 3 more runs of notches on the port side to go.  The last two runs notch through all the floor timbers and these take about two days worth of work to get right.  It's also difficult to work on the bottom of the hull.  There are few places to keep tools.  Floor timbers are close together which makes working difficult.  Also it's like working on top of a jungle gym with nothing but sharp edges.  Well, I'll be glad when the last three runs are complete.  Tonight I'm exhausted.     

13/02/17

I'll add a picture soon.  I've started the final three runs of notches on the port side.  I didn't get too far this weekend because it was the weekend that I started the vegetable garden.  The garden is tilled, marked, fenced against rabbits, and the cabbage and lettuce has been planted.  All the other plants have been started inside.  Next weekend I'm going to try my hand at snow boarding so there won't be any progress for a few weeks.  Wish me luck.

13/04/02

Okay, so no snow boarding in 45 degree weather while it's raining.  Progress on the boat has be relatively slow but has not stopped.  Almost done with all the notches.

A close up of the work on the notches on the port side of the hull.

All the notches are roughed out and most are clean.  I have not laid in the longitudinal battens to check alignment or depth.  That is the next step.