Just over a year ago, I spent a day with Stephen Stokes learning how to carve letters. He is an excellent teacher, and I can recommend his courses to anyone interested in the subject (he teaches woodturning too). My reason for doing the course was to be able to carve the name on the transom of the dinghy I am building.
But why leave it there?
This sign for my friend Richard, who got me into woodturning, is always at the front of his stall at craft fairs. Apparently it draws people in, and has no doubt increased his sales!
Not an original idea, but one of Stephen’s, is this short but so-true phrase:
It certainly does!
My latest effort was for a good friend who has started repairing and restoring bicycles, including for charity:
I’m still a novice letter carver, but it’s a totally absorbing and relaxing way to make just a handful of shavings … and something worth looking at.
Of course, it’s not just men … women and children too!
Here is a writing box, made for a creative writer to store her ideas.A dovetailed mahogany box, with a floating spalted ash lid; and internal mitred boxes of sitka spruce, with a turned mahogany lid handle.
For a few years now, we have spoken with a chair maker, James Mursell, at some major craft fairs. He runs the Windsor Workshop near Pulborough in West Sussex. Knowing that I fancied doing one of his courses, Sylvia gave me one of his chair-making courses for Christmas, booked for a week in early July.
We stayed in one of the self-catering cottages on James’ farm, beautifully converted from former stables. While I steamed and shaped chair parts, Sylvia was able to have a well-earned break, reading and relaxing.
James has the programme down to a tee. His instruction and teaching was excellent and, it was great to be learning in a small group with the other seven attendees.
The group included a father and son team, a father, mother and son team and a man who had come over from Japan, just to do the course!
We used cleverly-designed jigs to steam bend the arm and bow of our chairs.A test fitting.This jig supports the arm, ready for drilling the holes for some of the spindles – drilling the holes in-line is the most challenging part of the process.Shaping the ends of the armsPutting wedges in the bow.Eight happy novice chair-makers with our expert teacher/mentor, James Mursell (far left).A ‘Classic’ Windsor chair in Ash and Mahogany …… and its new owner.
After some delay – I am much better at starting things than finishing them – here is Sylvia’s new Windsor chair, with its hard oil and wax finish applied, in its rightful place, at the desk I made for her.
If anyone reading this fancies making a stool or Windsor chair, I can thoroughly recommend a course at The Windsor Workshop. No prior knowledge or woodworking experience is required, though a little certainly helps. James also produces some super chair-making tools and, yes, I have got a few of them for future projects!
Using the paper tape method, the marks for the top of the planks on each mould were transferred from port to starboard – an amazingly simple and accurate method.
The battens were then fixed to the starboard side.
In order to get the planking positions at the stem symmetrical/level, the ‘Two Pencil Trick’ was used:
Just as one can easily spot a painting that is not level when walking into a room, sighting the top of each set of planks with opposing pencils (and a willing helper) is a very accurate way to ensure they are level.
Unfortunately, I spotted a lack of fairness at the rear section of a few battens, so these had to be adjusted on the first dose and the adjustments transferred across. By close of play yesterday, the job was done:
“Mischief managed” – well, the Lining Out is … at last!
Now it’s time to grasp the nettle and start on the garboard planks. Wish me luck!
There’s a saying, that the boat elves won’t help you build your boat. Unlike the brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Elves and the Shoemaker” you can pray for some magical help overnight but you’ll find none has been given when you return the next morning!
Never mind, there’s no harm in just having some elves/gnomes/gonks around.
Here’s a few that turned up (on my lathe!):
Our grandchildren loved trying to spot them in Doc’s Den today.
Talking of help from the ‘little folk,’ I must acknowledge Sylvia’s assistance with my boatbuilding endeavours, and I hope that our grandchildren will be keen to contribute at some stage too.
In February 2021, the Wooden Boat School in Brooklyn Maine USA released the first of a series of on-line videos: “Mastering Skills with the Wooden Boat School.” In these videos mainly led by Greg Rössel, he gives step by step instruction on individual aspects of wooden boat building. The $49.95 annual subscription, gives access to all the videos to date and to new ones coming out each month. Greg Rössel is an excellent teacher and I recommend his book “Building Small Boats” as well as these videos.
The episode on lining off a hull was released a few months ago and has been a very useful source of advice as I come to lining off the hull of my dinghy.
Lining off is the process of tacking battens to the stem, transom and moulds/frames to establish the positions and sizes of the planks to be fitted. The Americans use the term strake for planks, hence their term lapstrake instead of clinker for this type of construction of overlapping planks/strakes.
There is a lot to take into consideration in lining off!
The Garboard is the lowest plank – the first to be fitted – and this must be wide enough at the stem to establish a sweeping curve and provide room for the greater number of fixings at the stem to hold the plank in place (the tension on the fittings here is greater than elsewhere because of the degree of twist and curvature at the forward end of this plank).
Having determined the position of the garboard plank, it is time to line out the remaining nine planks.
At the stem, the width of the planks above the garboard should be equal, except for the uppermost plank – the sheer plank/ sheer strake – which is usually a little wider than the planks below for aesthetic reasons. The strip of wood that runs along the gunwale – the rubbing strip – gives the illusion that the sheer strake is narrower than it really is, thus the height of the rubbing strip has to be added when determining the width of the sheer strake, so the plank does not appear too thin. In addition, a slightly wider sheer plank is aesthetically pleasing.
The planks should be fairly evenly spaced along the widest part of the boat, but slightly narrower going around the turn of the bilge, and slightly wider where the curve of the hull is less (at the bottom of the boat). That’s why the plank next to the garboard is often called the board strake.
Dividing the curved length of the stem, transom and the moulds can be done using a tape measure and dividing the measured length by the number of planks. However dividing these measurements is not easy, especially if imperial, and anyway errors creep in when marking out. This is where the technique, described by Greg Rössel as “The Amazing Diminishing Pyramid” comes in. This is ancient geometry, used in determining perspective in drawings and design, perhaps better shown than described:
Equally-distanced marks are joined with a straight line to an ‘infinity point. At any distance between the base and infinity, the lines are equidistant.Using a piece of till roll paper tape, the distance between the top edge of the garboard plank and the sheer batten is marked onto the tape.With the distance covered by the nine remaining planks marked, the tape is placed on the “The Amazing Diminishing Pyramid” where the total distance covers nine segments on the board. The equidistant positions are marked on the edge of the tape quickly and easily – and very accurately too .
In practice, there is no point in doing this for all the moulds. Equal divisions are only necessary at the stem, and in the middle of the boat they serve as a guide only because the plank widths are adjusted to the degree of curvature as mentioned above. Once the lining out battens are nailed to the stem, transom and middle two moulds the battens adjust themselves to produce a fair line … like this:
The topmost batten – the sheer batten – is the same width as the rubbing strake. The sheer plank/strake is a little wider than its neighbours, and the width of planks 2-9 at the stem are equal.The design calls for ten planks a side – having narrow planks makes it easier to go around the curves of the hull. Surprisingly, a Tasmanian boatbuilders – Denman Marine – make this dinghy with just seven planks a side.
My next job is to mark the top edge of the battens on the stem, moulds and transom (a shallow saw kerf on the moulds, and red biro on stem and transom). Then I shall remove the battens and use till roll tape to transfer the marks on each of the moulds and transom to the other side; fit battens to the starboard side; and check for fairness.
There’s a Greg Rössel tip for transferring the marks at the stem I shall describe later.
By the way, I had the devil’s own job getting the garboard plank’s batten to run fair between midships and the stem. Thanks are owed to Matt who helped to tweak the batten to give it a fair line! Thanks too to Mark and Sylvia for their help with this phase of the build.
On the 29th April, IBTC Portsmouth held our long-delayed (by Covid) Graduation Ceremony. Four cohorts of students gathered to receive their formal graduation certificates. It was a superb event, and great to meet up with those we had come to know well. In her speech, the CEO of Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust (PNBPT) and Heritage Skills Ambassador, highlighted the importance of, and value in maintaining, training in traditional heritage skills.
Four days later, the College staff were informed that PNBPT has decided to close the College, with the BB19 cohort completing their 1yr boatbuilding course in July, but BB20 having to leave at the end of their initial 12-week joinery (which they had only started at the beginning of March) and thus not completing their year’s course.
The Trust deserve much credit for taking over the College in 2017, when its future was in jeopardy. Thanks to the Trust’s intervention, and with its support, the College has trained many students in traditional heritage boatbuilding skills. Graduates have gone on to work internationally: three have gone to Costa Rica, to work on the Sail Cargo build, and others have worked in Venice and other parts of Europe. Closer to home, graduates have gone on to restore National Trust craft, work in the NMRN (National Museum of the Royal Navy) on HMS Warrior and HMS Victory, and one is currently working on Golden Hind in London. One graduate is leading the restoration of ‘Falmouth,’ which is part of PNBPT’s Historic Boats Collection, and other recent graduates are doing superb work with him on a voluntary basis. College students and at least one graduate have contributed to the Trust’s CMB (Coastal Motor Boat) replica project. Others have worked for the College, and many are working in the Marine Industry, which is crying out for people with the very skills that the College teaches.
Unfortunately, despite the Trust’s hard work and its best efforts, the College has continued to run at a significant annual loss. These financial difficulties have been well known, as have the efforts of the Trust to mitigate the deficit. Nevertheless, the news came as a shock for both staff and students. The Trust had painted a very positive picture of the College in their last accounts at Companies House, noting that the number of students was at an all-time high; and that the planned strategic review was not expected to move the Trust away from any of its activities.
I have written to the Trust’s CEO and Trustees, asking them to reconsider this decision. Not only because of my passion for the College and my fellow feeling for the staff and current students, but also because of IBTC Portsmouth’s valuable role in maintaining the heritage skills of traditional boat building. Sadly, their decision was final and irreversible, and my efforts were to no avail. Thankfully, pleas for BB20 to finish their year’s course have been heeded. The fact that they had made huge commitments and change of life decisions to do the 1 year course were highlighted. Indeed, three of that group are international students, and another is from Scotland.
I have been assured that every effort was made to find a way to make the College viable. I have been told that the Trust intends for Boathouse 4 to remain a thriving hub for volunteers and for trainees working on the historic collection; and that the Trust will look to support training opportunities for young people, in partnership with industry.
Nevertheless, I remain saddened and disappointed that the College is to close, and how this was handled. At least the current students can now finish their course. It is a great shame that a way could not be found for the College to continue. As I acknowledged when I wrote to the Trust’s CEO, the harsh realities of limited student numbers are a very real constraint on the success of the UK’s boatbuilding institutions, but I think it is important to say that the College’s year-long course cannot be replaced by short courses and secondments.
Let’s hope that the remaining colleges are able to continue – for the sake of the maintenance of traditional heritage boatbuilding skills, the industry, and future students.
Oftentimes, things work out all right … better than feared.
Perhaps the anticipation of difficulty, and the fear of making a mistake – or of failure – has a part to play. I suspect that the subconscious mind prepares and plans our next steps, charting a way to succeed.
Then there are conscious thoughts in a sleepless night too!
I left you last time, contemplating the keel rabbet with some trepidation, and its end at the transom in particular. I wasn’t even daring to start thinking about the stem! The angle of the bevel changes along the length of the boat, but this is especially so at the two ends, and more so at the stem!
Here’s that diagram again. The face of the bevel must be flat, so the plank lies against it nicely; and the inner angle of the rabbet should be 90 degrees to match the square edge of the plank. (We want it watertight!)
I decided to tackle the port side first. At each of the moulds, I beveled the hog, such that a plank would lie against the mould. Using a shoulder plane and a scraper with a square blade (enabling me to keep the inner angle of the rabbet at 90 degrees), I worked between the moulds, then headed to the transom.
I forgot to take a ‘before’ picture, so this is the starting point on the starboard side at the transom, with only a small amount of the hog trimmed.
Here is the finished rabbet at the transom on the port side, with the hog beveled and tapered in a smooth (fair) curve to meet the transom.
With the keel rabbet almost completed, the time finally came to tackle its transition into the stem. The keel rabbet must run smoothly from the keel up and into the previously cut stem rabbet. In doing so, the hog is blended three dimensionally. The width is reduced to fit the 1st mould; the thickness is reduced progressively to blend with the curve of the stem rabbet; and the bevel is adjusted so that the plank can twist from about 80 degrees at the 2nd mould to nearer 30 degrees at the 1st mould and into the stem – it’s a nerve-racking process, so I took it very slowly, gradually, and carefully.
This shows just how much twist there is required as the first plank comes from the midsections to the stem.Again, I forgot to take a before picture, so this the starboard side, with minimal material removed. The Bearding line is marked on the edge of the hog, but it ‘aint as simple as just following that line. Oh no:
in order for the garboard plank to lie against the first mould, the width of the hog has to be reduced, again with a smooth curve, down to nothing at its forward end,
and the thickness is reduced gradually as the twisting bevel is created.
So, the port side rabbet is completed, subject to any minor adjustments needed when the garboard plank is being fitted. With one down, and one to go, I can turn to the starboard side now – more confident in having done one side already!
Sylvia and I have just had our second trip to Lyme Regis in the space of a few weeks. The first to split a week in a nearby cabin with our great friends, Mandy and Craig; and this time to spend a few days in the town itself, so that we could attend the biannual launch ceremony at the Boat Building Academy today.
We have had a very enjoyable few days, and today’s event was the icing on the cake.
Due to the blustery conditions, proceedings started in the boathouse, which gave an opportunity to look at the three boats to be launched and chat with others present. Visitors included students’ families, past graduates, the Mayor and Mayoress, and the local sea shanty singers – the Lyme Bay Moonrakers.
“Blow the Man Down” they sang – most appropriate!!In its 25th Anniversary year, the BBA has produced over 250 boats to date, a remarkable statistic. Some of the students get to build their own boat, working with their fellow students. Each cohort can then launch the boats built during their 40 week course, which creates a great sense of accomplishment.
The 14′ Paul Gartside-designed traditional clinker outboard launch is very roomy and sturdy, and very nicely finished:
Some neat oar leatherwork.
The 18′ strip planked dinghy, ‘Zinnia’ may not be completely finished, but she was definitely ready for a dip. Her hull is SUPER smooth.
How’s that for a bowsprit?!
There are some really lovely details: the hardwood caps on the spars, the leatherwork and the brass fittings:
The third craft, possibly my favourite, is the 15′ 6” glued clinker Westray Skiff. The design for this double ender with its pronounced flare midships comes from the islands of Westray and Papa Westray in the north of the Orkney Isles.
After a couple of sea shanties and a couple of short speeches, the boats headed out to the nearby harbour slipway.
In the harbour, there was a very stiff breeze. Spray was being flung over the Cobb’s wall by the incoming waves:
While the launch zipped happily around the harbour, …… the two sailing boats floated happily, held safely because the conditions were unsuitable for sailing today.No matter, these beautiful boats have many many years of sailing ahead of them.
For the students and their families, this was clearly a fantastic celebration of their course, their learning and the quality of their work. I am sure the instructors and staff get a huge sense of fulfilment too, seeing finished boats being launched twice a year.
Days turn to weeks, and weeks to months – two since I last posted on this blog. But I do have some progress to report!
With the aid of a laser level, straight edge and spirit level, I started fitting the moulds in place. These need to be centred accurately, set to the correct height, and strongly braced in position at ninety degrees to the centreline of the boat. The first two of these was accomplished using the laser and traditional levels, and the straight edge. Getting the moulds perpendicular to the centre line uses a simple, but ancient technique: horning.
So, what is horning or horning-in? Imagine the centre mould pivoting about the vertical strut I fixed between the hog/keel and the garage rafter. To fix it perpendicular, all I need to do is take points on the edge of mould – such as the 18 inch waterline – and make sure that the distances from each of these points to the midline of the stem is the same. An isosceles triangle. There’s no need for rulers or measuring tapes … out comes the horning batten – much more accurate.
The horning batten is simply two sticks clamped together, so that they can slide and then be fixed in position, with the distance end to end able to be finely adjusted. All that is then required is to adjust that length until both sides of the isosceles triangle match.
Cable ties, or fancy clamps work just as well.Horning-in the middle (Station 3) mould. Checking the distance to the stem on the port side …… is the same on the starboard side.
Step by step, one by one, the four other moulds were adjusted into position and braced, so as to be strongly held in position.
The laser level was perfect for getting the moulds level side to side and for getting them to exactly the same height. (I did use a spirit level too, just to be obsessively accurate!)
Once the five moulds were in place, I fitted the transom: a 2” silicon bronze screw at the bottom; a home made 5mm roved copper nail above, and a brass shackled bolt that provides her with a mooring eye. Sylvia was on hand to back up, while I roved the nail:
My trusty assistant.A piece of 3mm ply (leather can be used too), with a hole that matches the rove (washer), ensures I don’t bruise the wood as I rove the nail.Fully fitted. The saw-tooth piece of wood on the op of the transom is an idea I had to help with clamping (see below).
So, here are a few photos of the final result, with all the moulds and transom in place:
With the setting up completed, it is time to tackle the keel rabbet, something I have not been looking forward to.
The bottom-most plank the garboard, is fitted into a recess made in the keel and the hog – the keel rabbet. The photo above shows the recess already made in the stem – the stem rabbet.
Here’s a diagram of the cross-section of the keel and hog:
The left side of the left hand drawing shows the starting point, and the right side shows the recess … the rabbet. The right hand diagram shows the garboard planks in place
Using a batten, clamped in place against the moulds, I have marked the line where the inner aspect of the plank meets the hog, which is known as the bearding line. (The rabbet line is the line where the outer face of the plank meets the keel, and the inner bearding line is the apex of the recess. Sorry … too much information!)
I was worried that I had made an error with the outer edge of the hog becoming very thin at the transom. Happily, my friend Matt popped round, and reassured me that I am on the right track!
The most important thing at this stage, as in so many aspects of boat building, is to create a fair line (no flats or bumps). So, …
… while the batten is not quite touching one or two moulds, this should all “come out in the wash.”Here’s that saw-toothed piece of wood in action – without it the clamp tends to slip when holding planks onto the transom – something I wish I had thought of in Boathouse 4!
Oh, I must also mention a fabulous event that took place towards the end of January: our son’s wedding to Stephanie. I was commissioned to make a wedding arch for them and, despite my uncertainties over its usefulness, I am pleased to say that it did form a nice centre-piece and was well received:
I do like a ‘fair curve.’
Well, I cannot put it off any longer, I have to tackle that keel rabbet now. It will be very tricky at the transom, where I have to avoid going against the grain on the hog, and splenching (tearing out) the back edge of the transom. I haven’t dared to start worrying about the stem, where I will have to narrow the hog to meet the 1st mould and creep up on the stem rabbet. That’ll be the time to “tickle and blend, tickle and blend” as I was told at IBTC.
