It is time for a celebration. I now have a sole, at least in the cabin. Well, at least for the 10 inches or so to the port and starboard sides of the centerboard case. I'll fit few more boards on either side later. However, some sole is better than no sole (or no soul, I suppose.) I can now kneel without putting a crease in my knee. I can now walk without turning an ankle. Life is good. I am living large.
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| My blessed sole. The two sections are removable to reach the bilge. |
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| Looking forward from the cockpit through the companionway |
The sole is made of plain white pine 1 x 4 inch planks, available at home improvement stores. I think this is the first (and it will probably be the only) material from The Home Depot that I have used as a permanent part of the boat. Actually, aside from chamfering the edges of each board and beveling the outside boards to fit forward, I didn't even have to mill the wood before primed the boards and cleated them together.
Since my last post, I also finished framing the side decks along the cabin sides, so now I am ready for decking. I haven't gotten around to buying the plywood for the deck yet because I am having so much fun framing.
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| Side deck framing on the port side. I used 1 1/4 by 1 1/2 inch ash. |
While I am waiting for someone to drop a lightly used 10 hp diesel engine in my lap, I have been focusing on the cabin, and will continue to do so. There is still plenty to be done there. I have begun to frame the berths. I decided to have two berths forward, with the head aft of the berth on the starboard side and the galley opposite it on the port side. I am framing the berths with Douglas fir, cut to 1 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches, in accordance with Mr. Oughtred's advice to use soft wood for furniture framing.
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| Inner edge of starboard berth frame. |
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Next, I will attach the cleat along the hull to hold the top framing of the berths. However before taking that step, I plan to do the cabin ceiling. As Oughtred suggests, I am using cedar for this, and I plan to run it from the edge of the sole to the sheer clamp, purely for aesthetic reasons. I bought a half dozen very nice clear 4 x 4 inch, 8 foot long western red cedar timbers, which I will rip to 1/4 x 2 inch ceiling strips. I plan to round over or chamfer the edges and pre-finish the strips before fastening with brass brads or copper ring nails.
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| Clear cedar timbers ready to be milled for ceiling strips. |
To simplify the application of the ceiling, I decided to make and install the forward bulkhead for the head. I was able to use the pattern for the aft cabin bulkhead, with minor adjustments, so that saved some time. I glued and temporarily screwed the bulkhead to the forward edge of frame 4, and while the glue is drying, I plan to start ripping my cedar.
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| The head to-be. Not much room for a magazine rack, I'm afraid. |
Gday Charles can you go through your thoughts on the reasons for the cabin layout you chose. Its one of my favourite 3am's. Little way to go though. Its great watching your progress, dont think we're not here, I appreciate that it takes a fair amount of energy to keep your blog up. Oh another question, how did you cut the stems for Keelson landing spot, thats my current 3am
ReplyDeleteMelbourne Andrew
Hi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you.
I know well those 3 AM debates with self. I engage in them
regularly. Fortunately, an aging bladder makes it likely that I will be awake at or around 3, anyway, so I might as well make good use of the time.
My decision to go with the forward berth design rather than
the quarter berths was based on a few things. First, I prefer to have the cockpit benches open on the bottom. I think they will look nicer, it will make the cockpit slightly more open, and it will give me a chance to do some
woodworking if I make them out of mahogany slats, with a
turned center leg, and the nicely curved supports Iain shows
in the plan. Second, even though the forward head and/or
galley in the quarter berth design have slightly more floor space, it is a bit worse for headroom. I figure that with the galley between stations 6 and 5, when you have the companionway hatch open, you can stand facing the galley. Same goes for the head, although that would require a suspension of modesty. Third, having the full 2 berths opposite each other, you have more seating space in the cabin for sitting around in bad weather. In theory, 4 people could sit and talk/drink/etc. if they were pretty good friends.
On your second question, first I set the stems in position. Then I used a batten along the C/L to represent the keelson. From this I obtained a fair curve joining the stems to the keelson, and marked the sides of the outer surface of the stems so that if I cut a bevel (about 14 inches long) in the stem's outer edge, it would match the inner surface of the keelson. In effect, you are making a scarph joint, although you only scarph the stem. Then, when I laid down my first (inner)layer of keelson, I could glue it on top of the stem. There is no need to make the stem flush with the keelson on the inside. I left them proud by about 1/2 to 3/4 inch for extra strength.
I hope that helps. It is hard to describe, but not that difficult to accomplish. Actually, I think I have a photo of the joint, from the inside, glued and clamped, in my April 11, 2011 post. Also, there are bolts from the outer stems through the keelson that go through the joint for added strength.
Thanks Charles, that was sort of what I was imagining had to be done with the keelson joint, just hoped you may have picked up a magical way to do it seeing as its a once only to get it right sorta job. Took on board your thoughts about layout too.. Good stuff
ReplyDeleteAussie Andy