In August I spiled, cut and fitted both garboards, the lowest planks fitted to the rabbet in the keel, from the stock of Huon Pine I have had since 1983. I had only one board of 8"-wide stock 19' long, so the other side was scarfed together from a 13' and a 7' board. All boards were spiled and cut close to finished shape and steamed because of the serious twist of about 45 degrees along the length. Without a steambox long enough, I slid each plank into a sleeve of heavy-duty plastic and attached the hose from the steam generator to one end and tied up the other end. Each plank was fitted roughly in place on the hull, and after an hour of steaming I started to clamp them in place, winding the clamps in gradually to get the twist, until the whole plank was against the ribs and keel rabbet all the way along. The Port side which was to be scarfed was steamed in overlapping sections before scarfing, as a glue joint would not take the heat and moisture of steaming. The next day I undid the clamps and slid the plastic sleeves off the planks. Both sides had retained most of the twist, enough so that easy hand pressure was enough to push the planks against the ribs and rabbet. I clamped the one-piece Starboard side back up and began to fair the keel rabbet and then scribed the bottom of the plank to fit the rabbet. I then marked and cut the scarf joint and clamped the plank in place with WEST System epoxy glue in the joint, with plastic sheeting behind it to prevent it sticking to the keel. once the glue was dry, I concentrated on shaping the back of the plank to the slight and ever-changing curve to allow it to sit tight against the back rabbet and ribs, as well as fine tuning the fit against the rabbet. The plank was off and on the boat several times before I was happy with the fit, then the caulking bevel was planed on the bottom edge, and the upper edge faired. The last time it was clamped on the boat I marked and drilled for all fastenings, then I primed the rabbet, back rabbet and lower ribs in the way of the plank as well as the back of the plank and clamped and screwed it in place using temporary chipboard screws. All the remaining planks will be permanently fastened, but the garboards will be removed once planking has finished so that shavings can be easily swept out once deck and interior work starts. A month travelling in the US including a visit to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival and a week sailing in the Australia-USA Sandbagger Challenge in Annapolis intervened, but once home I repeated the procedure for fitting the Starboard garboard, also with temporary screws. I then spiled the stealer plank which is just under 8" wide at the sternpost rabbet and just under 2" wide about 12'6" ahead of that, cut, fitted and primed the Port side. Clamps pulled the plank in without recourse to steam, but this was a mistake. During final fitting the plank split with a loud report, into two planks. Eight hours and 13' of 8" plank wasted! Serves me right, if the plank doesn't relax fairly easily into the twist, steam is needed. I have two more suitable planks, so I'll start again, but this time I will steam them.
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AuthorIan Smith, Boatbuilder (ret'd) Archives
January 2024
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