January 14, 2016 Hours spent building to date: 1,985
As I mentioned in the last post, the forward deckhouse windows are a morass of compound curves and bevels. So immediately up on perusing the plans, I made a quick trip to Walmart for some poster board and patterned the window first in cardboard, then in thin plywood, then on the actual building stock.
It looked like the fit was very good, so good I made a critical mistake. Instead of installing the frames, then the heavy mahogany carlins, I thought I would just attach the carlins to the frames and snap them together like Lego blocks during final assembly. My “good” fit went away when I could no longer squeeze the completed panels together. Three inch by one inch Sapele mahogany does not “squeeze.”
I was left with three good joints and one ugly gap. I could easily fill the painted plywood part, but the varnished mahogany would look really bad with a big filler block in it.
Given my skill as a joiner, I have three stock solutions to these inevitable problems:
- Spread the mistake out among all the joints so it won’t look so bad. No good. Every time I tried that, the windows went all out of alignment and the trapezoids became rhomboids or deltoids or something. With the gap, alignment was perfect.
- Cover the gap with trim. But the carlins are trim. Putting trim on trim is prima facie evidence of poor joinery.
- Make the gap looked like it was planned all along by inserting a gap on the other side.
This had real promise. The roof framing sort of cantilevers out over the forecabin deck. When I first saw the plans, I thought I might add a couple fore-and-aft supports, thinking of a cold Lake Huron wave bashing square against the windows. But I decided not to, since the framing looked very strong. But if I did add them, they would fall exactly in the area of the gap, covering it up completely. So I blew off almost a day fitting and trimming the new supports, and the gap is gone.
As with all coverups, no one will ever know.
Windshield layout area.
Poster board test fit. Sides okay, top needs work.
The Gap
Gap? What gap?
All fixed.
Home sweet home.
Alabama native Sparta closely watching Alabama beat Clemson. Roll Tide!
Your last 2 posts look like you have made very much progress! I am glad you are posting this build and I have been following since the beggining.
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hello
I’ve been following your build for a while now, really impressed with progress and the boat you are building.
I live in Australia, but will be touring USA / Canada in December / January 16/17. Wondering as we get closer to then that you might give me contact details so that I might have a look at the “Tardis”. Keen to build my own boat and this one looks the goods.
As we are planning the trip at the moment could you just advise area you live in so that I can book a day or two in the area if a visit is OK with you.
I’m also a wooden boat tragic, my father had a 30ft mackerel boat when I was younger, and I’ve had a 1948 Herreshoff H28 “Tapuru” … and also worked in a boatyard in Scotland for a year late 90’s building clinker “stroma yoles” (all done by eye no plans) larch on oak.
even thinking of a year at NW boatschool to learn more as I approach retirement.
Apparently have my sit on kayak in launchings section of “woodenboat” magazine next edition if you read it, although I now live in Darwin NT (not Broome WA as per magazine) and crocodiles make kayaking a bit hazardous up here.
all the best with the completion
thanks and cheers
Dave
On Fri, Jan 15, 2016 at 2:12 PM, The Tardis Project wrote:
> memsahibsvoyage posted: “January 14, 2016 Hours spent building to date: > 1,985 As I mentioned in the last post, the forward deckhouse windows are > a morass of compound curves and bevels. So immediately up on perusing > the plans, I made a quick trip to Walmart for some po” >
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