These days the smell of cedar is strong at the shop as first year students mill up and shape their planks. The first year instructor, Jennifer McNally, is in the thick of things both working on a Beetle Cat and instructing students. Here she is thickness planing a very nice chunk of cedar.
We tell the first year students just how lucky they are to have such amazing wood this year. Long, wide planks with few knots are the rule. But, kids these days, do they appreciate it? Heck no. Why when I was a kid, we had to cut down our own trees with a pocket knife and then haul them home in the snow with no shoes, uphill both ways...
Ok, ok, not all their wood was perfect. Good thing too, because it's important to know how to deal with less than pristine stock. Some folks just had a few knots to fill, Here's a slick little drill guide for using a spade bit to drill out your knot.
While others had quite a few more knots to deal with....
But once the knots are taken care of, it's time to get down to the business of shaping and attaching planks.
The work spaces are set up with a long planking bench in between boats. One of the things we learned pretty early on was to keep our tools on the low shelf beneath the bench, leaving the bench top free. That's critical when you've got 2 folks shaping planks at the same time.
Of course, you could always move to the big benches in the center of the shop. This gives students a little more room to spread out.
And after you've put a few planks on your boat, there's nothing to stop you from using the boat itself as a storage area!
Ok, aside from that, there's a few things in this photo that might not be immediately apparent to the casual observer. Just below the opening at the edge of the new planking you can see a light colored board with white cable ties on it.
That light board is called a ribband, and it's attached to one of the boat's original planks (painted green). When the students restore a Beetle Cat, they leave the old planking on for as long as possible. The ribbands provide stiffness, and the new frames are bent right up against the old planks. The new frames are being held in place with those white cable ties. At this point, the only bit of the original boat that's left here are the 2 original planks beneath the ribbands, one on each side. The entire backbone, the stem, keel, and transom are all new. The old frames have been replaced with new white oak frames, and these have been painted with red primer.
There are always nice little personal touches around the shop.
A toolbox with a saw caddy on the the outside, and a set of chisels at the ready
A little tool carrier that will fit inside a tool box.
And a backing out plane with some extra touches. All of the first years make one of these...
But not all of them carve a sailboat into it.
It's not just the first year students who are planking. The 2nd year team working on Corsair are busy at work on her double planked hull.
Here you can see a student doing some final fitting of the mahogany outer planking.
The mahogany plank that he's attaching is resting on his arm as he shaves off a little bit of the plank above it. We use special clamps to push the new plank up firmly against the attached plank above it. You can see it here on the left... it's the green thing.
The planking below the mahogany is cedar. The two layers will be glued together with marine adhesive.
You can do this job by yourself, but it's much nicer to have a team help with fitting.
You may recall that last week the students began to remove the large supports that went around the hull and held it to the proper shape. They've left some in the middle to support the boat, but removed the forward and aft ones to make it easier to work around the boat.
You might be asking yourself, "Now what happens at the transom? How does the planking meet up there?" Excellent question!
The planking on Corsair runs right up against the side of the transom, and it's easy to see the layers here.
Looking more closely, you can see the reddish brown marine adhesive holding the 2 layers of planking together, as well as the light blue-gray bedding compound that goes between the planking and the transom.
If things were just left like this, they'd look pretty unsightly. On the port side you can get a better view of how this joint will be covered up.
You can see a purpleish area along the joint where the original planking meets the transom. That's where a brass strip covers the joint all along its length. It's quite nice looking when installed and provides a simple solution to hiding and protecting the end grain of the planking.
Over on the 12 1/2, the other team of 2nd years are swarming the boat to finish her decking and interior.
Here the students are fitting a forward bulkhead support.
Meanwhile, other team members sand frames and work on fitting the rear bulkheads.
There are lots of nice little details in this boat.
For instance, note the curved white filler piece the fits between the sheer clamp and the sheer.
This adds a little more support to the transom, but mostly it serves to fill the space between the the sheer clamp and the sheer plank. I don't think it HAD to have such a sweet curve, but it does.
That's it for now, stay tuned for more!