building curved cuddy fronts

[Jaksno]

I've not built a boat yet, but soon. I'm thinking about a curved cuddy front, like, I think the name is, an Arundel power boat.

I've built curved kitchen counters, laminating 1/8" until the edge was 3/4". I've contemplated building the curved coaming of a Bartender with 1/4" ply lams.

But how are most traditional curved 'houses' built if using plywood? I assume as above, but I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

thanks!

jaksno

[gonzo]

Are you building in wood?

[Jaksno]

Hello, G'zo~

Yes, plywood. I am planning to make templates of the fore/aft curve and 'midships curves, then laminate either 2 ea 1/4" plys, or 3 ea 1/8" - probably all with S3 epoxy and epoxy saturation in and out.

I'm submitting this to people with real experience to see if this is how you guys would do it.

A Bartender needs to be built w/ relatively light scantlings (not sacrificing structural integrity) for optimum performance.

thanks!

jaksno

[PAR]

You'll need to "develop" the shape, which may be spelled out on the plans (likely). This will be a weird looking curve and will bend around, falling naturally where the coming, cabin front, etc. needs to live.

Without a "panel layout" sheet that shows the dimensions of the piece, you can usually just bend a bit of scrap around, mark the perimeter, cut, test fit, etc., then transfer this shape to the actual stock. Another option is a template, but these types of curves are typically very difficult to template in a conventional sense. I've made "bucks" or plugs of an area to do this, which are rough framing copies of the actual area, for laminating or bending stock around, that are stiff enough to accept the strains of bending and/or have sufficient nailing/clamping surfaces to lock down the edges.

[gonzo]

The developed surface is probably a double s

[Jaksno]

Thanks, guys~

This will be a modification, as the plans call for double or triple 'faceted' cuddy forward plane. I want to make it curved. Do you concur with the lamination process? (BTW I said 'midships curve' above, and meant 'athwartship', if anyone was wondering).

jaksn

[PAR]

You can laminate sheets if you want, though it's likely you wouldn't need to. Plywood will bend a fair amount without risk. You just have to develop the shape, which is easily done with some door skin stock, bent around the deck opening carlins and the cabin roof framing.