Strip planking questions

[rwatson]

You may liketo check out this link for an interesting and easier way to strip plank

http://bowdidgemarinedesigns.com/Bow...ng_Videos.html

[PAR]

Mark's method seems to have several drawbacks as well as some advantages. With the huge gaps (relatively), the epoxy use and costs will jump exponentially. This increases everything, from effort to materials through costs and weight, none of which is acceptable in a lot of builds. Those gaps look to be several times wider then typically found, which directly translates into these issues. Lastly, is the much higher potential for voids in these gaps as well.

[rwatson]

Nah - costing isnt an issue. If you do the costing of the 'goo', and the fillers, its pretty insignificant. say 5mm wide x 10mm deep by 10 metres, 22 strips, is less than 5 litres, or about $80 including the microballons and silica. Even if it were $200, it would cheap for the effort it saves

I reckon there could be even less chance of voids than the other techniques, because its much easier to pack the thickened mix evenly into a bigger gap, than try to keep it even on either side of the plank that you are trying to screw into place. The quality of coverage on strips laid up wet can be pretty average when you get drips and 'paw prints' all over the mating surfaces as you jockey them into place.

All in all, I reckon its a great idea on the bigger hull builds

[Oceansky]

Mark's method seems to have several drawbacks as well as some advantages. With the huge gaps (relatively), the epoxy use and costs will jump exponentially. This increases everything, from effort to materials through costs and weight, none of which is acceptable in a lot of builds. Those gaps look to be several times wider then typically found, which directly translates into these issues. Lastly, is the much higher potential for voids in these gaps as well.

Actually Par, the amount of glue mixture used is very small. Also, by pushing the glue through the gap and then checking the inside, this ensure that there are no voids at all. Also, by making the glue mixture 50/50 cabosil and microballons, the weight is nothing. Actually, as far as weight is concerned, something I see being brought up on a number of occasions, you need to be more concerned with the weight of the plywood (and timber) being used in the construction of your boat for bulkheads/ sole and other parts of the boat, as here the weight of plywood can vary from 480 kg/m^3 to 800 kg/m^3.

As far as cost is concerned, this way you have more control on the amount of glue mixture being used as opposed to having it dripping all over the floor/ tools and everywhere for that matter.

So far we've had a number of professional builders who have in the past built boats up to 50 ft, and all have commented on just how easy and quick/ light and inexpensive this method is.

One thing you need to remember, we're planking as per a strip plank composite, not a typical strip plank boat. Hence the plank thickness is far less than a typical plank boat which means even less glue/ microballon mixture.

Here's one of our designs that we just finished planking/ glued/ glassed and then faired for painting. It weighed 49 kg ( 107 lbs) at this stage

[michael pierzga]

Makes sense...your using the strip as a core in a composite boat. Does the different density bog between the wood strips " print thru " ?

[peter radclyffe]

robbins timber england supplied the western red cedar strip plank we built this with
http://www.luxuryyachtsource.com/yac...fications.html

[Oceansky]

Makes sense...your using the strip as a core in a composite boat. Does the different density bog between the wood strips " print thru " ?

G'day Micheal,
If you were building a "traditional" style plank boat where the planks are sheathed in a light layer (6oz or 200gm cloth), but you tried to apply our method, then yes..you would get print through.

However since we design composite boats, where we're reliant upon the glass laminate for strength, the sheathing is typically layered Double Bias (the amount of layers required depends on the boat and how I engineer it to ABS). So in this regard, we get NO print through at all.

Here's are two examples of finished boats:





Hope this helps
Mark

[Easy Rider]

That skinny girl in the white shorts looks like she's about to drop the bow on her bare foot.

[Oceansky]

yes I know. Speaking with the owner, he did mention to me that the driver (his mate) didn't have the motor trimmed properly on their first trial run after launching, but had the outboard trimmed out, inducing a slightly bow up attitude.
Later when he got behind the wheel and they did speed trials in open waters, he trimmed the motor in the correct vertical postion and the forefoot was just kissing the water.

[PAR]

I agree Mark, in that there are some advantages, particularly in larger projects and in light of the sandwich techniques you are employing. On the other hand a small stripper canoe, would likely rise considerably in weight and complexity of build, with this method. I just think the more you have to play with strips, the more time it takes to preform an already tedious planking task. One of the benefits of strip planking is you can slap down strips fairly haphazardly, fair, smooth and paint.

All this said and again, there are many forms of strip planking. This form is clearly on the composite/sandwich side of the debate, so some extra plank fiddling and goo factor isn't a big consideration, in the big picture of a composite build.

[Oceansky]

G'day PAR,
I couldn't agree more.
Overall one has to weigh up what is the best course to take in regards to construction method. Building a canoe or kayak from this method would work easily, but personally I wouldnt bother. A yacht I'd have to think about, but this also would depend on the hull shape itself. We have built multihulls up to 60 ft long using this same process and it works very quick and easily

As all our strip plank power boat designs incorporate "flair" in the bow, using the composite method from our website works great and you end up with a really fair hull. To plank up our RipTide XR457 took me two nights, after work to do.

Slapping down planks haphazardly, as you suggest above, for boats designs with flair, and you end up with too much twist in the plank, resulting in a lot of fairing and bogging, as some of our client found. So in the end, it was easier for me to make a video for our clients to watch and understand the process. That's why I brought them out.

Overall, its "horses for course's" as they say, but in the end, its up to the builder which method he chooses to go with.

Have a good one
Mark

[ancient kayaker]

For a display model the choice of wood is not driven by the same criteria as a boat intended to go in the water and preserve human life. For the size of model you are proposing, plank thickness of about 1.5 mm is appropriate, depending on the type of boat that it represents; wood in the range of 1 to 2 mm should give reasonable results, however if you plan to use multiple layers of wood you will need to further reduce the thickness to around 0.5 mm, in which case you’ll need to use a wood with a very fine and uniform grain.

If you don’t have the equipment to produce such thin wood from lumber then local commercial availability will dictate your wood choice. Model shops may supply aircraft quality plywood in 0.5 mm thickness and of course there are veneers. Since it’s not going in the water then the inner layer(s) needn’t be wood IMHO. Many model-suited wood species can be stained to simulate species usually used on full-sized boats, for example birch can be stained to look like mahogany with a solution of potassium permanganate.

I assume you wish to replicate the construction of a full-sized boat as closely as practical; if the boat is your design you may wish to post pictures of it for comment. If, on the other hand, you merely wish to display the lines of your design, perhaps a half-model would be appropriate, and certainly easier.