bead and cove strips

I would think it would be the 90 degree attack angle. Also a relief in the block to allow curling away. No sharpening if carbide (for a long time), though carbide hasn't the crystalline edge of steel. shouldn't be that critical, since the cuts are being epoxied.

 

G'day,

Try Youri at Wangka Boats. They are in Belgium, but should be able to do it.

Veneer over strips works well, but is very hard work, compared to fibreglass.

Pine (radiata) has been used for a lot of strip planked boats. It works well, but is heavier than cedar.

Rot is not an issue in properly built strip planked boats.

Bead and cove is often a waste of time as the planks need to be tapered. Far easier to align them with plastic covered strips of thin ply screwed on to any unfair planks.

regards,

Rob

 

I agree with you. White pine is actually not too bad in terms of rot resistence.
It might surprise people to hear that around here, three foot thick logs aren't that rare (I'm looking at a standing pine like that now---- in my yard).
It's true that if the core is wet enough to rot, your boat has probably been punctured, and only a couple of strips are involved, as each strip is epoxy-jacketed from its two neighbors.
Actually, pound for pound, spruce is a great choice for stripping. Eastern white spruce, available as strapping and 2 x 4s around here, would make a very strong and light hull. Usually, this would be mostly quarter-sawn because of the way the material is sold, which is plain-sawn.
Cost would be very low, as little as $1.00 a board foot, which translates to several square feet on a canoe. Weight is about the same as cedar, maybe 10% more, but not if made 10% thinnner, which could be done, I think, since spruce is stiffer than cedar.

A.

 

I think Covey Island up in N.S. uses mostly spruce for their fine strip built boats. Where I am though (Northern NY), white pine is hard to beat. Plenty available from our local Amish sawmills for about .40c/bf

 

Yup, under 40 cents a foot is about right. I was referring to the finished strips when I said $1.00, so it must be about the same. Waste in rejecting, milling, and cutting to length must amount to 60%.
It would be reasonable, then, to expect to spend 40 cents a square foot for a canoe, for example, which might be 70 sq ft total, or under thirty dollars.
Not bad. The reason folks use cedar is, I think, that whether spending under $30.00 or as much as $150.00 for the stock, the epoxy and cloth costs are a lot, and so why not go with western red cedar and the boat might be 4-5 lbs lighter?
Good reason to use polyester resin, just coat it with an epoxy barrier after inside and out, paint, and save a lot of money. Maybe the boat could be built for under $200.00, last for 20 years rather than 100?

A.

 

I am thinking of using bead-and-cove strip planking to build a bathtub. Just like a boat in reverse, I guess; keeping the water in rather than out.

I'm what ya call a big fella, 6'3" and 265#, and I am sick unto death of squozing myself into the sitz basins that manufacturers call 'tubs' today. I reckon something about 7' long, 3-1/2' wide and 3' deep would be just about right. Support it with 3/4" plywood frames every foot or so to hold the weight of the water and me (roughly 65 cubic foot of water=two ton of water plus my fat ***); probably want to put it in the basement, on the slab.

But I see no real impediment to this; compound curves are compound curves, whether you're trying to keep water in or out. Two layers of 10-oz 'glass on the outside, a layer of 10-oz and a layer of 4-oz (to keep the nubbly weave off my delicate dermis) on the inside and 1"x1" strips as a core. Why not?

 

Because to heat the water will bankrupt you?

 

Hot water is for sissies.

 

According to our old pal Archimedes, you can design for just the weight of a full tub-o-water, anything extra will need to be mopped up off the floor

moT

 

Alan - "Good reason to use polyester resin..."

I may be wrong but I thought that epoxy was suitable for wood construction not only because it is resistant to water penetration but also because it is the type of resin that matches the elasticity of wood the best. Basically, the polyester resin/glass fibre would carry the load before the wood did "all it's job" and could fail because it is not very strong in a trip type design??? Using epoxy/glass fibre would give the wood a chance to carry the load before the epoxy/glass skin got overloaded.

 

Eponodyne,

I saw a bathtub that was stripe planked. I think it was in Wooden Boat. My studio assistant saw that tub and she just fell in love with it; it was very nice. Like an old style tub design, but built right into the boat. I tried leafing through some of my magazines to see if I could find it, but I have hundreds of them so it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

 

Only would it make sense in a canoe, kayak, or a cheap dinghy. Then, for not too much, you could have a usable boat. I would say that polyester is viable if the wood is real cheap. One could say they could build a 12 footer out of polyester over cheap lumber, painted, or an eight footer out of red cedar bead and cove and west epoxy, varnished.
I would say the polyester would make the bigger, safer boat the better deal.
Not everyone can afford a gold plater. My guess is fishermen prefer polyester for cost, and they might do their decks with it, rather than not afford anything at all to keep sweet water out of their bilges. I know the best way when money's no object. But money is always an object with me, and presumedly others too.

A.

 

Twas maybe a Lyle Hess cutter, possibly built by a woman, and she built the tub too, and it looked cold-molded, a lot like those salad bowls made from pressed wood.

A.

 

You know , I do recall reading about a boat built by a woman; if i remember right she did excellent joinery work. I'll see if i can find the article.

 

My two cents

Hello all

As to bead and cove I agree with Rob Denney. It may be that you have to taper the planks anyway or cut them as the distance at the bow and stern is always less than the middle - this means you need more planks in the middle and as such the planks cannot run all the way from bow to stern - they will need stealer planks or to be cut and started again straight when they bend too much.

There are many different ways to strip plank. There are howls of protest from some when other people dry fit the planks of scarf them on the mould. There are lots of different ways that work well. However I think strip planks days are numbered.

The latest hulls I built were vertical strip foam and much faster and cheaper to build than cedar strip. The laminate needed is heavier but you can use polyester if needed over foam. Using poly over wood is a bad idea - not because the modulus of elasticity is different but because polyester is less tenacious then epoxy at sticking to wood. If the boat is large it is silly to save a little money by going substandard on the hull materials - even if it works your resale will be much reduced.

cheers

Phil Thompson