steel schooner designs

Some great info from Pdwiley,

over the years I've worked in timber, composite, steel & to a lessor extent Alu, all have advantage & some disads. Steel was the material choice for my first yacht build, was involved in a couple of others along the way. It can be very cheap to set up for, at the start I rented some paddock in a yard, the first yacht was a VDS 34 & the jig include a simple gantry, plates were simply towed around on the ground with the tow ball of my panel van, a couple of chain blocks, welder, grinders, a nibbler(wouldn't go that way again- tooling too exxy & hard to back out of long cuts) & some gas cutting gear... went together pretty well. The next was built upside down over frames & stringer, some strong posts were used as a high point through the framing & keel slot to hang the plating, simple "tripod" cranes can be welded to lift keel plates etc, the boat was turned over by welding a sturdy pipe axle to each end with a stout pivot support to same, of course much care needs to be taken but no external craneage was hired in.
It's not nessesary but a great advantage to build inside with gantries & mono rails etc. Some building in thinner plate I just used 9" cutting discs on nearly all cuts, the 2.5 mm inox discs worked out cheapest for length of cut- due care again on planning cuts/closing cut avoidance. Very clean & fair cuts with low heat input to a scribed line, nicer to support at a convenient height or they're tough on the back, use dust masks. Plate clamps are handy, after some years we started to only use them for dragging & sideways moves, after a couple of "near misses" plates would only be lifted with welded on lifting eyes..... just not worth the risk when a plate hangs up & weight comes off the clamp.

Jeff.

 

That is a risk with plate clamps, yes. The only near miss I had was when I managed to get a loop of chain around the plate clamp and take the load off it. I wasn't paying attention. The plate dropped free but did no damage because:

1. I long ago learnt lesson no 1 of lifting stuff - NEVER get any part of your body under something that can fall

2. I also follow lesson 2 - never lift anything higher than you absolutely have to. The plate was only 75mm off the floor.

I also used welding eyes but they're a PITA to cut off. So sometimes one, sometimes the other.

PDW

 

Hi PD, Same... don't be under heavy stuff,
I've worked on some great jobs with a really good bloke & great mate, still is, one day we're hanging a bulwark plate(staino... which plate clamps aren't so happy to embed into & also not so heavy in itself) when we rest it into position & one plate clamp(high quality "Beaver") lets go & me up & mate down see the plate pivot on the hook & lifting bar & guillotine down the side of the vessel, could have been either one of us in line for a fatal incident, we'd had a couple of minor "let go's" but this one was a real wake up call. Plate clamps are handy, & trusty for a dead lift & relocate as you've mentioned hovering above the floor, but to hang a plate at height when there's other lives at stake isn't worth it, to weld on a lug & back grind one sides weld to shake off with a shifter is 5 minutes work plus a couple extra to grind the plate back. Just my perspective, seen a mates life potentially cut short, got goose bumps right now just remembering it.
Jeff.

 

Yes, I can see it being a bigger issue with stainless. It's a lot smoother and probably harder than hot rolled carbon steel.

My plate clamp is also a Beaver one and I've only had the one incident with it, which was my fault.

I often welded 2 lifting lugs to plate and attached the 2 baby 250kg lever blocks. This meant I could lift or lower either end of the plate to align it better with the hull framing. I did find that tacking the eyes to the plate needed a bit of care as well; sometimes starting a short MIG run on primed steel wouldn't give the required penetration. I never had a failure but in the early days, there were a couple welds I looked at after breaking them loose and went 'Hmmmm' to myself. After that I always hit the plate with the grinder first and didn't rely on burning through the paint.

It never was an issue using E4111 stick rods - lots more heat.

But yeah - steel is potentially quite dangerous and you need good work discipline and to keep your wits about you.

PDW

 

Yatch Building Yard

I am planning to build up steel schooner's at Turkey's city of Yalova. All stell sail yatchs and schooner projects are invited.

 

Sounds great Murat, got any pics of the yard & other projects from past.
All the best in your endeavours from Jeff.

 

These are pictures of the Shenadoah I helped to restore at Marine Steel Auckland NZ.
Where my dog is I rebuilt the front end welding to 100 year old streel


Shenandoah is a Classic 55m (180ft) three-masted schooner built in 1902. With a beam of 8m (27ft) Draught of 5m (16ft) Construction is steel hull with timber superstructure displacing 300 Tonnes. The schooner is currently undergoing a major refit

 

I am a Naval Architect and Marine Engineer who specialized on workboats and steel hull fabrication.

I can send the photographs next week ( monday). We are working on a Research Vessel in these days 33 m X 9 m X 2.7 steel structre has been completed already.

 

What a great resto to have been involved with, looks great with all that sail out.
Jeff.

 

Do'll build your own or with the help of someone else?.
What, in particular, invite us?. I have extensive experience in steel shipbuilding and, perhaps, I may be interested.

 

Hello there pdwiley!

I am considering buying a Saugeen Witch, which I would convert to a schooner rig. Do you still have the plans? I am willing to cover expenses, take you out for a sail if I get her.

 

I do have full sets of rigging plans for the Witch design. Gaff ketch, gaff schooner and junk schooner.

I don't really log in here much so unless you've notifications set I doubt you'll see this message, so I'll not go into further detail. Feel free to contact me if you do get back to this - I think I've got my details set to allow that.

Mine has been in the water almost 6 years now and we've had a lot of fun with her. Not gone far from home but tht suits me fine at my age. I'm about to haul out for maintenance and anti-fouling.

EDIT: I'm still looking for a set of plans for a Colvin DOXY if anyone has some. Unlikely to build one but I just might. The extra beam would be nice sometimes.

PDW

 

Good Morning PDW! I am now looking at another Saugeen Witch and so am interested in being in contact with you. This one is currently rigged as gaff ketch. I want to re-rig her as a schooner, but I have to realize I just want that for looks. There is cost involved, the "if it works don't fix it" principle, plus there would be another mast in an already tight cabin. Your profile does not have contact information, none that I can find anyway. Would you please email me at my personal address? My name is Al Wolfson, so my email is "al" (then that sign) "wolfson" (to which you attach a "dot com") I look forward to hearing from you!

 

Sent you an email....

PDW

 

Since, we're resurrecting old threads, I too would like to chime in that I'm interested in steel schooners, particularly those designed by Colvin, though I would much prefer to buy one already built. I've read a few of Colvin's books and would be particularly interested in to discuss some of the finer points of keeping them maintained. May I also send you a private message, PDW?