Preliminaries on the John Fitch

[Brenton Baker]

Something more like this, then?

[Oilking]

This is what I had in mind. The only thing I would suggest is to try lowering the point where the chine meets the stem to about 2/3 of the way down from the forpeak to the waterline. This is, for me, more a point of aesthetics than fuction. It leaves a cleaner line to the stem with maybe a little increase in the fullness of the bow below the waterline.

The finess if the stern area and straight sternpost should promote good rudder response and would make it simple to attach an outboard rudder.

Dave

[Brenton Baker]

Something more like this, then?

[Oilking]

Ya, that looks better. Now you might grab a clear block of wood and see if you can make a half model close to what the lines show. If the finished sides or bottom can be formed with sand paper on a flat block, it will likely be a developed surface. This can also be checked by rocking the model on a flat surface like a table saw or piece of plate glass chcking for bumps or hollows. The half model is a check since not all computer renditions are infallible when it come to defining a developed surface.

Dave

[artemis]

Moving toward the stern and in keeping with commercial practice for the time:

No matter what, allow yourself as much interior (people/cargo) space as possible. To do this in a efficient and aesthetic way: 1) make the transom above the water line flat and about 2/3s to 4/5s the width of amidships; 2) below the water line the lines should taper to the stern post - this allows good water flow aft to the rudder. Nothing new here - just the same boxy lines of a cargo vessel of the late 1700s. As I noted earlier, this is the concept that Fulton used, and if you made the vessel of with a flat bottom and hard chined bilges you could build it in the "old style" - drive 2 x 4s into the ground where you want ribs and cut them to length; nail "flooring" (bottom) supports across; nail sheet plywood on the bottom and sides; voila! Paint it and launch it. A lot of "western river" steamboats were built this way.

[Brenton Baker]

Something like this?

[artemis]

The drawing below is an approximation done for the 1909 Centennial of Fulton's boat. The locations of paddles, boiler, engine, etc. are not accurate but the hull shape is. She was about 140+ feet LOA and 14 feet beam. Hull shape was to the latest naval architecture of the time including towing tests.

A larger (for detail purposes) drawing is available at http://www.pcez.com/~artemis/TheSteambo ... 20SHT2.JPG

[Brenton Baker]

I've laid out the engine and boiler into the hull in Visio (details on Engine and Boiler can be seen in the other thread, here: http://thesteamboatingforum.net/forum/v ... ad7f5dc2a1). Note that for ease of modeling, I am drawing using the plywood version of the hull; in reality, I may have the strip-plank version built by a real boat builder.

I had a conversation this morning with Steve from Shaw and Tenney, a paddle/oar manufacturer back east who have been in business since 1858. He was very helpful in determining the most efficient oar for the boat: a set of 12 will cost around $1,500 (much less than I was expecting).

[Oilking]

Take a look at this site,http://www.captainbell.com/. The Captain Bell is a good example of a plywood hard chine dobble ender with a substantial internal volume that does not look like a box with a pointy end attached. This is a prop drive boat but a hull similar to this should easily handle paddle wheels.

Keep havin fun!
Dave

[Brenton Baker]

I have laid out seats, tanks, helms, and a few auxiliary items in Visio. This, I think, is as far as I will try to go before seeing some launches up close at the Great Delta Steamboat Meet at the end of the month.