The Steamboating Forum

Hi Ron,

There is some really wondeful joinery going on there- are you using hand tools only?

Greg

Hi Greg,

I have a 12" table saw and a 14" band saw. For the dados around the big oak band and underneath the rear roof brace, used a 1hp trim router with an impromptu fence. One tool that has really been handy is the Ridgid combination edge belt sander/drum sander. It's just a little table top unit, but it is very easy to use and control the workpiece.

Back to it... Mounting the oak band beneath the window sill, and maybe put the roof on today. I still haven't figured out the brow above the front windows.

Thanks, Ron

DetroiTug wrote:... Back to it... Mounting the oak band beneath the window sill, and maybe put the roof on today. I still haven't figured out the brow above the front windows.

Thanks, Ron

Suggest you make a pattern from cardboard pieces, cut to shape and hot glued together, the pattern then transferred to lightweight (1/4") plywood, cut (leaving a bit of excess), fitted, trimmed, and mounted, perhaps using 3/4" by ? for mounting brackets to the house. I think Howard Chapelle detailed the construction of this in one of his boat building books.

Hi Ron,

Sorted the brow today. Laminated up an oak band out of two 1/4" lams and 8" wide. I'll just fit that tomorrow and fair it to the roof line. That was the easiest because trying to wrap something around there or use vertical planks would have required blocking with compound angles and radii above the windows and beneath the roof sheathing. The oak will be 1/2" thick, ample strength and enough integrity to hold screws. I have to really watch that area because towing this on the expressway, It could easily see airspeed in excess of 100 mph. (60 mph in to a gusting head wind). And, the plan is to leave a bit of a visor over the front.

Thanks, Ron

How much headroom will you have in the pilot house? It seems like a generous height.
Your woodwork compares favorably to your metalwork, both of which are first rate.

100 MPH wind can generate 25 PSF (Pounds Force per Square Foot) static pressure. Depending on the shape of the body exposed to this wind, the net force is calculated by a "Coefficient od Drag".

A completely unstreamlined body can have a drag coefficient larger tha 1.0 (such as a thin plate facing perpendicular to the flow, such as the paddles on my sidewheeler), wheras a modern submarine hull has a drag coefficient closer to 0.3 I would guess your pilot house is somewhere in between, in the vicinity of 0.6-0.8, just an estimate.

Hi Fred,

There is 80" roof height in the back of the pilot house and about 86" in the front. Seems that keeps in credo with tugboat design, pilot having higher vantage point. From a stability standpoint, the hull is 96" wide. Thank you for the compliment on the woodwork. It is challenging, those oak bands even though they are formed up on a jig, it still takes considerable compression force to fit them, I would estimate about 200 pounds of force to get them to conform to the radius. I have to use a ratchet strap to lay them out on the existing structure. Thankfully, they are all in now.

Here is where it's at.











One angle it looks big, another angle it looks small I guess it is what it is, no changing it now .

-Ron

Here is where I'm getting the bow fender, some nice tug pics as well. The fender at the bottom of the page is similar to the one I ordered. This lady is a master at her art and a pleasure to deal with. Reasonable prices too.

http://www.marlinspikeartist.com/about.html

-Ron

Getting some of the tongue and groove planking installed.







-Ron

How do you plan to attach/caulk the cabin top over the engine room to the after end of the wheelhouse?