The Steamboating Forum

Steam Launch Phoebe Snow ran decent for her first 5 times out this season with minor tweaks we will tackle over the winter, after finishing up the rear seating we plan on starting to tackle the canopy which we are a bit unsure of. We want to follow the shearline of the hull and also have the camber across the forward and aft ends of the canopy for a proper and clean look. we will then cover the top in wood and glass the roof. My question is the building of the canopy to get said lines that we want, does anybody have recommendations on use of wood, and how to get the desired look in the easiest possible way....woodworking I can do but not my first choice in work. pictures of your builds would be great.

Pat Spurlock has a sheet titled "Canopy Frame Instructions" describing the building of the canopy for the Elliott Bay hull. It came as part of the study packet drawings but if you contact him you should be able to get it separately.

Ken

I have the packet, not really liking his method

I have only read the packet, not actually tried to make a canopy so this may not be worth much.

I thought that using the combing as a form was a pretty clever way to get the canopy to match the curve of the deck.

The difficulty arises in that you are taking a section of an elliptical cylinder where the outside edges are the plan view of the cockpit opening and the elevation is the curve of the sheer. It's a pretty complex shape. Any easy way of laying out the rim (in flat form) is going to distort it's shape when the other curve is added, possibly changing it's shape adversely in relation to the cockpit.

Unless you do a lot of lofting, it appears that the easiest method is to build this in-situ in some manner. Even if the details of Pat's method aren't adhered to the letter.

Cheers

Ken

A friend of ours built his using 1/4" marine fir plywood, 3 sheets laminated together at the bow and stern and 2sheets laminated together for midship. He made it approx. 4 inches and then cut the shape of the sheer line on top and bottom....a lot of cutting involved and need to keep a really accurate line. he then made the cross stringers to get the camber. just trying to get a few ideas and will pick the best or harness a few ideas together to get desired affect. hope to get somewhat started soon but taking the boat down to the Florida meet in March.