Some building notes

Paul's Simmons Sea Skiff 18

Some building notes

Here is a few notes concerning the sheer cap and assorted trim. When all else fails,laminate!

When using stiff,semi splintery woods for trim,trying to bend some of these around curves and bends can be a bit chancy. I laminated the stem cap from two layers and it was ALOT easier. Also,on the coaming trim on the sheer cap. With the sheer cap following the arc of the top of the transom the inwhale plank is set basically 90 deg to deck .This creates an off angle between the inwhale plank to the sheer cap.Now the trim would have to be beveled on each edge, creating a paralellogram shape. Instead of trying to cut two bevels on each trim piece ,I just ripped it down the middle at the bevel angle with the bandsaw. Then I reversed the pieces to put the two square edges together thus leaving the bevels on the outside.This also enabled me to make these fit the curve of the cap in two 3/4 x 3/4" strips. This was so much easier to keep aligned and bend than was trying to bend a whole 1x2 edgeways.

Plank Butts: There is another type of butt joint you can use to make the planks longer if you dont have a large "flat" surface to make the epoxy/tape butts easily. I used a biscuit joiner and instead of just cutting out the biscuit slot, I plunged the joiner throughout the width of the butt creating a thin dado. I then cut splines of scrap mahogany about 3/16" thin by 3/4" wide.Just enough room for epoxy.I then glued the splines in one side of the plank butt perfectly centered and let this dry. I could have done both at once but it fit up much easier this way with one side secure. No weights or plastic sheating were needed. Remember,as the plank butts are staggered on the boat,each plank has a solid run of the ply bridging the joint at each lap.I did tape the joints with cloth as suggested. I feel I could have gotten away with less layers of fibreglass this way but why take a chance. I fit the bottom plank butts as I installed them on the boat and taped them afterwards.This way I didnt have any bulges from the tapes running into the chines or keel battens.Even without the tapes the plywood broke outside of the joint itself.

I also laminated the keel in 3 layers of clear DF 1x2. This was too tall ofcourse and i didnt have a table saw to rip it to size. I left it tall and then used my router with a straight cutting bit. I cut the center out of the keel to the right depth with the router.I left an 1/8th" shoulder on each side so it would support the router base.These were quickly planed down with a block plane. Took all of about 30 mins.Would have taken much longer having to plane the entire width of the keel.The laminates were screwed and glued and i backed the screws out for this process. The epoxy is definately strong enough to hold it for the time being. Afterwards,I reset the screws in the same holes with epoxy this time.

STEM: I found the best way to quickly and accurately set the stem plumb and centered was to use my 10ft x 1/8th" x 2" batten. On one end,I put a notch dead center on the batten. Then,making sure all the floor frames and the keel plank are still "dead level", I placed the batten so that it was centered on the keel plank thru it's length with the notched end hanging out over the stem. The notch was for the string of a plumb bob to rest in. Just drop the plumb bob down to where it just misses the top of the stem. Can tie it off to a floor frame further back on the boat.Just line up the point with the center of the stem. This way you know it is dead center and plumb to the frames.As a second reference, I measured from one of the floor frames on each side to the stem and it proved accurate.

I tacked in wedge shaped strips on the bottom of the transom and at the ends of the chines so I could have a level touch all points across the rear as to make sure nothing moved while i was away from it for a time.Otherwise it would have contacted the sides of the motorwell only.It wasnt really necessary as i could have measured up from the chine/transom junction to the level but i just chose to do it this way.That way, I just knew nothing had tweaked with the wood changing due to changing humidity.

If you look carefully at the coaming rail on top of the sheer cap,(top photo) you can see the joint down the center where it was put back together. The whole sheer cap is glassed from the bottom of the inwhale inside to the bottom of the sheer batten outside with a 6 oz. cloth. Mainly because the fir ply would surely check as it already had when I bought it. One thing to say for the tiny surface cracks. Sure makes for a good keyway for the epoxy to soak into.

When making fillets I found the fastest,efficient way to do this was to use empty caulking tubes. They want a small fortune to buy them already empty. I bought full ones of the cheap stuff and pulled the plungers out and removed all the caulking. I then rinsed them till completely clean and let them dry all the way. Then I mixed fairing putty and filled them up,put them in the caulk gun and it went amazingly fast and so much neater than the pack,cram and wipe method. You end up with neat fillets without all the over smear on the surrounding areas. It puts just the right amount in the corners.You can reuse the tubes if you twist an alcohol soaked paper rag through it. The plastic plunger gets most of it out except for the very end of the tube. I push the plunger back out with a dowel.

FASTENERS: On the hull bottom I used silicon bronze screws and ringshank nails alternately. I nailed the plywood set in thickened epoxy because I felt it was better to have the nails draw the plywood tight other than putting the load on the screws. I set the nails snug as to not squeeze out all the epoxy and then installed the screws in between the nails.You can tell by the sound when it is tight enough and yet not too tight. After the epoxy was almost cured,I set the nails tighter. All the structural glue joints used milled glass fibre for the thickener. When mixing the glue,I saved a bit of unthickened epoxy to fill the nail/screw holes.

I saved a sheet of ply on the planking by scarfing the planks with only necessary widths. In other words,if in the first 8ft of plank on the smaller end of the taper,I would use a rip the size of it's widest point. So my planks were made with the first 8ft rip maybe only 6¼" wide,the 2nd 8ft piece maybe being 7¼". I left a little over so i could have enough room for the tapered cut to be not too close to the edge.Enough for the saw to leave a small drop. Most likely there was a scrap of ply wide and long enough for the 2 ft piece which made the plank 18ft.

I dont remember offhand the exact size of the rips I used,the #'s above are just an example. I ended up with a whole 4'x8' piece leftover uncut.

One last say on building this boat. When laying out the transom curves I was looking at the history booklet at the picture of T.N. Simmons.I layed out the grid lines that the measurements suggested for the curves. I remember thinking,"This Simmons fella doesnt look like the type that would use fancy sciences to arrive at these curves". After plotting them anyway,just for the hell of it ,I pinned the batten I was using on the chine/bottom juncture and at the widest point at the top of the transom. Pulled the batten to the center line juncture and sure enough,it was a fair curve.It naturally landed on the other points.Same with the arc across the top. I used an 1/8th"x2" aluminum batten for the curves. Seemed more reliable than the wood I could find. Look at the boat,Look at Simmons himself and you can see and get the feel of how he built this boat.Common sense approach?

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