Counseling needed

[tillergirl]

Back with the keel bolts today. Everything going fine until No 5, when on tightening, nasty sounds of wood compressing were heard when little effort was being put on the socket arm. A bit of a closer inspection suggests the wooden floor is not quite as hard as it was or should be. So out with the bolt again and reflection on renewing it! Just move the water and fuel tanks and hope I can wriggle it out from until the bunk furniture. As far as I can see it is only fastened by the bolt (which is out again) and presumably screwed through the planks. Then all I need is a bit of oak 5ft x 7" x 3"......

Gloom has descended upon me.

At least I can use a smiley or should it be a gloomy /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[burgundyben]

I had to make a floor frame for mine, in mahogany, would have needed a big bit, so I bought a load of 5mm thick strip, lofted out the shape on a board and screwed a load of pegs down, some epoxy and clamps and a bit of final trimming and it was done.

could you do similar with oak?

 

[Mirelle]

Ah, the bunk fronts...

If it won't wiggle, taking the bunk fronts out makes a hugely depressing mess of the insides of the boat ("don't ask me how I know that...")

It is absolutely worth while to get the old one out in one piece - somewhere not too far from a friendly shipwright with a bandsaw!

 

[tillergirl]

Re: Ah, the bunk fronts...

As far as I can see, the order of assembly after the hull was built was bunks, then two floor to ceiling grab rails (either side) and then chart table and galley. So disassembly is the opposite. Which basically means taking everything out. I'm going to give it a lot of wiggle before I resort to that but I know I must have the orginal in one piece. Funnily enough, the yard got new blades for their band saw today!

This is all my fault. After the No 4 went in, I said "This is going well"

At least no one has said yet 'as one has gone, they all ought to be done'.

 

[tillergirl]

Yes, I could but I'm quite lucky in that the shape is pretty flat (if you know what I mean) and I hope I can get one piece if only to save a bit of time.

 

[seo]

If you have to cut a floor timber up to get it out, first get a straight piece of wood and lay it on one side of the floor, using it as a straight-edge to draw a line on the floor timber, with half a dozen tickmarks between stick and timber. Then once the timber has been taken out, you can set the pieces on a bench, align the line with the stick (which you didn't throw away or use in the shop stove), and align the tick marks on the stick with the corresponding ticks on the timber. Voila. You have recovered the shape of the timber as it was before being cut up. Obviously, the line has to extend the full length of the timber.
If everything else is in pretty good shape, it might be cheaper to have a single floor welded out of stainess steel instead of tearing out the cabin furniture.
Indeed, if the floor timber is still pretty hard, and is holding the plank-to-floor fastenings all right, it might be reasonable to take 5/16" off the top of the floor timber, and fit a 5/16" thick steel washer plate. Depends on how much the boat is worth, and what your plans are.
Before doing anything you should make a thorough inspection of all the timbers and bits that you'll be working on. It would be a shame to have a steel floor fabricated, and then dicover that the next six are all pooched, and so the interior has to go anyway.
seo

 

[LittleShip]

Tillergirl,
All the responses up to now have addressed the mechanical problems you have, but your post said
“Gloom has descended upon me.”
So, in order to help you with the emotional side here we go. Trust me Iv’e been there, worst point for me was having had two new fuel tanks made I had given the wrong measurements. Here is how to deal with it……………………….

GO TO THE PUB, THE PROBLEM WILL STILL BE THERE IN THE MORNING!

and you will have had time to think about it!!

Right guys whos coming? As everybody kept telling me "it will be worth it in the end"
mind you, they were sat in the warmth, whilst I was freezing cold at the boat??????

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Mirelle]

Been there, done that thing, got T shirt. I had two new water tanks made, in stainless. The maker got the vents and fillers the wrong way round. I have never had the heart to tell him

 

[tillergirl]

This advice is gratefully received but there isn't an acceptable pub on this island (there's only three anyway) one's for yobs, one's for rent and one's the other side of the isalnd whoops forgot the Dog and Pheasant, that's really the other side of the island. Not one to reject sound advice, I'm off to the Indian Restaurant with a neighbour.

Better news today, a shipwright surveyor has recommended what I suppose I would call a form of lamination which avoids complete disaasembly of the inside but will require some skilful cutting. But he says to make this possible, three keel bolts should be lengthened (anybody want three new short ones?) as part of the building up process. He was incidently rather rude about the original builders and their design!

SEO, thank you for the advice, we will be using a form of your suggestion.

The yard even produced a carefully hoarded piece of timber of exactly the proportions needed left over from the building of a smack ages and ages ago. None of us can work out what timber it is though, although its very dense.