Lost - In the Fog

[TexasBoater]

Here is a stupid newbie question - I am just staring the restoration on my 1958 CC Sportsman, I have studied Danenberg’s book, searched through this and all the other wooden boat forums and find that my biggest stumbling block is getting up to speed with all the shipwright terminology used.

Now I am no dummy and deal with complex and senseless government (NASA) acronyms all day long – but for some reason my 50 year old brain is having trouble getting up to speed with where the darn sheer clamp is compared to the chine or sheer, or what the heck half-breaths are, etc… So I find myself stopping every other word and trying to lookup what the term means and then trying to get back into the text! I fell like I am trying to learn to read for the first time all over again!

Now I am sure by the time this restoration is finished (1 year – 5 years – infinity!) I will be familiar enough that I will at least sound like an expert but for now I am a bit lost!

Therefore, what I would like to locate is a clear and thorough pictorial reference that illustrates all of the boat and its frame work labeled for dummies like me. Actually I am only looking for this information where it applies to my Chris Craft! So a 17 foot Chris Craft utility from the late 1950’s.

If anyone knows of a book or website or ancient scroll where I can find this type of data and help this old fart gets up to speed, I would be very grateful.

 

[Sixpence]

Hi TB and welcome to the UK , this is the place to get answers a little faster than the American sites , except you have to wait till we wake up , we're a few hours in front of you and you have to watch for the replies to coincide with our hours . But I'm sure a chris craft will get a few replies , even if it takes a redirection or two , so welcome aboard

 

[Peterduck]

Welcome to the wonderfully arcane world of wooden boat restoration! WoodenBoat magazine did a couple of excellent poster-sized drawings of boats which showed all of their component parts, with each part labelled. One was for a Friendship sloop, and I think the other was for a runabout of the Chris-craft type. Read everything that you can get your hands on, because no one book covers all situations.

The sheer clamp is a timber which runs around the outside of the boat, beneath the edge of the deck and inside the planking. Its purpose is to tie all the frames together and to impart strength to the side of the boat. It is when the boat is lying side-on to a dock or another boat, and the waves are hitting it on the beam and banging it like there's no tomorrow, that you realise what a necessary piece of kit the sheer clamp is. The sheer clamp has its greater dimension in the vertical plane. It may have a companion piece above it which has its greater dimension in the horizontal plane. This is called a deck shelf, and its purpose is to support the deck beams at their outboard edge. In the north-western states of the U.S.A. the deck shelf is sometimes very wide, and sawn to shape instead of being bent. In this case it is called a carlin. Does that help?
Peter.

 

[cliff]

A quick "google" threw up these (and many more!)

http://www.clcboats.com/notesfromourshop/summer1999.php#terms

http://www.glen-l.com/resources/glossary.html

http://www.mda.org.uk/waterw/index.htm

http://www.rockingtheboat.org/programs/boatbuilding/Boatbuilding%20Terminology.pdf

http://cruisenews.net/db/pagetemplate.php?cat_id=26

http://www.elwood.k12.nf.ca/Gr0203/science/boat_links.htm
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[Forbsie]

Dixon Kemp's Dictionary is also useful.

 

[TexasBoater]

Thanks to everyone for your quick replies.

It seems that boating terms are a lot like those used at NASA! They seem to make no logical sense and have multiple meanings!

Back to the books (and the web!).

Thanks

 

[Kristal]

I've loved wooden boats all my life, but I've only had one in the last few years. I'm perfectly up to speed on most sailing and rigging terms, but hull construction is still a matter of much confusion.

I found you get a better idea once you've learned some basic terminology - for instance, in the case of your sheer clamp, I didn't know that one, but at least knowing what the sheer line is, I can make a fairly accurate guess at where the sheer clamp would be located, and thus carry out a more precise search on the web or in books.

I'm getting there - I know about frames, planks, sheers, kingplanks, keelsons, sternposts etc. I still don't know what futtocks are, but they make my girlfriend giggle like a schoolgirl...

/<

 

[Peterduck]

Futtocks are not difficult in concept. Sawn Frames [as opposed to ribs, which are steam bent] are made up of a number of relatively short lengths of timber so that the grain does not run out of the side of each piece. Each piece of timber is called a futtock. Futtocks are laid side-by-side and bolted together, ["doubled"] the bolts running fore-'n-aft. Each futtock spans the joint between two futtocks alongside it, and in this way the full curve of the frame is constructed from straight-grained timber. Easy innit? Grown frames use much longer futtocks as they take advantage of curvature in the grain of the timber.
Peter.

 

[fisherman]

Sorry, I thought a frame was made up of the top, futtock ('foot hook', at the turn of the bilge) and floor.

They say the Navy used to send boats up the Helford to cut bends for knees and breasthooks from the scrub oak abundant there. Have used them myself, very satisfying.