bulkhead question

[charlie foulds]

When I draw the transom bulkhead.as well as the bow, bow floatation and storage.Do you use a batten on the top before you cut them out, the drawings show a curved top(deck) Sorry if I am not using the right terms,but this is all new to me,Thanks

 

[Andrew]

Yes you do Charlie.

I don't remember what the plans say... but there is a camber to those bulkheads.

Use your batten.

 

[Pete McMiller]

When you do just make sure you make them a little proud (higher) so you have some to plane down to get them fair with the gunnels and the fore and aft deck lines. I made that error on one of the knees on my BB3 and had to fit a piece of scrap on top to get a fair curve port/starboard. I waited and cut each individual piece or group of pieces (in the case of the knees) out only when I was ready for them just in case something wasn 't quite right and I had to modify the dimensions. I know, you shouldn't have to modify but I'm not a cabinet maker either.

 

[Bill Burruss]

Charlie,

You are building a BB3, correct?

As others have said, use the batton to make the curve. I highly recommend you make "try" bulkheads out of luan or some other cheap ply to see how they fit before cutting good wood.

Joel (builds professionally for Devlin, I believe) posted some pics of a Snowgoose build. He left the tops high, then used a batton to put on the arc and cut them down.
http://www.boatbuilder.org/snowgoose3.htm His pics are very useful.

I think most builders here cut the bulkheads to fit before epoxying them in, but I find his techniqe interesting.

-Bill

 

[charlie foulds]

Thanks guys, I used my batten for the curves,If I trace both side of the batten and cut on the top line,would this be enough extra. My batten is 1/4x1". Their seems to be a measurement missing on my motor well transom. The bottom of the keel to the bottom of the sides . I did the motor well bulkhead and this measurement was there. MY prints look like they were hand written in places. Bill....... The snow goose pics are interesting,It looks like the hull was epoxy fillet before thebulkheads were installed,Is this the best way to do the job??Yes,I am building the BBIII

 

[Eric Patterson]

Charlie

Definitely use templates. When I built my first boat I cut up a whole lot of luan and did trial and error fitting. Tired of that I worked up a technique that is accurate, repeatable, and uses very little materials.

Get yourself a good straightedge 1x3 and a could scraps of luan cut to approximate shape of the hull. Spread your hull open to the blueprint widths. Drop the luan pieces until they tough the hull and are snug in the corner (chine).

Mark the straightedge where the sheer intersects. You'll need this when you transfer your template to the real stuff.

Make sure your templates are vertical.

With a bevel gauge make certain the angles are the same on the port and starboard sides. If your hull is level and the diagonals are equal these should be the same. If not double check things and you might have to coerce them a bit with the butt of you fist.

Once you've got a good fitting template then lay it on your good stuff and draw it out. At this point you can use your batten to bend the top curve to Devlin's specs or you can leave them high and develop your own curves.

The pic below shows you can get nice fitting bulkheads this way.

I always like to develop my own deck widths. The pic below shows how I do it and the results after making the final bulkhead cuts. You can learn a lot and try many things with a good batten and some nails.

I don't have any good pics handy but I like to establish the crown on the bulkheads by running a batten right down the middle of the boat and adjusting its height until it looks "cool" to my eye. I'll then take the vertical measurment to the batten and cut my bulkheads off at that distance. I don't recall how much different my crown is the the plans but it looks good to me and that's all that matters.

 

[charlie foulds]

Thanks Eric, Those pics help alot, I think I need to buy some Luan, I havnt cut out my bulkheads yet,I am drawing them directly on my 3/4 ,back to the lumber yard I go.

 

[Eric Patterson]

Charlie

Going straight to your good plywood can be risky. No two people's lofting lines will be the same nor will their plywood bend exactly the same so there will be some variation in the final dimensions. I always use the plans verbatim for the nose piece bulkhead and the transom. From there I work off templates. The final dimensions are close to what the blueprints show but the fit is better cleaner.

 

[James Dalton]

Charlie - thanks for asking the question. I'm not at the point you are yet in building my BB3 but I was wondering how to approch that when I got there. I am going to start lofting the bulkheads out on luan first. I like your idea of tracing both sides of the batten. I have all my material, just waiting on the scarffer to come in from John. Should be here by Fri. Can't wait!

Eric - I too thank you for the pics and info. Great stuff!

 

[charlie foulds]

I spoke with Sam at Devlin today about my missing demension on the stern transom pattern. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong.But I was right. It was missing. Sam couldnt believe it. He said I was the first one that he knew of to call about the missing measurement(Keel to Chine). the service at Devlin is outstanding,Sam called me several time after locating the plans(Not There) and then going to the originals(Found em!) " Kudos " to Sam Devlin

 

[James Dalton]

Charlie, I see where the mesurement is missing too. When he contacts you about what it should be could you post it? I came up with a possible measurement of 2'-3 1/4" by using the scale and measuring keel to chine on the plans. Let me know what you find out.

I also noticed that there are no meausrements for the length of the keel or the bilge keels. He gives width and height but not length. I am planning on running my keel from transom to bow and my bilge keels up to maybe station/bulkhead 4 running parellel to the keel. Not sure if Sam left them out because they can vary or not. I plan on contacting him about this by the end of the week. I don't need to know any of that info until after glassing the bottom, but I like to know in advance.

Maybe someone else who has built the BB3 has some input on the keels?

 

[charlie foulds]

Jim, The measurement that Sam gave me is 2'-2 7/8". Good luck with your build. It has been challenging and rewarding so far. Turkey season opens for me this weekend, so I will be calling birds for the boys for a couple of weeks. I almost dont want to go but the boys would have a fit!!!

 

[James Dalton]

Thanks Charlie. As soon as I find out what is going on with the keels I will post. I can't wait to get started! My wife sure can though. Hahaha! Good luck with your build and your turkey hunting. Keep us all posted and I'll do the same.

 

[David Wheeler]

Daniel and I got the hull stitched up and together tonight. His little arms got tired holding up the sides up but he hung in there with me like a real trooper. I could tell he was getting keyed up seeing it shape up because he talked non stop about all the places we needed to hunt in this boat. He said he thought it looked like a duck killin' machine. I told him we gotta a long way to go before it's anything like that!!! Ha.
View attachment Stitched up hull 1.jpg

Anyway, I am starting to fret a bit about these bulkheads. I drew the transom last night and found that my plans are missing a measurement. Being impatient as I am, I triangulated the measurement myself and checked the angles and all line measurements to make sure I was right. Everything looked good so I cut it out. After my help went to bed, I went out and held the transom up to take a look agains the stitched hull but couldn't really draw any conclusions with no one to help hold things together. I read tonight on one of Charlie Fould's old post that he ran into the same missing measurement a couple of years ago. Wish I would have seen that one before. I must have scratched my head for an hour figuring it out and working up the courage to cut it out.

I also saw this post from Eric P. that I thought would be very helpful but I can't see the pictures. Does the red x mean these photos have been deleted or is there a way I can still view them? I was planning to use templates out of cheap ply but might try this if it is simpler.

Thanks for any help.

Wheeler

Charlie

Definitely use templates. When I built my first boat I cut up a whole lot of luan and did trial and error fitting. Tired of that I worked up a technique that is accurate, repeatable, and uses very little materials.

Get yourself a good straightedge 1x3 and a could scraps of luan cut to approximate shape of the hull. Spread your hull open to the blueprint widths. Drop the luan pieces until they tough the hull and are snug in the corner (chine).

Mark the straightedge where the sheer intersects. You'll need this when you transfer your template to the real stuff.

Make sure your templates are vertical.

With a bevel gauge make certain the angles are the same on the port and starboard sides. If your hull is level and the diagonals are equal these should be the same. If not double check things and you might have to coerce them a bit with the butt of you fist.

Once you've got a good fitting template then lay it on your good stuff and draw it out. At this point you can use your batten to bend the top curve to Devlin's specs or you can leave them high and develop your own curves.

The pic below shows you can get nice fitting bulkheads this way.

I always like to develop my own deck widths. The pic below shows how I do it and the results after making the final bulkhead cuts. You can learn a lot and try many things with a good batten and some nails.

I don't have any good pics handy but I like to establish the crown on the bulkheads by running a batten right down the middle of the boat and adjusting its height until it looks "cool" to my eye. I'll then take the vertical measurment to the batten and cut my bulkheads off at that distance. I don't recall how much different my crown is the the plans but it looks good to me and that's all that matters.