North Alabama Broadbill Build

David Palmer

David Palmer

Active member
Okay folks! I've been working on this Devlin Broadbill for about a month now and have finally taken some time to post some pics. I've gleaned so many lessons and ideas from this website and want to thank everyone who has posted their builds over the years. Without your help, I would be nowhere near the point I am now.

In putting this post together, I've decided to add a few additional pics that describe how I was able to complete those portions of the build that gave me the most trouble. Hopefully, these additional pics will help those on future builds who will "hit the same walls" that I did on mine.

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Spreaders are wonderful things! I used small finishing nails to attatch each spreader into place. Pre-drilling each nail hole made this process that much easier.

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Fitting the bow bulkhead was difficult. I wound up cutting out this piece a bit larger than the plans called for knowing that I could then take my planner and make minute adjustments. The camber of the bow bulkhead in this picture is much greater than what it turned out to be.

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Notice the gap where the bow bulkhead meets the bottom panels. I used "peanut butter" to fill this gap. Sanding the rough edges proved easy with a palm sander, and when all was said and done, the bow emerged smooth and professional looking

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This shot of the transom shows the 17 degree angle recommended by many Broadbill builders on this site to keep the boat from "porposing." Devlin's plans do not mention this adjustment. If I would have fit the transom flush to the sides of the boat as one would logically assume, I would have had to attach a shem to the motor mount to correct the porposing effect. Note also my use of copper wire to stitch the boat together. I had originally purchased a roll of steel wire to do the stitching, but could not remember where I had "hidden" it. I therefore had to salvage some copper wire from a huge roll of insulated wiring in my shop. Stripping the wire of its plastic coating took a while, but in the end I was satisfied with the results.

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This pic shows what can happen when you "over heat" your stitches during removal. Instead of using a propane torch, I opted for an old marine battery and some jumper cables. The copper wire used to stitch my boat together did an excellent job of conducting the electricity necessary to melt the epoxy-coated wires. And although most stitches came out without a flare up, a handful of them did! This proved to be quite exciting considering the Broadbill is built out of wood! Thankfully, each "mini-fire" was well contained and easily put out. One thing I did learn during this process is that batteries can get REALLY HOT when used to remove wire stitches. At one point I happened to glance over at the battery only to find it bubbling out a vile black liquid. Thank goodness there wasn't an explosion that followed. So if you do decide to use a battery and some jumper cables to remove your wire stitches, keep an eye on your battery at regular intervals; otherwise, you might wind up getting some unnecessary chemical burns.

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Dave,
Thanks for the nice post and tips. That is what keeps this site going and growing. Be careful now because this boat building bug is a nasty one that never lets go!! I am now plotting the build of my "Next Last Boat" Nice work!
 
David

That was a nice bit of documentaion and prenty of tips, thank you, the boat is coming along fine and I will look forward to following its progress.
Take care and God Bless
Eddie and Amber
Its all about Building that Bond.
 
Here's a pic of one of the rear flotation compartments. When I was trying to cut this piece out using Devlin's plans, I didn't know that it was to fit against the rear storage bulkhead at an angle. I looked all over this site to see what I was doing wrong when I came across a picture showing a similar angled fit. When it came time to peanut butter and tape this piece in, I was able to tape the medial side onto the bottom of the boat; however, since this piece fit at such an angle, it would have been very difficult to try to tape the lateral side. Instead, I just peanut buttered it in, and since this piece wouldn't be getting a lot of stress placed on it, a single layer of tape on the medial side was all it needed.

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This pic shows the bow flotation section of the build. I began my pb&t (peanut butter and tape) process here since it wouldn't be visible after the decking was attached. I learned a lot about how to (and how not to) apply pb&t in this section of the boat. Practice makes perfect though, and by the time I finished this section, I felt confident enough to continue on into the sections of the boat that would reveal my handywork (or lack thereof).

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Here is a shot of my fiberglass cutting area. I built my Broadbill with 6" tape (non bi-axial) since RAKA was running a special on this material. Cutting it with sissors proved to be difficult, so I came up with the idea of using a paper cutter instead. A razor and a straight edge also works well, and when it came time to cut out my fiberglass cloth, I used this process since my cloth was 60" wide.

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Once I had pb&t'd the inside of my boat, it was time to flip my Broadbill over. I used a plane to round over where my bottom and side panels met. This was a relatively simple process, though it took a while to remove all of the overlapped wood.

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Devlin's plans didn't say anything about what to do in preparing the keel of the boat for the keelsons. I thought about this part of the build for a while and then decided that I would have to plane this joint down as well in order for there to be a relatively flat spot to attach my keelsons.

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Holy Crappin Crap!!! I leave you alone for a week or two and you have really taken off with the build! It is looking real good! You know this time of year is busy for me, but I will try and get by to see you this week. I heard you found a sweet little 15 hp. Shawn
 
David,
Looks like your boat is coming along nicely. It is good to see another Broadbill being built. I think you are really going to like operating/hunting out of her.

Take care!

-Bill
 
This picture shows how much material needed to be removed on the transom so as to achieve the 17 degree angle for the motor mount. I could have used my jigsaw to remove the bulk of the material, but my planner and I have developed quite the relationship!

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This next photo shows what can happen when you get a little too happy with your sander/polisher. I removed more material than I wanted to, and that is why the darker wood ply is showing through. I

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These next two photos are of a repair job that I had to do on one of my hull panels at its scarf joint. Apparently, an air pocket developed as my epoxy scarf cured. I didn't realize this until I got ready to glass the bottom of the boat. I used a razor blade knife to cut out the air pocket and then used some peanut butter to fill the void. Worked like a champ! You can also see where I removed too much material as I sanded my repair spot smooth.

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This was my favorite part of the build thus far. Wetting out fiberglass tape with a chip brush is tedious work. But when it came to glassing out the hull, the squeegy method proved to be the best. I did spend some time chasing down epoxy runs, but in the end everything turned out clean!

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David,
Looks like your boat is coming along nicely. It is good to see another Broadbill being built. I think you are really going to like operating/hunting out of her.

Take care!

-Bill
Click to expand...


Thanks, Bill! I can't tell you how many times I've looked through your Broadbill CD to find answers to my questions. This documentation stuff is the way to go!

Grace and peace!

David
 
The progress continues! Installed my bow hardware last week. My bow is about 4" thick, so those low flying, pre-sunrise coots better watch out!

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I also took the time to install some fir blocks to where my strongbacks would be meeting my bulkheads. Did the same thing also to where my grab handles would be mounted so that the screws could have some better bite.

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As I was installing my strongbacks, I thought I'd just screw them down once I applied the epoxy to the mounting surfaces. This turned out to be a bad idea. Should have followed Eric Patterson's advice and clamped them first. I broke off several brass screws doing it my way, and it was a pain having to drill those rascals out. The picture below shows five screw holes. Only two of them have fully intact screws in them. One of the others has just the shaft of a brass screw in it. You live and your learn!

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Installing the keelsons was fairly straight forward. I used cam straps instead of bungies, so the pressure on each keelson to keep it attached to the hull was more than adequate. However, when the cams were being tightened, the webbing pulled the blocks off center. It took some repositioning to get things back in line, but otherwise things went fine.

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Based on Eric Patterson's recommendation, I used Ditzler DP as my primer coat. The first coat went on somewhat thin, so as it was drying I put on an additional coat. The next day I lightly sanded the first coat with fine sandpaper and then applied another coat. I used a regular bristle brush, a foam brush, and a roller to apply the primer, and out of these three I liked the results of the bristle brush the best. The foam brush reacted with the primer almost immediately, and began to fall apart. The foam roller did a better job than the foam brush, and it spread the primer very evenly. The bristle brush, though, held up the best. The primer went on a little thicker with the bristle brush, so I had to make up a small batch of Ditzler to finish the job. Overall, I'm pleased with my results, and I look forward to putting on some Parker Duck Boat paint in the next few days.

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Looks like it's really coming along now. Keep posting your progress.

If you haven't done so, one option is to pick up some 1/8" aluminum bar at the big box stores and attach it to your keelsons. This really adds some resistance to rocks, etc.
 
Great work David!!! Keep it up,keep the pics coming,Its great to see another boat being built. Fine craftsmanship! Brian Rippelmeyer
 
I finally got to install one sheer clamp this weekend. Would have installed both but I discovered that mahogany has a breaking point. Experience taught me to start mounting the sheer clamp in the bow storage area first and then work your way to the stern. A second set of hands comes in handy too! Don't try to do this part of the build by yourself.

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Since I couldn't get my drill into the rear flotation compartment, I had to mount my sheer clamp from the outside. Not a problem though. Overall, I'm satisfied with the results ... I just wish I didn't have to spend more money on another piece of mahogany. That's one expensive wood!

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Here are several more pics of the Broadbill as it nears completion. Can't wait to add the grassrails (which I plan on staining so that the beauty of the mahogany can show) and the brass/bronze hardware!

Two coats of Ditzler DP were used to prime the boat both inside and out. I flipped the boat upside down to paint the inside. It's much easier to paint rightside up than upside down!

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