I'm moving along with my Eastport Pram build. And I'm finishing up wiring the hull together. I've been pleasantly surprised at how nicely everything has comed together and lined up. But there's one problem. The planks do not line up perfectly on the forward transom.
As you can see also, I've already got the beginning of some cracking along the rabbet of the planks in question. I assume this is some combination of too tight or too loose cinching of the wires along the rest of the hull or perhaps slight mismeasurement of the planks. (I'm pretty sure it's the former since I was extremely precise with my measurements.)
My question is whether this lack of line of up is minor enough that it will likely be obscured by the epoxy which seals the transom to the planks. And if that's not the case, if anyone has any advice on how I would improve the situation. I guess I could loosen basically all wires on that side. But I'm not sure I'd really know where to loosen or what was likely to improve or make the issue worse. I'm also a bit concerned about putting any more stress on those cracked rabbets.
Thanks for these follow-ups. This weekend I have a business trip down to DC - there's this big dinner event I have to go to. So unfortunately I can't spend any time on it this weekend. Last weekend I went back and forth on what to do and caught up with some other woodworking projects. I had all but decided to go ahead with the cuts as is and not try to take off the stern transom. But now you've got me rethinking.
The one thing I was worried about was whether if there is a slight wideness created by the stern transom that that might cause me trouble when I'm seating the thwarts and bulkheads. Basically whether the whole boat might be a tad wide and those other parts might end up being too small, as it were.
The concern I had with taking out the stern transom was whether I'm going to end up the way you do cutting your own hair, cut here, try to even it out on the other side and then suddenly you've got no hair left. Not sure there's any answer to that. But that's what's making me wonder whether I should just leave well enough alone.
@wing1561, Yes, the planks are identical side on both sides. And they're the correct size as near as I can tell and yet they just don't cover enough of the transom. That's really the only place there's a problem. Right up to the stern transom, each plank fits snuggly right into the rabbet of the lower one.
@captainskully, if you could give me those stern transom measurements, that would be awesome. I would truly appreciate it. If I can measure those against a certain measurement and it's off, then I'll feel like I have a clear plan on how to recut. What I'm worried about is just knowing it somehow needs to be smaller and needing to wing it. I would truly appreciate it.
Wing15601, I couldn't work on it last weekend and the weekend before that I couldn't decide whether to go ahead with the epoxying or remove the stern transom and resize it down. I think I am going to go ahead and epoxy the lap joints tomorrow. As I said, I've been going back and forth. But I fear that if I start resizing the stern transom I'll maybe introduce new problems since I don't really have a clear guide to know where or just how much to cut. My sense is that even if that gap is unsightly that the boat will be structurally sound even so since the epoxy will fill those gaps. At least that is what I hope.
Sorry about not getting back to you. I just moved and had to put a bunch of stuff in storage including my templates and plans. The good news is that I obviously made the templates right off the plans, so if anyone can measure the plans from the centerline, then double it or top to bottom and you'll have critical measurements. Hope that helps. Good luck!
The hull looks really nice. I would probably figure out a way to get some epoxy in that split rabbet now while it's still somewhat accessible. You probably don't want to undo all the planks to get to the garboard.
It looks like you've got all the planks in the correct order otherwise you'd be much farther off on the transoms. I had some small gaps that I had to live with but that gap at the "top" of the garboard looks to be over 1/4". Aesthetically it won't matter because I've never seen anyone leave the edges of plywood "bright". My biggest concern would be that the other side might not end up with a similar gap so you'd be building a slightly assymmetrical boat, which you obviously don't want.
I'd try to loosen up things on that end of the boat a couple of turns, and try to wrestle that gap closed, then add a couple of twists in the neighborhood to hold it in place until you can tack it with silica-thickened epoxy. Once you get the gaps less than 3/16" without the wire tearing into the wood grain, I'd mix up a batch of silica-thickened epoxy and inject it into the V between all the stitches. Make sure it's not runny enough to run/sag down the inside of the boat
I've blogged about my build at BoatPartsInfo.com if that's of any help. Here's my EP with a fresh graphite bottom.
Okay, first thanks so much for the advice and help. I really appreciate it.
It's the front transom where the problem is. But it's the port side. But the stern transom on the port side looks pretty decent to me. Here's what it looks like.
There are still some gaps. But the strakes are pretty firm against the transom. I was figuring that the arc of the hull just leaves those at the end. But maybe I'm wrong on that?
Here's the starboard side.
I still have some work to do on this side. But I think it's doable. But there still are those gaps in the rabbet.
I think this means that I probably don't have a symmetry issue, yes? But if I'm understanding this right you think the key is filling that one big gap before I do the regular expoxying process?
Okay, a bit more investigating and I think I've found at least the cause of the problem if not the solution. The bottom panel of the boat is simply too wide. Not by amount by problem more than a quarter of an inch. I'm sort of baffled by how that could have happened. I have been extremely precise with my measurements. I think when I was planing down the edges after cutting I must have left one part insufficiently planed down.
However it got that way the ruler seems pretty definitive. That's preventing the 1st plank from seating down as snuggly as it should, which is pushing back on the 2nd etc.
I think my only option is to cut that piece down in place. I'm going to come back at it fresh in the morning. Any advice most welcome.
We're it me, I would unwire those planks, epoxy the split and then try to fit the planks on the notches on the transom as their not being on the notches seems to be the problem. This time when wiring the planks back together, do so loosely so you can adjust them to fit prior to tightening down the wires.
I think I may do as you say and unwire those two planks. An added complication is that I've broken a lot of wires trying to get this to line up. So I'm going to have to order more wire from CLC as I can't seem to find a place local. (Was sure Home Depot would have it.)
If anyone has any experience with doing this, I'd be in your debt. My main concern is how the rest of the stitch up reacts if you unwire a significant section of the boat once it's all wired up. Does anyone know?
I went to Home Depot ang bought 10 feet of 18 ga household three wire electrical wire and stripped it down. It's a little larger diameter that that which comes with the kit but ends up not being noticeable at all. Of course the thinner wire's advantage is that it will break before it damages anything.
This is too important not to do it correctly. Definitely undo the wiring. If your bottom panel isn't right, now is the time to fix it. If you were building a hard chine boat, it would be one thing, but this boat has such graceful curves, they need to be spot on. I used stainless steel seizing wire for mine, so it doesn't get nearly as brittle when you work harden it while twisting. It's also smaller diameter, so smaller holes in the finished boat. The inside shoulder of rabbets absolutely need to be sitting on the top of the adjacent panel because that forms the "V" where the silica-thickened epoxy goes to hold the boat together. Make sure to check out my blog at:
With the side panels are designed to be a bit proud of boath transoms. That way, after they're epoxied in place, you can cut them both flush with the plane of the transom.
First, really appreciate your advice and help with this.
So I went back, unwired most of the forward port side of the boat and rewired it. And got it to seat much better on the transom. Lotta work and finger callouses but really glad I did it. Definitely a bit more wear into the wire holes then I would like. And I needed to drill extra ones in a few places. But that's fine. I'll see those blemishes as testaments to the work and experience I got out of this.
Here's where I am now. The lines are very clean. Each plank is pretty snuggly fitted into its adjoining rabbet. The only place thing are not quite as tight and fine as I might like is at the transoms. At a couple places where the two planks and a transom come together the plank is only barely against the edge of the adjoining rabbet. One wire in and it's pretty snug. But in a couple places it's like the the plank couldn't quite bend all the way to keep snug against the rabbet. This is really only the case where the bottom panel reaches the first planks at the stern transom.
Now looking at the directions and how the future steps go, my sense is that these gaps at the transom will be pretty much covered and taken care of by the epoxy that seals the transom to the planks. That and the fiberglass that reinforces the bottom panel and the first planks. But I'd hate to start the epoxy process and find out that is not true.
So any advice on that front would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to go and take some pictures to illustrate what I mean.
I'm very impressed with your results! Patience is probably the most important attribute of a good boatbuilder. Taking the time to figure out what's wrong and having the perserverance to get it right pays off in the long run. Having a willingness to ask questions doesn't hurt either. As my next project will probably be lapstrake, you've inspired me.
You can't make the planks wider but you could adjust the notch on the transom the plank fits in. I would also put a couple more wires on each plank/transom junction. Good looking boat.
Dick, I really appreciate your saying that. You've clearly done this before. This is my first time. I really appreciate this forum. I'd really be at a loss without folks here to bounce ideas off of and get advice from. Thanks. Josh
