Once the molds are up and the floors installed, the last thing to do before putting the ribbands on is to make sure that everything flows together just so. This is called “fairing.”
The process is simple really. We use a batten stretched across the molds to represent the curve of the hull, and then use that batten to see where the floors need to be adjusted so that they just touch the batten.
The batten we use has a block attached to the end with a nail sticking out of it.
We hook the batten over the edge of a mold, and the nail keeps the batten from springing away from the mold as we bend it along the curve of the boat.
It’s handy to have a setup like this if you’re fairing the floors by yourself. Without it, you’d need to have someone holding the end of the batten for you while you work. Now that would be one dull job to have.
With the batten stretched across the floors we look for high and low spots.
Here you can see that the batten touches the mold and floor on the right, but is just barely above the floor to the left. This means that either the floor to the right or left of that leftmost floor needs to be shaved down just a bit to get everything in line. You move the batten up and down the surface of the floors to make sure that the entire edge of the floor lines up just right with the planking.
We use a variety of tools to work on the floors.
The hat is optional.
As cool as a good sharp spokeshave is, however, there’s nothing like a grinder with a 40 grit disc.
Imagine you get your car going about 90 mph on a concrete road, and then open the door and drag a board along the road as you go. This tool gives you that experience, concentrated on the surface of a 4” disc.
Needless to say, this fella takes off wood very quickly and can lead to some catastrophic results if you don’t use it with a steady hand. The grinder also produces lots of high velocity dust, so you need to wear eye and breathing protection while using it. Still, it’s a huge time saver and we use it a lot. I like to use the grinder to do the majority of the shaping that a piece needs and then finish off with a few passes to the spokeshave to get a smooth, fair surface.
What we’re shooting for is this kind of fit.
And after a long period of time fairing floors, you end up with a pile of shavings about like this.
Not exactly the kind of thing that screams out “I’ve been working on this most of the day!”
Meanwhile, David has been working on the curved, raked transom. This is a very complex section of the boat, although when it’s done it will look like the simplest thing in the world.
Here he’s worked out a frame that defines the inner surface of the transom knee. The transom knee is like a curved angle bracket that will hold the transom to the rest of the boat.
Here’s the form from the side.
And from the back.
Now he’s fitting the port side transom knee to the form.
And now both sides are attached to the form.
The leading edges of the knees are beveled to match the angle that the planks will make as they curve in towards the transom.
The outer face of the knees is curved to match the inside face of the transom.
This curve has to be consistent so that the transom planks will lie solidly on the knees. The transom itself will be made of cedar and curved over these knees. The frame that David has been building is only there to support the knees, and the knees are there to support the transom.
Whew.
And at the end of the day, what you see is this little section of curvy wood.
Speaking of curves, Robin has been working out a particularly thorny section of the rabbet. This is the area where the stern post meets the horn timber.
The planking meets the stern post (the blue part angling 45 degrees up and to the left, next to the rudder) more or less in a vertical plane. However, the planking curves inward in the upper sections of the boat, and by the time it meets the horn timber (the blue part that connects to the stern post inside the red circle) near the left edge of the red circle, it’s coming in almost flat. This means that the rabbet has to twist and curve from vertical to horizontal in a very short space.
So, many hours on the lofting again, checking and adjusting this line.
Along the way, he worked out how the underside of the stern post flowed into the underside of the horn timber.
And you may remember that we make the rabbet by cutting out a series of pockets and then joining them all together into a continuous ledge for the planks to land on.
Lots of work, not that many shavings.
Meanwhile, one of the nice things about working on the Fort Adams grounds is the views we have from the shop.
“She’s a formidable vessel, sir. I stopped counting at 237 gun ports.”
“Should we tell the men, or let it be a surprise?”
“Oh no, let it be a surprise. I look forward to Captain Higgs’ reaction.”
“Ho ho! Let us hope he wore his brown breeches today!”