Boat Building a Somes Sound 12 1/2 - Laminating the OUTER Stem - Ep 4

[@tomraidna8421]

Looking good Chuck!!

[@JenkinsBoatWorks]

Thanks Tom. Slowly getting along

[@pags1573]

Been watching your video series and love your enthusiasm. Doing a nice job on the stem so far. The Some Sound 12½ looks to be a great sailboat... a lapstrake version of the famous Herreshoff 12½. I learned to sail on a fiberglass variation of this style of boat built by Cape Cod Shipbuilders (whom owns the rights to the Herreshoff 12½) called the Mercury. I have purchased a set of plans myself and will be building one (gaff rig ) next winter 25/26. Anyway, wanted to make some suggestions about milling and lumber sourcing. My experience in buying hardwood from Menards is that most of it is not flat and straight. Another option is to buy rough sawn lumber from a hardwood lumber source and mill it to size. To mill those strips to thickness its best to flatten one surface of a board on a jointer and then resaw them on a bandsaw with a proper resaw blade slightly oversized and then run them through a thickness planer to size. Results in less waste and properly squared boards. A lot of people incorrectly think that you can simply run a board through the thickness planer to flatten it (without flattening one side first on the jointer). Doing so will not properly flatten it because the thickness planer compresses the board flat as it is being planned and then the board returns to is shape after it is released from the planner. But flattening one side of the board on a jointer first (planing off the high spots until the board is flat) and then running it through the planner is the most effective method to achieve a truly flat straight board. And using a bandsaw with a resaw blade, as it has a thinner kerf than a table saw blade, allows you squeeze out a little more material. Of course you'll need a bandsaw, jointer and planer to do that. Also ripping a twisted piece of lumber through a table saw increases the possibility of kickback.

[@JenkinsBoatWorks]

@@pags1573 thank you for all of the good thoughts. I do have a bandsaw, two actually. Resawing has been a talent that eludes me. Pretty sure that I need a thicker blade to get better results. It is definitely a skill I want to develop. I wish you luck with your build. If you haven’t already found the groups, we have a Haven 12 1/2 group on Facebook and there is a Somes Sound group as well. Best Chuck

[@pags1573]

@@JenkinsBoatWorks I use a ¾" wide resaw bandsaw blade from Highland Woodworking they call "The Slicer" on my 14" 1.75 HP bandsaw (it has a max resaw cutting capacity of 13"). It has a kerf of 0.0325" (1/32") thick and cost about $40. Also you ought to have (or make) a high band saw fence (6" at least) the length to the band saw table to help the blade track straight while resawing. That's all you need, a decent blade and a decent fence... I encourage you to give it a try... with your skills and experience you'll figure it out pretty quick. I have worked as both a cabinet maker and a wooden boat builder (I'm a graduate of the Great Lakes Boat Building school and operate my own boat shop) and have learned that in the cabinet shop the most fundamental stationary tool you need is the table saw, but in the boat shop, it would be a bandsaw instead. Looking forward to see your project progress. Thanks for sharing. I'll look for your Facebook groups... thanks again.

[@pags1573]

@@JenkinsBoatWorks I just remembered that I had posted, about six years ago or so on my website about resawing some mahogany for both a laminated deck and a nice little sweep (double curve) section of covering boards. There's a picture of my band saw setup for resawing (click on it to zoom in). I can't seem to post an actual hyperlink so here's how to get there: 1.) Google for my Timeless Boat Works website and go to it. 2.) Click on the "Restorations" link in the header at the top of the page, and then choose the "1962 Dunphy Voyager" menu option 3.) A webpage will appear for my 1962 Dunphy Voyager restoration project and on the right is a logbook index... look for the "Decks" logbook entry and click on that.

[@JenkinsBoatWorks]

@@pags1573 I’m getting one of those blades. Thanks for the tip. Resawing looks pretty easy when I watch Lou (tips from a shipwright). I’ve figured that the blade is the key. In the Somes Sound plans, John calls for Resawing, fairly often. Thanks again!

[@JenkinsBoatWorks]

@@pags1573 I just ordered this blade. I’m excited to get good at this. Thanks again, Chuck

[@olivei2484]

I guess you'll tell us why you didnt glue inner to outer stem at this time.

[@JenkinsBoatWorks]

@@olivei2484 Interestingly enough, the outer stem is installed after the planking! I will now have to bevel the inner stem to accept the planking. This method eliminates the traditional rabbet

[@olivei2484]

@@JenkinsBoatWorks Ah, interesting. Thank you.

[@pags1573]

@@JenkinsBoatWorks The two separate stem pieces (inner and outer) is new to me too. I've only had experience with one piece stems, establishing bearding lines, and caving rabbets, etc. Epoxy sure has been a game changer for wooden boat building that allows for such flexibility as two piece stems.

[@JenkinsBoatWorks]

@@pags1573 It’s new to me too!