Melonseed Build Time Lapse - Extended Version

[@eldeRobe]

Barry, now that I'm so absorbed with everything Melonseed, I am seeking and discovering these wonderful videos. This particular one is captivating and worth watching several times to appreciate your dedication, skill, craftsmanship and commitment to quality. Hard to believe this build was a decade ago. Timeless.

[@sjbetadam787]

Still one of my absolute favorite videos. Cheers

[@BigFiveJack]

This video has a gravitational effect on me. As soon as I began watching, I knew I'd finish it. And the music selected is positively ideal!

[@charlieh.mcgeeiii5437]

My favorite part is how you ended the film. After 11 minutes of jerking fast motion time lapse all of a sudden the action stops and, but for an moment, there you are in real time looking back at us.

[@eyeinhand]

Thanks Charlie. There's a smile in there, too, somewhere. ;-)

[@jfan4reva]

My heart always sinks when I see wooden hulls painted over,,,until I saw the black hull with the bright wood finish. That one looks sooooo good. Too bad I can't afford to pay half of 2 1/2 years of these people's salaries to have them build one for me.

[@eyeinhand]

White glue is applied to the edges, then the strips are stapled in place until it dries. The glue just holds the shape until the glassing stage. It's the glass that gives it permanent form and strength.

[@buynsell365]

Excellent Build !!!! Even thou it was quick........I did pickup a lot of information.

[@eyeinhand]

Actually, this method of construction requires it. The wood in the hull and deck is less than 1/4" thick. Light weight by design, but not strong enough by itself. The clear glass coating makes it both light and incredibly strong, but keeps the beauty of the natural wood. And makes it waterproof and rot proof, which is a big plus for lazy people like me. Traditional methods, coated only with paint or varnish or oil, you have to use much heavier wood construction. And it leaks and rots.

[@etiennemuller1]

Well, I enjoyed watching that.

[@jthepickle7]

2 1/2 years?! - how times fly! "Where's Dad?" raises eyebrow, says "Out with the boats." Nice work

[@walfrankstein]

Espetacular todo o projeto, a construção os detalhamentos minuciosos, a atmosfera do lugar, o barco na água desliza como uma pluma, se eu tivesse condições aqui no Brasil de construir o mesmo barco, você me autorizaria a partir desse desenho que eu achei incrível? Parabéns pelo seu fantástico trabalho, sublime!

[@WoodBrothersNDS]

Ciao, ho visto e rivisto molte volte questo video. Molto ben fatto, soprattutto un ottimo risultato per le due barche che avete costruito. Sto cercando i piani di costruzione per costruirne una a mia figlia. Avete voi i piani da vendermi? grazie per la risposta

[@eyeinhand]

Ah thanks. The boats are a lot of fun. The best source for plans is WoodenBoat. I used those in combination with a couple of older versions to get the designs I made, but these are the most comprehensive plans. www.woodenboatstore.com/search?type=product&options%5Bprefix%5D=last&options%5Bunavailable_products%5D=last&q=melonseed www.woodenboatstore.com/products/134-melonseed-skiff?_pos=2&_sid=12587e91e&_ss=r

[@magilan7]

Merveilleux (en français) ! Really amazing video : Great job, beautifull boats. Difficult to realize that so much time and tough job, can be reduce into so few. Bravo !

[@grimesy131]

wow guys these are some boats! really beautifully made, i am planning on building a 'Dublin bay mermaid' and was thinking of putting a glass sheeting on the inside of the planking as you have done, do you mind me asking what type of glass and resin you used for these? cheers.

[@domeniconastasi7151]

Salve, è possibile acquistare i piani di costruzione di un melonssed?

[@eyeinhand]

Thanks. The original plans are available from the Smithsonian, others from WoodenBoat.

[@harleyjune1233]

your seed has raised gunnels - can you point me to your plans? the other melonseeds I have seen are smooth port and starboard....

[@galenmurphy3016]

Would you sell a full size copy of your mold stations and spacing

[@eyeinhand]

Heck, if you had contacted me two years ago I would have sold you my actual molds for the cost of shipping. I held onto them for ten years, but no one seemed interested, so I tossed them out. Unfortunately, I no longer have a way to print the patterns out myself, or found a place to do that at reasonable cost.

[@runyongaetz3820]

I just heard about the house I’m so sorry I hope the rebuild is going smooth I’m hoping to set up a video like this of my build

[@emmanuelgarre3858]

Hello ! congratulations ! But where are the two boats finished ???????? Thank you !

[@paulbriggs3072]

Methinks there are much simpler ways to make the deck beams than what I just witnessed.

[@andersonrsilva802]

Very good, muito bom mesmo, sou brasileiro e estudante de engenharia de controle e automação, estudo embarcações. Parabens.

[@jpdj2715]

It's beautiful - result and craftsmanship (craftsmanship - maybe the name for the next one?). Video well done and excellent music choice. So it triggers three questions. (1) Two and a half years of work - in project management this number is sometimes called "calendar time" - is a long time, but how many man hours are in there? (2) Were you able to make every part for the two boats in a single operation, so you created two boats in about the same time you would have needed to create one? (3) Imagine you did not use "glass" then what would you have to alter to the construction - Weight impact?

[@eyeinhand]

All very good questions, far better than most. 1) Two and a half years is calendar time. I have a regular day job, plus a wife and two daughters who at the time were in high school. All the work was done on evenings and weekends when I could, often working late into the night once I got a good head of steam. I did not log the hours, but it seemed like a lot, though all of it was fun time well spent. 2) Doing two at once took only a little longer than just one. 90% of the time was spent just figuring out each step, then getting set up. Actually doing it took no time at all, so doing it twice took no time - times two. In fact, the second time always went faster than the first, since I had practiced once already! On the advice of a good friend, I made sure to alternate boats at each step, that way all the mistakes weren't made on the same boat. 3) The glass makes for a very strong, light, and durable boat that, compared to traditional wood construction, is relatively maintenance free. Ideal for a pleasure boat only used periodically. Traditional construction is poorly suited for boats that don't remain in the water, swelled tight, for long periods of time. These boats are now over 10 years old, and except for a few bumps and scrapes are as solid and pretty as the day they were done.

[@jpdj2715]

@@eyeinhand - Thank you. (1) Then my guess is that you worked an average of 2 hours on weekdays and 5 one weekend days or 20 hours per week for 2.5 years. That is 2,607 hours. If we define a normal full-time working year as 1,740 hours, then that is 1.5 year of regular full-time job. You will have had holidays and outings with less hours per week and other weeks with a bit more than the average of 20 hours. So the ballpark figure is 1 FTE at 1.5 years. (2) Interesting. In fact you taught yourself the "master shipwright" skills for this type of vessel on the job. Your attribution of 90% of the time to puzzling or being puzzled, now leads me to take that back to the hours of hands on building being 10% - or, you could have built the boats in 6.5 weeks of full-time work? I don't think so, but it is funny and gives perspective. Your description of your approach suggests that you did not saw or cut two pieces laid on top of each other to exactly the same size/shape. Which I understand and appreciate. It is a hobby, not a business and gives an opportunity to do something differently the second time, potentially better. Nice. (3) I was not trying to point at the old way of shipbuilding, actually. Your response made me more aware of that. A cooper, when cutting the staves, cuts the wood relative to the grain and cross section of the tree, so that the staves will swell around the circumference of the coop and not (primarily) radially. I am not sure that planks on old ships were done based on the same lore. I am aware they have to stay wet to keep the planks tightly pressed against each other. And am aware that lumber yards would keep trees for up to seven years in water to make it stronger and get the working out of it. But maybe not for shipbuilding where you need some flexibility, still. Or, yes, old fashioned ship building has many complications. So, I was thinking of a lamination approach without glass. Thin layers of wood (nature's carbon fiber ;) ) like veneer with (seawater "resistant") wood glue and a lacquer or epoxy finish. By the way, considering your interests, you may want to take a look at KZbin channel "Sampson Boat Co" about the mission to rebuild the old English, wooden, gaff cutter sailing yacht "Tally Ho" designed by Albert Strange in 1909 and launched about 1910.

[@eyeinhand]

@@jpdj2715 Actually, your rough estimate of 6.5 weeks of actual full time work is not that far off. A professional builder I know can turn out one of these in about 8 weeks, including sewing the sails, fitting out, and acquiring a trailer, which I did not have to do. Only a few steps could be done in bulk, such as ripping planks, steam bending knees, etc.. Despite following the same plans, small inconsistencies, and variations in the curve of wood, compound quickly. Enough that most pieces had to be custom cut to fit the boat it was intended for. Would not have saved significant time to cut two pieces at once. Easier just to mark and cut one after the other. As you mention, there is a style of ultra light boat building that does not use glass. Instead, thin laminated marine plywood planks are used, impregnated with epoxy. Most of the weight saving come from reduced mass of the wood used, only a little from the thin layer of glass/epoxy. But the planking and framing is done differently to provide a rigid structure - the planks are lapstrake and sealed with a bead of thickened epoxy, and those doublings at the seams act like longitudinal ribs. It's also used on some bigger sailing boats with lapstrake planking, which are not light at all, and have plenty of additional framing for added strength. When strip planking to get a smooth hull, the inside and outside layer of glass create a very strong and rigid shape, with very thin strips. The additional framing is needed primarily to stand up to the stress of the sailing rig. I have seen the Sampson Boat Co. videos. Good stuff!

[@Pg0821]

amazing job

[@tzankan]

Wonderfull. Wonderfull soundtrack too.

[@joepassante8498]

Amazing! I feel envy and inspiration.

[@Daz30]

Is some of this out of sequence? like the top part of the boat was done and varnished and then it switches to being to where it was after just being turned over at the 3:15m mark which then the inner hull is varnished.

[@eyeinhand]

No, this was the exact sequence. The way the decks were made, it was best to form it up from strips while the molds were still in place. This made sure the exact final shape was preserved. Then the deck was removed and set aside, and the molds removed, while interior framing was constructed. Once that was done, the decks could be laid on top and bonded to the frames for an exact fit. People who use plywood for decks don't have to bother with this sequence, but are limited by it. Plywood only bends in one direction at a time. Building the decks with strips is more complicated, but allows for compound curves. You could strip up the deck in place after the framing was done, but then you'd only be able to glass the top side , which is not very strong. For a thin ¼" deck they need the strength of glassing both sides.These boats are too narrow to crawl inside to do the glassing inside after, so solution was to do them first in place temporarily, and add them back near the end.

[@Daz30]

@@eyeinhand Thanks for your reply. That makes sense now. Great video showing the process from beginning to end- its a great way to get the overview or gist of how it is built.

[@HDAceh]

Amazing, thank you

[@MrPdante]

how did you attach the strips of wood together so that they would retain their shape?

[@black_house_arch]

Мужики, это очень красиво!!! Супер круто!!!

[@Pg0821]

Where did you buy the plans from

[@joseleandro3051]

👏👏👏

[@TheRolr]

What's the name of the song?

[@sok8888]

WHY WHY WHY did you gel coat that beautiful wood grain!!! WHY WHY WHY

[@MIC960]

Nice job, but i would have build the deck beams and then the deck, not the other way around, to save time and to make sure that each plank is glued corectly!

[@OCSnowBoarder]

I knew it ...the music was Zoe...

[@amranlamadi5445]

👍👍👍

[@GianniIandolo]

Meravigliose...!!! ;-)

[@СергейИванов-о4ы5щ]

Мастер!