New Boat Build Project - (Totally Rebuilding An Older Boat)

[stevewool]

Wow, i see you wont get bored,

Well done  i say,

[Jake]

Hey Gunny,

 

We really appreciate you showing your time and effort about all the pros and cons about the care and feeding of large Filipino banca boats.  Your lessons learned, especially dealing with fellow expats are first hand experiences that can't be learned from reading books or travel guides.

 

I suppose the use of fiberglass/epoxy re-enforcement over wood is not common in Filipino boat building?  I googled map your route from Surigao City to the eastern side of Dinagat Island.  Well over 20 nautical miles!  From just sitting on a banca boat, the visual horizon is just about 1 mile.  Do you hug the coastline for visual references or go out in the open waters for more a direct route?  

 

Again, thank you for the photos and narrative!  You definitely kept yourself productive, in spite of the pending criminal cases that you are involved in getting justice for your friend.  

 

Respectfully -- Jake

Edited October 11, 2015 by Jake

[Kuya John]

Excellent topic James

Like your latest project attention to detail is fantastic

Thanks for sharing.......JB

[intrepid]

James,

Wow, what a great report and project.  I have built and worked on boats since I was a kid.  I sold my last boat about 8 years ago and had been thinking of getting one once we settle in the islands.  But since we will not be living close to the water I have changed my desire. 

I really enjoyed your write-up of this build.  It kind of reminded me of my first canoe build which I did at age 11.  I'll attempt to attach picture below.  Although it was only 13' long, canvas covered, I broke a few stringers building it and learned so much more that has helped me through later projects.  Now I am resinged to building r/c scale boats.

Anyway, a few questions about your build;

 

Besides the marine plywood, can you tell us the species of wood used in your boat and costs?

 

You mentioned epoxy several times in the build.  What brands are available or are you using?

 

I aasume and from the picture, the prop shaft appears to be stainless steel.  The shaft log appears to be galvanized pipe. Correct?

 

What do you use for bearings and seal?

 

Thanks again for the great story.

Danny

[jamesmusslewhite]

Well the last few days has been occupied with doing all the needed details to the hull frame. This involved finishing all the need mitering of the frame with chisels so all the needed areas on the frame are properly recessed to allow for the thickness of the plywood which must be both epoxied and nailed to the outside of the hull frame. Then all the surfaces that will come in contact to the plywood outer skin must be checked, prepped and sanded. Patience, attention to detail and due diligenceis paramount at this stage because once the epoxy is applied to the outer surface of the hull frame is certainly not the time for unexpected surprises. There are two peals of wisdom that come to mind.

 

"There is never enough time to do it right, but always time to do it over" Benjamin Franklin

 

"Measure twice cut once." proverb

 

I want to mention what wood types are used in the boat construction. The names of the woods are in Visayan/Surigonoan  

Top Rails of hull frame - 'Kujait' wood

Bow and Stern Boards - 'Kajait' wood

Ribs of hull frame - 'Lawa-an' wood

all Cross Bracing of hull frame - 'Lawa-an' wood

Original Hull Plank - 'Lawa-an' wood.

Plywood for hull skin - 1/4 inch #1 grade marine 'Santa Rosa'

 

I will now post some photos so I can show certain details and additions to the hull frame which can help show some areas where members may want more detail or show just how certain additions are constructed. First is the mitering and chisel work I have mentioned several times throughout this thread so far. The wood of this hull frame as as follows. This must be done along the full length of the outside bottom of the top rail of the hull frame an along the whole length of the solid hull plank on both sides of the boat, and also on both sides of both the Bow Board and Stern Board. This is so when the plywood is nailed and epoxied to the outside of the hull frame it will be flush with the outside edge of the Hull Plank, bottom outside edge of the Top Rail, outside surface of both the Bow and Stern Boards; but also allowing a flush smooth contact with all outside surfaces of the Rails and Middle Rails of the hull frame. As the plywood hull skin is being nailed to the hull frame as generous amount of epoxy is applied to all the outside surfaces that will come into contact with the plywood. The first photo shows the mitering done to the outside of the Hull Plank, second photo shows the mitering done to the bottom outside edge of the Top Rail and the third photo shows the mitering done on the outside back of the Bow Board which is also who the Stearn Board is mitered. .       

 

 

A support was added to the middle Rib of the hull frame for the Middle Rail merely for additional support for the Middle Rail, this is to help prevent any possible bend or break due to normal usage of the boat. Just a precautionary addition to help prevent any future mishap. This was done under the Middle Rail on the extra thick Rib I had earlier mentioned that there were three heaver Ribs which were spaced where the bamboo outriggers will be attached to the top of the hull frame to attach and support the Bamboo Wings on both sides of the boat..

[jamesmusslewhite]

Tools and material used are pretty basic and brass nails and marine epoxy is being used throughout the construction of the boat. Later two coats of thick clear epoxy will be applied to all the surfaces inside the boat to help further strengthen the hull frame and the plywood outer hull shin. Once dry then an epozy primer coat will be added before the base paint. This will help protect all the wood surfaces from the effects of the weather and saltwater. But that will all be covered later on when the boat progresses to that point. Now to basic needs: Actually tools are quite basic, saws (well sharpened), assortment of chisels sizes, straight edge, squares, hammers, screwdrivers, rulers, plainer and brushes.

 

Plenty of decent quality marine epozy

 

and an brass nails (brass does not suffer the ill-effects of saltwater) and only use quality stainless steel bolts, nuts and screws as the saltwater will cause standard hardware to quickly corrode. This not a good thing to happen to all the nails screws and bolts holding your boat together.

[jamesmusslewhite]

Closer details showing the propeller shaft and how it is setup and placed. I will cover this in much more detail at a later time when we go to install the motor and connect the propeller shaft to the motor and I will go into more detail on what type of pipe is used and the gasket pictured in the last photo. This for now is to merely to show what is needed as it relates to the framing and to the positioning. It is far easier to view this before the plywood skin is added. 

 

 

 

 

[jamesmusslewhite]

Well in between all the hammering, chiseling and sawing we have started gathering the proper bamboo needed for the outriggers They are about the size of 2 inch PVC water pipe. There is a special variety of bamboo used for this purpose. It is very thick-skinned and though it may be as big around as a 2" PVC pipe the whole that runs through it's middle is only large enough to stick a finger in. This variety has the strength and flexibility to take a pounding by the waves and still spring back. I have heard that bamboo has the tensile strength superior to steel. Some silly facts about bamboo:

• Unlike wood, bamboo has no rays or knots, allowing it to withstand more stress throughout the length of each stalk.
• Bamboo’s sectional anatomy, both as a cane and on a microscopic fiber level, enhances its structural integrity.
• The high silica content in bamboo fibers means the material cannot be digested by termites.
• Bamboo contains different chemical extractives than hardwood, which make it better suited for gluing.

The very dense fibers in each bamboo cane give the plant extreme flexibility, allowing it to bend without snapping. In earthquakes, a bamboo forest is actually a very safe place to take shelter, and houses made of bamboo have been known to withstand 9.0 magnitude quakes. For thousands of years bamboo has been the go-to building material for most of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

[jamesmusslewhite]

 

 

 

The bamboo is stuck in a nitch, hole or exposed root and then coconut palm leaves are rolled up into something akin to a big torch. Up to ten of these torches are lined up and the first one is lit. Then the tip of the burning torch is held several inches from the bamboo where the intended bend is to be made, and gently moved up and down the stalk on both sides of the bamboo were the desired bend is to be made.. Then after about five or six of these rolled torches are burned completely they will pull on the bamboo to see if it is ready to bend, if not then they use another torch. Eventually the bamboo becomes maible due to the heat and sure enough it bends. Once the bend is made a rope is tied around the top of the bamboo and it us pulled down and wrapped around a large stone or weighted with timbers and stones for several days. The bamboo will then maintain this bent shape where the fire had heated up the fibers in the bamboo. It is certainly low-tech but very effective.

 

Note: just continue to keep the fire of the torches in a general area but keep the fire moving up and down were it is not maintained in one spot for too long. You only want to heat the fiber not catch the bamboo on fire.

Edited October 12, 2015 by jamesmusslewhite

[RBM]

Very interesting read James, please keep reports coming.