Shipwright Style Quick and Easy Bevel Board
A Quick and Easy Bevel Board
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t seems that quite a few of the readers here are “hands on” boat owners and like to do as much of their own work as is reasonable. I think that is great and would encourage people to do so if they have the time and are willing to develop the skills. Yes, much of the carpentry on a boat is considered “tricky” but if you are prepared to plan out the steps carefully and have the patience to take the time that is needed, you will probably do just fine.
Where am I going with this? Well, I thought that I would write a few posts that are aimed at people that would like to tackle more of their own carpentry projects. This will include some drawings for some basic shop fixtures, design details and some resources to help you get your boating projects done.
Shipwright Style Quick and Easy Bevel Board
Here is the first one: a Quick and Easy Bevel Board. I’ve made nice plexiglass ones, and lost them. I’ve used protractors and though they got the job done, I thought that they were awkward at best. If my bevel board was in my tool box on a boat and I was back in the shop, well I didn’t have it where I needed it. Not wanting to handcraft several of these or buy two or three at $20 apiece I started looking at alternatives. One afternoon I was at my computer drawing some cabinet details and a simple solution popped into my head, I could just draw one in SketchUp and print them out as needed. It took about ten minutes to draw. I have some 8.5×11, full sheet label paper, so I set up a pdf page with three bevel boards on it and printed it out. I cut them out on a paper cutter, though a sharp knife and a straight edge wold work just fine, peeled the backing off and stuck it to a a piece of 6mm Aquatek plywood. It worked great and is very accurate . I did cover the paper face with a layer of clear packing tape to protect it. You can download the pdf file here
Read MoreCardboard and Sticks, Why an Interior Mockup is a Good Idea
What is a mockup? Generally it is a quickly built prototype.
• a mockup gives a good feel for the real space
• a mockup helps focus on usability and function rather than materials and small details
• a mockup allows you to interactively problem solve
• encourages experimenting, the materials are easy to work with and inexpensive
Mockups are commonly used by designers and builders to get real world feedback on a design or space. Yes there are drawings, but those don’t give the full-scale walk through the space experience. And in reality most people can’t visualize from a 1/2 inch to the foot scale drawing. In a yacht interior, often we are balancing taking an inch here and giving an inch there just to make everything work. Sometimes this is due to a constraint such as, the size of an appliance or equipment access and sometimes it is more related to what works for the specific customer. Is there room to walk through reasonably? Does that cabinet block my view? Will I hit my head going down the stairs? It really is much better to discover any problems before the actual building begins. Generally they are not that hard to fix, in fact you can work them out in the mockup quickly, then make sure that the changes are documented. This information does need to be incorporated into the build drawings and notes or it will do no good. This pdf, Mock-up notes , is from the documentation of a Northwest Trawlers 50.
Read MoreMaple with a Few Variations
I thought that it might be interesting to look at a very common north American wood, Maple. Now there are actually quite a few different species that grow in North America but for most purposes they are broken down to Hard Maple and Soft Maple
Hard Maple, includes sugar maple and black maple. It is a hard,dense, tough wood. The weight ranges from 40 to 45 pounds per cubic foot. The working properties are generally good. Being denser it tends to hold up to high wear areas better, you can damage it but not that easily. It is generally considered a very good cabinet wood. This wood tends to lean towards the lighter tones to almost white.
Read MoreIt’s Just Wood, How Many Decisions Can There Be?
Actually this may seem simple at first, but it is commonly a challenge to come up with the final choices. There are many factors to consider. Availability, color tones, grain patterns, density and workability are some of the decisions. Once you have picked the general species, you still have to determine the actual look, within reason, that you would like. Some of this will be solid lumber and much will be veneer. These do not have to be the same wood, often I like to use something simple for the background (cabin sides and bulkheads) and something a bit more interesting for the cabinets and door panels. This becomes more important when the majority of the interior is wood, less so when there is some fabric or wallpaper to break it up.
Read MoreCustom Yacht Tables, by Shipwright Style
Tables from Shipwright Style
The flier above is for my custom and semi-custom yacht tables. I enjoy building these and would like to expand more into this area. Part of what make these so enjoyable to design and build is that the variations are nearly endless.
The small table at the top is intended to be semi-custom, the length can be adjusted but the width is fixed at 14″, 16″ and 18″. This helps keep costs down as there does not need to be new patterns made for each table. The solid wood, veneers and profiles can be tailored to mach your individual needs and preferences.
Read MoreA Table for the Salish Sea
This table was designed and built for the Salish Sea, the first of the Salish Sea Yachts IS48′s. We discussed many ideas during the construction of the vessel, folding, high/low, hinge up/down and various combinations of the previous ideas. None of the “normal” configurations really worked that well in the space. So how did we end up with this design? Read on.
Table Leaves and Hardware