lap it up.

I'm going to give a brief demo in lap strake construction. If you have ever looked at a lap strake boat you will notice that the ends of the planks disrepair into each other. This gaining fit is accomplished at the stem using a rabbit. This allows the plank going onto the boat to be thicker at the edge. This thickness helps prevent splitting when fastening.

I was taught to make the joint 9" long. The first three inches begins the roll the next three continues the roll and begins the rabbit the final three complete the roll and the rabbit. ** The last three inches need to be flat for and aft. The joint must also be flat athwartships.

Above you can see the forward portion of the joint. Notice from the corner of the rabbit the joint is beveled to a feather edge.

Below i have the two pieces stacked onto each other. The top joint continues to be nine inches long and the final three inches are also flat but their is no rabbit or a very small one. Also note the outboard edge is the thickness of the rabbit on the other joint.

When you put the two together they look something like this. My thumb is on what would be the inside of the boat this allows the outer plank to be thicker (aids in preventing splitting).

With the two pieces clamped together the forward edge disappears into the other.

 To put this onto a boat the you need to make one of the below fancy little tools. The overall length of the tool is not super important it just needs to be a little longer than the width of the planking. The lap on this boat is 3/4" wide and the planking is 3/8" thick so the scribing notch seen below needs to be 3/4" long and 3/8" deep. Use this notch to scribe the width of the lap.

The other end of the tool has a 3/4" x 3/8" notch cut into it 3/4" back from the front edge of the tool. To use this tool the planks need to be laid out on the molds. (You can see these layout lines on the mold below. The lower line is the outer edge of the plank and the upper line is the next lap.) Place the notch over the lap edge then bring the lower edge of the tool in line with plank edge line. Now mark the place on the edge of the existing plank where the corner of the notch touches. 

Carefully connect these marks created with the tool. This line marks the depth of material to be taken off

This edge you have now created is the landing for the plank.

Here are some pics of the rabbit cut on the boat.

The stern is a non rabbited gaining fit.

Odds and Ends.

The rain returned here in the Pac Nor West. Not enough to really get the rivers going but enough to remind us all that winter and wet is right around the corner. Also spiderwebs and mist are great.

Meanwhile the IRH got her first coats of varnish.

Then the shop was cleaned up bronze eyes got attached for and aft and the bilge pump through hull was installed.

Next i added a foot rest. This is set for me so sorry everyone not my size or close, this boat might not fit you.

I had my doubts about the interior color i chose, but i really like it. Anyhow next is putting the gold leaf into the name, rigging the pump system, and painting the hull. Looks like she will even have an on the water test before the festival. I'll keep you all posted.

Cruising right along.

As the IRH project is winding up to wind down my friend Steve came over to put the name into the transom cap.

All that concentrating really paid off.

Mean time i was prepping out the interior for its paint. Its exciting to finally see paint on the interior.

If your going to be in the Port Townsend area Sept 6,7, or 8th you can see the IRH in the Wooden Boat Festival.

Bling it on!

Everyone paying attention, good here we go.

Because the assembly containing the holes for the oar pad and the oar lock is so small there can be no slop between the joints. I don't have the equipment to mill the holes to perfection so decided that an epoxy mix was the best way to handle it.

The first step was to use the worlds smallest shooting board to fair off the oar blocks.

Then get all the parts and pieces in order.

(The small hole in front of the mounting hole is an injection port for the epoxy mix.)

The hole you can see below, is the purge. Squeeze out can exit here.

 The first step was to cote the mating surfaces with un-thickened.

Then using a mix of bonding additives as well as graphite the first step was to coat the top edge and bottom of the oar pad hole.

Then drop the pad in place and force the mix into the injection hole.

Once it has all purged i screwed the pad down and slid the waxed oar lock into the hole.

 Tomorrow ill twist out the waxed locks and there should be a perfect socket left.

And that's hoe you install bling.

finishing finishing finishing.

 Up above is a pic right before the stem cap  resin kicked off. Then it was sleepy time and on to this   3-D spiling for the Hobo project.

This piece will eventually be the sill under the deck house... I'm getting there.

On the IRH front the stem cap got faired off.

 
The transom cap also has been faired off.

 Next i made cleats to hold the bulkhead trim in place for glue up.

The finishing touches are going on... soon the water.