the blade of the table saw to this dimen- sion, plus a bit (¹₆₄″ or less) above the table, and, using a piece of scrap materi- al (also 5′-3″ high), cut a ¹₈″ wide slot in the scrap. Take one of the stringers and slip it into the slot in the test piece you just cut. You want it to be a snug fit (slightly loose is better than too tight), and both pieces should sit flush on the bench top. You do not want one piece held up in the air by the other. Once you have done this to your satis- faction, go back to the transverse bulk- heads that you cut. Find the center of one of the red edges and mark two lines ¹₈″ apart centered on this mark. From these marks, measure a scale 13′-0″ and make another vertical line. Put the bulkheads in a pile and mark them on one side, 1-B, 2-B, 3-B, etc. On the center stringer, mark the slots, starting at the bow, 1, 2, 3, etc. Now take the first three bulkheads and clamp them together. Place the red edge down on the saw table and cut a ¹₈″ wide slot through the three pieces. Cut two more ¹₈″ slots on the outside of the two outer marks. In groups of three, cut slots in the remain- ing six pieces. You should now be able to assemble the core frame of the barge. Take the center stringer, and, holding it on the bench, slide one of the end bulkheads into position. Then take the port and starboard stringers and slip them into place. Now slip the rest of the bulk- heads into their respective slots in the stringers with the “B” side towards the bow. The tops of the bulkheads should be above the tops of the stringers. Now place a mark on the forward face of each bulkhead at the top of each of the three stringers. Take the interlocking hull apart and
5.
trim the excess piece off of each end of the bulkheads, taking care to leave the “horns” at the top that engage the slots in the port and starboard stringers. Make a template for the curve that connects the three points you marked on the top edge of each of the bulk- heads, draw the line, and shape the top edge of each of the bulkheads to the line using a file and sandpaper. Note that the bulkheads will be varying heights due to the sheer of the deck, hence the reason for numbering them. Carefully marking all the parts of the interlocking hull for position in- sures that you will not receive any sur- prises when you start planking the hull. The hull should be symmetrical along both the length and width but may not be so in actuality. I know that mine isn’t. Keeping everything correct- ly oriented and in its proper place will keep later surprises to a minimum. Before going any further, determine the thickness of the floor of the deck- house since you will need to create a re- cess in the deck to receive it. Find the point on the center stringer where the front of the deckhouse will be and mark a vertical line there. (Don’t forget to work from the bottom of the members, as the tops are curved!) Measure to- wards the stern, add a bit to the dimen- sion of the deckhouse, and draw another vertical line. At the line marking the rear wall of the deckhouse, mark where the bottom of the floor needs to be so the floor at the back of the deckhouse will be just above the finished deck planking outside. Extend this line forward, paral- lel to the bottom of the stringer, until it meets the line marking the front wall location. Cut out the notch in the stringer. It should be deeper at the stern
6.
end due to the curve of the sheer line. Now reassemble the center stringer and the last three or four bulkheads. Where a bulkhead intercepts the notch cut in the stringer, mark the “floor” of the notch on the bulkhead. Take it all apart again. Draw a line at the level of the mark parallel to the bottom of the bulkheads, measure the width of the deckhouse, transfer this dimension to the bulkhead, and cut out the notch. (Note that the deckhouse is not cen- tered on the deck! I had to cut two bulk- heads; you might have to, as well, de- pending on how you laid out their locations.) Test-assemble the pieces one more time and try the deckhouse in its recess. It should drop in easily and not be a tight fit.
If you are happy with the way the
deckhouse fits, disassemble the inter- locking pieces one more time, then put them back together using carpenters glue. When the assembly is done, double check that everything is square. Brace as necessary and leave it overnight to dry hard. Make sure that the whole thing is flat on the workbench. If it’s not, you will have a barge frame that’s permanently warped. When the glue has dried, cut the last two bulkheads (for the ends). The tops should have the same curve as the rest, but these will be much shallower, only extending downwards
to the point
where the angle on the ends begins. Before gluing these into place carefully cut away the portion of the center stringer between the front of bulkhead No. 7, and the rear of bulkhead No. 6. Now cut two pieces of the ¹₈″ plywood. These should slip fit snuggly between the No. 6 and No. 7 bulkheads and be about half the width of the barge. Glue
5. Planking has been added to the sides and the angled sec- tions of the ends. Note that the top of the ends have been cut back to form a vertical angle. If you look carefully, you can make out the subtle curve of the sheer (running fore and aft) as well as the somewhat sharper curve of the deck camber (running across the width of the barge). 6. Here we have the hull deck planking well under way. At this point the deckhouse is not
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
glued down, it is just placed, and the decking is being installed around it. It is important to keep checking that the planks are running true, as it is quite easy to start running them at an angle if you area not careful. The ends of the planks run past the bow and stern. They will be trimmed flush when the planking is com- plete. Make sure that the short pieces between the aft wall of the deckhouse and the stern are glued firmly in place.
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