CRAFTSMANSHIP


Boatbuilder’s Notes 2 3


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The spalted beech, roughly smoothed by axe


Sawing the 17- degree bed for the iron


Planing the sole fl at and square


Making the cap to secure the iron


Planing the cap true to eliminate movement


Cap and stock drilled for bronze screws


Finished with chamfered edges and tung oil


5 Making your own chisel plane EXPERT ADVICE BY ROBIN GATES


For cleaning up surfaces in tight corners you could use a chisel, but a chisel plane is better – the long reference surface of the sole prevents it from digging in. Unlike a bullnose plane, its iron – mounted bevel up – is unprotected by a toe and set fl ush with the sole, paring away unevenness


Lloyd’s Rules OK? BY JOHN E PERRYMAN


There is a plethora of self-help and ‘how to build’ boat books containing a welter of bad habits, misinformation, shortcuts and a host of other nonsense. Time was when if you wanted to


understand a trade, then you became an apprentice and served your time; and then you realised just how little you knew. So that was just what I did in 1950. In those days, DIY had not been invented, and books on the subject of boatbuilding were few and very far between: after all, one had become an apprentice to learn about the arts and mysteries fi rst-hand, not just to read about them.


88 CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2012


However, there was one book that the yard manager said I must have if I had aspirations towards design work or even a deeper understanding of my trade. It was not a self-opinionated ‘how- to’ book by someone who had seen a few boats built. Oh no. This was ‘the Rules’, a book without option or alternative, a statement of order. It was, in fact, the Rules and Regulations for the Classifi cation and Construction of Wood and Composite Yachts.


This was the bible of the profession


and it contained, without argument, all the scantling sizes of materials, all the fastening sizes, joint dimensions, build methods, ironwork sizes, backbone layout, beams etc to include every part of that which constitutes the hull.


All this was laid out in the form of tables related by a simple formula to the size of the boat. Where tables did not apply, then there was a host of numbered subheaded rules covering


Above: The bible for boatbuilders


everything else, including stern gear, machinery layout and basic equipment. To build a yacht to Lloyd’s meant that


the construction drawings were prepared in accordance with these rules and approved as such. The Lloyd’s surveyor would then oversee the work with the rule book under his arm. When I arrived at a certain East Coast design offi ce, my working knowledge of the rule book stood me in good stead. It was there that I learned that while yachts built to the rules tended to be heavier than those


to the foot of a perpendicular. It is great for fi ne-tuning rabbets, removing glue lines and trimming plugs. Stanley discontinued its No. 97


chisel plane in the 1940s, and although Lie-Nielsen makes a near copy, some may baulk at spending £170. But there is a long tradition of toolmaking among shipwrights; when planes were made of wood it was natural


for the craftsman to make the tool he needed rather than settle for something mass-produced.


I made my chisel plane from salvaged spalted beech, highly prized for its attractive marbling. The width of the plane was determined by a spare 2in (5.1cm) iron lying idle in the drawer, while the depth of 1 ¾in (4.4cm) and length of 8in (20cm)


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PHOTO SEQUENCE: ROBIN GATES


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