Thames Sailing Barge Stuff

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

What a great morning for the workshop !! April showers in May !!

As we are talking tools, my new bandsaw is a truly amazing bit of kit with its properly adjustable fence, I'm cutting my own planks, my old machine wasn't accurate enough for this. The strip of brass allows me to cut very narrow planks.

I wish I'd splashed out years ago

Regards Ray

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Yes, the recent run of inclement weather has been good for building!

Great that the new bandsaw is doing the business. I'll probably get some bigger power tools to add to the scroll saw when I've thinned out the motorbikes in the garage and made some room!

Chris

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

My version requires some modifications to the internal structure to support the keel which is being housed in a box and capable of being adjusted longitudinally. The idea is to end up with two positions in case I ever go for the big rig.

Here, 3 frames have been left as bulkheads but as yet I have no plan for the winches and rigging below decks to I am just cutting out reasonably sized apertures. The bulkheads are ganged up and taped together so everything lines up for sawing out in one hit. For those familiar with the drawings they are frames 4, 4 1/2 and 5.

These are bulkheads 4 and 5 and form the front and back of the keel box. As there will be inserts inside the box that could move in handling, transport or grounding I have epoxied two strips of 0.8mm epoxy sheet onto the bulkheads to provided a wear surface. Eventually the whole inside of the box will be lined with epoxy sheet meaning the inside of the box will be completely waterproof without having to try and paint as well as resistant to wear when taking the fin in and out.

Tim R

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Epoxy sheet is quite expensive here and not always available. I have the raw materials so making the keel box sides was very easy.

I have various random weights of woven and non-woven glass. I have no ide what the weights are so they are selected on the basis of the lightest material that I think will do the job. This saves on resin too as there is less to wet out. The sides of the keel box are birch ply as supposed to Liteply and so most of the required strength is in the wood and the epoxy provides the wear surface and the water resistance.

A piece of ply was cut sufficiently large to do the two sides with a bit of a margin and the epoxy and fabric laid up on the wood trying to get the amount of epoxy uniform over the entire surface.

The lay-up was then covered with a piece of waxed glass and then weighted down.

Actually I used all the weights I could find to squash the glass onto the epoxy. The full weight was left on for about an hour to let any excess epoxy flow out of the edges and when the epoxy was just starting to gel, the weights were removed and the work put out in the sun.

Looking like this. The smoked glass absorbs the heat very nicely and I got an excellent cure in about 1 1/2 hours reaching a temperature of about 65 degrees (ie too hot to touch)

The work was then brought inside to slowly come back to room temperature before releasing it. This is important to maintain complete flatness through the temperature change. I sincerely hope it will never get as hot as 65 degrees again!

Here is the finished sheet and the epoxy is rock hard.

It was not quite as good as the bought-in stuff as the weave did not completely fill. It was however fully wetted out so it will perform fine. It would be nice to have vacuum bagging equipment (one day) and then the weave would have filled 100%. It would have been a lot more weights to match atmospheric pressure.

The epoxy faced ply is now ready for cutting out the two side.

Tim R

[tomarackParticipant @tomarack]

Hi,

great idea, I have a slightly curved plywood table, which I can't straighten, I'll try as soon as possible !!!.

Tom

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

I'm very pleased to let you know Tiny Mite a 30" Barge Yacht built, owned and raced for many seasons by Peter Simmonds has joined my fleet after a long journey from the Isle of Wight involving Road > Solent crossing > Road to Maidstone, made worse and longer by the current situation, but she is here now, and will be on the water soon.

She joins Peter's Veronica, my Gertrude and the soon to be finished Portlight. SWMBO is not seeing the funny side !! but she will come round

Regards Ray

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi.Ray, she’s a lovely looking boat, but then I would expect nothing less.coming from Peters racing stable! I am thinking that I may have to build a 30” barge, much easier to handle and transport, I will keep you posted.

Regards.

Eddie.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Eddie,

Saw her first in 2015, Peter managed to win with her all the time, so I built my Gertrude on a 30" Giralda grp hull, which is lighter and faster

Good to see you and your friends the other weekend at Bluewater

Regards Ray

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Are you starting your own model barge association Ray.

Must work harder on Kimberley, must work harder, must work harder, must work …………………..

Tim R

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Yes it was good to meet up again, my friends have now moved up this way and I hope we will be able to get down to Bluewater at least a couple of times, I can have a sail with you and they can meet their other son and family

Is the 30” Giralde only available as grp hull? as I can’t find any drawings for a barge at that size.

Regards.

Eddie.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Eddie,

I'm fairly sure I have the 30" Giralda general arrangement, plan & sections somewhere, and I used a scaled down Veronica rig I think, I have asked Peter Simmonds if he drafted any drawings for Tiny Mite, which I think he helped build the original barge yacht when he was an apprentice shipwright

Tim,

Yes what's the hold up? I thought you would be planking by now

Regards Ray

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi. Ray. that would be great if you do have some drawings, but there is no hurry, I have an IOM to finish yet and a bit of work to do for another club member.

Regards.

Eddie.

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Hello Ray

It won't be long. Last night I finished bevelling the frames and there was quite a bit of fairing up to do. The transition from the bow to the forward end of the chine is looking OK. I am not so sure about the aft end and there may have to be a bit of packing to prevent an unwanted hollow. The first layer of planking will be 3mm balsa to give me a bit of a sanding allowance to get everything fully fair. If necessary I will add some more in the hollow. The outside planking will be mahogany which will give me a nice hard surface. If I don't fill the grain I hope to get an authentic aged look with the butts and seams all in the right scale place. Underwater however with be a smooth as the proverbial………

The planking will be a long process so I will probably take some breaks to make leeboards, fittings and the rig. I have some lovely bits of bronze left over from a full sized project.

Investing how I can stain Mylar film a Tan colour – only joking!!

Tim R

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Posted by Ray Wood 2 on 10/06/2021 20:07:37:

Hi All,

I'm very pleased to let you know Tiny Mite a 30" Barge Yacht built, owned and raced for many seasons by Peter Simmonds has joined my fleet after a long journey from the Isle of Wight involving Road > Solent crossing > Road to Maidstone, made worse and longer by the current situation, but she is here now, and will be on the water soon.

She joins Peter's Veronica, my Gertrude and the soon to be finished Portlight. SWMBO is not seeing the funny side !! but she will come round

Regards Ray

Another boat is no problem Ray!

[tomarackParticipant @tomarack]

Hi Gents,

I put several pictures of Giralda to my album here in MB

> https://www.modelboats.co.uk/albums/member_album.asp?a=55844

Plan was published in the book >A handbook of Sailing barges < by F.S,Cooper and John Chancellor

together with SB Kathleen plan. 

Since there were no details on the Giralda plan, I chose the sb Champion class plan from H. Chapelle for my model.
This barge is very similar to the Giralda.

Tom

Edited By tomarack on 12/06/2021 15:38:48

Edited By tomarack on 12/06/2021 15:54:14

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Re. 30" Thames Barge, Tom's post reminded me that I had a copy of Richard Chesney's booklet on building a Thames Barge, courtesy of Ray, it has the fullsize drawings of the frames for Westmoreland at 1/24th. scale, and there is also a drawing of the hull and lines with the hull at 10" long, after a visit to a graphics company I now have a set of drawings for Westmoreland with a hull length of 29", I hope this will fit the 30" racing barge rules, if not it will be easy to add an extra inch to the middle of the hull.

That is now my next winters project sorted, or rainy days.

Eddie.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Eddie,

Good show, it will be good to see her live on after the actual barge could not be saved, I hear that Tim R is on with his Mallorca flyer tsb Kimberley

As I get my state pension from September I am going on a 4 day week, which has pleased the management no end !!

Regards Ray

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 16/06/2021 12:50:24

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi. Ray, does that mean more than you are doing at the moment.

Here is the picture I took of the drawings, I finally found which cloud they were on!

Eddie.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Eddie,

Yes that's a good point !!

Since working from home has became the new normal, the spare bedroom/office is gradually filling up with models mainly plastic aeroplanes on the window cill

I have just had some drawings printed for MV Stability one FT Everards coasters based from Greenhithe very near Bluewater, a tenuous link but good enough for me

Regards Ray

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 16/06/2021 13:21:45

[redpmgParticipant @redpmg]

Hope the window does not get too much sun Ray – amazing how glass focuses heat – and styrene does not like that .much………… Sun so fierce here you would end up with a pile of scrap

State pension here is not even enough to buy a months groceries = MPs earn about 100 times more and retire with full pensions after a very short stay…………

Like the plans – which real barge are they for ?

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

The drawings are for Eastwood’s Moreland.

Eddie.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Peter,

Yes I can never understand the reason for taxing a state pension? but apparently that's how it works here if I'm still working !!

The plastic models are safe, we have had a couple of weeks of sun but now it's raining again

Regards Ray

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

And carry on being taxed once retired if you have a decent works pension! You won't pay NI once you reach pension age Ray but you pay more tax, brilliant isn't it!

Yes, it always annoys me when I hear of MPs getting a full pension after very few years (is it 5?) when most of us have to do at least 40!

My wife gets her state pension in September after being diddled out of 6 years.

I better stop now as I guess it will be termed political!

Chris

 

Edited By Chris Fellows on 17/06/2021 14:28:17

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

With the recent wet weather I have been able to make a start on Westmoreland sooner than planned, and I have just noticed my latest senior moment, when I called the TSB Moreland, this was the name Richard Chesney gave his model.

I now have a keel and a full set of frames, it's good to have the right tools to do each job,it makes life so much easier with a bandsaw and scroll saw.

The frames are 1/8 thick ply that was in stock. Working from the enlarged plans I photocopied the frame drawings to give me one copy per frame, I cut the frame pattern out by folding the drawing in half on the centre line which ensured that both sides were the same, these were then glued to the ply using Pritt Stick glue.

The problem with enlarging a drawing is that you also enlarge the thickness of the lines, to more than 1/16" on my drawings,and you also enlarge any slight discrepancies in the original drawing, in this case by X3, I found this out by some of the frames not lying fair on the keel, checking them against the the side elevation drawing I was able to rectify the problem, and without having to make any new frames.

Next the keel will be set up on the buiding board and the frames glued in place.

Eddie.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Eddie,

Wow there is no stopping you always fun to start a new build, let me know when you need the keel depth & weight, my 30" Giralda goes like a Whippet !!

I was going boating this morning, but no sun makes it rather dismal !! so we are off to Hastings to check out the fishing boats

All the Best Ray

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