Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Plywood vs Planks for hull material ;-)

[Michael B Holt <tlohm@juno.com>]

On Thu, 9 Jan 2003 07:41:36 -0600 David Buchner  writes:
>How about that Subject line for attention-getting?

Great!  At least, you can't get the same sort of flak that erupted
concerning nuclear subs.

>On Tuesday, Jan 7, 2003, at 13:38 US/Central, Michael B Holt wrote:
>
>> Yeah, that's 5/4.   I have nightmares about the cost of it.
>
>I wanted to ask about doors anyway, so I talked to Katie at the mill 
>yesterday, and got a figure of $671 for that much 5/4. I think she 
>figured it with all 16-footers, but I didn't want to use up any more 
>of  her time, so I didn't correct her on that. What with it getting 
>submerged, one might want it kiln dried (I think so there's less 
>shrinkage later??), which would add around $100.

Wow!   When I asked about it, all I got was eyes rolling and the
general statement that it'd be lots of money.   But maybe I have
those guys figured wrong: maybe to them $100 is out of reach.
I wasn't talking with a mill, though, but a local speciality shop.

>That's for clear pine. I think she was also figuring from 1X10's; I'm 
>sure it would be extra to plane off another inch to get your 9 inches.

If I'm going to all this trouble, I'm not going to plane anything off. 
Well,
not until I get the sizes of the planks firmed up in my mind.  It's hard
to
tell on Argonaut Junior what the sizes are, because no one seems to 
have the real dimensions of the thing.

>So figure about $800?

Cheaper than plywood at Lowe's!

>> No, but I don't have room for it if I'd thought of it.
>
>Too bad you don't live closer. I have a friend who has one in his 
>yard.  :-)

Hey, if I can get into grad school nearby ....

>> I suppose it needs to be smooth enough to avoid any big
>> splinters.   Someone would make a fortune off sandpaper
>> for the project.
>
>We built the whole timber framework of our house out of rough-sawn, 
>and  took off the big fuzzy splintery parts with a large belt sander,
and 
>then a little random-orbit one. 50-odd 6X8 posts, 40-ish 2X12's, plus 
>a big stack of 3X8 rafters. It really wasn't all that bad. Especially if

>your planks came out of a bandsaw mill -- there'd be a lot less fuzz 
>to start with.

Oh, OK.   The pine planks I've seen have been pretty rough.

>> Well, yeah ....   Plywood will bend a bit better than a one-inch chunk

>> of  pine.
>
>Holy geez, there's bending involved? I've never seen a picture of this 
>thing; I guess I was just imagining a big ugly box. Er, I mean a big 
>beautiful vintage box.

I've been describing it as a "coffin for a beheaded giant."   My
assumption
has been that it was flat-sided because it existed to demonstrate the
air lock -- not even the U. S. Navy thought that would work -- and to
show
that wheels will work.   Therefore, I felt, the designer made it as
easily
and as simply as possible.  Calculating the volume of the box would 
have been a lot easier than calculating the voolume of the curved-sided
boat.  

Alas, I've been wrong.   Tim Smalley found photos that show without any
doubt that the damn thing had curved sides.  I'm working on a program to
calculate the volume now ....

>> I don't know what Lake did.  I assume he thought of that, but he
>> might have had them overlapping and braced internally.   No one
>> seems to know anything at all about the interior of Junior.
>
>Depending on how extreme is this curvature you're talking about, it 
>could have just been to make it easier to bend (1" vs. 2").

I've not seen the photos, so the curve might have been very little.
Once I see the pictures, I'll know how depressed to be.

>> Not of my idea, but photos are at Jeff Lake's  website:
>> http://www.simonlake.com
>
>Not working, yesterday or this morning.

Hmmm .....     I'll ask him about that.



Mike H.


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