Annie Buck Chesapeake deadrise oyster / crab working boat Build Log

[Ignatius27]

Build Log - "Annie Buck" Chesapeake deadrise oyster / crab working boat (scratch build from plans)

Plans from "Fundamentals of Model Boat Building" by John Into & Nancy Price (Schiffer Books 2010). This is a very basic wooden waterline model of a common fishing boat used from the Chesapeake Bay of Maryland down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The Chesapeake deadrise stern is different from other Chesapeake boats with a "drake-tail" like the Hooper's Island drake tail from the Eastern Shore, another workhorse of the Mid-Atlantic fishing industry.

The Chesapeake deadrise oyster / crab working boat is my first build using a scroll saw, chisels, rasps and wood files and other woodworking tools. Having fun learning to shape wood components and trying different types of wood, including basswood, pine and balsa wood. I've watched alot of videos about using the scroll saw, power tool safety, wood chisels, and different woods. I can see how using a fine saw like the scroll saw can give great results in detailing and fine carving, but can be temperamental if youre using the wrong pin blade. I'm going slowly, so this build may take a while, but it is a nice boat to build.

Both halves of the hull frame were cut from pine stock and I fabricated other parts with 2mm basswood sheets, 1/4 inch basswood planks, and 1mm and 2mm cardboard stock (cigar box thickness).

I cut the pine so that I can save the cuttings for other projects. It's a really workable wood stock a bit harder than the basswood. Careful not to use balsa wood for any structural parts, but will use balsa to build up the cabin and pilot house coamings and the engine blocks.

Made vertical and horizontal slices in the pine blocks to rough cut the 2 hull frames. Then used the Dremel-clone tool, rasps and files to fine detail frames, the gingerbread (cabin sides), the cabin block and the pilot block. Also used 80, 120 and 220 grit sandpaper and blocks.

Tomorrow I will use a plane to shape the hull chines and waterlines, then glue and clamp the 2 hull frames and the transom with Titebond II overnight. The challenge will be to plane a hull shape that has realistic lines / chines from stem to stern. The original Annie Buck had a fiberglass form hull, so wood may not be as pliable.

I will also use chisels and cutting tools to shape the insides of the wales and the surface deck. The plans give you a lot of add-on options (deck furnishings like cleats, bollards, and a mast), to make the Chesapeake deadrise oyster / crab working boat more of a realistic build.

 

[AllanKP69]

You appear to be so well organized! I feel so inferior
Thanks for sharing!
Allan

 

[Ignatius27]

You appear to be so well organized! I feel so inferior
Thanks for sharing!
Allan

AllanKP69 - One thing I learned is that the scroll saw gets sawdust all over my shop, so the portable vacuum is always ready! I need to figure out how to hook up my shop vac to the scroll saw dust handler. I did manage to break 2 saw blades trying to find a blade that can cut 1.5 inch pine boards, so still learning the limits of the saw.

 

[Ignatius27]

2. Build Log "Annie Buck" Chesapeake deadrise oyster / crab working boat

Today was all about getting the 2 sides of the hull assembly worked with a planer and filing / sanding tools. After watching some videos on YouTube, I jumped in with the mini-planer for the first time. Amazing how you can plane super smooth surfaces with the right cutting angle. I was going for good curling of the shavings after adjusting the planer blade. I am very happy that I was able to preserve the cut notch (.5 mm) on the inner hull that separates the pilot house from the cockpit about 4 inches up from the transom.

I got the 2 hull forms to be nearly identical to the eye, knowing that there will be plenty of time to fair the hull before we're through. I made a mistake by jumping ahead and cutting through the last inch of pine block, not realizing that that impacts how I glue the 2 sides of the frame together.

I made a crude jig to glue in the transom to a strong bottom (like a strong back) using a 1/4 inch basswood plank. I used rubber bands to hold in the transom and clamps to hold the 2 hull forms together overnight. Titebond II for the wood joints and Elmer's Tacky Glue to attach the paper plans to the pine blocks. We'll see how good the bond is overnight because tomorrow will involve using chisels for the first time at the waterline level and inside the coamings on deck.

I'm making nice straight cuts with the scroll saw now and I'm rotating different pinned saw blades depending on the thickness and hardness of the wood stock. Making slower cuts for softer basswood and balsa wood and using a higher blade speed for pine. We'll see how the new poplar wood stock works under the scroll saw.

The revelation of the day is how liberating doing scratch builds like this Chesapeake deadrise can be (as opposed to building a wooden boat kit). I'm feeling the grain of the wood, cutting only along the grain and feeling the difference between different types of wood. I still make mistakes (like cutting the transom block too short twice), but I feel like I can always recover by cutting more wood.

Sounds weird but I feel like I'm crafting the wood instead of just moving around or cutting the wood. I went to the craft store today and was actually excited to buy about 12 board feet of 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch poplar wood boards.

After slogging through my last build, which was an Artesiana Latina kit with no instructions or design plans (just wordless videos), this build from the "Fundamentals of Boat Building" book by Into & Price is refreshing. Every step has a detailed picture, it tells you all the tools you need and the plans tell you exactly where to cut and where to glue.

I liked this publisher, Schiffer Publishing, so much that I ordered 2 other scratch build books on The Spritsail Skiff and The Skipjack, both by Steve Rogers and Patricia Staby-Rogers. Both are as detailed as the Chesapeake deadrise, and I may build one or the other after my next build, which will be the Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack from Midwest (who hasnt built the Lobster Smack?). I just ordered the Schiffer book on the Menhaden Steamer (at 1/2 inch scale) which offers a 56-inch scratch build steamer model! Also written and designed by Rogers and Staby-Rogers.

The challenges for tomorrow include scribing / carving the chine line from stem to stern, building up the cabin and the pilot house, and chiseling off the strong bottom. I have been practicing with 3 types of chisels by carving ducks out of 3-inch basswood blocks. I may need to get a mallet like in the book - I have a hammer in the shop but its not the right tool for the job...

 

[Ignatius27]

3. Annie Buck Progress Pictures

Bending wood today.

 

[JacquesCousteau]

Looks like you're off to a good start! Scratch building can offer its own challenges, but I've found it can also be very rewarding.

 

[DAWarden-(Jaager)]

One of those boats motors past my deck pretty much daily - heading out to the Bay and back.

I decided to work Tulip Poplar for hidden parts originally - my first 8x4 plank was mostly heartwood - lots of pier piling brown and olive drab - but my next planks are almost all sapwood and the yellow passes for scale Oak or Pine decking.
Compared to Black Cherry and Hard Maple it carves like air. Once you have worked it, I am surprised that you would go near Basswood again.
The price cannot be bettered for a hardwood - Cygnus changes $3.00 BF for rough 4x4 and $4.00 BF for 12x4.

For bending - the ammonia used for that is anhydrous NH4 - industrial, explosive, poisonous pure gas at 1 atm. All the liquid cleaner version does is denature the surface of the wood.

You might consider replacing that barrel in your iron with the Chinese knock off of the old classic Aeropiccola bending head:
It may just slip in if it is a 936 solding iron - $20 at Amazon -

A simple dimmer switch may give you control over the temp -

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum store at St. Michaels MD used to sell actual blue prints for some classic Bay craft - way back when - I scarphed up all that I could get. No word about any plans on their website https://cbmm.org/shopping-at-cbmm/