Bulkhead edges

[Short John Bronze]

It is common practice to chamfer the edges of bulkheads near bow and stern to get good contact with the planks that are being bent around them. But what about the bulkhead curve in the vertical direction? Would it be a good idea to run a narrow file across all bulkheads adjacent to the previously fixed plank to create local flat spots? this would increase the plank/bulkhead contact area rather than it being merely a tangential touch.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

is this want you refer to?



if the planks are too wide for the curve of the bulkhead the ends pop up so to avoid this narrower planks are used. to get the edges of the planks to meet the plank edge is beveled and not the bulkhead

 

[Short John Bronze]

The tightest curvature on a bulkhead is typically around the turn of the bilge. On a sample of several built ships of about 1:70 scale the minimum radius of curvature is about 50mm. comparing the radial position of a 5 mm plank for the cases where it sits as a tangent or as a cord shows a difference of about 0.25 mm. This is trivial: a few strokes of a file to create a localised flat with enhanced gluing contact will not compromise the dimensions of the model significantly. The plank edges would still be chamfered as normal. The bulkhead edges need to be filed or sanded anyway to remove the laser charring.