DESIGN AND FABRICATION

[Mariner1941]

This is a new class room in the school and it deals with designing a project and the fabrication of the parts. Before you think no way this is not for me i don't have a laser cutter or any CAD skills.
the title of the forum
From starting out to expert
build logs, CAD, kit design, 3D printing and laser cutting

so, if we are going to advertise it, we are going to do it

the subject of this class will be a little lumber hooker built on the Great Lakes named the WHITE SWAN

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Interesting model!

Berger Boats.
A number of years ago my wife and I were staying in a small Hampton Inn in Manitowoc, MN waiting to load ourselves and car aboard SS Badger. Badger is a repurposed railroad car ferry; steam powered with a Skinner Uniflow reciprocating engine and coal fired to the annoyance of the EPA. Crossing Lake Michigan via Badger is much more enjoyable than braving traffic around Chicago.

Anyhow, having breakfast at the hotel was a group of several youngish men. My wife, who apparently was a Walmart greeter in a previous lifetime learned that these guys were technicians from one of the major US electronics companies. They were staying in Manitowoc while installing navigation on a Yacht being built at Berger Boats.

It is remarkable how Berger has been able to transform itself from building humble vessels like White Swan to high end yachts for Billionaires all the while contributing to the local economy.

Roger

I recently completed a model of her for a client. I have some burger plans of her lines and inboard profile. I have also done the graphics on her. If interested contact me.

 

[Chris Rottiers]

I'm going to have to follow this class. I have the Sylvan HO resin model of the White Swan. My primary area of interest is Great Lakes boats/ships of all eras. I especially like the WWI Lakers, Whalebacks, early 1900's freighters, Schooners, and Lumber Hookers.

 

[Chris Rottiers]

View attachment 530716

I recently completed a model of her for a client. I have some burger plans of her lines and inboard profile. I have also done the graphics on her. If interested contact me.

Beautiful Model!

 

[MThomas]

the subject of this class will be a little lumber hooker built on the Great Lakes named the WHITE SWAN

I love me a good ol' fashioned 'Lumber-Hooker'! I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this one for sure! 'Adella Shores' is the hooker of my dreams ("Don't print that, strictly OFF the record!")!

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Let's get started

I will begin by saying you do not need to own a laser cutter or 3D printer to cut or print nor do you need some expensive CAD program.

A laser cutter does not need a CAD file they will use drawings from Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW and other drawing programs. I personally use a CAD program but if anyone knows of other file formats used by laser cutters post them.
When i said you do not need to own a laser cutter all you have to do is job out the cutting. There are countless laser cutting services on line. One way to find a laser cutter is look up local craft shows the chances of finding a booth with someone selling laser cut craft things is quite high. Just ask if they will do custom work, most likely they will say sure. Same with 3D printing it has become popular, and you will find people at craft shows selling printing things. Even if you are setting up your first laser cut project these hobbyists with a laser cutting will help you. They invested in a laser cutter and they are at a craft show selling things, odds are they are into the laser cutting hobby and trying to make it pay, when you come along with something to do that is what they are looking for.
Or just send me a Personal Message and i can have the laser cutter i use do the cutting.

A thank you to member Erlo from South Africa for the following PDF it give you some basic information on laser cutting

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

When you take the time to research and gather as much information on a subject as possible you connect to it, the subject becomes a quest an adventure.

a big thank you to member Karl Kuttruff and his gracious generosity in sharing information on the White Swan. It is his model shown in the posts.

to start a project like the White Swan you need the basic information

the hull lines



the outside profile



the inside profile and deck plan which is missing the left part of the drawing.



With these drawings you will have everything you need to design a model

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

The inside profile gives the information on the size and spacing of the hull framing and deck construction, with this information you can build a framed model including a 3D printed engine. Lucky the engine used in the White Swan are still around as garden art



one on display in a museum



and one someplace unknown



but you need drawings to 3D model the engine no problem even drawings are still around




the company that made the engine is still in business this is a Kahlenberg Engine

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

First of all lets go through the steps to design a plank on bulkhead model. right off the Station lines are too far apart to give an accurate shape to the hull.



To help shape the hull station lines are added to the right is the original bodyplan and to the left is a new and improved bodyplan with lines added in red.



you need a center profile this profile piece goes from the top of the keel to the deck line



setting up the bulkheads first set the bodyplan and profile on a base line. the next line up is the bottom of the bulkhead slots, which can be anywhere below the deck line. The line between the pink and brown areas is the deck line and the top of each bulkhead.






drawing each bulkhead begins with selecting each body line from the bodyplan and moving or copying it to the front of the profile. The line above the bulkhead is the deck line. Now take the height of the cap rail, deck and top of the notch from the profile. copy the deck line and move it down to the second arrow point. Do this with each body line.



When done you have a set of bulkheads



but wait there are a lot more little details to be added to the design

 

[Magic Mike]

Dave, this will be a great project to follow! Magic Mike

 

[Roger Pellett]

The Superior branch of the University of Wisconsin used to have a research vessel powered by a Kahlenberg engine. These were “Semi-Diesels.” The compression ratio on some was not high enough to run without an ignition source. Others required an ignition source until the engine was running and fully warmed up when it would run by itself. These engines used a glow plug as an ignition source. In some cases the glow plug had to be first heated with a blow torch before cranking the engine to start.

BC (before Covid) I used to work on a nice ketch owned by our local community sailing association that was hauled out where the University’s research vessel was docked. I got to know her captain. During that time Kahlenberg got rid of a lot of technical material. Kahlenberg is still in business but no longer makes these engines. Their business is focused on the air horns used on large commercial vessels. Anyhow, he, the captain, used that opportunity to stock up on spare parts and other materials. He gave me two owners manuals. I gave one copy to Mystic Seaport but the other’s somewhere in my stash. If you’d Ike a copy, let me know.

Roger

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

He gave me two owners manuals. I gave one copy to Mystic Seaport but the other’s somewhere in my stash. If you’d Ike a copy, let me know.

got one

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

doing a cross section of the White Swan showing the engine would make an interesting model if you did it at a large scale like 3/8 or 1/2 = a foot. The drawings i have are more of an illustration and not working mechanical drawings there are no measurement so i have no idea how big parts are. I would need a consultant to ask a 100 questions.

what i found is the engine is called an oil engine.

There is a 1927 engine in a warehouse of the Henry Ford Museum so i Emailed them and asked if i could photograph and measure the engine. So far no reply



projects like this start to get to you and wind up as the thrill of the hunt for information. Then to actually start modeling is the grand culmination of information, historical accuracy, and skill of the artist.

 

[Darryl]

This is a new class room in the school and it deals with designing a project and the fabrication of the parts. Before you think no way this is not for me i don't have a laser cutter or any CAD skills.
the title of the forum
From starting out to expert
build logs, CAD, kit design, 3D printing and laser cutting

so, if we are going to advertise it, we are going to do it

the subject of this class will be a little lumber hooker built on the Great Lakes named the WHITE SWAN

View attachment 529267View attachment 529268View attachment 529269

Great pics, I grew up near a dry dock in NJ, works boats and barges were an everyday event on the Arthur Kill River, if your project boat is ever produced in kit form I will definitely purchase it, best of luck. Darryl

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

if your project boat is ever produced in kit form I will definitely purchase it, best of luck. Darryl


chances are it will never be a production kit BUT the drawings are available as well as the cutting files so if you want to build a model it can be done. That is the point of the school you do not have to depend on "what kits" are available make your own.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

seems like there are a number of these engines around one less than 2 hours from me. This could be 3D modeled and printed road trip is in order.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Designing a hull there are a few things to keep in mind, first is to have enough bulkheads close enough together to form the hull.
Taking the drawings of the bulkheads from CAD and into Sketch up i can created a 3D model to check everything making sure the hull looks good.



A view from the stern shows the stern piece before it is installed

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

The stern piece gives shape to the rounded stern, it sits on the profile piece



the tabs and slots in the last bulkhead will line up the stern piece and lock it in place

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

The next consideration in the design process is squaring up the bulkheads to the center profile piece. Most kits leave it up to the builder to figure out how the square up the bulkheads and keep them in place. The slots in the bulkheads and profile piece usually have a loose fit so the bulkhead will wiggle back and forth. As the designer of the model you can design into the structure tabs and notches to insure everything is square and lining up. Keep in mind as you draw your parts there is a kurf to the laser it can range from .006 to .015 thousandths. That may not sound very big but consider your taking material off each side of the notch on the bulkhead and profile piece, so it adds up. If your using a laser cutting service you need to know what they are doing, are they cutting on your lines and what is the beam width? if the beam is .012 and they are cutting on the line .006 of material on either side goes up in smoke. Or does the laser cutter offset the cut?

In the design process of the White Swan a false deck is being used so the simple solution is to add notches for the tops of the bulkheads to slip into. By adding notches the bulkhead will atomically fall in place square to the profile piece. You may notice there are tabs on the cabin sides, we will get to that later.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Notice the tabs on the end of the main deck where it rests against the bulkhead, those tabs fit into a notch in the bulkhead. The deck has an arc from side to side so slipping the tab into the bulkhead notch will bend the false deck and hold it in place.



Working with the laser cutter is a key factor in the overall designing process; by adjusting the notches and tabs you can get a tight fit which will hold the structure as a strong unit.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Next piece is a false upper deck with notches along the edges to fit into the bulkheads, as mentioned in post #38 the tabs on the cabin sides will fit into the slots in the deck.



When the bulkheads were drawn a tab the thickness of the false deck was added to the edges



The fit of the upper deck falls into place