Has anyone ever been brave (or foolish!) enough to cut bulkheads in half and plank each half seperately?
The sort of thing I had in mind is shown in the following sketch.
The spacer blocks between the bulkheads would be glued to the bulheads but not to the keel.
Thekeel could be attached by screws to the first half hull for later removal and transfer to the second.
Alternatively, or additionally, the bulkheads could be spaced and positioned using slices of plywood in the form of extra decks.
The advantage would be that the half hulls could be planked with the centre keel lying flat on the work bench:
no need for keel clamps, foam pads, old cushions etc. A solid base for any pin pushing/hammering that needs doing.
As a refinement a (temporary) substitute keel could be cut that has its boundaries reduced slightly allowing planks to overhang at bow and stern.
The extensions could be trimmed and sanded so that they meet the real keel neatly with plank ends cut at exactly the right angles.
How far could one go with this? First layer planks? Both layers?, chain plates and strakes?
Fixing items that span both halves (deck beams, decks, transoms etc.) would need to be deferred until the half hulls are reunited on the real keel.
(in some kits the main deck is in two parts anyway to manouuvre into the tumble home)
Clearly one would need to ensure that the half bulkheads are well restrained to resist the stresses imposed by curved planks wanting to straighten.
Any thoughts?
The sort of thing I had in mind is shown in the following sketch.
The spacer blocks between the bulkheads would be glued to the bulheads but not to the keel.
Thekeel could be attached by screws to the first half hull for later removal and transfer to the second.
Alternatively, or additionally, the bulkheads could be spaced and positioned using slices of plywood in the form of extra decks.
The advantage would be that the half hulls could be planked with the centre keel lying flat on the work bench:
no need for keel clamps, foam pads, old cushions etc. A solid base for any pin pushing/hammering that needs doing.
As a refinement a (temporary) substitute keel could be cut that has its boundaries reduced slightly allowing planks to overhang at bow and stern.
The extensions could be trimmed and sanded so that they meet the real keel neatly with plank ends cut at exactly the right angles.
How far could one go with this? First layer planks? Both layers?, chain plates and strakes?
Fixing items that span both halves (deck beams, decks, transoms etc.) would need to be deferred until the half hulls are reunited on the real keel.
(in some kits the main deck is in two parts anyway to manouuvre into the tumble home)
Clearly one would need to ensure that the half bulkheads are well restrained to resist the stresses imposed by curved planks wanting to straighten.
Any thoughts?