Tag Archives: lower band

Lower Band Closing Up

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I’m in the process of closing up the lower band.

I started with the 3 Lower Strakes which had no tapering.

Then the next 4 Strakes I tapered down to about 3mm, however, towards the end, I ended up taking 2.5mm off.

I still would up having a huge gap in the middle which I now have to close up using Filler Strakes.

Port side Filling up gap with Filler Strakes

To be honest, I like to try and avoid using these unsightly Fillers by calculating the exact amount of Planks to go to the Bow and Stern.

I ended up with the Long Fish Look again… So using Fillers was a foregone conclusion.

It looks like I’ll be Painting the bottom anyway so I’m not too worried about it.

Another thing to mention too…

The instructions on the Dap Weldwood Contact Cement says to attach the pieces between 15 minutes to 2 hours.

I find that leaving it for too long… Even an hour, makes the glue lose its bonding quality.

So now I’m using Titebond II to finish up the Planking

Port side almost closed
Closed up Port side

I’m pretty happy with the Port side. It closed up pretty good. I’m only going to need a few spots where I have to use Putty. Mainly along the Prow and there’s a couple of spots on the Fillers that need Putty.

It’s better than having Putty all over the place! LOLOLOL!!!… 🤣🤭😲

Lower Band 2nd Layer Planks

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Started gluing in the Lower band 2nd layer Planks with the Garboard Plank…

Starboard side Garboard Plank
First 3 Planks Starboard side

I was just thinking to myself that with the second layer planking that there is probably a lot of different methods of doing it. I’ve seen guys say that they start from the Keel and work their way up and other guys say they have started from the Sheer Strake and work their way down… but the way I do it is that I follow the same planking pattern as the first layer… Although it does necessitate making filler planks when I reach the middle.

Anyway on the box cover it does show that the bottom is painted white below the Waterline with black midsection and the woods showing along the gun ports. I’m going to definitely keep the Wales and the Gun Port deck unpainted that’s for sure. I haven’t decided on the rest of them yet though.

I’ve always figured for “painting” to be the last resort because the ultimate goal would be to show off the work that was put into the Plank work… If it turns out good enough that is

Here’s how I routed the 2nd layer Planks coming up. To my chagrin, I broke one, which I’ll attempt to sand out
Next Plank getting glued. Have to wait around 15 minutes

5th Strake up from Keel

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This one was a twisty one… Which is typical for this stage of the game.

Port side Bow portion
Port side Stern portion I left the Wedge for the next 2

I’m doing the entire lower band without pre-bending the Planks or using a Plank Bender.

I was just noticing something going on between Bulkheads numbers 13 – 15. They ended up narrowing this space up to where I’m trying to figure out what to do about it.

Here’s where it narrows

I’ll tell you what… This Plank, the 5th one up on the Starboard side was probably the hardest one yet… It when through some contortions because I refuse to break the wood with a Plank Bender. I’m thinking that I’m going to need it though on the next one..

Hmmm

#5 Starboard side