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Josephine- DIY replating and full fitout of a 70s Hancock and Lane narrowboat


harrybsmith

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4 hours ago, harrybsmith said:

Repeat for all remaining windows, and you end up with a very secure boat. You also end up with a very dark boat and Vitamin D deficiency, which is a minor inconvenience. 

 

Roof lights work surprisingly well.

 

One of the prettiest boats on the whole of the cut has no windows or portholes...

 

Gazelle:

 

Gazelle_on_the_river_-_geograph.org.uk_-

 

 

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12 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Roof lights work surprisingly well.

 

One of the prettiest boats on the whole of the cut has no windows or portholes...

 

Gazelle:

 

Gazelle_on_the_river_-_geograph.org.uk_-

 

 

 

Beauty! Lovely looking thing. Those ropes from the cabin top to the tug deck look vaguely like my proposed guard irons, no ; ) ? 

 

I imagine the condensation (from cooking etc) requires some management if there is significant roof light area, otherwise you could boil your spuds and shower at the same time. Although I suppose this may be a moot point if they're double glazed or something. 

 

 

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13 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Roof lights work surprisingly well.

 

One of the prettiest boats on the whole of the cut has no windows or portholes...

 

Gazelle:

 

Gazelle_on_the_river_-_geograph.org.uk_-

 

 

Agreed, my last but one boat had smallish portholes, but had two good sized pigeon boxes, onto which I inserted some lovely small brass port holes I acquired. Added to the side doors  there was no shortage of light. I also fashioned two pieces of fairly decorative ply that could be fitted at ceiling height into the pigeon boxes in the winter, to keep the heat from escaping, though tbh they weren’t needed that often.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gorgeous weather over the weekend, so time for more progress. 

 

The front cabin top section was only tacked in place, so that needed to get fully welded in. This meant working up on the roof, welding and grinding. Not something that bothers me at all, but I did wonder about how many permits I'd need to do this on an industrial site (5, if you're wondering...) 

 

20221113_131136-min.jpg.add69c99e48fadb4cc6e86a6280f80bd.jpg

 

Flux core MIG (gasless) is the chosen weapon as wind would pose a problem for standard MIG and gas bottles are a right pain to lug around. To minimise distortion the weld bead needs to be made of 1-2" long runs, then you do another bit somewhere else, then come back, hopefully distributing the heat relatively evenly across the panel. 

 

Same drill to weld the sides of the front bit of cabin to the rest of it. Gasless MIG gets a bad reputation, but it can turn out reasonable ish results with minimal faff. This is without cleaning off the flux coating or dressing the weld, and i'm by no means a pro. 

 

20221113_133111-min.jpg.9bf4d8326bee3665d8a5198ca7611c5a.jpg

 

Next it was time for Windows update. The blanks that were fitted needed seaming in, yet again more gasless MIG action made of 1-2" runs. I've also got the settings slightly lower than you'd want for structural work (like on the hull) as this helps to minimise distortion too. 

 

20221113_141813-min.jpg.f30c41db53c023809e4915389f36c90f.jpg

 

And there it is. 3 windows nearly fully welded up (a couple of bits need a backing plate to help to fill the gap), with pretty minimal distortion if any. Not at all difficult, just quite time consuming!

 

g! 20221113_152049-min.jpg.e482dc89fc5ce686fae4bbd3c0992bce.jpg

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Just now, BEngo said:

Making good progress.  Looking well.

 

Note to self:   Buy stock of grinding discs before there is a run on the market.

 

 

.

 

 

 

Thanks! 

 

I stocked up a while ago... A company had various special offers on, so I bought 125 4.5" cutting discs and 25 off 9" cutting discs, 9" grinding discs and 4.5" grinding discs. Came to about £100, I reckon i'll use pretty much all of them. 

 

Gloves and trousers however seem to be being consumed at a surprising rate though, so there's your insider trading tip 

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1 hour ago, MtB said:

Your welding looks good to me because of given the lack of distortion. 

 

But having welded up the windows, how will you see out? Are you inspired by the "Gazelle" look?!! 

 

 

Thanks! 

 

Ah this is what I was saying last time, do pay attention at the back...

 

The shell had massive window holes in entirely the wrong place and the wrong size for my new ones, so the easiest thing to do was to plate it all up and start afresh. Slightly annoying that I will be cutting out some/a fair bit of the new steel, but with windows of a totally different shape, size and position then it would have been quite fiddly to do it any other way.

 

That, and by plating it all up it gives me a dry shell inside over winter so I can start putting crossmembers (joists?) and bulkheads in even if it's tipping it down with no risk of embedding grinder dust in my shiny windows

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4 minutes ago, harrybsmith said:

Thanks! 

 

Ah this is what I was saying last time, do pay attention at the back...

 

The shell had massive window holes in entirely the wrong place and the wrong size for my new ones, so the easiest thing to do was to plate it all up and start afresh. Slightly annoying that I will be cutting out some/a fair bit of the new steel, but with windows of a totally different shape, size and position then it would have been quite fiddly to do it any other way.

 

That, and by plating it all up it gives me a dry shell inside over winter so I can start putting crossmembers (joists?) and bulkheads in even if it's tipping it down with no risk of embedding grinder dust in my shiny windows

 

I knew that....

:giggles:

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If you have distortions, make a feature of them rather than trying to lose them.

Weld on external details or make paint patterns and sign writing hide them. Roses around the castles?  Or murals?  A checker or hound's-tooth pattern in paint?

A matt paint would be a good idea.

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Oh don't get me wrong, it's a 50 year old ex-hire, ex-liveaboard ex-abandoned boat, 3 things that don't bode well for a boat not being utterly battered. 

 

The cabin top sides won't be dead pan flat, but i'm not actually sure they ever were. Certainly planning a light colour for many reasons, including "hiding the evidence". 

 

All for making a feature of bits too, we shall see

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I dislike gloss paint on NBs, and go out of my way to try to make any paint I apply look 20 years old right from the get-go. 

 

International do a "matting agent" for adding to gloss paint to get rid of the shine. You need lots of it though...

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had a few days holiday from work that would otherwise go in the bin, so did a fair bit more boatbuilding last week, and fortunately the weather wasn't terrible

 

Step 1 was to finish off the windows on the other side. Standard rigmarole, pull, tack, weld.

 

20221126_104326-min.jpg.14f3a91189ebb12bcc9115b38e606561.jpg

 

20221126_105428-min.jpg.839025e2d1db15e82653531b10d172a7.jpg

 

And then the gaps on all 6 windows were "strongbacked" and the gap filled in with weld. Really all just point and squirt action with the MIG, it's "colder" (lower voltage) than optimal but that helps to minimise distortion and obviously unlike the hull maximum strength isn't needed here. 

 

Ran out of upload room for photos so hold tight for part 2...

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Part 2

 

The roof section that was cut out of the front had previously just been plonked into place and didn't really fit, in fact it seemed a totally different size, despite definitely not being 

 

Step 1 was to get it aligned on the corners of the cabin top as well as possible, to heck with the middle at this stage. Once they were tacked in place a grinder could be run along the length of the join to remove the bits that overlapped and make a reasonable joint. The front edge was ready to weld at this stage, so I hopped up on the roof and got it attached. The port side fitted well and was super simple, the starboard side just seemed to be too wide. I resolved this by taking kerfs/pleats/slits out of the bit of roof, pulling the roof together with a ratchet strap and welding them back up. 

 

20221127_113817-min.jpg.cad3627754561439f7ab88391ab48518.jpg

 

Naughty of me to use 240v tools, I know, but I couldn't make the 110v convertor reach up on the roof 

 

As can be seen here, the rearmost edge was kicked up. I wasn't too concerned about this as it's only metal and will soon bend back into shape... 

 

 

20221127_130933-min.jpg.ff8c0ba748d8579d52ea1b934a72e721.jpg

 

Acrow underneath, ratchet strap around it, and sure enough it ended up lined up and in

 

20221127_132412-min.jpg.745130771bbb1d46aab9bc510118a0f2.jpg

 

Which very nicely paved the way for part 3. See those window holes that haven't been filled in? What's going on there? 

 

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Part 3- Making the boat posh (and probably divisive) 

 

Love em or loathe em, recessed panels for that "wooden back cabin" effect are a thing a fair few boatbuilders do.  I'm doing them here because;

 

a) They help disguise the roof and cabin joins which are a tad all over the place 

b) They fit with the tug style bow, engine room and trad (ish) stern look

c) I like them and it's my boat

 

Step 1 was to calculate the angles. 45 degree corner with 45 degree layback gives an angle of cut required of.... 36 degrees. I did some trig and knocked up a quick triangular template, then cut a load of steel into strips of my chosen width (63mm, otherwise known as trace around a bit of 4x2) 

 

20221130_145705-min.jpg.4781b07604933f6aa95f6fb821695db5.jpg

 

Step 2 was to cut these to length, then using the template cut the ends to size 

 

Step 3, tack em in place and wrangle the edges about with an adjustable spanner to make everything line up-ish 

 

Step 4 Add some "feet", hop inside the boat and tack up the panel from the inside 

 

20221202_144241-min.jpg.897306ea001f927584fdfa49a96f7aa0.jpg

 

 

I was working alone for most of it so it's all tacked in place roughly so far, rather than that being the final fit up of things! To be perfectly honest this is the first bit i've done that's not turned out 100% as I wanted so far, a combination of rushing and going it alone where a second pair of hands would have been great have compounded the problem. I think i'll be able to get it neat enough, and I was planning to scumble (Whatever next, fake rivets?) the area around it which will hopefully hide the wavy edge. 

 

Oh, and I did the other side too, but it was dark by then 

 

 

 

 

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23 minutes ago, harrybsmith said:

Part 3- Making the boat posh (and probably divisive) 

 

Love em or loathe em, recessed panels for that "wooden back cabin" effect are a thing a fair few boatbuilders do.  I'm doing them here because;

 

a) They help disguise the roof and cabin joins which are a tad all over the place 

b) They fit with the tug style bow, engine room and trad (ish) stern look

c) I like them and it's my boat

 

Step 1 was to calculate the angles. 45 degree corner with 45 degree layback gives an angle of cut required of.... 36 degrees. I did some trig and knocked up a quick triangular template, then cut a load of steel into strips of my chosen width (63mm, otherwise known as trace around a bit of 4x2) 

 

20221130_145705-min.jpg.4781b07604933f6aa95f6fb821695db5.jpg

 

Step 2 was to cut these to length, then using the template cut the ends to size 

 

Step 3, tack em in place and wrangle the edges about with an adjustable spanner to make everything line up-ish 

 

Step 4 Add some "feet", hop inside the boat and tack up the panel from the inside 

 

20221202_144241-min.jpg.897306ea001f927584fdfa49a96f7aa0.jpg

 

 

I was working alone for most of it so it's all tacked in place roughly so far, rather than that being the final fit up of things! To be perfectly honest this is the first bit i've done that's not turned out 100% as I wanted so far, a combination of rushing and going it alone where a second pair of hands would have been great have compounded the problem. I think i'll be able to get it neat enough, and I was planning to scumble (Whatever next, fake rivets?) the area around it which will hopefully hide the wavy edge. 

 

Oh, and I did the other side too, but it was dark by then 

 

 

 

 

A great way of avoiding welding distortions on a flat panel too. The wavy edge will make it look even more like timber framing which is what the recessed panels was all about of course.

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11 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

The way the hulls were put together the roof shapes could be miles out.  The plates were dropped onto shaped former rails and pulled down to fit to the sides, very hit and miss.

You have done well to get it to fit so snugly.

 

I measured it all before doing the original chop and it was within 5mm, which I felt was good enough to proceed. What must've happened though is as it was cut the residual tension in the steel caused it to go "twang" and the roof opened up by about 3"

 

As was said before, it's only metal, with enough persuasion it'll go where you want it to 

 

 

1 minute ago, Tracy D'arth said:

A great way of avoiding welding distortions on a flat panel too. The wavy edge will make it look even more like timber framing which is what the recessed panels was all about of course.

 

Exactly. Always look on the bright side etc...

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1 hour ago, harrybsmith said:

Part 3- Making the boat posh (and probably divisive) 

 

Love em or loathe em, recessed panels for that "wooden back cabin" effect are a thing a fair few boatbuilders do.  I'm doing them here because;

 

a) They help disguise the roof and cabin joins which are a tad all over the place 

b) They fit with the tug style bow, engine room and trad (ish) stern look

c) I like them and it's my boat

 

Step 1 was to calculate the angles. 45 degree corner with 45 degree layback gives an angle of cut required of.... 36 degrees. I did some trig and knocked up a quick triangular template, then cut a load of steel into strips of my chosen width (63mm, otherwise known as trace around a bit of 4x2) 

 

20221130_145705-min.jpg.4781b07604933f6aa95f6fb821695db5.jpg

 

Step 2 was to cut these to length, then using the template cut the ends to size 

 

Step 3, tack em in place and wrangle the edges about with an adjustable spanner to make everything line up-ish 

 

Step 4 Add some "feet", hop inside the boat and tack up the panel from the inside 

 

20221202_144241-min.jpg.897306ea001f927584fdfa49a96f7aa0.jpg

 

 

I was working alone for most of it so it's all tacked in place roughly so far, rather than that being the final fit up of things! To be perfectly honest this is the first bit i've done that's not turned out 100% as I wanted so far, a combination of rushing and going it alone where a second pair of hands would have been great have compounded the problem. I think i'll be able to get it neat enough, and I was planning to scumble (Whatever next, fake rivets?) the area around it which will hopefully hide the wavy edge. 

 

Oh, and I did the other side too, but it was dark by then 

 

 

 

 

How are you going to grind the welds flat at the bottom of the recesses and in the corners?

One boatbuilder I spoke to some years ago said he ground a 45° edge along the angled pieces so he could fit the panel flat against the angled face and weld it only from inside the cabin, so there would be no concave welds to tidy up.

Incidentally most wooden panelling on working boats was about 1" thick, so the angled face would measure more like 35mm.

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We have recessed panels on our boat which is a Colecraft shell and it very much looks like they were welded from the inside. The only drawback here is that it leaves a tiny potential crack which is a source of rust along the bottom edge and so needs a bit of attention every few years.

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