Jump to content

NB BCN 1645


stagedamager

Featured Posts

So, here we go with part 2 of 3 of the rudder build, part 3 will be the cutting and chopping around when it doesn't fit fitting onto the boat, in a few weeks. This concentrates on finishing and pintles. Thanks to Carlt i have gained an original cast iron top rudder pintle, which is mentioned earlier on. A jolly up to Rugby to pick it up, with Lily-Mae in tow happened mid week, and then i set to work replacing the back end which had been cut off:

 

20121113_115736.jpg

 

The round bar added has been welded on with Nickel rods, and seems nice and strong. Just in case though, i have added a length of 10mm threaded rod through the middle. Now, this is too long, but i shall cut to length once fitted, rather than risk cutting too short, which is what i would probably do!!

 

The other big job is making sure it is watertight. I do this by using an air compressor, which shows a couple of gaps in the welding. A bit of grinding and re-welding, and all seems to be good. But, just in case i have missed a hairline gap, i give the seams a cover of Marineflex, before giving the bottom half a nice coat of Bitumen.

Whilst it is flat on the trestles, i also take the oppurtunity to highlight the lettering recessed into the rudder stock.

 

20121112_155249.jpg

20121112_155230.jpg

 

Once flipped, the same is done to the other side, grinding, marineflex-ing, and bitumen-ing. Whilst this is drying, i take the time to do some work on the tiller. This was one we gained from Nurser's 'Hazel' which we raised in the early 90's when she had a section 8 notice on her. The rudder had been taken off, so no tiller was needed!! It had been built with a bizarre kick in the end of it:

 

20121114_144841.jpg

 

So, a bit of time with me, the tiller and a trusty bandsaw reshaped the end. Also, i fabricated a socket to weld in the stock once the rudder is hung on the boat and the cabin is on, so as to ensure the end of the tiller sits just higher than the cabin.

 

20121114_164304.jpg

 

The final job is the lower pintle. Now, i have always said that i would leave the pintles until it is fitted to the boat, but, knowing the distance from the top of the lower pintle socket to the bottom of the hull meant that i could attach it, with a tolerance for movement. As the lower pintle is mainly a guide as the top one takes the load, i reckon, this will work, and also help guide the rudder when trying to work out the position of the top pintle, as the sideways motion will all but disappear, leaving just the up and down position to deal with. The pintle is made with a couple of 4mm steel plates, some 50mm 5mm flat bar, bent round the plates, and some 30mm round bar. This is welded to the top plate, and passes through the bottom plate:

 

20121114_143055.jpg

 

So there we have it, all the parts are made, the rudder itself is primed, and ready to go on the hull, all that's needed is one of those arty farty shots mocking up what it may look like, when all bits are on....

 

20121114_163357.jpg

 

(before anyone says, this was taken before the tiller had been painted!!)

Also, i think the top pintle may need a bit of heat to slightly alter the angle, but we'll know more once we try it on the hull!

 

One Rudder.....

Done!!

 

Regards

 

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good work, but a couple of points -

 

The top pintle will almost certainly be wrought iron, not cast, so no need for expensive nickel rods to weld it. It also means that it will be adjustable with a bit of heat, while 'adjusting' cast iron is rather tricky (can be done to a limited degree).

 

The bottom pintle is the one which takes the weight, in every case that I have seen.

 

Tim

Edited by Timleech
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers Tim,

i take your point about wrought vs cast, thank you for pointing it out, also regarding the pintles, have i just got this the wrong way round then? In which case

i think i need to invest in a couple of cutting discs to make it a bit more accurate!!!

 

Many thanks

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers Tim,

i take your point about wrought vs cast, thank you for pointing it out, also regarding the pintles, have i just got this the wrong way round then? In which case

i think i need to invest in a couple of cutting discs to make it a bit more accurate!!!

 

Many thanks

Dan

 

Yes, the bottom socket should take the form of a cup, to take the weight, while the top one is just a hole in the top of the stern post.

If the top pintle takes the weight, it'll be dragging across the top of the stern post which you don't want.

 

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Tim,

I think this is where my confusion has come from. On the back end, the lower pintle socket is just a hole, not a cup:

 

IMG_0519.jpg

 

So should there have been an insert in there or originally, would the lower pintle bracket on the rudder have rubbed on the casting?

 

Dan

 

ETA:

 

Ignore the BW push tug bashing!!!!

Edited by stagedamager
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Tim,

I think this is where my confusion has come from. On the back end, the lower pintle socket is just a hole, not a cup:

 

 

 

Maybe they did things differently on the BCN, though if so I wasn't aware of it. Most of my experience in these matters has been with long distance boats, though I have dealt with the odd BCN type rudder including making a new (wooden) one but that was a long time ago, I might have just been confusing you. The only different style that comes to mind is some GU boats had a big threaded stud in the top of the stern post, with a nut to hold the rudder down.

 

With the traditional style, with the weight on the bottom cup, it's important that the top pintle has significantly more engagement than the bottom one. This is so that if the rudder is dislodged - say by riding over a lump in the bottom of the canal - it comes out of the bottom but not the top, and hangs limply & hopefully suffers minimal damage. They would also often have a chain attaching them to the stern stud to stop the rudder being lost if both pins jumped out.

 

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i'm interested why you didn't make the rudder out of wood, wouldn't it have been a lot easier ?

 

Possibly, but it was cheaper to buy the steel than the wood. And I fancied the challenge!! That and if in the future I decide to fit a small hydraulic drive for lock flights etc....the work involved is significantly less.

 

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Possibly, but it was cheaper to buy the steel than the wood. And I fancied the challenge!! That and if in the future I decide to fit a small hydraulic drive for lock flights etc....the work involved is significantly less.

 

Dan

 

On reflection, whatever the pin arrangement, I'd expect the weight to be taken on the bottom - though in your case on the top of the bottom socket.

Also if you have a long bottom pin, you'll also want a long top pin, because the last thing you want is for the top to jump out and leave the rudder - its weight and any forces from movement through the water - to be twisting it around the bottom pintle.

 

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Tim, the pin was always to be chopped down once fitted, but it'll change it's position now anyway. I've got the jump chains, they just need to be cut to length. Regarding the weight, kilo for kilo there's only a few kilos in it compared to building out of wood!!

 

Regards

 

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Evening all, as its been a few weeks i thought i'd post an update.

So we're still waiting for a slot on Dock for a new bottom and footings. i'm not really in that much of a rush as we still have 'Judith Anne' to finish, and also my wife is due to give birth in 3 1/2 weeks..... everything comes at once doesn't it!!!!

Once the bottom and footings are done, i have a datum to work to. First job will be the gunnels. I have no option other than to use what is now there, as all original has gone. So this is my plan. I shall remove the spot welded angle, and run a catenary wire between the two sections of original gunnel that are left. By using thin steel wire rope (1mm) i can get more tension, the sag will be slight in the middle but by careful measuring i can work out the heights i need. The next job is to weld supports for the angle to sit on. I would like to think ultimately i shall have these in line with the knees, which have also, all but disappeared.... once the brackets are welded on i can reset the angle on top. Now there are two schools of thought for this. one is to have the inside edges flush, the other the outside. The hull is 1/4", the steel 10mm. i have opted to have the insides flush, and then bevel the bottom edge with a circ. saw and then blend in to replace the rubbing strake which is gone gone gone......... i can get 75x8 square edge convex bar but only in a 10 ton minimum order so this is the most feasable option.once this is done, i will get the trusty circ. saw, stick the fence on, and cut the hull 20mm below the bottom edge of the gunnel angle. This allows me to get rid of any gas axing residue, and i have a parallel strip to inset a piece of flat bar in. it's gonna be a bit of a bugger, but ho hum, such is life, i knew the work when i took it on..... once thats all done i can look at putting some bulkheads on, all before she is off dock. I'm also going to get them to pull her in a bit, as she is a bit wide.....!

Here's some pictures to show you what i'm up against!!!

 

Regards

Dan

 

DSCF1498_zps6da6c608.jpg

 

Where's my knees gone??

 

DSCF1503_zps7c9a639f.jpg

 

More knee problems!

 

DSCF1505_zps69ec7ceb.jpg

 

The gunnel debarcle!

 

DSCF1506_zpsaa7e4ef4.jpg

 

More gunnel debarcle..

 

DSCF1512_zps59ed86f3.jpg

 

Back to knees...

 

IMG_0625_zps32160096.jpg

 

TEMPORARY recycled side cloths!! ;)

 

Let the fun begin!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

So, i finally have a date for dry dock!!!

She will be going on after Whitsun bank holiday for bottom and footings, so i thought i would create a blog page to centralise all pages,

should anyone wish to follow, it can be found here:

 

http://nbbcn1645.wordpress.com/home/

 

Regards

Dan

Edited by stagedamager
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

So after several weeks, she is finally rebottomed! Great work by Pete and Derek at Langley Mill, no more concrete, gunnels back up and a slightly narrower base plate!!

Now the fun can really begin!!

 

w004_zpsf44a0160.jpg

 

g002_zpsa1a0c9ad.jpg

 

t001_zpsee13b669.jpg

 

 

w007_zps6b9603f5.jpg

 

All photos copyright H Cauldwell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Afternoon all, here's the latest from the blog!

 

So, as mentioned a few months ago, we sadly put 1645 on the market and get the word out that she was for sale. Since then, and after little interest, we have recommenced work on her, after finding a way of funding her (work promotion!). Having said that, if the right offer came along and all that................

 

So, in March she went on dock with the wooden tug ‘Judith Anne’ which was being re-caulked. This gave us a chance to give her a good blacking and reinstate the ends of the guard irons at the front end. These had been removed years ago, and replaced with some rather crude imitation guard sections, so i fabricated some ends. They are basically 8mm plate and some tapered tube. So many times the blunt ended guards caught on things, so i’ve given them a bit of shape, to ensure no catching activities follow!

20140320_132528-1.jpg?w=300&h=244

We also gave her a quick lick of Gloss around the front and back end as psychologically it makes a big difference:

20140418_1723121.jpg?w=225&h=300

Moving forward to a few weeks ago, and having re designed the layout, I decided to remodel the forecabin, as the girls will now be sleeping in the back cabin extension. We lost about 8″ off the height and 2′ off the length, so it follows the kick of the hull, no nice delicate sweep on this fore-end!

20140611_171902.jpg?w=225&h=30020140612_154320.jpg?w=225&h=30020140612_150430.jpg?w=225&h=300

Overall it is a better looking cabin than before, but slightly less practical for a fitout, nothing we can’t deal with though!

We’ve also started putting some floors in the hold. These are reclaimed plywood sheets as a temporary floor, but actually, we quite like them so are going to keep them!

20140518_1407321.jpg?w=225&h=300

The top planks have also been ordered from Hingley’s Timber Yard in Derbyshire, and i’m currently placing an order for a new set of cloths. The guys at Langley Mill boatyard are welding the rear cabin on for me, as, realistically, i haven’t enough time to do it myself.

So, hopefully, in a few weeks she is going to look like a boat again!

 

Regards for now,

 

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

As it's been a year, i thought i would post an update. Here's a link to the latest updates form the blog, feel free to visit and have a read!

https://nbbcn1645.wordpress.com/

She is coming along nicely, and is now beginning to look like a boat again, little by little we're getting there!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.