Acorn To Arabella Archive – Page 3

Arabella has 70 frames. That's a fair amount of steaming. So, we thought it would be interesting to show what a full day of steaming looks like. Not to mention, who can get tired of watching those timbers bend like that? -------------------------------...

As we steam in Arabella's frames we have now reached the aft section of the build and need to cut the rabbet up the sides of the stern posts to determine where our frame sockets should land. Once cut we spend a day steaming in frames with a couple snags a...

All the frames are steamed in! AND we got donated a TON of white cedar! We have been thinking about our planking material since we started and were wondering if it would be worth buying cedar or if we were better off planking in our beautiful white oak...

What is the soul of an old boat? We believe it has to do with all the people she has touched and the journeys they have experienced. All this shows in every detail and aspect of an old boat. It would be a great disservice to Victoria if she were simply ...

After having stripped Victoria of her interior, we now move on to disassembling her hull by removing her cockpit, aft deck and then her rudder. Almost all of the mahogany that is being stripped from her is being saved and we will reuse as much of it as w...

Milling our planking stock out of our donated cedar and working on figuring out our bronze floor timbers! Buckle up because there is a lot of information here. A lot goes into this project behind the scenes that we don't talk about. Most of that is the m...

We've been going for three years straight now. At first we were working full time jobs and building on nights and weekends to support ourselves and pay for the build. Recently the support has been strong enough for us to be able to work full time on the ...

Floor timbers are a critically important structural member in wooden boats. As we've been building Arabella, there have been many decisions so far in terms of following the original plans or making slight adjustments. Each decision has pros and cons. Whe...

Well, it's finally time to say goodbye to Victoria. We got her knowing she was going to be a parts boat but was still the first boat we ever owned. Feels a little bitter-sweet. On the other hand, she has given us so much! Not only her hardware but also...

Well, it's tax time again! Perfect timing for us to go over our finances for the project before we ramp up to a change to weekly videos. Just like last year, we go over what the project finances look like. We find it to be an important part of the projec...

We've all been looking forward to getting to work on the bronze floors but before we can do so, we had a bit more cleaning up to do in order to finish up with Victoria. As we're looking to save as much as possible, we had to strip all the planking of its f...

As we continue moving forward on the forward and midship bronze floor timbers, we are kindly interrupted by a friend of ours who plays us a cover of 'Boats to build' by Guy Clark. The bronze floors are a tedious amount of work. Bending the compound curve...

We're moving right along with our silicon bronze floor timbers. We tacked most of the floor pieces together in preparation for welding them in batches. Before we can finish making the rest of the floor timbers though, we need to replace the frames that w...

We pushed really hard to get the bronze floors finished up so they could be sitting in their places during the open house. In this episode we show how we got the floors ready to start fabricating the supports for the engine beds. Since everything fits in...

The end of the current metal work which comes with fabricating the bronze floors we are installing in Arabella is finally nearing its end. These structural members tie the frames to the centerline and whether they be wood or metal, are one of the most imp...

The bronze floor timbers have been a lot of work but it is all paying off. We spend some time prepping everything so that we can finally get to installing these beauties in their places for good! Each faying surface will need treatment before we can place...

The prep is over with and it is finally time to install the bronze floors! We have invested so much time, energy and money in these and it is such a gratifying feeling to finally see them put in place. In the end, the installation went very smoothly and ...

Now that we have all the floors fabricated and the majority installed, there are 4 more very important ones to focus on. The ones that tie the ballast keel to the keel timber. These four floors in the middle of the vessel will hold the bolts that capture...

We are launching into planking soon but before we get into all that, we really wanted to do a little house cleaning video. We get so many questions about the project and it's not always easy to address them all in the subsequent videos. So, right now see...

Launching into planking is going to be a big and satisfying part of the project. We have been working towards this moment for a very long time. In order to make sure everything goes smoothly and is enjoyable, we need to make sure that we set ourselves up...

The planking process can be something of a mystery. Unlike houses that are square and easily divided up to figure out siding, boats require a little bit more thought and layout for them to look right. In this video we go over a little bit of the lining of...

There are many steps in the boat building process that some people may not know of or think about when picturing the work being done. Most see the centerline timbers going up. Then the frames, the planks, deck, spars, etc. And Boom you have a boat! Ho...

Once she is sailing, we are planning on taking Arabella all around the world on adventures and in all kinds of conditions. A bluewater sailboat like her needs to be tough and be able to stand up to all kinds of conditions. Atkin designed her with these c...

It is time to start planking Arabella! This moment has been a long time coming and we are thrilled to be able to finally start this process. It does mean a bit of a learning curve though, so we had our friend Thad Danielson come back to the boat yard and...

There is a fine art to planking a boat and we certainly are learning that by putting on Arabella's Garboard. This is one of the hardest planks to fit, but that just means it is a perfect test for us to learn the intricacies of planking. Arabella is going ...

It's on to the port side Garboard! We wanted to show a little bit more detail on what goes into installing these big planks. It can be a little bit of a fight to get them to fit just right. This one also had a little imperfection that needed to be dealt...

We are learning so much from the planking process. After having cut and installed the garboard planks, we are now on to the first broadstrakes. These next couple of planks are going on right after the garboard and are also oak and need to be pretty sturd...

One of the great parts of boatbuilding (or maybe the hardest part about learning boatbuilding?!) is that there are many different ways to do things. And they are all correct! Steaming in Arabella's frames is a good example of this. All her framing so far...

With all the bent frames installed in Arabella and all the bronze floors in place, we can now work on installing the sole beams. The sole beams are the members that will span from frame to frame and support the cabin sole inside of Arabella. We are insta...

Planking has been a very fun challenge though a bit of a challenge it has been. Learning to fit the oak planks to each other has its intricacies. We need to make sure the plank fits well fore and aft but also that the bevels match so that we can put in a...

We've done steam bent frames for the majority of Arabella, now, in the stem and the stern, it's time to make some sawn frames. Where the bow and stern come in to the centerline timbers, the shape of the hull is fairly sharp. Steam bending frames in these ...

In last week's episode, we went into detail about how we are fabricating the forward sawn floors. From how we are taking measurements using tick sticks and a template to how we are cutting our rolling bevel down the frames without a ship's saw. In this ep...

Completing Arabella's hull is something we are eagerly striving for. With this installment we cross a milestone in that goal. All of Arabella's frames that can currently go in, are finally installed. Once we have completed the planking process, the last...

We are getting farther up the hull with the planking and as we do so, we are nearing the point at the stern where the propeller shaft will go through. We need to get this hole bored before we plank past it because we are going to need to be able to align ...

Sometimes, boatbuilding is all about big showy pieces coming together. But much of the time it is also working with small details. This week, we focus on some of these details that we are going to have to figure out before we move on from the prop shaft ...

While we take a break from the prop shaft assembly to let Joe finish milling the Delrin liner and the other components, we get back to some planking. As soon as the prop shaft assembly is installed in the stern post, we will be able to hopefully get moving...