Building And Assembly Of The Hull

After receiving the plans, I spent several days fully familiarising myself with the construction. The hull is an interlocking plywood structure, requiring 31 sheets if using patterns to manually cut out the component parts or 29 for CNC cutting. I contacted Alec Jordan of Jordan Boats, an approved agent of Francois Vivier, he has a computer controlled router that can handle the process and was able to submit a quotation for the supply of the plywood accurately cut to the architects design profiles. Following careful consideration, I decided that despite the fact that CNC cutting was the more expensive option, I would take this route. This avoids the necessity of purchasing the patterns from the architect, saves an enormous amount of potentially boring cutting time with a jig saw and provides a more accurate component profile. An order was placed.

Study of the plans revealed options in the planned order of construction. There are many parts of reasonable size that can easily be manufactured at any time in the workshop. Alec Jordan had quoted an estimated time of around a month to supply the router cut plywood sheets, I therefore decided that I could constructively use this period by starting the build process.

I began by building the jig on which the boat is supported and constructed. This I built from sterling board supplied by my local builder’s merchant. The standard size boards were not wide enough to span the base width, I therefore grooved the edges of the base boards then glued on tonged extension pieces cut from the waste of other sheets. This worked very well and produced a very strong flat base making good use of the available material by minimising waste. I used a total of seven sheets. I planned to use the base of the overturned jig as a large flat bed, to assemble the large boards and components prior to any assembly of the hull. I realised that the structure would be heavy and difficult to pick up from the floor, I therefore routed three pockets in the outer layer of the vertical sides to act as hand holds. This feature worked very well allowing two people to roll the structure over without too much difficulty. 

My priority for the current year was to assemble the hull over the course of the summer to allow satisfactory curing times of the epoxy. Smaller more manageable items could then be made up in the heated workshop over the winter period; however I was keen to make a start whilst waiting for the plywood to arrive so I decided construct the tiller from existing stock held in the rack.

The Jig

Hand holds cut into the outer layer of the jig sides

Prior to assembling the boat I levelled and made true the jig. Stretching a taught brick layers line along its length, I was able to raise the Jig where necessary with glued wedges to take account of any variations in the concrete floor. To achieve level in the transverse plane I used a spirit level. 

In the absence of detailed measurements to construct the elegant bow shape of the tiller, I transposed the profile by scaling off the drawing to produce a plywood template. Strictly adhering to the architects design and given dimensions, I strengthened the glued layers by cutting a groove into each half then inserted a Sapele tongue. I also spliced in a short length of Mahogany at the ball end of the tiller purely for aesthetics. I used seasoned Ash for the remainder from stock that I had felled in our woodland some years previously.

The tiller before gluing showing the component parts.

        Plywood template on the left.