Glen-L.com

OOOO! First post! and I have LOOOTS of questions.. #1.ummm.. oh wait.. I need a pic to go along with that.. ok... #2.. how about if... hmmm maybe should get answer to #1 first.

okok.. to start one off.. is there any difference in strength of one doesn't notch the frames for the battens vs simply attaching them to the frame surface. The ply sheets or strips aren't attched to the frames anyways and this would create "natural" limbers wouldn't it?

is this the kind of qustions you are looking for in tis section?

Greg

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I can't do everything, but I can do something.

Well, YES, it would eliminate the need for limbers.

I'm guessing here because I haven't actually done it. But, if you were to put the battens on without notching the frames, your dimensions are going to change in a way that would not necessarily be apparent at first. But down the road, later in the project, I'd be willing to bet that the small change at first will have a compound effect causing many headaches later.

Also, I do believe there would be a difference in strength. If you notch the frames, at each frame for each batten, you would have 2 glueing surfaces and the limber. If you don't notch, you only have one glueing surface for each batten at each frame.

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Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

In "Boat Building with Plywood" that very scenario is shown. It can be done, but I think that the designer took that into effect when he/she designed the boat.

Thinking it over, I'm not sure if it would decrease the structural strength of the craft, but as Dave pointed out: though you don't attach the ply to the frames, the frames DO form the contours of the boat. It may make for a strange looking or even strange handling craft.

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Some mornings it just doesn't seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps.

There are designs that do not have notches for the battens and the battens are mounted on the bottom of the frame member, but as Cec said, they were part of the design.
If you wished to do that on your boat, you would have to maintain the same width of the bottom member and the chine and keel positions would have to be maintained at the same position as they are on the patterns. The frame would be reduced the thickness of the battens on the bottom, this would be added to the inside edge of the frame.
This would mean that the frame would stick the added thickness of the batten into the interior of the boat.

...I hope that makes sense.

Thanks Barry, your answer did make sense. Basically if one was to mount the battens on top of the frames, then the overall dimensions must be kept and the frames et al. adjusted accordingly.

this was more of a theoretical question and not one I am planing on trying on my Cook.

cheers
Greg

ahhh it's good to be home!

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I can't do everything, but I can do something.