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Hi I an Alan from the UK and last week received the plans for the Ski King. My plan is to stretch the boat to 16’ and fit a curved transom I had considered fitting a retroussé transom to give the boat more style, what do you think? . I am also only going to build in the forward cockpit which will give a long stern deck. I have a small but well equipped workshop with a decent Italian universal woodwork machine (saw, planer thicknesser – spindle moulder), bandsaw, radial arm cross cut saw and the usual routers, chisels, saws etc. I am lucky that near where I live is a superb wood yard, I am at the moment negotiating with them for the 20cu.ft of 1 1/8” Utile they have in stock – will this be enough to build the boat? I will be planking it in 6mm ply – 2 layers on the bottom – 1 layer on the sides plus 2mm mahogany planking. The decks will be 6mm ply plus 6mm mahogany.
Alan

Hi thekarter and welcome, I did a curved transom on my crackerbox using 6mm ply and 6mm mahogany you can see it in my link below but as for the rest I can't help.
Best of luck with it and I look forward to seeing your build

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Malahini, SEAN-NÓS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd6vkPjEy4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uDVzcVpdhc
crackerbox build http://s753.photobucket.com/albums/xx17 ... =slideshow

Hi Fergal
Many thanks for your reply, the photographs give me loads of information which I think will help 'speed up' the build. I am sure I will have more questions once I get underway.
Regards
Alan

I have bought the Utile (21 cu ft) and started to work. I have cut the pieces for the transom as shown on the drawing and they are ready to assemble - what is the best way to finish the underside of the deck beam? I cut it with the bandsaw which has left a rough edge.
When the transom is glued up I will plant formers on the back to form a curved transom.
I must say it's taken longer that I thought to get the curves right. Also buying the wood rough sawn has taken some time to put through the planer, as some one wrote on this forum there is as much wood (shavings) on the floor as will be in the finished boat!
Working in Feet and Inches is something I haven't done in years - the metric systen sure makes life easy.
Alan

I have made a start!!! The transom has been cut out and assembled and the next fram is well underway.
WOW the amount of wood used to make a frame is far more than I thought, also the frames look bigger than I had expected. Is the garage big enough?
Alan

I don't know how to put more than one photograph on a reply yet.

Same way you did that one....you can post up to three at a time I believe, then you do a new reply to post more

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Any questions about building a SKIIIIIII KIIIINNNGGG, give me a shout....I think it's one the easiest boats to build....Some of my pics will help....Also, there is another one in UK that was built, he might help, too, and he's a LITTLE closer to you ??????
BTW I stretched mine between frames #2 and #3 (3") and 3 and 4 (3"), but if I had it to do again, I would have done the first 2 frames also(transom and frame #1), my boat ended up 15'-9", probably because of my rendition of the stem(added 3", too)....Also add more bottom battens(2 more)the 3/8" bottom is plenty...Which by the way is VERY HARD to pull down at the bow, 2 layers of 1/4" would be better(is 1/4" 4mm???)Damn metric system, can't work with tiHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA..............Dwain, the SKIIIIIIIIIIIII KIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG....EM is rzrrider1@squarewavz.com

Hi Dwain
Many thanks for your offer I have a couple of questions and I am sure during the build there will be loads more.
I thought of stretching the boat - Transom + 3” Frame #1 / Frame #1 + 3” frame #2 / Frame 2 + 3” Frame #3. I will also put on a curved transom + 3” making the boat 16’.
I have read that there may be problem in scaling the drawings, when making the frames can I scale the position of the bottom battens and cut out for them or should I wait until the frames are in position then mark and cut out?
I was going to use 9mm (3/8”) for the bottom but after your comments I will use two layers of 6mm (1/4”).
I am butting and gluing together the side and bottom sections of the frames having cut slots and inserted a ‘biscuit’, I think this should be very strong. The frames are being made of Utile. The corner plates of the frames are of 12mm (1/2”) Utile.
Any comments on the above?
Regards
Alan

Stretching is good for engine placement...Also when you cut out for the battens, Only cut half the thickness of the batten into the frame...That eliminates having to cut limbers in the frames, since you have about 3/8" space between the bottom and the frames, so you will have to adjust the chine log to compensate, which would be no problem, just make the log about 3/8" wider,...You will have to make the keel a little thicker in the same way to compensate...SO, PLAN AHEAD...Be sure to plate the keel with 1/2" ply (on top) in order to resist splitting, same as the motor stringers, and I used 1-1/2" X 1-1/2"X 1/8" alum. angle for frame clips instead of wood I think they are much stronger...as my brain starts to function I'll think of more little things to do....Dwain, The SKIIII KIIIING.......

Hi Dwain
I have already cut the limber holes in frames 1 & 2 so I will have to continue with the rest of the frames in the same way.
I had thought of laminating the motor stringers with two thicknesses of Utile, do you think that would work or should I use a ply laminate as you suggest?
At the moment I am looking at a donor boat with a V6 Ford Essex engine but it doesn’t have a gearbox just a forward and natural, is that acceptable?
The planer on my universal woodwork machine packed up this week so some jobs had to be done by hand – I had forgotten what hard work that is. Fortunately the machine is now fixed – a new capacitor was required.

Neutral is good, but reverse is better...Most gearboxes aren't that long, especially if you use a V6(it's shorter)....You shouldn't cut the limbers till you have the battens on, remember I said use more battens on bottom for more strength....(at least one more each side)...Dwain.

Definitely laminate something to the motor stringers, I like 1/2" ply on 1 side...They should be 1-1/2" thick...Dwain, the Ski King.......

Not much progress to report at the moment as it's cold here, down to minus 9c which is not normal for this part of the UK. I heat the garage/workshop with a gas space heater which is not the cheapest thing in the world to use.
About 6 miles from where I live is English Wood Land Timber - a boat builders dream!!!

Nice choice of wood there and enough to build an ark we are lucky here in Ireland the cold front just missed us.

_________________
Malahini, SEAN-NÓS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd6vkPjEy4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uDVzcVpdhc
crackerbox build http://s753.photobucket.com/albums/xx17 ... =slideshow