Repairs to Merlin Rocket 3365

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Ed
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Re: Repairs to Merlin Rocket 3365

Post by Ed »

Presuming that you are removing all the gunwhales/rubbing strips, inwhales/inner rubbing strips, capping pieces etc etc, then you don't have to have an exactly shaped bit of ply.

You can fit it oversize and then cut it down to shape after fitting, gluing down and then replace all external strips etc.

That being the case there is no reason to try and retain the shape of the decking being removed. You can always use some card/paper/silicon greaseproof cooking paper, to make up a rough template from the boat anyway.

So, I would remove all the external strips, then first try and get a chisel under the edge of ply and pull it up/off.

Failing that, drill a hole big enough to take a jigsaw blade and just cut as much as possible off with jig-saw, then use chisel/dremel/anything to remove all the remaining wood. Just take care to not cut through any ribs/supports by mistake as this is easily done.

In other words, it doesn't really matter how you remove it.....just get it all off, and then think about how best to replace.

To be honest, the bigger challenge may well be removing the rubbing strips without breaking them....and then if you do replacing them. To replace with new wood is a real challenge as although they are only 2-3in wide, they turn in two dimensions and need to either be severely bent or cut out of a much MUCH wider bit of board. like 6in or so and this can be dead expensive.

cheers

eib
Ed Bremner
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podmeister
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Re: Repairs to Merlin Rocket 3365

Post by podmeister »

Stupid question alert... What are the rubbing strips? Are these just gunwales and inwhales? If so I do plan to replace them.

I've already got the inwhales off, outer to come off. Though I'm think I'm going to flip the boat and strip the outside before I proceed with any more internal stripping and removing of the decks.

So, sounds like I need to get some big sheets of card, and some greaseproof to make some templates, just so I can rough cut the ply to shape so it's a little more manageable.
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Ed
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Re: Repairs to Merlin Rocket 3365

Post by Ed »

I am sure it is not a silly question.....and more than likely I am using the wrong terms or in the wrong way...

but in my understanding, the gunwale is the supporting structure which holds the external edge of the boat together.

The rubbing strip is the bit of wood that lies outside gunwale and acts as a protection to stop damage to the hull/deck.

In some dinghies, there isn't really a gunwale at all, as the support is done by the inwale, but simply a rubbingstrip and they are really much the same thing and the term can be used interchangeably. Or to put it another way, the gunwale and the rubbing strip are one and the same thing.

In other boats there is a gunwale that goes onto the outside of hull.....and supports deck underneath and then the rubbing strip goes on the very edge of the ply deck and gunwale.

The inwale could either be inside the decking (if there is any) or inside the hull on an open boat.

But this is all off top of my head. I know people also talk of an 'outwale' so where that goes, I am not all together sure.

More research needed methinks.

eib
Ed Bremner
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Jollyboat J3
Firefly F2942
IC GBR314 ex S51 - 1970 Slurp
MR 638 - Please come and take it away
Phelps Scull
Bathurst Whiff - looking for someone to love it
podmeister
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon May 13, 2013 1:38 pm

Re: Repairs to Merlin Rocket 3365

Post by podmeister »

Ooooo... that makes things a little more interesting. I think I'm calling the rubbing strips the gunwales and inwhales...

I might take a pic tonight and try to annotate it up and look for some feedback...

These projects always seem a 'good' idea to begin with :D
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Ed
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Re: Repairs to Merlin Rocket 3365

Post by Ed »

There is often confusion on this.....and as I said, I am not at all sure that I am quite correct on this.

In most cases, rubbing strips and gunwales are pretty much the same thing and we can interchange the names without too much confusion.

cheers
eib
Ed Bremner
CVRDA


Jollyboat J3
Firefly F2942
IC GBR314 ex S51 - 1970 Slurp
MR 638 - Please come and take it away
Phelps Scull
Bathurst Whiff - looking for someone to love it
podmeister
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon May 13, 2013 1:38 pm

Re: Repairs to Merlin Rocket 3365

Post by podmeister »

Serious thread-o-mancy...

So after a huge hiatus due to moving house, finding way more jobs on the house than planned and a second child Del Boy went on long term shelved.

So after hitting the point the boss declared I had to ditch the boat due to project inactivity I decided it was time to try getthe old girl sorted.

So restarted my Facebook page to try and track progress to help keep me motivated: https://www.facebook.com/43038705373877 ... 55?sfns=mo

So my original plan was to remove the outer rubbing strip, and to replace them along with the inner strips with a lighter coloured wood like ash to make a contrast against some new stripey sapele. Though I may change plans based on it possibly causing a bigger task to rebuild the spinnaker chute if I did to match.

On that note, does any one now the main wood Roswell used to build their boats? I’m guessing mahogany by the colour, but any specific type?

Fingers crossed I keep going this time!
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