Casting a Bronze Nameplate

Here's a few shots of casting a custom builder's plate for a new boat. It's fun and easy!

First, carve yourself a pattern and make a petrobond/olivine sand mold inside your casting flask:



Next you melt some silicon bronze alloy in a crucible, and then pour it into your prepared sand-mold:


When you break open the mold and pull out the part with tongs. . .



. . .don't be surprised if it catches fire again once exposed to a fresh source of oxygen. This is perfectly normal.



Now you just have to cut off all the sprues and risers, clean off the carbonized residue and give it a good polishing.



Next you'll need something to mount your builder's plate on, so gather up some cedar and oak and whatnot, and make one of these.



The final step is to screw that plate on with matching bronze screws. There, now that wasn't so hard, was it?

Gangplank

In progress right now is this project: a stern gangplank for a boat that will be moored stern-to, Mediterranean style. The walking surface is made from 12mm marine ply, sheathed on both sides with 6oz FG cloth and epoxy for a durable, low maintenance surface. The side beams and framing are made from sapele lumber.

Here a couple of shots showing the pieces and how they fit together. The cross-frames are mortised into the beams which have been dadoed to accept the plank:





And here are a couple more after the first coat of sealer has been put on so that you can start to see the lovely grain of the wood. You're looking at the underside here where the frames come across to stiffen and support the walking surface. Because this side will be very visible when the gangplank is hoisted up vertically, we need to be sure that the underside is pretty too.





Next step to come: The walking surface will be coated with KiwiGrip non-skid once all the varnishing has been completed.

adze work

Making parts for a really big boat is like making a great big three-dimensional sculpture. This is a replacement part for the bow of an enormous wooden fish scow.

Start by chopping the chunk of wood roughly to length with the good ol' indoor electric chainsaw:


Next is a two-man job, using the shipsaw bandsaw to cut the rolling bevels. One guy steers the wood through the cut while the other mans the handwheel to crank in the changes of angle along the way.



After using the chainsaw again to cut kerfs down through the waste to make it easier to see where we're headed, it's time to break out the adze and get to workin' old-school, yo!



We return to the 21st century now as the power plane comes out for the last few licks down to size.



And here it is, a complex yet graceful shape, ready to take to the shipyard for the final fitting in place.