An eighth I know: which all can sing
for their weal if they learn it well;
where hate shall wax 'mid the warrior sons,
I can calm it soon with that song.

Håvamål 152
The Song of Spells

"There is mingling in friendship when man can utter
all his whole mind to another;
there is nought so vile as a fickle tongue;
no friend is he who but flatters."

Håvamål   123
The Counseling of the Stray-Singer

The Hull Building Picture Gallery

This was our starting point. All the battens are in place marking off where each plank will go.

Each batten is used as a guide to make the templates for the individual planks.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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Laying up a plank starts with tarring the joints and putting down strips of cotton caulking.

As you can see, we put down a double strip of cotton in the scarfs where the rivets will go in between.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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Properly tarred and fitted with caulking, the plank is moved into place. It helps if there are several people to assist, especially if you are working with a long plank.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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Here you can see how a plank is clamped in place.

You don't need a lot of pressure, the idea is to keep the planks together while you fuss about aligning it properly.

Then you tighten the clamps so everything is snug. Then you double check that nothing moved. Then you triple check... Well, you get the idea.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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The clamps we use are home made. You can easily make these yourself. The pattern is very simple. The most critical measurements are: The distance from the bolt to the tip of the clamp (determines the plank width you can work with), the length of the overlap at the tip (you must have enough to support the joint) and the thickness of the clamp stock itself to give you sufficient strength (watch which way the grain runs when you cut out your blanks)

The bolt is just a standard galvanized carriage bolt. The wing nut is made by welding on two pieces of round stock to a nut. The hinge is made from leather. The same leather is also used for padding to protect the planks.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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This gives you somewhat of an idea about the size of a rivet and rove compared to a hull plank.

The tool on the left is a rove setting tool. It has a hollow centre to slip over the rivet shank as the rove is being driven flush against a plank.

The claw hammer shown here is actually too light for peening the rivets we use. (Truth be known, I realized too late that I grabbed the wrong hammer for my picture.) Use a true ball peen hammer with a weight matched to the size of rivet you use.

Remember, let the hammer do most of the work, not your muscles. That's why the weight is so important.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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Here's a rat's eye view of a rivet being driven into a plank in the third strake. Notice the thin, routered rivet line in the plank being riveted.

You also have a good view of a clamp in place.

The white fluffy stuff just to the right of the hammer is some caulking cotton protruding from the garboard seem at the keel.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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Another rivet being driven home. Notice the use of an axe head as a counter weight for the rivet going in.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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All the rivets are in. Now the roves are being seated with the special tool.

Here you also get an idea of the size of ball peen hammer we use.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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That axe head is just the ticket, isn't it? Here it is in action seating roves.

Looking at this, my guess is that you'd need a counter weight at least 3-4 times the weight of your hammer.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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With rivets and roves in place, the rivet shanks can be trimmed down.

An ordinary little bolt cutter is perfect for the job.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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Now the real action begins: the peening of the rivet shank.

It is easier with two people, but I have been told that the real pro's can handle both hammer and counter weight by themselves.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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Here you can see a scarfed joint. The plank has been riveted along the seam. Now it's time to check out this joint.

Perhaps the plank moved a little as the rivets were going in or maybe the miter was a little off to begin with.

This joint isn't closing up properly, it's gaping just a tad. A fix is needed.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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So fixed it was. Here's how that was done.

A wedge was fitted, tarred and driven into the joint. A cut line was scribed and no-one will be the wiser. With the rivets in, the joint will be closed up just fine.

Arne smiled when I took the picture and said: "These are the little details you don't like to talk about too much."

I took the picture anyway, because I learnt something watching him fix it. He didn't seem too worried.

The point is, no need to panic just because of a little glitch. Fix it and move on. Can you imagine the amount of extra work involved to grind off the rivets and fit another plank? I can. I like Arne's way better.

It takes experience, though, to make that judgment call on what is fixable and what should be redone completely. Oops. Not so simple after all, then.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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This picture attempts to show rivets and scarfed joints. There are three scarfs in this picture.

In the bottom right corner, you can see how the two rivets have been run in between the two cotton caulking strips in the joint.

All told, that joint will be supported by four rivets: one in the lower seam (in place already), the two in the scarf itself and one in the upper seam when the fourth strake is laid up.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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In this picture you can see how the planks have been fitted into a rabbet in the stem. The forward (right) edge of the planking is flush with the stem.

If you look at the top edge of the top strake, you can see a tapered rabbet running towards the stem.

This rabbet is there to allow the next strake to taper from an overlapped to a flush seam. Look at the strakes below and you notice that where the seams join the stem, the seams are flush.

The fitting of the planks in this area is a little bit tricky and requires experience to get it right. Besides fitting the garboard strake, this area is probably the most difficult of the whole planking job.

© Copyright 2001 Preben Ormen

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