Best barrel back plans

[Donald Davis]

I’m sure this topic has been already discussed but I was unable to find them. I am getting ready to order plans for a barrel back. I have seen several comments that made it seem like plans from classic wood boat designs were less than ideal. What are the recommended source for plans?

 

[Kailani]

Clark Craft or Glen-L

 

[PAR]

Welcome to the forum.

Ken Hankinson's barrel backs are pretty close to the originals, though with some modern build methods. His plans are available through Glen-L.

You should note, it's important to know what you're getting into, both in terms of work and performance. The typical Chris Craft copies of the barrel back aren't the best mannered boats in the world, particularly compaired to a modern boat. Modern designs will turn, without "tripping", are faster, drier and tend to have much better rides and speed potential. The old school barrel backs have hollow entries, warped bottom hull forms and simply aren't the best approuch to powerboat design, as we now understand it. Lastly, an all varnished runabout is about the most difficult thing to do well. It's not just the varnish work, but the care in fitting and edge setting planks, with perfect seams and most importantly the maintenance of these puppies. They need to be stored inside, under roof and out of the sun. Nope, a boat cover while it lives on the trailer, will not cut it. In short, be careful what you wish for . . .

 

[CBRent524]

I am also interested in finding good plans. Some of the designs on the classic wooden boat plans are intriguing. What do people dislike about them?

My criteria:

• 1940's runabout
• mid-engine V8 (love the sound!)
• Foamcore/composite construction
• Plans should include DXF to cut frames on the laser cutter (save me from tracing PDFs)
• Roomy enough for four people.
• Under 20 feet

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Rurudyne]

A recent thread hereabouts recently extolled the virtues of a shoulder plane for strip building which may help with fitting said planks.

While that thread in particular, and the mini-shoulder plane adapter it discussed, was about the thin strips used for kayak or canoe building it should be serviceable even with larger shoulder planes if you were using thicker material. The advantage, if I understood it correctly, is that you don't have to worry about opening up a seem as you sand the hull down.

Also, somewhere hereabouts is a nifty technique someone came up with for getting a good finish with your glass covering with a lot less work. IIRC, it is Mylar sheeting does not really stick to curing epoxy. The trick then is to cover the boat with sheets of the squff and really squeegee it down to compress the fiberglass. Then once the epoxy has cured the plastic is pulled off. As a result of the squeegee effort the fiberglass already have a much smoother surface, and you'll not spend as much time sanding down and sanding away materials as a result.

These are (now) two techniques I'm personally keeping in mind. I know there are more, but my memory is only so good when it comes to less than silly things.

 

[CBRent524]

I have used a similar technique with carbon fiber. Instead of peel ply use polyethylene drop cloth material. The smooth surface of the poly transfers to epoxy. The poly does not stick to the epoxy. You can even reuse the poly. You can get a very nice surface this way.

Good luck!

 

[PAR]

Mylar is the best to use on developed surfaces, with polyethylene and polystyrene being good on compound surfaces, as it can be stretched. I use a big piece of acrylic for transoms with a bright finish. I do a seal coat first then followed by a bulking coat, which get covered with the sheet of 1/8" acrylic and weighted enough to insure continuous contact. Peel this puppy off when it's cured and a perfect, mirror like surface results. It takes some practice to avoid bubbles and wrinkles with the lighter materials, but mylar and acrylic sheets aren't prone to wrinkling like the light sheet stuff.

Most folks that do a fair bit of strip plank building, develop their own custom made plank edge tool. I use a laminate trimmer and a modified shoulder plane, but with some practice, a hand plane can yield nearly as good results.