Page BottomI am so glad i built that overhead bridge crane before i started this hull! It's one heck of a time and labor saver. It's been confusing here this year. Being laid up a week, unable to move, then building the bridge crane to take a load off my back, then discovering my original hull plan would not fit under the bridge crane no matter how i built the crane, redesigning the hull to fit after the steel was cut for the original design (the steel yard was getting peeved), then making a few ribs and discovering they were fine as transportation but not as living quarters, i turned them 90 degrees and decided i can do with a foot less headroom and a foot wider interior space.
Jig to make stretched octagonal ribs.
Jig with verticals and horizontals in.
Both pics look overly red, i do not know why, i even edited the pic on the right.
This is how the 3 inch channel is aligned in the jig.
Same joint, with the 45° piece laid in place.
Again, awefully red, even with red-eye reduction flash engaged.
The back side of the first bulkhead. It's basicly an octagon, with doubled channel top and bottom, door cut in the 1/4 inch thick steel plate, and the door edged with more 3 inch channel.
Still swinging on the crane. These bulkheads will have the arms to the amas attached, and the topside deck house. In the event of a bow or stern collision and hull breach, closing the watertight door at that ends will stop the entire hull from filling with water.
The hull is going together on it's side. This is looking thru the bulkhead towards the stern. The bulkhead and 3 ribs are tacked to a section of side plating, and braced upright. I won't finish welding them until i get the 5ft wide top and bottom plating attached, and i'll square the ribs to them, since they are square.
I just welded the two 45° plates on. You can see how i lifted them with a bolt tackwelded center on the plate. Then it's just an issue of positioning the plate against the ribs and welding it to the other plate. Neither 45° plate is welded to the ribs at this point.
The stern outside...
The stern inside...
Accessory mounting tabs. Things like a rear deck at water level will mount on these. As you see, they are 5/8 steel, welded thru/to the plate and onto the ribs inside. Part of the reason for the tabs is adding length to the hull later. There's a highway limit of 40ft for trucking without special permits. Anything, like the small deck that raises/lowers, can be built later, and attached later.
I wanted a 45° chamfer to the transition from sides to rear. This is one of the jigged pieces of the plate to form that 45°. They are welded inside and out and gently rounded. There's a technical reason for the chamfer and rounding: paint tends to not cover sharp corners well, the thinnest paint is to be found on corners, no matter how much the painters add paint there.
Here's it attached to the hull. There will be another rib for those stern ribs to butt up against and be welded to, spreading the force to the side plates.
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