Narrowboat restoration project

[J.B. Welding]

Takes me back does this, I spent some time in the early 80s building these things, all stick welded in those days mostly using iron powder electrodes, horrible noisy dirty job in the shop we worked in and was glad to be moved off it,
On the roof sections, we used to roll a 3mm sheet to match the curve in the roof ribs then turn the edges down by a couple of inches, it gives a nice clean corner to the side of the cabin, then tuck the side sheets up the inside.
Nice job JB, good to see it being restored rather than cut up.

Cheers Paul,
I must have thought of a hundred ways of getting this thing all together. No big press brake unfortunately, (yet?) so a welded corner it was. After looking at a few it seemed they were done in many different ways so I used what I had and did it off the boat hoping the straight superstructure would iron out the waves in the hull, rather than excentuating them.

 

[brightspark]

nice job. don't use jb weld on the holes do u one of my mates had a new narrow boat hull built and borrowed my shotblasting gear to clean the mill scale of it before painting

 

[J.B. Welding]

Right Batman tea breaks over lets get these 3 x 600kg sections up to the polytunnel and no dragging the corners. Better watch that plastic sheet too!

Now to pull 'em up tight together.

Glad I spent a few minutes getting the gunwhale straightened out, this was the payoff, it actually fits!!

 

[J.B. Welding]

No point resting on ones half achievements...still need a weed hatch and lid for the gas locker.

 

[J.B. Welding]

So far so good, but its all like a big jelly at this stage.

Some bulkheads required!

 

[J.B. Welding]

A good fit saves welding up gaps for days and twisting the boat all ways.

 

[evobilly666]

Incredible work. Really interesting and nice to see it rise from the ashes

 

[J.B. Welding]

Boy this day's dragging on, but make hay whilst the sun shines.
Some doors required for the stern, the owner is pretty good with timber and the bow doors are to be Oak, so that's one less thing to do today.

Slidy hatch thing is on bearings. I'd considered PTFE strips and greased brass but 8 wee bearings was the most economical solution in the end. Rolls a little too smoothly but I guess there's no up and down hill sections on canals

 

[J.B. Welding]

Nice work, all bost surfaces should curve, or camber the correct term for decks. Lets the water run off rapidly, minimising freesurface effect, in a sea way.

Cant see it been an issue parked next to the kelpies though.

How do you propose to insulate to prevent condensation, a huge problem with steel boats

These boats always seem to have a bit of curve to their roof, they bob about a bit to shed the water off but a frozen puddle or dent would be a bit of a menace up there. I'm sure it helps with the stiffness too?

 

[the snooper]

progressing nicely, has the owner had a survey done on the hull especially the bottom to determine its thickness, it would be a shame to refit it all then a couple of years later it sinks

 

[colnerov]

progressing nicely, has the owner had a survey done on the hull especially the bottom to determine its thickness, it would be a shame to refit it all then a couple of years later it sinks

Oh, I don't know, there's a history on ebay of sunken boats for sale.

 

[mylesdw]

Slidy hatch thing is on bearings. I'd considered PTFE strips and greased brass but 8 wee bearings was the most economical solution in the end. Rolls a little too smoothly but I guess there's no up and down hill sections on canals

The hatch on my brother-in-law's narrow-boat was just steel on steel sliding rails without any bearing. One of the boatyards in the midlands installed it like that and it worked fine.

 

[J.B. Welding]

progressing nicely, has the owner had a survey done on the hull especially the bottom to determine its thickness, it would be a shame to refit it all then a couple of years later it sinks

Weird you asked that at this stage Snoop, because it was exactly at this stage that a survey was carried out! It was given a good pass and considered insurable.

The hatch on my brother-in-law's narrow-boat was just steel on steel sliding rails without any bearing. One of the boatyards in the midlands installed it like that and it worked fine.

I'm sure it would mate I've seen the ones that are all timber and not greased, they just slide along. A few ss skateboard bearings, at a cost of about a fiver, do make it run smooth and as the boat may be hired out it's easy for elderly people to operate without tearing their stomach muscles apart/too much strain.

Bit more progress this morning, blasting the scale off the new top and the rust and old paint from the old hull.

Blasting off a layer of bitumen revealed the old name. I did suggest leaving it on but no was the answer-so off it had to go.

 

[J.B. Welding]

Primed up, time for a well earned breakfast!

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Considered bad luck to change a boats name.
Did you say the fire started, after the hull inspection?
Oh, were have I seen that before?

You may still have to have a US survey carried out before she enters the water, best to double check.

 

[brightspark]

I like the 47kg home made pot. I made one and flogged it have a half size one now

 

[sardine]

Some info .

If you want fully comp insurance the survey must be 4 mm or above hull thickness.
Make sure you comply with the boat saftey scheme for fuel tanks, gas lockers ect.
There are no standards to comply with for the hull or superstructure in the boat safety scheme, prior to licencing.

 

[J.B. Welding]

Some info .

If you want fully comp insurance the survey must be 4 mm or above hull thickness.
Make sure you comply with the boat saftey scheme for fuel tanks, gas lockers ect.
There are no standards to comply with for the hull or superstructure in the boat safety scheme, prior to licencing.

4.7mm as a mean 'thinnest bit' measurment so it's close but ok. Apparently you are allowed a % of the hull to be less than 4mm, as low as 2mm, but it is a percentage thing based on the whole surface area of the hull. When it arrived one of the first things I invested in was a cheap ultrasonic meter to check it over, and I found it was just as accurate as the fancy one the inspector had. Been meaning to say...If anyone wants to check their compressor out with it it's not heavy to post, so it could be possible to post it around from one to the other and hopefully back to me at the end. Not sure how good an idea that is..

 

[moose]

Did not think under 3mm hull was able to be insured? regarding insulation the only way I would go is spray foam.

Our boat comes out 2 weeks time for self blacking horrible job not nice watching your boat dangle from a crane!

 

[Migmac]

Great project, handy having a boat in the garden with the weather we get !

I see you sent the apprentice in to service the cludgy hole

Not often you hear folk using the word cludgy nowadays.