Fleet boat deck

[JWLaRue]

.....CO2.

.....CO2.

[uss silversides]

Hmmmm, never heard of that

Hmmmm, never heard of that before. Do you just open the cylinder and try to hold it still while it rips through the Formica? Sorry, I don't know much about CO2.

Jonathan

[JWLaRue]

The CO2 is what is

The CO2 is what is called the "lasing medium"...it's the working fluid that the input energy is pumped into. The more common gas lasers are helium and helium-neon. The CO2 variety are commonly used for cutting hard materials.

A number of places offer laser cutting services. You supply the drawing (typically something like CAD) and they return parts.

-Jeff

[uss silversides]

Sounds interesting.....

Sounds interesting.....

[silent hunter]

Yesss..... now you guys are

Yesss..... now you guys are on the ball. Laser cut is the way to go on the formica. To keep it simple don't actually have all individual little dinky pieces cut, (that would wind up being a complicated mess during assembly). Instead, have the slots, holes, etc. cut into all the major segments. Control over the cutting depth with a CO2 laser is possible, godd communication with the Laser techs is needed though. Have fun.

[uss silversides]

May I ask another question

May I ask another question concerning this old topic?

I am going to use .030" X .030" styrene strips for the deck, but a want them to be "sunken" into the deck like the real boats. I want the styrene strips just about level with the rest of the deck. Problem is, my deck is flat. Any ideas? I thought of maybe cutting it down with my dremel, but I'm not too excited about that.


Jon

[JWLaRue]

Hi Jon,

Is it correct to

Hi Jon,

Is it correct to say that on your hull that the entire top of the hull (deck) is solid material? If so, and you don't want to cut it out...then you could possibly build up the outer edges and fair it back into the hull.

-Jeff

[uss silversides]

Hi Jeff!

Yeah! That might work!

Hi Jeff!

Yeah! That might work! How would I keep a smooth edge on the inside, where the strips go? You follow?
Jon

[JWLaRue]

Use a piece of the

Use a piece of the strip to be the beginning of the edge. (actually, it'll take multiple strips all along the length)

-Jeff

[uss silversides]

OK-

Before I dive into this,

OK-

Before I dive into this, are there any other ways? Like I just thought last night of perhaps cutting out the area I want lowered, and then glueing a piece of plastic to the underside. after that I could build it up inside to get it to the height I need. Maybe that's a rather stupid idea (I seem to think of a lot of those )

Jon

[jshag]

Jeff, Jon,

The pictures of the

Jeff, Jon,

The pictures of the Silversides, Cod and other fleetboats the wood is on top of the the deck. On the parts that stick out you will see that they weilded a metal strip up. The planks on the Cod are 2"x2". The end of the wooden deck where the metal meet they are flush.

John Schagane

[JWLaRue]

Hey Schag!

I *think* that whether

Hey Schag!

I *think* that whether or not the wood is above or flush with the combing may be a difference between the EB and Govt. designs. There are definitely photos show it both ways......

Jon,

Cutting out the flat top of the upper hull may be the better way if for no other reason than this would allow water and air to flow between the decking.

-Jeff

[tmsmalley]

USS Cobia -

http://www.gatosubs.com/tscobiadeck2.jpg

http://www.gatosubs.com/tscobiadeck1.jpg

http://www.gatosubs.com/tscobiatow1.jpg

USS Cobia -

[mkeatingss]

Thanks Tim. Cobia has the

Thanks Tim. Cobia has the same layout as Amberjack. Wood strip deck, forward, back to the sail and steel clamshells aft of the sail. I'm not sure where the changeover occured, but drawings, I have, show the clamshells starting at the lead edge of the sail.
Amberjack's wood portion was raised slightly above the combing. But, as pointed out earlier, this wasn't a hard and fast rule. Some of the boats, that I served on, had it flush.
Mike

[uss silversides]

I came up with a

I came up with a new idea for the deck. What if I were to cut out the deck where I wanted the strips, and just left it open and then attached the strips. Of course the thin strips would be too weak to support any weight at all. So, like the real one, I would put supports under the strips. This would scale-like in the sense that air/water would be able to pass through the decking easily. And it would look real.
Jon