Punt build

[fenboy]

hello thank you so much for your advice, i have seen stuff called polyhemp which is not as prone to rot and looks a good colour for the job. as far as photos are concerned i have loads but however hard i try cannot upload them to the site? it always says file to big even for just one picture? i have made the punt from marine ply using 18mm for the ribs 9mm

for the hull and 6mm for the decks, so after i paint the inside and undersides of the punt i am planning to glass her to give strength as there are a lot of old flounder net poles lurking

under the surface ready to tear the hull right off.

Upload your pictures to photobucket first , then paste the link from there , it will automatically resize them for the forum

[Old farrier]

Hi

Roap sounds the same as wildfowler has used I think a lot depends on the gun and the load that your building for but I would defiantly tow something heavy to tighten up your splice and the lay in the roap

All the best with your build glad I could help just wondering if you intend to fit any rubbing strakes to the hull to protect the glass then launching or landing

Hope you manage to post a few pictures

If you think you need any more help feel free to ask or send a pm

All the best

Of

[winchester79]

Hi

Roap sounds the same as wildfowler has used I think a lot depends on the gun and the load that your building for but I would defiantly tow something heavy to tighten up your splice and the lay in the roap

All the best with your build glad I could help just wondering if you intend to fit any rubbing strakes to the hull to protect the glass then launching or landing

Hope you manage to post a few pictures

If you think you need any more help feel free to ask or send a pm

All the best

Of

thank you so much i need all the help i can get, i feel like a sponge who is soaking up all the information and knowledge from fellow gunners and books

i will get on to this bucket thingy and try my best to get the photos on.

[Old farrier]

Hi

Been makeing the sculling oar bit different from the pair I made earlier

[Old farrier]

I should explaine punts are notorious for being hard to scull

It is my theory that the longer the oar the easier it is basically you make a figure 8 in the water with your oar and it propels you forward to achieve this with a short oar you have to be under the oar and need fairly deep water

With a long oar you can be above it and the angle means you can do it in a lot shallower water

I'm experementing with the length weight and flex of the oar

Length and lightness create structural problems in oars so I laminated 2 strips of hard wood into a pine outer to try to combat the problem

All the best

Of

Edited January 31, 2014 by Old farrier

[Old farrier]

Laminated in line with oar feather

All the best

Of

[mudpatten]

Hello mate, forgive me for disagreeing about punts being hard to scull. I punt in one of the few places in the country where the ability to scull is still a vital necessity.

 

A punt is actually very easy to scull, providing you know how to do it. Being able to scull a 12ft dinghy whilst standing up, which lots of people can do, is a bit different from being able to scull a 23 ft punt whilst lying down.

 

The length of the oar is less important than the position and shape of the sculling crutch. The crutch needs to be offset from the side of the punt and positioned correctly for the user. A punt should be "fitted" to the user. My optimum position for a sculling crutch will not be the same as yours. Whatever length of oar you decide upon think of this. If the water is shallow you`ll be using a setting pole and not the sculling oar. Don`t use an oar that flexes, it will just make things harder to control.

 

Like a lot of stuff written about sculling by the likes of Payne Galwey et al, it`s a load of nonesense because most of them could not actually do it.

 

There is an article called "Skills of sculling" in the library section of the Langstone Wildfowlers website which explains some of the above in more depth.

 

I don`t know where you are in the country but the best way to set up a punt for sculling is for someone who knows how to do it to physically show you the ropes. I`d be happy to do that if you are`nt too far away.

Edited February 1, 2014 by mudpatten

[mudpatten]

You might also want to take a look at the article entitled "Friend or fraud" which contains a picture of a sculling crutch that actually works in practice, unlike that designed by Payne Galwey and appended to many punts, which does not.

[mudpatten]

Sorry to keep on so, but I`ve just seen the sculling oar you`ve made. Thats a superb construction job but you`ll find that the blade is too wide.

 

A sculling oar needs to have a narrow blade. You will have to rotate your wide bladed oar through too great an arc whilst under water than you can achieve with your wrist. You`ll simply have to rotate your shoulder and wrist farther than they will actually bend. In addition,too wide a blade will cause the punt to over react to each stroke and you`ll start to zig zag with each stroke.

 

With a narrow blade you may lose some of the power but each stroke will be far more forgiving on the punts direction.

 

A punt oar for both rowing and sculling need to have its surface area distributed over a greater length of blade, rather than the short broad bladed ones you`ve made. The narrow blade also offers less wind resistance and, since you`re very close to the surface of the water, prevents you from catching a crab with the blade.

Edited February 1, 2014 by mudpatten

[Old farrier]

Hi mud patten

Many thanks for your input I have been working on the oar today the hardwood seems to have taken a lot of the flex out of this one ( few rejects on bonfire ) the blade is 6 inches wide what would you recommend

I will try to post a picture of sculling point on punt

It is movable so not a problem

As for the lesson I would realy like that very generous offer

Thanks again for your advice I'm just going to throw this oar on the fire and start another

All the best

Of

[Old farrier]

Positioned 3 feet from stern (at the moment )

That should give me 2.1/2 feet of oar my side of the sculling point

All the best

Of

[mudpatten]

Don`t bin the oar mate - it`s an easy job to shorten the oar and slim down the blade. Take an inch off either side and see how you get on. The sculling oar blade in the picture is probably just about long enough to work.

 

The handle of the oar should be left comparatively rough finished to prevent blisters and slimmed down such that one can touch finger to thumb.

 

The oar should be leathered and greased for use in the crutch with a collar fitted to prevent it slipping out of the crutch if you should let it go. The collar should be fitted between about 1/3rd to 1/2 the length of the oar from the handle.

 

Rather than measure from the stern, the crutch should be mounted in such a position that, when the sculler is comfortably laying in the punt, as far aft as he can get, the handle of the oar should be approximately at right angles to his shoulder with the crutch positioned such that the oar blade will be submerged whilst allowing the scullers arm to remain as low as possible. Too far forward or too far aft makes the motion of sculling very difficult and with a subsequient loss of power.

 

You have a Payne Galwey type crutch which is too close to the side of the punt and will make turning to port very difficult as the oar blade, when moved to the left by pushing the handle to the right, will foul the side of the punt.

 

You need an offset crutch such as the one shown in the LADWACA website magazine article. They are simple enough to make and, within reason, the more the sculling spur is offset from the side, the easier it is to turn to the left and the more one can lay flat on ones belly without having to rotate to ones side. About a 4in offset would be enough to make a real difference to manouvrebility without encountering structural problems.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited February 1, 2014 by mudpatten

[Old farrier]

Hi

Thanks for your input very helpfull I will try the oar as is and take a plane with me and tune it as I go along

a inch of each side would give a 4 inch blade the length can be altered to suit with a saw and spoke shave

If you look at the finished rowing oars you will see that I am aware of paint and varnish causing blisters

As for the sise finger and thumb touching I have no option but to go with that as the other 3 fingers on my hand are non functional hence the slim grip

Anyway I will take your advice and look at the website and reconsider fittings

This information will be invaluable for the next generation of punt builders

Many thanks

All the best

Of

Hi

Thanks for your input very helpfull I will try the oar as is and take a plane with me and tune it as I go along

a inch of each side would give a 4 inch blade the length can be altered to suit with a saw and spoke shave

If you look at the finished rowing oars you will see that I am aware of paint and varnish causing blisters

As for the sise finger and thumb touching I have no option but to go with that as the other 3 fingers on my hand are non functional hence the slim grip

Anyway I will take your advice and look at the website and reconsider fittings

This information will be invaluable for the next generation of punt builders

Many thanks

All the best

Of

[Old farrier]

Took mud patterns advice and slimmed it down a bit

Grey oar widest 7 1/2 inches center oar of my tender worked well for 20 years 6 inches same overall length as grey oar long sculling oar 5.1/2 wide and longer feathers overall length 2 feet longer the oars are still in the trial stage and can be easily altered painting takes the time I will let you know the final outcome it may help other builders

Tried on LADW website but struggled to get the information may be members only

All the best

Of

And in keeping with tradition to protect the linen on the deck from muzzle flash fitted the copper

Edited February 1, 2014 by Old farrier

[sandspider]

Just seen this. Really impressed! I love the look of the unpainted pure wood punt, beautiful.

[Old farrier]

Hi

Thanks for your compliments it took a bit of doing to paint it but tradition dictates coulour ( I hate painting ) and wood needs protection

Glad you enjoyed it

All the best

Of

[mudpatten]

Langstone WA web site is`nt members only mate.

 

Click on library and scroll down the page.

 

it might take a few moments to load as there`s a lot on it.

[Old farrier]

Hi

Thanks could you post a link sure others may be interested

Did manage to get on the website eventually seemed to be some informative stuff but failed to find picture of scull crutch plenty of pictures of outrigger oar systems that I'm sure are very efficient in the strong Solent tides they may be a nuicence on my build as it will be trailer moved and increase the width to much to make this safe also unnessacerry in the narrow creeks and inland non tidal area of its final destination I however take your input onboard please post a picture of your system and any comments to improve it as I am aware it has stood the test of time in your area

Many thanks

All the best

Of

A bit like this I think 2 inches lower and 4inches out angles to suit punt

Note this is a prototype to illustrate mud patterns

Conversation

1 picture or 1 thousand words

Hope this helps any future builders and explains it a bit clearer for you

Many thanks

Of

Edited February 4, 2014 by Old farrier

[Old farrier]

Hi

Weather a bit grim today so decided between the horizontal showers to get the punt out of the workshop

Slight miscalculation on turning circle due to me deciding to make it a bit longer

So hey ho new plan

Half out defore the rain

[Old farrier]

Anyway it's out and on the trailer

Maybe get it in the water if it calms down a bit

All the best

Of

[Big Mat]

Thats one way of getting it out of the building

 

Looking good!

[fenboy]

Lucky you had a window

[winchester79]

Anyway it's out and on the trailer

Maybe get it in the water if it calms down a bit

All the best

Of

looking great, beautiful sleek design hope ours looks half as good, i need to convert the trailer i have because it was made for the old single punt so is miles to short so was thinking of extending the draw bar instead of trying to stretch the chassis to fit her, i like the rollers you have on yours the ones on mine scratch the body and do not support the punt when loaded. i have had an idea for elevating gear which has two wheels on an axle the axle has brass tubing over it and is wrapped in denso tape to pad it then we have a tube sleeve to take the long wooden pushing rod the whole unit runs up and town the deck and is supported by two runners to keep things in line. this system stops the need for lifting the gun while you drag the rest under it. what are your thoughts on this system?

best wishes...ian

[Old farrier]

Hi

Thanks for your compliments more fun getting it out of the window than the doors

The trailer it's on adjusts on drawbar and extends at the back aswell box section inside box section pulls out for trailing light board ect to meet legal stuff

Slides in to help launching better picture

There are many design of elevating gear I think

Wildfowler built a very good one as for scratching deck I plan to fit a piece of thin oak approx 6 inches wide with a sacraficial piece 4inches wide on top to prevent the gun bruising deck and to overcome the rest sliding off the side exact dimensions and fit will depend on the gun we decide to put on board

All the best

Of

 

Ps I did send you a pm

[marsh man]

Morning O F I see your lovely young lady is ready to get her curves wet ,evan though the season is just about over you will be able to get use to how she handle, doing a spot of fishing or as they say just messing about on the river. Last year I went to a exhibition in Yarmouth to mark 60 years of the 1953 floods ,among the many photos was a chap rowing his gun punt down the middle of the road, next one to where I lived, he had plenty of water under him as he was level with the window sills and we had over four foot in ours When the water went down it left our house cold and damp and with only two open fires to heat the house took a long time to dry it out Having a large family, eight with my mum and dad money was always tight so running two coal fires was often a struggle. In the 62 63 winter the house was really cold so we had to keep both fires going one way or other ,dead oppersite our boat shed on the other side of the river was the coal yard used for the steam trains. The coal was heaped up close to river wall with the odd bit falling on to the salting ,well you know what I mean .We didn't have far to cart it as our house was only about 200 yards from our boat shed, anyway it burnt all right and chucked plenty of heat out the only problem was the amount of smoke that came out of the chimeneys pots My old neighbour came out one day with a smile on his face and said cor bliemey bor your got a good ole head of steam up there it looks like the 9 40 to Norwich .I turned round and said yea your not far out old partner.