fiberglass battens

[thurman]

Thanks Keith and mathsmith for the info on dynel covering ! Next question for the forum:In "How to Build the Haven 12 1/2 Footer, they are using fiberglass battens over the drawings. Does anyone know where to purchase such flexible battens for marking the molds of the Haven?

[TomRobb]

Or, since the boat is wood, and presumably you'll have some wood lying about, why not rip some thin battens of various sizes and make - not buy - them?
Drafting supplys houses probably have what you want if you prefer going that way.

[Paul]

I also understand that old hacksaw blades work well. I think these would be especially good on the drawings. I would suggest you use juniper/cedar battens for fairing the mold stations and frames. You can repeatly nail these and move them about the set up and they will last the entire project. Fiberglass seems to be a little overkill to me.

[Paul]

Also, if you check the Nov/Dec Issue...I can't remember if it was '99 or 00, Bud Ingraham produced a great article on using a homemade, flexiable batten and a neat way to get the molds constucted. You may want to check that out.

[Bruce Hooke]

I suspect the problem with wood battens in this application may be that the curves are so tight you would need 1/16" thick battens for the wood to make the bend!

Your regular drafting/art supply house will NOT have drafting splines or battens. They are actually getting somewhat hard to find. I got some nice plastic splines from Charettes (a national art/drafting supply company - they have stores in many large cities)(NOTE: They will almost certainly be a special order item). If that is not an option then I would look around the shop for something else that might serve. Hacksaw blades would certainly be flexible enough but the might be too short and they also seem like they would be hard to hold in place with drafting weights (ducks). Also there may be other ways to do what you need to do. When you say "over the drawing" are you talking about fairing the lines in the drawing then you do need some sort of batten or spline. If you are talking about some other part of the process then there may be other ways to do the job.

[Paul]

I ment to saw old bandsaw blades....oppps..not hack saw blades.

[RGM]

Lengths of plexiglass, nylon or uhmw plastic can sometimes be useful. They don't accept fasteners well though.

[This message has been edited by RGM (edited 08-16-2001).]

[reddog]

Whatever material they are made of,please,please don't nail through your battens.Place the nails and spring the batten around them.Use nails on the opposite side of the batten to hold it in place.Sight for fair and adjust the batten as required.If you're making your own you can rip them to different sizes to accomadate different curves.A good flexible batten that lays fair and remains straight deserves respect.

[Peter Sibley]

Ive had success with varying thicknesses of acrylic/perspex from my local friendly plastic fabricator.He usually gives me the rippings from beside his sawbench.They come in 1/16",1/8",3/16"etc and I even ran a 1/16" section though my thickness sander to get something very limber .They are good battens...consistent and the weather doesn't worry them.

[carlg]

I've used acrylic square stock from the local plastics store. It comes about 1/8" square, 1/4" sq., 1/2" sq., etc. in about 6-foot lengths. And very inexpensive, too.

[mmd]

Plastic battens are good, but beware that if you don't store them flat (i.e., like sitting on the workbench across a tool handle) they will, after a few days in warm weather or a week or so in cold, develop a bump where the object was. Clear spruce battens don't have that problem, but plastic doesn't move with the humidity. Pick your poison.

[TomRobb]

Second what Reddog said. Do NOT nail through your battons - ever! A good batten is worth saving and caring for properly. And the slight swelling of a wood batten will be both unnoticable and a non-issue.