Barrots for Duracell's new roof
Since he began transforming the former Duracell Open 60 into a cruising yacht, Matt has already cut out the existing roof and made a model of the new superstructure that will house his saloon deck. He then made the side walls out of sandwich material. Now it's time to tackle the structure of the curved upper side. The opportunity to tackle the technique of glued laminated timber.
It starts with the choice of wood slats. Matt decides to buy mahogany from his supplier, which he will cut to size.
The importance of collage
Once in the workshop, Matt begins by installing a series of wooden wedges on his work surface that will be used to block the barrot to the desired shape. The position of the different elements and their sizes are deduced from the mannequin made earlier.
The slats are then cut with a circular saw to be straight. They are split to be able to be bent to the desired shape.
The boards are then generously brushed with glue and joined to the desired thickness, here in 4 elements.
Keeping the shape of the barrot
The future beam is then placed on the wedges and held in position with clamps. They ensure both the position of the 4 boards between them and the whole on the wedges to obtain the desired curvature.
The whole is then left to dry, before being able to free the barrot, cut the ends to the right dimensions and round the angles.
Unfortunately, Matt finds that once the clamps are released, the stress in the wood does not allow him to keep the geometry strictly. The curve opens slightly. After an attempt to maintain the curve with turnbuckles, which unfortunately loosen, he decides to clamp the bar to a board of OSB cut to shape, while waiting to attach the bar to the deck, which will help it maintain its position.
Matt is finally able to position the barrots on the boat and see the shape of the roof take shape.
