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| The new Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop & Mould Loft
Registrations are now being taken for our Half Hull
Model Courses, numbers will be limited so pre-register now to ensure your place
in our fantastic new course at the new Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop, here in
For prices please see the page on Half Hull Models
For all courses please call (from outside
+1 902 522 2400
If you are in
1-888-743-7845
Or by email to
info@sherbrookeshipbuildingshop.com |
Monday, 31 March 2014
Registrations for Half hull Model Courses
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course
Since moving back into the shipbuilding industry it has
amazed me at how little training and knowledge is now passed on for many
different reasons, and even though the use of CAD/CAM has resulted in huge
advancements in the industry, there is still very much a lack of the basic
knowledge of actually building a ship and what it entails, you can be a very
fine CAD operator although know little about the basic reality of putting the
steel together on the shop floor and the higher level of passed down from
design then the higher level of knowledge required about the work including how
it all goes together in the real world, not the electronic world.
I have even worked in places where the basic knowledge of
even reading a tape measure has been lacking.
This basic knowledge of shipbuilding and shipyards will be
very helpful to anyone who has no knowledge of how a ship is built and offers a
basic insight into what is expected and required from someone who wants to
secure there future in this amazing industry.
They will receive a good grounding in Basic shipbuilding
practice and processes
Such as being able to read a shipbuilding drawing
Knowing and learning about how a ship is designed and built
and so much more.
To be continued
Lines, Lofting and Half Hull Models
|
| The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop
After many months of hard work and indeed many years in the making the new unique concept of offering and passing on of acquired knowledge is almost there and ready to take registrations for this year be it the Half Hull Model course or the Basic Lofting course you are interested in all can now be offered in this unexplored part of Eastern Nova Scotia.
All courses could be tailored to suite your particular requirements and should you be thinking of fitting in a course along with some vacation time then we can also offer some very good deals at the local Sherbrooke Village Inn Motel, just two minutes away.
As we move into spring now is the time to be thinking about what the summer can bring and what better way of learning than spending some time in what is a really fantastic location, based right on the bank of the St Mary's River and inside the Historical old Sherbrooke Village, what are you waiting on with similar courses in the U.S.A. at a far higher cost, this is not the type of experience that you can get anywhere else in Canada.
Call or email for further details.
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Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course-03
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| How a bulbous bow should look once finished and lofted and plated correctly
Now this is what is
known as a “Bulbous Bow” and as you can see it is put together pretty well the
way this type of bow should look when finished and there is a young journeyman Loftsman in this picture port side as we look on the bow.
Well believe it or not I have actually worked in a
“shipyard” which of course must remain nameless where they launched a ship
without finishing the plate work on the bulbous bow, they had too much trouble
fitting the plates that they ran out of time and just launched her with a large
opening in the top of the bulbous bow, she of course was in no danger of
sinking or anything like that but she was a bit down by the head shall we say
while sitting in the water.
Lack of some basic fundamental shipbuilding knowledge comes
to mind when I heard this story, and so easy to rectify if only some time was
spent on training and passing on some of the acquired knowledge gathered around
such a shipyard, make you wonder eh!
There is a huge demand World Wide for experienced shipbuilders, not for people who only see the industry as just another job only interested in the wage packet, which is very important of course but welded to the wage packet should be pride in the job and any shipbuilder should be able to stand on the quayside as a ship goes by and say with pride that he or she had helped to built a safe and sea worthy vessel.
The apprenticeship system in some countries as it stands
makes no allowance for actual shipbuilding and as explained above this is a
gross under sight in my humble opinion, spend some time and reap the rewards
further down the road instead of worry about micro managing the build process.
Have managers in place who actually know what they are doing
would I am certain be of some help in the quest, shipbuilders who have actually
been apprenticed as shipbuilders and have built ships not just any ships but
ships to be proud of.
To be continued.
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Thursday, 27 March 2014
sherbrookeshipbuildingshop.com
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| The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop The website for the Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop is now live visit at www.sherbrookeshipbuildingshop.com |
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Courses at the Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop
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| Courses at the Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop
Our courses are set out all week including weekends so if
you cannot make it during the week then the weekend which includes the Friday
and Monday on some of the courses can be done. We are set up to help you
achieve.
All courses can be tailored to suit depending on your
circumstance and requirements and must be booked with a 50% deposit.
The Half Hull Model
course is a 4 day course that can be arranged during the week or at weekends,
call for further details.
The Fundamentals of
Lofting course is a 5 day course which again depending on your own
particular circumstance could be tailored to suit, call for further details on
how we can help.
Our Basic
Shipbuilding Knowledge course is a 3 day course and again could be arranged
over a week-end; call for further details and to discuss.
“Knowledge not passed on is Lost”
|
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Register now for the Half Hull Model Course
Registrations are now being taken for our Half Hull Model making courses being run at the new Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop,
here in Sherbrooke , Nova
Scotia , Canada
For all courses please call (from outside North America )
+1 902 522 2400
If you are in North America you can call our toll free number at the following
1-888-743-7845
Or by email to
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Advanced Lofting Course
|
| Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop and Mould Loft |
This will be best suited for those who have completed the fundamental Basic Lofting course or have some experience of Lofting.
Although most boat and yacht designs are now carried out on
some pretty sophisticated CAD programs even most professionals will agree that
it is still best to see the boat layed out full size on the Loft floor. The
lost art of lofting a boat/ship continues at the Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop
and you too can further your knowledge on this “Art” by attending one of the
advanced Lofting courses on offer at the Shipbuilding Shop.
See the
difference for instance between a bearding line and a rabbit line, see how to
develop out a raked curved transom or how to set out a nice cambered sheer.
This course would be suitable for someone with a bit of
knowledge on the subject or for someone who has done the Basic Lofting course
previously at the Sherbrooke
Bring along
your own set of offsets and we will help you loft out your own boat.
Anyone who has
attended the Basic lofting course will qualify for a discount on the base price
of the Advanced Lofting course.
Basic Lofting Couse
The Sherbrooke
|
The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop, located inside the old Historical Sherbrooke Village
By
the end of my course you will be able to visualise what the boat should look
like and to lay down her lines, and you will be able to talk about plans and
not feel intimidated about being unable to comprehend the Lofting process
involved in bringing these plans to life full size on the Lofting floor.
My
Lofting course is a learning by doing process you only need to know how to
apply yourself and don’t forget to bring your enthusiasm with you. And there is
also quality accommodation on offer along with the courses staying at the
Sherbrooke Village Inn Motel a short two minute walk to the “Shipbuilding Shop
& Mould Loft” so you and your significant other should you choose can also
have a vacation in what is one of the most beautiful parts of the world, a real
undiscovered gem.
When
you break it down, lofting is the process of producing the three required views
of the hull accurately to scale or to full size depending on the size of the
vessel. By this way we can turn 2D into a 3D visualisation.
But
that is just the beginning of the process which you can learn throughout the
course.
The
main focus of the course will be to enable you to understand some of the
concepts and lofting principles behind boat/shipbuilding and in helping you to
develop an eye for a fair shape as it’s not called the art of Lofting for
nothing.
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Monday, 17 March 2014
Registration now open
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| The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop, in the Historical old Sherbrooke Village, Nova Scotia
Registrations are now being taken for what will prove
to be very popular and limited courses at the new Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop,
here in
For all courses please call (from outside
+1 902 522 2400
If you are in
1-888-743-7845
Or by email to
|
Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course-02
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| The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop taking registrations for this year |
Attending the Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course is a great
way to boost your career prospects. Many Attendees will participate to develop
themselves in their existing role, while others will attend with a complete
change of career in mind.
Employers large and small understand that studying part time
while managing work and personal commitments shows determination, adaptability,
motivation and a high level of organisational and problem-solving skills –
qualities that they value highly
It seems to be a common misconception that all “outside
trades” can just transfer there skills to working in a shipyard on a new build
shipbuilding project.
While the skills are transferable they are with few
exceptions not directly transferable. Someone with no shipbuilding knowledge
will struggle for some time to be an effective member of a shipbuilding team
The basic shipbuilding knowledge course is based mostly on
my own experiences in shipbuilding but also on what I have learned from many
other sources, as never have I met anyone who knows it all in shipbuilding,
many I have met purport to knowing it all and they are a liability who may just
be passing on the wrong type of information.
This Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course will only deal with
the structural build of a ship
If you don’t know or never learn the basics of shipbuilding then how
can you develop pride in what you are doing there is so much more to building a
ship than just welding two pieces of steel together.
Without the basic knowledge of shipbuilding how can you learn to read a
shipbuilding drawing?
•
Shipbuilding
knowledge = Interest = Ability = Pride
•
Pride in the job
results in better work which in turn results in a better end product with lower
costs
•
More accuracy =
Better quality = Better Tradesman.
The more technology
used and the more automation requires a higher understanding of the whole
shipbuilding process which all starts with a basic understanding of
shipbuilding
Failure to understand
shipbuilding basics will produce someone perhaps doing a repetitive job with no
interest whatsoever resulting in poor workmanship standards
To be continued.
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course-04
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| The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop, Nova Scotia
Why the need for some
basic shipbuilding knowledge can help as a preliminary course before embarking
on a career in shipbuilding.
Well most of all you will not be walking into an interview
for work in shipbuilding with next to no knowledge and we can guarantee you
that having completed our Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge course you will in fact
probably be better informed about what is required to be a shipbuilder than the
person who is interviewing you.
Learn about basic shipbuilding knowledge including the use
of bevels for setting frames, how you do need at least three different bevels
to correctly set a transverse frame or bulkhead across a well shaped shell
plate or plates, you cannot just accept that the bevel can just be an average
over the girth of the frame at the moulded line, believe it or not this I have
seen done and continued to be done with the same end result that the bulkhead
lay at completely the wrong angle when being mated up to its adjoining unit
then everyone stands around blaming one another why nothing fits correctly.
With a little bit of basic shipbuilding knowledge and the
production of some more bevel sets this large amount of re-work could have been
avoided.
For experienced shipbuilders to continue to do the same
thing I found amazing and shows a complete lack of real understanding of
practical shipbuilding, this particular bulkhead by the way was replicated port
and starboard on a run of nine ships and was never corrected which must have
resulted in some thousands of hours of re-work the one thing that not only
costs budget over runs but can cost the shipyard further work and with it job
losses so that in the end everyone losses out all for the lack of some basic
knowledge on practical shipbuilding.
To be continued
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Monday, 10 March 2014
Lofting Services
|
The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop and Mould Loft
As part of our Lofting service here at
the Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop we are also in the position to offer some of
the following services and all at very good prices.
Whatever you’re boat/shipbuilding needs
in regard to design or lofting please don’t hesitate to contact us, be it your
own boat or a boat that requires restoration work with a set of her lines
produced first.
I will let you into a little secret here
I have been working with drawings/lofting on Mylar for more than 40 years and I
use this to loft on as it is consistently very stable so as to ensure
an accurate representation of what is being achieved and of course the finished
drawing/lines plan or template can just be rolled up and posted off anywhere in
the world.
We can loft any boat/ship for which there
is a basic table of offsets or set of drawings.
Or we can take the lines off an existing
vessel and re-loft her to replicate her original shape as near as you will ever
get and all done by a time served experienced Loftsman.
Require moulds or jigs then this is no problem or help with your project in any way, we can produce full size templates or files that you can download by yourself just give us a call or contact through email.
Should you require lofting done on CAD then we can accommodate this as well and have the capability of doing the whole boat or ship for you all at very good prices by competent and experienced designers/loftsmen.
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Saturday, 8 March 2014
Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course
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| The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop A fantastic location for knowledge gained |
Attending the Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course is a great way to boost your career prospects should you wish to go on and find work in this amazing industry or you may just wish to know more about the subject matter explained in the course by an experienced Shipbuilder.
Each 25 hour course can be adapted to suit but is
recommended to be done over the 5 day allocated period for each course.
Employers
large and small understand that studying on short beneficial courses while
managing work and personal commitments shows determination, adaptability,
motivation and a high level of organisational and problem-solving skills –
qualities that they value highly.
So if you
want to improve your prospects through getting some or further Basic
Shipbuilding Knowledge then the Sherbrooke
Basic Shipbuilding Knowledge Course
Or in some cases a
“Lack” of basic shipbuilding knowledge.
As someone who has worked in the shipbuilding industry on
three continents and having worked on more than Thirty Five new builds, it is
sad for me to see the lack of basic shipbuilding knowledge and skills that are
being lost for many differing reasons, I am here today to tell you one of the
simple ways that some of the basic skills can be passed on.
Experience and knowledge not passed on is gone for ever but
it does not have to be that way.
To be continued.
Friday, 7 March 2014
Half Hull Model Course
Building Half Hull
Half
Hull Models are a wonderful way of remembering a boat from the past and a great
learning tool helping to demystify all the lines and some of the lofting
required in the beginnings of good boat/ship design, it is a very satisfying
way of learning by doing and can be completed by almost anyone with a mind to
learn a bit and put what they learn into practice
You
too can capture a design in three dimensions and have a good quality self made
model to take away from the Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop.
You
don’t need to be an experienced woodworker as we are not looking for perfection
just participation.
You
will learn some history of the boat you are going to model as well and you are
also encouraged to bring along your own boat plans to model if you have them.
The
self made model will be a great addition to your office wall or den and will
also come with a brass name plate showing the name of the ship and your own
name as builder of the half hull model.
Each model
will be mounted on an attractive backing board supplied by the Sherbrooke
Shipbuilding Shop along with the brass name plate.
Half Hull
Many people
who are unfamiliar with the early days of boat and ship design & building may
wonder, when they see the half hull models of boats on yacht club and museum
walls, "Why only half a boat?" and what was it used for if anything.
In fact originally, the vast majority of boat/ship-builders were also the "designers", although you did not design a ship then you just built the ship. In the 18th & 19th centuries, the experienced shipwright was usually a man with little need for plans or drawings it was all done by skill and the eye of the shipwright so drawing a detailed plan would have been no use to him. The Half Hull model was the shipbuilders 3D way of describing the ship that he could build. Once the half hull model was completed it would be taken to the Mould Loft where the lines and dimensions (scaled suitably) to the full size required for all the lofting and thereby the build of the vessel was carried out.
In fact originally, the vast majority of boat/ship-builders were also the "designers", although you did not design a ship then you just built the ship. In the 18th & 19th centuries, the experienced shipwright was usually a man with little need for plans or drawings it was all done by skill and the eye of the shipwright so drawing a detailed plan would have been no use to him. The Half Hull model was the shipbuilders 3D way of describing the ship that he could build. Once the half hull model was completed it would be taken to the Mould Loft where the lines and dimensions (scaled suitably) to the full size required for all the lofting and thereby the build of the vessel was carried out.
The
interesting thing to observe about the art of half hull modelling and the
building of boats or ships is that nowadays, it is the CAD (Computer Aided
Design) designing the vessel with an after thought given to the completion of
nice half hull models, so the owner can hang a nice model of his or her boat/ship
on the wall.
This of course
is the complete opposite of its original purpose.
Lofting at The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop
The Sherbrooke
|
| The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop and Mould Loft |
So you are thinking about
building that boat which you have always wanted to build until it comes down to
the lofting of your boat! Just how do you make sense out of those numbers
called offsets?
Well you can learn this
essential skill now and be shown how to loft by a working loftsman. Lofting is the most essential skill in the boat/shipbuilding industry, while most lofting is done on a commercial scale and is now almost all Computer Aided Design, for those out with the industry who may wish to build there own boat then this skill is a must have to learn.
How to make sense of all them lines, offsets, buttocks and diagonals is a skill that we are now happy to be able to show you and you can learn the “Black Art” of Lofting in our new courses now being run at the Historical old Shipbuilding Shop at Sherbrooke Village (Itself a living Historical Village)
The Sherbrooke area was once one of the main shipbuilding centres in North America and lends itself very well to the learning of Lofting right on the banks of the St Mary’s river that was once the birth place of so many old wooden ships during the 18th century.
Lofting (or as I like to call it as well is the Geometry of Boat/Shipbuilding) is the primary skill that you require to be able to build a quality boat of your own.
It is a skill which you can at least learn the basics and once mastered should enable you to start on any boat you may wish to have a go at building for yourself, no more having to rely on the limited amount of boring old “Kit Designed boats” all off the shelf, you will be able to browse through all the hundreds of old boat plans that are available and confidently tackle the build.
Better still there has never been a boat designed which was lofted too much and you will be able to do this along with being better able to read and understand the plans that you are looking at and will have a far better idea of the building process involved no matter how difficult or complex the shape may be.
Now don’t get me wrong Lofting can be pretty intimidating to the uninitiated and it is pretty complex and there are many different ways of going about it, that is why you should use someone who is not just well experienced in the art but with someone who has done it and worked as a Loftsman for a living, someone who can pass on the knowledge in a way which is clear and understandable and may even be fun at times.
You can read as many books on the subject
as you like but you will not learn much just from reading about lofting even if
you understand some of it the only way to learn about Lofting is by doing.
To be continued:-
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop
 |
| The Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop for courses in Lines, Lofting and Half Hull Models
Welcome to the new Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop now open at
the Historical old Sherbrooke Village in wonderful Nova Scotia, Canada, and
where better to set up a unique new concept in Canada of offering courses in the old
traditional skills of Lofting, Half Hull Models and for anyone with a view to
working in the shipbuilding industry of today we also have courses in Basic
Shipbuilding Knowledge.
The courses are now open for registration and will run from April thru December 2014
This Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia is an area steeped in
History and including the building of many fine old ships from around 1820
right up to
 Just one of the many types of classic old ships built at Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia over 100 years ago This Blog will attempt to follow the opening of the new Sherbrooke Shipbuilding Shop and feature the learning and skills courses on offer so join us as we begin this amazing journey. For registration or initial interest please enquire by email at sherbrookeshipbuildingshop@gmail.com or by telephone at +1 902 522 2400 |
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