Building the Oneida's Deck Clamps

Building the Oneida's Deck Clamps

Before the deck clamps can be installed the distance down from the gun port sills has to be established. Taking a deck beam and the waterway measure the total for these two pieces. This measurement happens to be .497.

Taking pieces of scrap wood, spacers were cut to the measurement of .497. These spacers are used between the top edge of the clamp and the gun port sills. The first plank of the deck clamps are glued to the hull and held in place with spring clamps.

The deck clamps are made up of three heavy planks. On an actual ship these planks would be made up of planks average 20 to 30 feet long. On the model they are one piece from stem to stern. Second and third plank are held tight to the plank above and clamped to the hull.

Spring clamps are used all along the hull to hold the deck clamps in place. These planks were bent without having to soak or heat bend them like the wales required. Birch is used for the deck clamps which bends much easier than the Peroba used for the wales.

Deck clamps are like the wales except they are on the inside of the hull. As the clamps reach the stern they twist and lay flatter than in mid ship. The top of the clamps are cut down level so the deck beams sit flat on them. When placing the deck clamps under the stern gun ports be sure to raise them slightly to give yourself enough room to level off the top.