On Tuesday, we traveled to Oxford, MD., the home of Cutts & Case
Shipyard. We didn’t know they were there, but saw this building as we
were walking thru town. Turns out this is a family owned shipyard that
specializes in building custom wooden boats. They also do repairs and
rebuilds of newer boats. We walked into the shop to find all kinds of
projects underway.
One young man, full of sawdust, and his pants full of dried glue from many
past projects, stopped and chatted with us briefly. He explained the
unique process that Edmund Cutts developed to lay up their wooden hulls.
Instead of heavy planking, or veneers laid in opposite grain directions
over stringers and other framework, they lay two layers of planking,
the first thicker than the second, over a removable mold. In the photo
below you can see the two layers at the transom of this hull under
construction.
What sets a Cutts wooden hull
apart from all others is his patented construction technique. After the
first, thicker planking is on, they route grooves in it from one gunnel,
down the side, across the bottom, and up to the other gunnel. Into
these grooves they lay kevlar cord, and epoxy it into place. Then the
second layer of lighter planking is secured with epoxy, using temporary
screws and nails to hold it in place.
This gives the hull the necessary
strength with much less interior frame work, which leaves the interior
design much more flexible. Also, there are no fasteners exposed to the
corrosive sea water.
The photo below is a sample of this technique.
The photo below is of Edmund's personal boat he was building when he died in 2009.
Here is some of the memorabilia that was in their showroom.
A trip to Cutts and Case is like a trip back in time.
We thoroughly enjoyed finding this treasure.
Captn Ken
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