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The inspired boat builders at Tasmanian Shipwrights & Co have created a one-of-a-kind, totally indulgent, yet highly practical project – a custom-designed and built wooden bathtub.
Conceived to take pride of place in the bathroom of a hempcrete home in Franklin Tasmania, the bathtub is the brainchild of homeowner, Dan Rawlins and boatbuilder Nathan O’Neill.
Dan contacted his friends in the tightknit community, the craftspeople at Tasmanian Shipwrights & Co, to enlist their talents.
In October 2023, Nathan teamed up with Jonathan Minnebo and Matt Stevens to form Tasmanian Shipwrights & Co and they already have several impressive refit jobs under their collective belt.
Nathan has been involved at various stages during construction, as he explains. “Back when the block was just acres of land and bush, Dan lived in a small gypsy hut and met me at the local pub when I first moved to Tasmania to do the course at the Wooden Boat Centre in Franklin. I’d packed all my things into my old VW van without much of a plan but to get down to the Huon Valley and figure it out from there.
“Dan made it clear there was no other option but to park my van on up on his block and make use of the water tank and gas heated shower. Somewhere among scouting out timber on his block that was milled for framing, lintels and beams, we dreamed of a wooden bath would fit right in and the project grew from there. It’s become a way of me saying Thank You to him for welcoming me in my first few months here in Tassie.”
The bathtub is around 1,650mm long by 700mm wide and splays out from base to rim.
“It’s constructed like a strip plank boat which is what makes it unique in relation to other wooden baths,” says the skilled boat builder. “Most wooden baths are vertical stave constructed or solid sawn stacked. What we’ve done is construct a lightweight solid core out of paulownia staves. The shape was designed on CAD by Matt off a concept drawing I’d done.
“We ‘planked‘ the bath in beautiful old Blackwood from the northwest of Tasmania. 4mm Blackwood laminations are steam bent and hand shaped to wrap horizontally inside and out. The base is solid blackwood from the same tree.
“The paulownia core uses WEST SYSTEM epoxy between the staves and rebated around the Blackwood base. The Blackwood planks are WEST SYSTEM epoxied (with black 501 pigment) onto the core as well. The only fastenings in the bath secure the solid Blackwood cap rail.
As something out of the ordinary and certainly a different challenge compared with boat restoration, Nathan says it has been a joy to bring to life.
“It’s something we’ve never done before but it employs a similar skillset to building a strip-planked boat. We’re steam bending all the planks and spiling and hand planing them to fit so it definitely draws on traditional boatbuilding skills.
“It’s time and labour intensive which is why I assume that’s the only reason why I haven’t seen one done like this before. I was set on it looking this way though aesthetically, it ties in our traditional boat building skills.”
The house, and its unique bathtub, have attracted the attention of the production team from TV series, Grand Designs, who have followed the progress of the home, including the bath.
It was a mad rush to get it completed for their final reveal filming on the house, which took place 17 June 2024. Now, the team from Tasmanian Shipwrights & Co have taken the bath back to their workshop for the final topcoat of Epifanes.
“The bath has been a fun journey,” says Nathan. “It was an all-consuming project for a while, and it was a push to get it installed in time. All the hard work was worth it. It was perfect in the space.
“The timber in the house was from trees we felled on the property, and the bath timber came from the north-west of Tassie. It all tied in so beautifully. It’s a shame it’s hidden away in the bathroom.”
After testing their talents on bringing to life such a beautiful bath, Nathan harbours an ambition to build something similar on board a boat.
“It was actually lighter than most baths. It was awkward to lift, but it was no more than 50kg, so it would not be heavy on board. The Paulownia timber we used was super light and the blackwood veneer is only 4mm. It would definitely be doable.”
