Category Archives: Woodworking

Rounding the corner

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As the title implies, it feels like I have rounded the corner when I get to this point.

First order of business was to go back and relash a couple of stringers. This photo is probably a bit confusing but you are looking at the end of the sliding seat unit resting on the frame. The unit is resting on the lashing. Taking it in and out is would eventually wear out the lashings so I needed to fix it…. or rather fix all 6 of them.

The fix was simple enough. Just cut a notch in the frame for the lashing to rest in and that would keep it out-of-the-way.  Then lash the stringer with an H lashing.

With that done the frame is finished and it’s time to apply the oil. This is not one of my favorite jobs but I do love watching the wood change as the oil is applied! I love the look of oiled WRC.

I have finished the outriggers, I am just waiting on the hardware to arrives so I can mount them to the frame. I oiled the outriggers and seat frame.

Once I get everything fitted and I will apply the varnish. I was going to varnish now, but I had second thoughts and decided to wait.

Once the oil has had a couple of days to dry it will be ready to start skinning. Next I need to  building a set of oars. For the first time I feel like I can see the end of this project. There is still a lot left to do but it feels like it is getting close.

Small fix for a big problem

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As the title implies the fix was simple. Finding it. not so much.

If you look at the end of the keel stringer (boat is upside down in the photo) you will see I added a small block of plywood to the frame. Believe it or not, that made the boat assume a proper shape. Not exactly as I had designed it but it has some rocker in it now. I did find something else that was working against me, but it wasn’t worth the effort it would take to fix it.  Bottom line is I know what I did wrong and how to fix it.

So the frame is done as far as I can tell. It’s stiffer and while not exactly the way I designed it. I am happy with it.  Now it’s time to finish the outriggers for the sliding seat.

 

 

Frame is done and we have a problem…

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Frame came off the strong back and I took out in the yard for the obligatory F.R.O.G. photo. (frame on the grass)  I still love that raked transom.

I took it back into the shop and placed it on the trailer just to get it out of way so I can clean up around the stands.

I noticed there was more flex in this frame but there is also more wood, so it is heavier and skinning always stiffens them somewhat so it wasn’t a big deal. Then I was on the other side of the shop, turned around and I could see the frame was hogged. No doubt about it, the bow was lower than the center of the boat. I could not  believe it! I took and string and tied it to the boat stretched it along the keel, found that the bow was 1″  lower than the center of the boat.

After a lot of double checking and measuring I still didn’t have an answer, just a couple of ideas. After removing a few lashing, forcing the boat back in shape and studying why it wanted to deform when the pressure was released I have found a couple of reason I suspect are behind this. Of course there is only one way to find out, but that is for the next post.

Insomnia was the answer!

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I don’t like to brag on my work, I was raised that was not polite. I may sometimes come across as bragging and I hope not, but sometimes you are just so proud of yourself  you can’t help it. This is one of those times and I am going to openly brag a little.

I want to start attending events and displaying my boats. I need a way to display them inside a small space. The obvious answer was a display rack but the problem was finding a good design. I want it to be simple, lightweight, easy to store and haul. And of course it must be cheap. Try as I might I just could not come up with a design that meet all my demands.

So, 2 AM this morning I am tossing and turning and can’t sleep. I get up and go in my office thinking I could proof read the chapter I was working on in the new book since reading almost always makes me sleepy. Instead I got to thinking about the rack and sketching some ideas. I have done this numerous times and I  have never come up with anything good.

But suddenly it just fell in place! It was ugly but simple and it was cheap and lightweight. I could assemble and disassemble it in 2 minutes or less and I didn’t need a cordless drill or any tools at assemble it. This was exactly what I have been looking for! I had been over thinking it all this time.

After that I managed to go back to sleep.  This morning I ate breakfast, ran to the lumber yard and after 2-3 hours in the shop and I had it built.

I settled on 3 boat rack since this would keep the tallest boat at eye level for most adults. As you can see, the rack is barely visible with the boats on it. Even so I will probably spray on some paint or varnish just to make it look a little better.

The ends are 1×4’s glued and screwed together. No fancy joints, just bare bones slapped together, basic construction. The rods are closet poles with a small dowel pin in them to keep the ends properly spaced apart.  Since the joints are a loose fit it’s wobbly. To keep it from flopping around I use polyester line as cross bracing across the back of the rack. Using a truckers hitch I can pull them tight and the suddenly the rack becomes very rigid!

The rope just has a loop on the end and just hooks over the protruding dowel.

Simple, effective and it cost me less than $30.

OK, I am though bragging now. 🙂

 

Inch by inch it comes together

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Finally, I am able to walk with out holding onto a crutch, cane or whatever was in arms reach. Actually this ankle is healing faster than I expected but boredom has a way  of making time stand still.

It is starting to look a lot like a boat. The hull is getting really close to being done. You can get an idea of its shape in this photo.

Bow is basically finished, just need to trim and lash the gunwales in place.

I worked on the transom today. I wouldn’t call it hard but I consider myself a decent woodworker. I suspect it would be challenging if you were not experienced. There was a lot of hand fitting to get everything right.

Put in on the boat, take it off and trim a little. Put in on the boat, take it off and trim a little. Repeat and then repeat it again.

One my most used tools, my bench! Just so much easier to do jobs like this with the proper tool. The best tools for the job don’t always have to be plugged or of charged either.

Here the transom is In place with the stringers trimmed. I really love the look of this transom but it is so small it’s not easy to work on.

This will be the finished transom. It needs some trimming and detailing. It will be stained and varnished eventually.  I am considering laminating a nice wood veneer on it. Of course it is it so small and its will barely show due to the rake, it so I am not sure if it is worth the extra effort.

A little more progress

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I had an accident and Praise God it crawled away with just a badly bruised, possibly sprained ankle. That has kept me out of the shop for several days now. Swelling is down and I managed to put on my boots and actually lace both up the morning.

I got in the shop a little bit yesterday and got to work on lashing some of the stringers in place. I built the stands I work on and one of the great things is I can can off the top bar and lower the boat down on one of the cross braces. This allowed me to sit in a chair and work. Was nice to be able do something besides watch TV. Trust me, there is nothing on TV!

I like to lash the center of the boat together leaving the stringers long on the ends.  Once I have the middle lashed I move to the ends and start on them.

As you can see the stringers were very long on this one. Other than being in the way it’s not a problem and I can use the cutoff by scarfing them together into longer pieces for use on the deck or seat stringers in another boat.

The transom is going to be interesting to build! A little harder than I anticipated but I am not surprised either. Once I get the bow down I will start on it.

Now for something totally different

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I have been looking at a ‘pulling’ (rowing) boat design for probably two years now. I have played with lots of ideas. I pretty much finished the design on Sweetbriar but just never built it.  Not sure why but I just kept finding myself trying other things. A couple of weeks ago I was bouncing ideas around on the Wooden Boat Forum when I had a new idea.

What if I took one of my previous designs and made it more like a scull. Add a deck with coamings instead of an open boat.  Lowered the profile while trying to keep some traditional styling in the boat. (I am a big fan of traditional boats)

For those of us that are more experienced boaters (read: older) keep some stability since this is for exercise and recreation. Long enough to take advantage of the sliding seat. For use on protected water and but keep the bow tall enough that it can deal with some chop too. Crown the decks to divert water off to the sides.

This is what I ended up with.  If you could see the waterlines it is essentially a double ender. The transom acts as a bit of a rudder and is largely for looks.  The final version has a rounded shape and doesn’t come to point like I show in the drawing. The plan is a to varnish the transom and you could even put a name on there in the traditional manner.

I have started working on the prototype of a drop-in sliding seat rowing unit for this one. I need to get the frame built so I can check the fit and work out some of the details like how I want to mount it to the boat.  I need to come up with a simple-to-build outrigger. That is proving to be a bit of a challenge. I want something that anyone with some basic woodworking skills can build.

Weather is calling for 5 days or rain starting this afternoon. I just made a run to my lumber supplier and picked up a bunch of plywood yesterday. I see a lot of shop time next few days.

 

Finished…..

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It’s on the wall, loaded up and will probably be modified for a long time. I have a few things left to do but not sure how I want to do them. So for now it is done. I have a lot of tools to clean and sharpen now that they have a good home.

Time to rest a little and then go back and work on Shad after Christmas. Merry Christmas to all!

Tool Cabinet * Almost done

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Yesterday I got the doors built and started working on the brackets to hold the tools before I gave out.  Today I went back to work on the brackets and trying to figure out how to arrange the tools.

To make it easier on myself I spread the the cabinet pieces around the shop and started gathering all my tools. That way I could arrange them, then rearrange, look at them and arrange it another way. 🙂

Eventually I got to a point I could not come up with anything better so I started building brackets. Eventually I had to remove the tools and started to install the hinges.

Doors fit together fairly wall with no big surprises. Looks like I let one get a little out of square but it is a shop cabinet so I am sure not going let that nag at me.

Once the hinges were installed I stood it up and started installing tools and adding a few more brackets. I think this is all I am going to do for now. I can add more tool and brackets as I find the need. I am sure there are some tools hidden around the shop too. I didn’t bother to drag out all my planes but they will lay on their side in the shelves.

Tomorrow I will remove the tools, flip it over and install the cleat. Then I need to move some electrical outlets and install the cleat on the wall. Then I  hang the cabinet and start filling it for real

Then I can get back to Shad which you can see in this photo if you look close.

 

Tool cabinet * An about face!

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Hate to waste all that work but I scraped the idea of making the cabinet from oak. I had the carcass finger jointed and ready to glue up yesterday but I started to realize that it was just a problem in making. The oak was  heavy, it was warping and being solid wood I had to allow for expansion and contraction. The more I thought on it I decided ‘the look’ didn’t outweigh the problems and extra work I was creating. After all this is all about function, not looks.

I finally decided to save myself a lot of headaches so this morning I started over. I went to the building supply and picked up some birch plywood. It may not look as good but at least I know I will not have the problems I was going to have with the oak.

It’s also a heck of lot faster to build. I started this morning and it was glued together awhen I left the shop. I will start on the doors in the morning. I think I can finish them tomorrow. Then the slow stuff starts, deciding on how I want the tools arranged and building all the brackets and fixtures to hold them.

When I went to pick up the plywood I was surprised to be asked if I wanted the good plywood or imported stuff. One of things I really like about this supplier is they keep quality supplies, so this was a rather big surprise. But I was really glad to see that they were offering both.

Since this was just shop cabinet I went with the import after being warned it wasn’t very good. But it was $20 a sheet cheaper too. But you get what you pay for! I am not complaining, but compared to the what I have been getting this stuff is cheap! Lot of voids inside. poor quality surfaces, Not flat and I didn’t check but I don’t think the edges were square or straight.  No way would I want my house cabinets made from this stuff!