Tech Tip Tuesday

"With a little help from my friends"  -  an important Tech Tip Tuesday piece of advice to repeat.  As I've noted here previously, my students are building skin-on-frame canoes and a kayak this year.  These boats consist of stringers that get attached to marine plywood frames.  For the canoe design that we're building, there are 11 stringers - that's a lot of juggling.  While it is possible to do this assembly yourself, extra hands are a real treat in making this work a bit easier.  The use of clamps and bungee cord like Tom Yost (Yostwerks) uses helps as well.

Because of the limited amount of space in the workshop and the fact that I've got two more boats being built this year, we're doing our part fabrication down in the wood shop and our assembly work up on the first floor of the building.

 

Even still, we occupy the whole space - and it's a big, well-lit space.

 The one kayak that's being built in class to Dave Gentry's design (Gentry Custom Boats) has some fairly husky stringers and takes a bit of force to flex them into place while the boat is being assembled.  Many hands is very helpful here.

 

One of my students was a bit discouraged this past week and I hope that he'll take the opportunity to read the blog and understand just how important having a little help can be.  He's got an opportunity that he just shouldn't turn down that will interfere with his ability to finish his boat.  However, where there is a will, there is a way.  Friends to help you help you work on your boat here if you wish, friends to help you load the boat parts to take with you to finish elsewhere, and friends to help with those last bits of cutting and information that you might need to finish your boat.

Besides - it's the time of year to be building and maintaining boats around here - not paddling them.  How can I tell?  Well, Mother Nature brought winter to us on December 1st - right on schedule!

 

On Thursday, I hope to have another post that shows what happens with a little help from your friends!