Full House...

This is what I like to see...  Lots of work going on.

Makes you smile a bit, no?

 

Tech Tip Tuesday

Making the skin-on-frame kayak with my friend earlier, we had no issues with our build.  The thing you need to keep in mind is that we're both experienced woodworkers.  Many of my students in my class or new to woodworking or are coming back to it after a long time.

Sometimes, there are difficulties.

The major one that we've had so far?

This:

What you're looking at is a hole that's been drilled through the sheer stringer on the right and into the frame at an angle.   This hole will be fore a screw that will be used to help hold the stringer to the frame while the thickened epoxy adhesive in the joint cures.  Drilling at an angle has resulted in a break-out in the frame.  This isn't a disaster and can be easily repaired.  The bigger issue is drilling edge-on into a piece of 1/2" plywood with a small drill bit and keeping centered in the plywood.  Not everyone's eye or hand is quite as steady as it needs to be - practice helps, but we can avoid this issue.

The small jig below is the solution.  It's a drilling guide made from some scrap oak.  The portion that is in my hand would get clamped to the frame.  The other section has a series of holes (Some steel drill bushings from McMaster-Carr or the like would have been a bit better to put where the holes were, but this is adequate.)  and goes in front of the stringer.  These holes are placed so that they will locate drilled holes centrally in the plywood.  Note the notch in the piece that gets clamped to the plywood frame to clear the stringers.  Once installed, you drill through the appropriate hole. 

Simple. 

Easy and quick to re-position and use.

We're starting to tick along now and frames are going together quickly!

Paddles are progressing...

 

Oh, yeah - and oars, too!  My two oar-makers had cut a tenon on the end of the Western Red Cedar and Spanish Cedar oar blades at our last class.  In addition, they also cut a mating dado into a piece of Walnut for the tip and bonded it on the tenon.  This week they continued to shape the tips and the looms.  They even look like oars now.

The double-bladed paddle that has progressed the furthest is nearly ready to be split to accommodate the stainless-steel ferrule that will turn this into a two-piece paddle.  When you have a paddle that is as long as a kayak paddle, it is truly handy to have a ferrule for transporting it.  The other advantage of the ferrule is that they allow for setting the paddle blades to a left- or right-handed feathering or un-feathered position.  The feathered blade position is nice for paddling into the wind.  People with wrist, elbow or shoulder problems sometimes prefer the blades to be un-feathered  to reduce the stress of twisting required when using feathered blades.

Some of the students are starting to work on fine details - like grip shaping.  The Microplane shaping tool has been a very handy item for this shaping.  It cuts the wood and leaves a very nice surface - unlike a rasp which tears the wood fibers.  It even does a great job on end-grain.

There's still some work going on that requires making lots of shavings...

Some of the more ambitious design work is continuing and should be ready soon!

Kids

Most people who don't have children don't understand those of us who do. Surprisingly, they don't understand our offspring, either. Even though they were children once themselves, they appear to have forgotten most of their own childhood and probably don't remember the joys of it or the trials and tribulations of their (very) patient parents.

I suppose those people who are young and single don't give too much thought to the bathroom, either. They just take it for granted. Parents of toddlers have to give it lots of thought.

For example, I was in the bathroom getting ready this morning and had just flushed the toilet and was preparing to shave when DS wandered into the bathroom in a dazed manner to use the toilet.


"What's that noise?", he asked.

"Uh, that's the toilet tank filling up with water." Being that I am an engineer by profession, I proceeded to explain to him the inner workings of the toilet and why it was filling the tank with water.

Then it dawned on me.

"Why did you ask? Have you never heard the toilet tank fill before?"

I got a particularly confused look from DS.

Probably not.

For the longest period of time, DS seems to have been imbued with some mutant predisposition that left him unable to flush the toilet. As a parent of a child this age, you must understand that this had both good points and bad points for DW and I. First, there is the obvious bad point of coming into the bathroom to find that the toilet has a "surprise" of some sort in it. Then, there are the good points. You can almost instantly determine both the gastric health of your child and know if he wiped.

Yup.

Did any wiping occur? For the longest time, DS seems to have assumed that he has a Teflon bottom as he would tell us that he didn't need to wipe. A quick check of the laundry basket would always shoot this assumption down faster than a Scud missle over Tel Aviv.

'Skid marks'? Check.

C'mon kid.

We'd be ecstatic if he'd just use the papyrus as reliably as the kid below:

To be quite honest, I think that there is a distinct difference between the genders when it comes to potty training. I don't remember it being such a big issue for DD as she was growing up. As a matter of fact, it was the day that DS first came home from teh hospital that she managed to sleep through the night without a diaper and wake up dry in the morning. She just decided that was what she was going to do and did it.

At the moment, we have different issues with DD. She's at that in between stage. To borrow and excellent expression from one of DW's bloggy friends, Expat Mum ,(One of a group of wonderful ex-patriot, mostly British, blogging moms - do go visit her!) DD is turning into a...

Queenager.

While others find her to be a delightful and charming young lady when she is out and about, at home she can be much more, um, assertive.


She's decided that those things that she doesn't deign to do, she will not - and let you know that she won't.

In no uncertain terms.

At this point, her progress on the kayak that we've been building has ground to a halt and we're having a bit of a tête-à-tête in regard to the terms for doing the building work. As it is something that I know that DD wants to do, I've put a condition on when we can work on the boat. It's not extreme or anything. I've simply told DD that if we are to work on her boat, her room has to be clean. Not spotless, mind you - just neat. It still doesn't seem to be a great motivation for her even though I know she wants to work on the kayak.

I'm still looking for a motivational tool.

Got any ideas?

Oh yeah, I know what you're thinking, by the way - and no, it's not blackmail!

Alex Low : Trad Rad

Galena (AKA Cockle)

Alex Low is a talented and hard-working boatbuilder on Gabriola Island in British Columbia and has been spoiling the members of the WoodenBoat Forum by allowing us to follow along on his build of a replica of a J.R. Purdon cutter that is at Mystic Seaport - Cockle. This particular boat was known by several names including Galena and Fox. This boat is a particularly large daysailer at nearly 19' long, and a displacement of about 5400 pounds. Both his website and the thread at the WoodenBoat Forum have a spectacular set of pictures taking you through the build process.

Keep in mind that although they had done a great deal of groundwork in getting the lines for the boat, lofting and arranging for materials, the actual building process started back in November. I'm going to abbreviate the process significantly, but I urge you to follow the links above to see the progress of their work

The main keel members were cut from Douglas Fir. Below are a few pieces from out in the yard - and they are the small ones! The keel timber itself was especially impressive as was the framing saw they used to cut it!




The next shot is nice as it shows the well-lit workspace they are in as well as the molds (against the rear wall), lofting (on the floor) and the keel timbers rabbeted and assembled in an upright position. Note the notches for the ribs.


The ribs are all steamed Pacific Yew - a very tough, but flexible choice for this location.


I particularly like the next shot. It shows the stern timber and the ribs and complexity of the rabbet looking up over the transom. Truly beautiful workmanship!


Starting at the keel, they attached the garboard planks which were of Douglas Fir. The remainder of the planking is Western Red Cedar.


About a week ago, the whiskey plank went on. Alex posted this beautiful shot. I think he should be selling posters of this myself. The light is cool and the shape is awesome even if the hull isn't faired yet!


They have the goal of completing this boat to have it in Port Townsend, Washington in the fall. Personally, I think that they're going to reach that goal. Particularly if they are working this fast.

It's been hard work, but Alex and his friends have made it look easy and done a beautiful job on the build in the process!

Tech Tip Tuesday

You will probably think that I'm off my rocker today, but bear with me. (Pun intended.) This post really goes along with my earlier "P-rule" post. As you know from some of my other posts I am working on a new project - a skin on frame kayak. Perhaps because I am an engineer (and bear of little brain), I like to be able to think about my boatbuilding a bit trying to make the method work better or easier. This is particularly true of new projects whether it be a new design or build method. It's really important to sit and think through the process before beginning. In boatbuilding, the materials can be expensive and the processes relatively irreversable. You want to head off your mistakes before they happen.

While most boat building books refer to the "moaning chair", where you sit after the mistake has happened and put the tools down so you don't either a) do more damage or b) hurt yoursef, I am of the Pooh school of thot and vote for the "thotful spot". It's pre-emptive in nature. It should be a quiet, comfortable space where you can work undisturbed. Sit in your "thotful spot" with a "restorative beverage" (Thanks, Greg Rössel!) and some books, paper, plans or whatever helps you visualize what you are about to do. Work it through however it works best for you before you actually go and do the work. I find this method to be very helpful. If you find yourself at an impasse, don't let the "thotful spot" become the "moaning chair" - go and find another resource or ask someone who may know. It works a lot better!

A very productive day!

The class that I teach uses a workshop that is shared with a variety of other woodworking classes. The class I teach is a 3-1/2 hour long session on Saturday mornings. Because of the fact that we share the shop, we need to store the boats being built in a barn on the school's property. It usually takes us about 20 minutes at either end of the class to move tools, stock and boats in and out of the shop at either end of the class. In mid-winter, we have to come back on Sunday mornings to put the canoes back into the barn. We cannot put the boats back in the barn on Saturday because the glue used to bond the strips will freeze and turn bright white and any epoxy that is being applied will not cure because of the low temperatures.

C'est la vie.

Every now and again the class I teach has a "double session". We start at our usual time and have a break for lunch and continue for the rest of the afternoon. The big advantage is that save probably about an hour of class time that is usually spent moving boats and gear back and forth. The side advantage is the lunch. We either order something out or have a "pot-luck" meal. The camaraderie of a full day is really great, to be quite honest. My classes are small and they become a tightly knit group. Often, former students drop in to see what is going on.

This Saturday, we had a double session. It was a productive day in all respects. My two students who are in the process of building a Wee Lassie and Wee Lassie II canoe managed to finish stripping 1/2 of the "football" on both boats and from the feature strips most of the way to the sheer line. Considering the fact that they have been stripping for 4 class sessions, they have made a lot of progress. Here are pictures of their boats:


The student who lost his woodworking shop to fire and his friend who lost his boat in the same incident worked on the Osprey sea kayak and did a LOT of work, assembling the stems, sheer clamp and about 1/2 of the hull stripping in a day. These two students have had a large number of setbacks including the loss of tools, stems and some of the bow and stern patterns for the kayak in the fire. They were both very pleased to finally get stripping the hull and to make the progress that they did. The strip selection was made so that contrasting strips on both sides of the hull are mirrored. He plans to put detail strips on the deck, but the hull will be attractive as well. Here are some pictures of his progress:


On top of all of this woodwork, one of my students was ready to 'glass her canoe. We did this in a warm, clean room above the shop. We managed to do an instructional session for the other students to observe the set-up of our epoxy station, the draping and saturation of the cloth and the trimming of the excess cloth. We also added two layers of 'glass over the stem and stern to finish the canoe. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the class as the instructor because the student finally sees the woodwork "pop". Grain is enhanced and contrasting woods show their beauty. Here's the boat:

It's difficult to see because of the reflection of the lights, but the bottom "football" of the canoe was started with a dark strip and goes lighter in a gradient pattern as it goes towards the keel. This student is also a quilter and she wanted to have a 9-patch built into her feature strip that was reminiscent of her quilting work. A close-up of the detail is below:


A great day and beautiful work by my students!