Boatbuilding

Overnight temps have been gradually warming. The shop temperature reached epoxy’s almost minimum temperature yesterday. I’ve been waiting for this time because the next step in assembling the Mill Creek 13 canoe requires gluing the sheer clamps to the sheer planks. Sheer clamps are longitudinal framework members which strengthen the area where the top (sheer) plank joins the deck. Sheer clamps for this boat are 3/4 inch by 1/2 inch. Pieces were scarfed together to attain the needed length.

There were two sorts of preparation, preparing to glue the parts together, and preparing a place to keep the assembly warm enough to cure.

A clamp is going to be glued to each plank. Then, each plank and clamp pair is going to be sandwiched into one assembly for clamping and curing. A strip of clear packing tape on the outer faces of the two planks prevents them from being glued to each other. Pencil lines on the inside faces of each plank ensure the clamp is being glued to the correct edge. These are double checked, and then triple checked at least twice again. All of my squeeze clamps are gathered up and laid out. A fresh pair of critically important nitrile gloves are donned and the epoxy mixed.

SAFETY note: My loving spouse always tells me never to use absolute superlatives such as never and always, every and none. Yet, this is a case where they apply. EVERY thing I’ve read about epoxy says with certainty that EVERY person will become allergically sensitive to it, some with devastating results, and that the ONLY way to avoid such sensitivity is to NEVER let the stuff touch ANY part of your skin. So, these gloves, buy in bulk, are the minimum. Depending on how involved the operation, longer gloves and more protective clothing might be in order.

Woodworkers talk of “glue-ups” being anxiety filled events. Not so with this epoxy. For this particular glue-up, a simple wood to wood join, I’m using some West System epoxy that’s left over from the previous build. It uses a slow hardener that provides 20-30 minutes of open time, more when the temperatures are cool. So, there was plenty of time to get the pieces in place, get the squeeze clamps on and make sure all the usual slipping and sliding ended up with the parts slid into the correct configuration.

Now, let’s keep it reasonably warm while the epoxy cures. My cheap solution to that end consists of 5 clamp lamps with as many 100 watt bulbs, the real ones, not those wimpy curly things, and a couple of sheets of polyethylene drop cloths. The lamps are clamped to the bottom of the boat building bench, pointing upward. The plastic is draped over temporary slats that keep it off the bench, off the glued up parts, and off the lamps. This tent arrangement builds the temperature up to about 70 degrees, plenty sufficient for good curing.

While it cures, it’s back to making lathe parts.

The boat’s bottom is 1/4″ plywood. It’s lofted, cut and shaped, an easy bit of work. My turning saw, set up with a fine blade, did the job with ease and left an edge with no tearout or splintering. As always, I’m not confident to cut exactly on the line. I stay a bit proud and then get to the line with a block plane.

Sitting on the middle of the bottom is a shop desk that I made recently. By design, I have very few horizontal surfaces in the shop and they are either covered with work in progress or too small to use for much more than holding small tools, cans, etc. The instruction booklets, or small paper plans (the big ones are pinned to the wall) have always been at the mercy of temporary space, leaving me to constantly ask myself, “Where’s the book? … Where’s the book?”

So, I finally did something about it and made a very simple little desk. I used no plans. I just hacked up a bit of old shelf material to make something of suitable size. A few simple dado joints are as fancy as it gets. This isn’t boardroom furniture; I kept it simple and functional. The versatile part of this little desk is the french cleat on the back. I ripped a mating cleat that’s the full width of the shop’s end wall. The desk can now be hung anywhere along that cleat.

While at it, I added a cleat to a pair of wire bins. These were good for de-cluttering another part of the shop.

For the sharp-eyed among you, the large sheet of plans hanging above show plank and bottom shapes along with their tables of offsets. … and the stuff on the floor in the corner is the black locust being saved for mallets.

As always, click on any image to see a larger version.

Oh, before we get too far away form scarphing, here’s a picture of how a pair of the scarphs worked out. Even continuation of the plies is exactly what we wanted.

This boat’s plans specifies the shape of the planks with a table of offsets. The planks and the bottom are lofted, not spiled like in the previous boat. The process is simple. Establish a straight reference edge along one edge of the material (good use of the long jointing plane). Measure off and draw station lines, one per foot for this boat. Take the offsets from the table on the plans and mark on the station lines. Connect the dots using a smooth batten to fair the lines.

Then, saw as close as you dare to the lines and finish up with a block plane. The boat only has 4 planks, 2 sheer and 2 bilge. Cutting and shaping them in pairs is easy and keeps them identical. Once again, a lumberyard bench is nice to have because the easiest way to keep a pair of planks in alignment is to nail them to the bench.

Recent boat building isn’t getting a lot of time. This boat could be moving along a lot faster were there not a lot of other things I find interesting.

• Flatbread “Bings” are the latest cooking discovery for this house husband. They are easy to make and disappear quickly.
• Marveling at hand engraving and learning to draw some of the scrolls and leaves patterns is a new diversion.
• Exploring wooden clocks, and considering making them…
• Reading woodworking books such as “The Joiner and the Cabinet Maker” in which young Thomas learns a woodworking trade, and Tom Fidgen’s “Made by Hand” in which stunningly beautiful furniture is made using only hand tools.
• Following “ClimateGate” and contrasting it with my many years spent in serious, principled scientific discipline.
• Studying the Federalist Papers, in which the country’s founders discuss the merits of the U.S. Constitution. Today’s reading was #41 in which James Madison clearly delineates how the “general Welfare” phrase of Article 1, Section 8, is followed immediately by, and constrained by, a list of 21 enumerated powers which limit what the government can force upon us.

Tomorrow: cut and shape the bottom of the boat.

As always, click on any image to see a larger version.