Cherry Cleats

The pieces and parts of this boat provide some interesting tasks offering some diversion from what may seem at times routine in the construction. Or, they can be just the right sized project completed while waiting for epoxy to cure. One such time filler was a pair of wooden cleats I decided to manufacture from that cherry I have hauled around ever since living in Houston years ago.  Combine that with the discovery of a good article from Harry Bryan called, imagine this, "Making Wooden Cleats".

From WoodenBoat No. 192 (Sept/Oct 2006)

They are easy to do. This instruction makes it simple. I made 2 for now using the chart he provides for specific dimensions based on the line to be used.

• From cut offs discarded from the rudder head, 3/4" cherry was cut to 1" height in my case and then cut to 5" lengths. These cleats will be fastened to the 2 masts for halyards ( or halliards per an Englishman).

Cherry blanks.

• a 9" bandsaw (with a dull blade) eventually made it through the stock to give a rough shape.

• flat and tail files, the belt sander and final hand sanding delivered the product. 45 minutes a piece?

Rough cut lines.

A pair with stock for 2.

One of two with added turpentine for effect.

There still remains some slight "perfection sanding", but they look suitable for the task.

Garboard Planks (or Shadows of the Whiskey Plank)

Until I made the first plank, I felt I was dancing around the idea of building a boat. Most of the spars have been made. Pieces like the rudder head have been cut. Aprons and stems have been created. Even the backbone with its moulds and fretted battens (I've moved them countless times) hadn't mentally convinced me I was building this boat.

Before shear batten was adjusted.

That all changed yesterday when the garboard planks were lain on the moulds for a test fit. I am pleased with the result and the technique. Those steps are as follows:

• 2 sheets of the 6mm okoume ply were ripped down the length to 12" wide panels. The finished plank was almost 10" at its widest and this width worked (by happenstance?).
• These were stacked and tapered to a 8:1 scarf for joining.

Scarfing of 2 stern ends. Previously had done 4 for middle joints.

• With wax paper on my Black & Decker Workmate, the panels were joined. "Wet" epoxy on the scarfs were followed by thickened epoxy.

• I used a small nail through the panels to prevent epoxy slide in the joint. Small wedges under the clamped joint batten help snug it all down uniformly.
• 24 hrs later one panel was ready. A heat gun and scraper readily removed the excess. (Thanks Ross Lillistone).

Stacked planks with tracings from the spiling truss.

• Since I let the bow end run wild for final shaping, I was not convinced I had enough panel once joined so I added 8" from what was to be cut off at the stern end.

Added 8".

• The trussed batten ladder from the moulds worked like a charm. The finer ends do need extra cross pieces to hold the joined battens in place.

I regret I didn't take more photos, but I was wrapped up in the process. I'll take more detail pics in subsequent planks. Here are the planks resting on the moulds.

Garboard planks resting.

Planks landed on their marks.

Some slight trimming of a couple moulds will be required.

All in all the work went fine and much better than expected. There will be some twist in the fine ends to the planks, but that is expected. I likely could have done without the 8" scabbed piece. This part will be painted and nobody will know. I've heard some complain about wielding the long planks, but I had no problems and thankfully ... they fit!

At this point we have 105 hrs in the build. Most Americans have probably 4 times that in television viewing over the same period, but that is a sad discussion I'll save for another day. Later-

Sticks Without a Boat

For some reason that first coat of varnish has given me the notion that I have the beginnings of a boat. The molds didn't. Stems haven't, but these parts have. I finished sanding the birdsmouth spars today and gave them a thinned coat of varnish. This includes both main and mizzen masts as well as the yard. Both booms and boomkin will be solid as the weight savings is negligible that low in the boat and there are likely many fastenings (blocks, cleats, etc.) that will benefit from solid material to screw into.

Sanding drum chucked into drill.

Drum after good use.

An  old wire spool with adaptations served well for rolling the sanding belts. I went through several failed attempts to provide enough friction to roll the belt however. An old bike inner tube glued to the shaft kept creeping. Rubber bands worked great, but only for a few revolutions. Finally I spun sash cord on the drum and that worked fine until it would wear out after 30 minutes use. That was about one complete sanding of a spar. Why does the first time doing anything take twice as long? Discovery and experimentation. Edison's light bulb took a few tries. This old Craftsman drill has been through countless projects. The cord is needing replacement, but I'm not worried yet. It seems to work just fine standing in water.

Sanding block.

Final sanding was done by hand with 150 paper. I spray mounted the paper to a block of minicell foam. Worked great.

Drywall screws for spar support on manning benches.

Manning bench.

The drywall support idea I grabbed from Off Center Harbor. It is a cool site of helpful videos on all things wooden boat. There also a series of vids in progress on the building a Caledonia Yawl.












This first coat of spar varnish was thinned and liberally applied.

Now I need a boat for these sticks.

3 spars

Plug detail.

Sparkling Diversions- Fall on the Chesapeake

The Sooty progress has been nil of late. The food and shelter thing keeps pressing its demands. However, I was able to steal away a week to journey on my favorite bay and thought I'd share some photos and a last day video as some recompense for build regression.

Reaching homeward.

I do believe this is my favorite time of the year for boating. The air is crisp. The light quality is brilliant. The wind generally fair and, of course, there are those colors. Add to that the passing of Labor Day turns off the traffic of other boaters and quaint towns along coast can once again hint at a long ago charm. Without brash tourists at every turn, the less frequent sailor is now welcomed.

Sunday afternoon.

Sunday evening.

Monday morning.

My father once said power boating is about points "A" and "B". Sailing is about the journey in between. While I heartedly agree, there were a couple "points" where we lingered and just enjoyed the world. One was the town of Onancock on the Eastern Shore and the other, Reedville on the western shore's Great Wicomico. Both seem to be hanging in limbo. Steamboat ferries and oyster boom days are long gone. Far too many outsiders have moved in, but thankfully the boutique rabble had gone with the summer. What is left is a genuine charm and proud history for any who'd slow down to take notice.

The replica "Godspeed" at Onancock's wharf.

Some late afternoon essentials on the Occohannock Creek.

A Reedville Captains home. Classic form.

Lovely skiff details.

Scenery on Cockrell Creek.

Reedville's landmarks.

Part of Reedville's (Fleeton's) menhaden fleet.

Hard workers of the menhaden fleet.

Our neighbors in Reedville.

Me first matey. None better.

So, there you have it, just a taste of a poorly photographed week, but perhaps you get a hint of the beauty experienced. I leave you with a portion of our last sail home. Enjoy!

Shaping Sheaves

In preparation for spar sanding, I decided to cut the openings for the mast sheaves. I pulled the Delrin sheaves from a pair of old Schaefer blocks I found in the shed (don't know what boat they came from). Both are approximately 3/16" short of the mast tips and will work just fine for the halyards.

spar and drill press on bench.

successive borings.

   

Sheave test fit.

I jigged the spars level on the open bench, chocked them in place, and bore holes for the sheave slots. A Forstner bit did quick work of it.

















A chisel and utility knife roughed the edges to shape. Filing completed the needed slot width.

I test fit the sheave with a pan  head machine screw. I'll replace with a counter sink screw and finish washer later. he machine screw may be tight enough to fore go an aircraft nut on it.

The Cup!! and Mast Building

Well, first a big "Hurrah!" Well done Team Oracle USA. What an amazing spectacle. From being almost out at 8-1 (including a 2 race penalty from pretrials?!), they won 8 straight. Magnificent  duel in flying machines.

Back to a more "primitive" boat and building: no carbon so far.

The main yard and mizzen mast birdsmouth spars were lead ups to the "biggie", main mast. The practice was needed and I believe it paid off. While all spars need the final sanding, they have been 16 sided for that step. The other steps were:

• for the 16'-10" spar 8 staves were cut on the table saw out of a 5/4x6x18' douglas fir board. Stave width, height, and taper were derived from Duckworks' Calculator Program.

• ganged together the staves were then tapered with a jack plane. Some sort of jig using either the table or circular saw would have been quicker, but I wanted to sneak up on the final taper. I also like planing.

• a thin coat of epoxy was painted onto what would be the interior face of the staves.

• then thickened epoxy was brushed onto the "beaks" of the staves.

• the base octagonal plug with feathered or crowned ends was inserted between the staves and actually aided in the glue up.

• a second pair of hands helps tighten zip ties every 4-6".

• I spent perhaps an hour confirming the straightness of the glued and zipped spar. A tight string run over the mast proved very helpful toward keeping things true. For something larger I'd want to make a more exacting jig to hold everything true.

• I left the setup overnight. Cut the ties this morning. 

Abstract No. 2

• Knocked the stave edges to 8 sides. With a spar jig turned that to 16 sides. Those residual corners were hit lightly with the plane. 

Almost 17' and, thankfully, true.

Sap streaks I had intended to turn in, but didn't catch it.

8 sided cherry plug.

Overall. Final base plug yet to be added.

• I almost forgot to add that I had estimated the weight of this spar to be 22 lbs. The unsanded/ unfinished spar is 19 lbs. 4 oz. On target!
• And so, sanding remains to suit for finish. I haven't decided on this method: drill with drum, sanding longboards, or hand sanding by "shoe shine" with a sanding belt. Perhaps all of the above? I'd like to figure a simple way to rotate the mast like a lathe. We'll see ... I now need a boat for these sticks.

Keelson, Battens and Birdsmouth

In racing to get some work on the boat done before a busy week, I neglected to take many pictures. The weather was fantastic. Cool and bright today.

What I did accomplish:

• Keelson shaping-
• with "witness" saw cuts every 1.5" a chisel readily removed a majority of the wood. The handplane got closer and will be fine tuned prior to setting the garboard planks.
• New battens-
• the previous set were so fraught with breaks and twists that they had to go.
• new strong yellow pine battens were scarfed and placed on the forms. YP was from the kayak build. Save those scraps. They will be useful somewhere.
• some tweaking of the battens has been made over 2 days as different views seem to reveal slight "hard" spots in the curves. No dramatic changes, but 1/8" movements here and there.

• Garboard plank template-
• I will use the "ladder" technique to form a template from the battens.
• a batten will have to be placed on the previous plank to make the successive template. We'll see how that goes.

• Cut birdsmouth staves for main mast-
• all 8 came from a 5/4x6x18' plank cut into 4 pieces which were then split vertically.
• using a jack plane the staves were tapered. Hand planing smoothed the final result.

Familiar set up. See kayak build.

Multiple finger boards for ripping with kerf blade.

Planing taper to ganged staves.

Outdoor shop.

All tolled I've probably 12 hours of work over the past 3 days.

I forgot to mention I had built a 3/4" scale balsa model of the boat to study a few details like a simple awning/tent and to generally familiarize myself with the build.

Awning study. Looking for a simple tent design with low windage.