What's James doing today?

Back to woodworking.....

2009-11-04T21:59:00.004-05:00

Things are rolling pretty good with the lectern. Even with all the distractions it is coming right along. Maybe I'll be able to deliver it before Thanksgiving.

Tonight I was able to dry assemble the sides and front to the top of the base. I chose pocket screws for ease of use. I wanted to use biscuits, but that was gonna require a lot of figuring.

Anyway, here are the pics of the mock up. I will glue and assemble after some much needed sanding.

This is my rifle

2009-11-04T21:45:00.005-05:00

Nothing particularly special. My first M-4 build. LMT stripped lower, Armalite lower parts kit,

BCM Upper Receiver Assembly and Bolt Carrier Group. Iron sights. I got
the buffer tube and butt stock from a friend. Can't wait to sling some
steel.

This is my rifle.

There are many like it, but this one is MINE.

My rifle is my best friend. It is my life.

I must master it as I must master my life.

My rifle without me is useless.

Without my rifle, I am useless.

I must fire my rifle true.

I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me.

I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will...

My rifle and myself know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire,

the noise of our bursts, nor the smoke we make.

We know it is the hits that count. We will hit...

My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life.

Thus, I will learn it as a brother.

I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories,
its sights, and its barrel.

I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage.

I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready.

We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God I swear this creed.

My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country.

We are the masters of our enemy.

We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until there is no enemy, but PEACE.

Lectern for my church

2009-11-01T07:30:00.009-05:00

This is something I have wanted to build for a few years now, and I figure now is the time to get started. The pics are pretty self explanatory. The first two are 2D exports from Google Sketchup. If you aren't familiar with Sketchup, check out the link and they can explain it better than I could.

I am building this out of cherry, mostly solid. The sides and top will be cherry ply. I plan on finishing with a wipe on poly since I have had amazing results with the stuff on some other small projects and really want to get more familiar with it. It's also a lot easier to apply than a brush-on finish.

These are the base pieces after mitering and just stacked to get a sense of scale.

Here you can see the pieces glued up and waiting for the next step.

I built spacers that would fit in the recesses of each level and put it 1/4" above the one below in order to lighten the appearance of the base a bit.

I think it looks lighter... Now I need to bullnose all of those.

But first let me mock up the front panel and place it there to get a perspective on the size and scale of the whole thing. I think the proportions seem correct/good to me.

Here is the glue-up of the front panel. Notice no clamps, only tape.

Bullnose complete! Looks good if I do say so myself.

Another view.

And now with the newly glued-up front panel in place.

And from the side.

Over all this is going pretty much according to plan. I drew up a full sized template before I started and that has been my guide for the odd angles, especially on the pieces for the front panel. This week I hope to get the sides cut and fit and put together with the front. Then I have to make the same thing (only smaller) to fit inside of the main stantion. I am designing this lectern to be adjustable for different speaker's preferences. That is not on the sketchup drawings and pretty much only resides in my head how it's going to work. I need to try to get it put on paper somewhere....

In other news

2009-10-22T19:03:00.001-04:00

I'm building a new rifle. I will be getting the rest of the parts over the next week or so and I will post pics when it's done.

It's been a while....

2009-10-22T15:35:00.003-04:00

I really need to be more vigilant on updating this thing. This will be a very short post with some pics, so here goes.

I recently finished a couple of loft beds for a friend's daughters. Upon delivery and setup, I learned a valuable lesson on not believing everything you read on the internet. I got the twin mattress dimensions there and the mattresses had to really be stuffed into the frames. I have another project to work right now and then I will be building a couple of desks for each girl, and then I will take the beds back and fix them so the mattresses fit better. Anyway, here are a few pics of the beds as they sit right now.

I really need to be more vigilant on updating this thing. This will be a very short post with some pics, so here goes.

I recently finished a couple of loft beds for a friend's daughters. Upon delivery and setup, I learned a valuable lesson on not believing everything you read on the internet. I got the twin mattress dimensions there and the mattresses had to really be stuffed into the frames. I have another project to work right now and then I will be building a couple of desks for each girl, and then I will take the beds back and fix them so the mattresses fit better. Anyway, here are a few pics of the beds as they sit right now.

Paddle Making

2009-09-06T21:35:00.003-04:00

So, the guy who bought my canoe bought "custom" wooden paddles from some dude on the internet. A guy who makes at least a good part of his living making canoe paddles. My buddy paid $160 ea. for two paddles. I was looking at one the other day and was somewhat less than impressed.

I told my friend that I really couldn't talk since I had not made a canoe paddle but the quality and craftsmanship were somewhat lacking. My buddy agreed that he wasn't happy with the craftsmanship considering what he paid. This was exactly the motivation I needed to get busy making a paddle though and the fruits of my labor are in the pics below. This is my first paddle, and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

I used left over strips from the canoe for the blade and a strip of scrap white oak for the spine. Then I laminated some mahogany that I have for the remainder of the shaft. Finally, having decided on a "T" style grip instead of a palm grip, I used some more white oak to mortise and tenon (with a through tenon) to attach that. I also wedged the through tenon. The grip looks a little clunky for a "T" grip, but it feels like a palm grip.

I glassed the blade with some extra glass cloth that I had lying around. It is 6 oz. but I think if I started to make paddles, I would get my hands on some 4 oz instead.

I finished it today and I will be taking it on a canoe trip next weekend with the boyscouts. I will pass it around to all the adults to get their feedback on what they like and, more importantly, what they don't like, and I will incorporate the changes into #2.

Gluing the mahogany spine/shaft.

Epoxy is messy!

Just signed with a sharpie before glassing. This paddle will be worth a fortune some day!

The finished product!

Bathroom Cabinet Done!

2009-09-03T21:16:00.000-04:00

I finished the bathroom cabinet pretty quickly. Once again, I deviated from the plans and didn't put the door on. This is mainly because the cabinet is only 6" deep, take away nearly 3/4" for the back and another 5/8" for the door, and you wind up with a pretty shallow cavity for anything useful, so it made more sense to make it an open shelf instead.Corner detail. The bathroom is too narrow to allow a shot of the dovetails.

The whole thing.

Cherry Bathroom Cabinet

2009-08-24T21:06:00.005-04:00

This drawing is about the most in depth drawing I ever do. Most of my plans are in my head. This is actually (for me) a very detailed working drawing. For the most part, whenever I build anything, I work from a VERY rough sketch with dimensions penciled in. Rarely do I stay with the actual design. This can be discouraging to my wife. I promised her a coffee table in white oak; very country looking. This evolved to a more contemporary design in cherry and walnut. She wound up with a pine blanket chest for a coffee table instead. I know it can be confusing for some, but to me it made perfect sense and turned out exactly as I thought (eventually).

This is a rough drawing of the cabinet I am building for my half-bath to hang above the toilet. This drawing has the door with two panels (I'm using bookmatched spalted maple with the cherry) but I decided to do a single bookmatched panel instead.

Glued up and out of clamps. The shelf is just set in place for now and will be glued in after the back is installed.

Here's a little bit of a perspective view.

And from the other side. The dovetails are hand cut. Partly because I'm too cheap to buy a dovetail setup for my router, and mostly because I want to be able to do them by hand. This is actually the third set I have ever cut. I do have some improvements to make to my technique (mainly patience) but each set gets better.

And here is the book matched panel for the door I will be assembling soon. Am I the only one that sees the eagle bottom center?

New Tablesaw

2009-08-24T20:11:00.004-04:00

Well, now that I had turned over the Prospector to the rightful owner (and gotten paid) it was time to look for new tools. I was going to buy a new table saw to replace my old Craftsman contractor model. I was thinking of the new Rigid with the granite tops. Then, as I thought about it, I convinced myself that that is not exactly an upgrade and as such, not worth spending any money on. Not that I don't think the Rigid would be an improvement over the one I have, just not better enough to justify the expense.

Aside from that, I wasn't prepared to spend the money on a cabinet saw, because they are really expensive and I really didn't want to pay for one. So I had convinced myself that I didn't need a new saw anyway and the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Then I started poking around on Craigslist. That's where I found this baby.

A Delta unisaw 52" unifence "Grand Edition" Model 36-816. I noticed that the guy had it marked down to $950 from $1000. A bargain at either price. The saw is about ten years old, and that is all time in a hobby workshop, so I know it wasn't subject to running 6-8 hours a day 5 days a week (which means low hours). This saw could handle that type of running though and still be worth the money I paid for it.

Needless to say, I couldn't pass on this deal because I would never see one like it again. I borrowed a trailer from a friend, hooked it up to my Danger Ranger (with 259,000 miles) and took off to pick it up. The guy I got it from had already sold the other tools he had that I would have been interested in, but he gave me a boatload of lumber. All cherry, walnut, mahogany and curly maple. I tried to pay him for the lumber as it was worth about $800, but he wouldn't take anything for it.

I didn't travel 2.5 hours to fight with someone to take my money, so I loaded my truck and took off.

Now I have to wire my shop. My new saw needs 220v service (I have none in there). Not to mention that I really need more outlets. I originally had 2 pairs of outlets on the same circuit, and couldn't run my shop vac with any other tools without throwing a breaker. I added two circuits at 110v and one at 220v, all at 20A, so they should be able to take any load I place on them with my small shop tools. Here are some pics of the conduit and outlets I ran.

You can see some of the lumber I got from the table saw guy.

I know the shop is a mess, but as I get the wiring done, it will get straightened up.

Note that I also ran conduit and boxes for a third circuit should it become necessary. I probably should have run the stuff for an additional 220v circuit for a future dust collector, but I will hold on that until I locate one.

Now I can get on some other projects that are pending and need to get done.

Photos of the Complete Prospector 16.

2009-08-12T12:05:00.004-04:00

Well, here is the finished product. Pay attention to the size difference between the Prospector and my Bob's Special. I will have another post soon with the photos of the toilet cabinet I am building now.

Finished and delivered!

2009-08-11T09:38:00.002-04:00

I finished the canoe! I really need to catch up and post the final series of pics, but I'll get to that later.

I put the finishing touches on the canoe last week and was ready to get it out to the water for a test drive before I turned it over to the client. The first thing I noticed was just how much bigger than my Bob's Special that this Prospector 16 is. It is immense! Even though it's only a foot longer and a couple of inches deeper, it really seems huge.

I took it out to Northeast Creek to launch at Camp Brewster aboard Camp Lejeune. When I set the unloaded canoe into the water, the first thing that stuck out to me was the fact that less than 1/3 of the hull was in contact with the water. I performed a wet launch, and when I climed in, the stability of the craft was impressive. Even with me climbing over the gunnels, the canoe was incredibly stable and, at no time did it seem like it was going to capsize.

I then knelt in the center of the canoe and heeled it over and the responsiveness was pleasing. I paddled it sideways, forward, and performed turns with the greatest of ease. This is one amazing craft! It will go any direction you tell it to go, and go with ease. I look forward to building one (or two) for my own use soon. But before I can build my own Prospector, I have a couple of other projects to attack.

I will be building a pair of loft beds with desks and dressers next, as well as a set of book shelves. Those projects will show up here as they progress. I also have to get my workshop in order now that I have cleared out some space. I am also currently engaged in building a small cabinet in cherry for a half-bath in my house to hang above the toilet, and will also get pics of that up here as well. Hopefully, I will be able to begin my canoe around October and be ready for launch in the spring.

Building the Decks

2009-07-07T23:11:00.003-04:00

While I was working on the inwales, I was also able to get the material for the decks prepped and assembled. The following pictures show the decks ready for installation and finishing. As it sits right now, I only have the outwales and decks remaining; only four pieces of wood and the canoe is done!

To build the decks, I prepped the joint on the jointer with the angle to create the camber to the deck. Then I taped the joint and applied the thickened epoxy and more tape and a couple of clamps.

Tape and clamps is all it takes.

This is one of the decks right after taping and clamping.

This shot shows the camber of the decks.

Here is one.

This is the other one. I think this one looks better.

48 Clamps

2009-07-06T22:52:00.001-04:00

I got the gunnels attached this weekend. They look awesome (if I do say so myself). They are held in place with epoxy thickened with #404 microfibers (I use West System epoxies if you are curious). The epoxy is thickened to the consistency of creamy peanut butter and then spread onto the mating surfaces and the inwales are clamped in (did I mention it took 48 clamps per side). I did the one side on the 4th and the other side on the 5th. I waited 24 hours between because I only have enough clamps for one at a time and because the epoxy takes about 24 hours to be set enough to remove the clamps without worrying about the inwale pulling away from the hull.

48 Clamps!

Another view of the mother of all clamping jobs.

Closeup

This is a view of the inside with the second inwale in clamps showing the congruency of the inwales.

This view shows the initial cleaning up of the hull to the inwale.

The inwales are installed just about 1/8" below the sheer line as I cut it earlier. Once the epoxy sets and the inwales are set, I can cut the hull level with the inwales and ensure a clean joint line. I will do this with a spoke shave and a sanding block.

I'm off to California on the 7th and will be able to do the outwales and decks when I return next week.

Prepping the Inwales

2009-06-28T22:25:00.001-04:00

I spent about 2 hours designing and building this jig for cutting the scuppers in the inwales. Once it was complete, cutting the scuppers took only about 30 minutes. The jig is pretty simple. The numbered blocks clamp the inwale into position and guide a 3/4" bearing guided flush trim router bit (bearing on top) and also prevent the grain splitting by supporting the fibers as the bit exits the cut. The scuppers measure 1/4" deep by 3" long with 6" spacing between them.

Once they are cut, I will ease the top and bottom edge with sandpaper before they are installed and also will "paint" on a coat of epoxy as well to prevent water damage. The short sides of the scuppers are end grain, and as such, will be prone to absorbing water much more readily than the long grain, so I feel the epoxy affords more protection and longevity to the inwales.

I have been asked by some folks about the scuppers; what are they for. I will attempt to answer that here. There are some schools of thought that say that scuppers are there to allow water to drain when the hull is overturned. Others say they are for tying gear down in the canoe. Another reason to cut scuppers is to lessen the overall weight of the craft (the gunnels are about 40% of the total weight of the finished canoe). While I don't dispute the facts that the above reasons are the result of the scuppers, I have another theory. The first wooden canoes were either bark canoes, or later, cedar and canvas canoes. Those were built with ribs running the length of the hull and the gunnels were attached over top of them, making the scuppers as a matter of the construction methods. I believe that the scuppers are merely a matter of tradition that has a functional aspect. Beyond that, I believe they look more nautical and really add a lot to the overall look of the canoe.

I don't claim my answer to be the most correct. I have done no real research on the subject. I just look at things and determine what I believe to be true based on my limited knowledge of canoes and their history. I'm sure that someone who has done the work for maritime museums would have much more information than I could provide here.

At any rate, here are the pics from the last few days of work.

Scupper jig

Closeup of cut scupper in the jig

Completed scuppers ready for installing

Dry fitting the inwale. The scuppers look good to me!

One more view

Court of Honor

2009-06-05T13:28:00.002-04:00

Last night was the court of honor for Boyscout Troop 597. My oldest celebrated his 17th birthday there and also received the rank of Life Scout. Currently, he is about 5 merit badges and a service project away from Eagle Scout. I am very hopeful he will do the appropriate work to attain this honor.

My middle son received a recruiter patch for getting one of his friends to join, and he and I got our 50 Miler patches for the 50 mile hike we did between Christmas and New Years 2008 aboard Camp Lejeune.

Now back to the project...

2009-06-04T14:47:00.002-04:00

Now, where were we?

Ah, yes! We had just flipped the hull over for the first time after glassing the outside. So now we have to fair the inside. This is proving to be no easy task. I can't really use a power sander because of the concavity of the hull; the random orbit sander will actually create more problems for me. So, that means I have to scrape and then sand by hand.

I tried using my cabinet scraper (the round one) but that really doesn't have the body to be able to clean up the epoxy that came through the staple holes. It also requires sharpening more frequently and it really generates a lot of heat! I have burnt my fingers enough on that thing trying to fair this hull. So what to use?

I know, a modified paint scraper! You know the kind. Plastic handle with a square blade with four cutting surfaces on it. You can switch to a new cutter when it gets dull. Not me though. I'll sharpen it myself. Before I could use it in the hull of a canoe, I had to round the cutting edge. The steel it's made from is relatively soft and it shaped easily. It also takes an edge pretty quickly. I just use a file to dress it up every few minutes and I'm back in business.

I learned a valuable lesson using the paint scraper. Initially, I was holding the handle at a very low angle (almost parallel with the surface I was working) and this was knocking down the high spots. However, it wasn't really cutting cleanly. Rather, it was fairly rough after the initial runthrough. This was also very hard work. I changed the angle of attack and actually raised the handle to about 46-60 degrees from the work surface and magic happened! Long, curly shavings came effortlessly off of the blade. Unfortunately I was about 3/4 of the way done with the scraping when I figured this out, but the last 1/4 went incredibly fast and finished better.

Here you can see the initial fairing that I have used the paint scraper on. On the right side of the hull, you can clearly see the staple holes as they have cured epoxy sticking out of them. These are kind of like stalagmite/stalactite of epoxy and are very sharp. The scraper takes them down nicely.

Look at the shavings. This is before I figured out how to use the tool. You can see the shavings look almost like they were ground off.

Another shot showing some slow progress.

Getting closer!

Scraping complete!

Now that the scraping is complete, I need to sand and fill and sand again the inside in preparation for fiberglassing.

Stay tuned!!!

Canoe School with Troop 597

2009-06-01T16:08:00.000-04:00

The scouts of Troop 597 had a weekend camping and canoeing trip to train them up in canoe skills in preparation for a canoe camping trip later this year. These are the pictures from that weekend.

Old Outboards

2009-05-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

I was really taken with the look of the old outboard motors. Nowadays, you can't tell one motor from the next unless you read the graphics on it, but back in the day, they were as distinctive as different models of automobiles.

Old Powerboats

2009-05-04T14:12:00.000-04:00

These are some of the boats those motors are attached to. I really like the Woodpecker!

Way Late Post!

2009-05-03T13:55:00.001-04:00

This should have been posted on May 3rd, but I am no good at this blogging thing. On May 2nd, my family and I went to Beaufort, NC for the 2009 Wooden Boat Show. There was some amazing work on display there. Many restorations of classic boats as well as home-built wooden boats from paddle to sail to motor powered craft. I won't say anymore, but here are some of the pictures.

Flip it!

2009-04-13T09:59:00.002-04:00

I got the canoe flipped over and am amazed how much bigger it looks than my other one. It's the same width, but a foot longer and about two inches deeper, but it appears much larger.

I will be out of the canoe building business for a few days because I need to build a cabinet for a computer kiosk for my church. Maybe I'll post some of that; afterall, it's what I'll be doing for the next few days.

Fairing complete. Let's lay some glass!

2009-04-11T09:11:00.006-04:00

Fiberglassing the hull is one of the most nerve-wracking (to me, anyway) things to do in the building process. Mainly this is because once started, you have to finish; can't stop until the last coat of epoxy is laid. My concern is that I will get started and find something that I didn't do. I really need to learn to trust my abilities and instincts and. That said, the process is relatively straightforward.

Once the hull is faired and filled, the hull gets sanded with 80 and then 120 grit sandpaper. The 80 grit sanding provides an initial fairing and then the hull gets wetted down with water. The water raises the fibers of the wood that have been mashed down by the scraping and initial 80 grit sanding. Then the final sanding with 120 knocks off the fuzz and provides a good, smooth surface for the glass to adhere to.

Next up, the fiberglass cloth (60z cloth, 60" width and about a foot longer than the canoe) gets laid over the hull. It looks like a sheet draped over it. The glass must overhang all edges at the sheer and the stems.

With the cloth in place, the epoxy gets mixed and brushed on. In brushing the epoxy, enough of the epoxy needs to be applied to soak into the wood and completely saturate the cloth in order to create a good bond. It's important to not leave areas starved of epoxy, as this will either show up as a blemish on the completed hull, and will create weak spots. I don't worry about using too much epoxy at this stage. Runs don't bother me here because they will be taken care of with the squeegee coming later.

Application of the epoxy requires two people (in my shop). I apply the epoxy and my assistant (oldest son) mixes and watches the time for me. Starting at the keel line near one end, I apply epoxy from keel to sheer all the way to the stem on one side; about two feet of the hull. Then I do the same bit on the other side. This anchors the cloth to the hull for the remainder of the epoxying.

Continuing down the hull about two feet at a time, keel to sheer, wet edge first, and side to side, I continue to apply epoxy. I skip back and forth to always overlap the wet edge to ensure the best possible bond.

After about 20-25 minutes, my son tells me to go back and start squeegeeing. At this point, the first section that I applied has begun to set and get a little firm. I use a plastic squeegee (the type used in auto body repair to apply and smooth body filler) and scrape off excess epoxy (and those runs I allowed) and smooth the whole bit. Care has to be exercised to not take too much of the epoxy off which would starve those areas and cause blemishes, but I have to take enough that the glass/epoxy is smooth.

I will continue to work in this way- side to side, spread and squeegee- along the entire hull until the whole thing is epoxied and smoothed from stem to stem, and then it's time to wait. Once the first coat is applied, it will be about 3 hours (depending on temperature and humidity) until the next coat can be applied. I apply three coats of epoxy to the outside of the hull. The first coat adheres the glass cloth to the wood, the second coat fills the weave of the cloth (mostly) and the third completely covers the cloth so that it can be sanded smooth for a final finish of varnish. All three coats are necessary so that when you do that final sanding you don't sand into the cloth. If you sand into the cloth, it will show as a white blemish and potentially weaken the hull in that area.

After the third coat is applied, I like to give it a day or two to cure and then I can turn the hull upright for the first time. This is really exciting for me because it's the first time that it actually looks like a canoe. Once it's turned upright, fairing can begin for the inside in preparation for the 'glass on the inside.

You can see a more detailed series of pictures of fiberglassing a canoe (where I am glassing another canoe) here.

This is the epoxy area. I really would like to make it a bit neater, but I'm getting impatient.

The hull with the glass cloth draped over it.

Nearing the end of the first coat. Notice how the cloth goes clear and the wood shows through.

After the first coat has had a little time to rest, I can trim the cloth to the sheer and stems.

One more view after the first coat.

Let the fairing begin!

2009-03-04T22:54:00.005-05:00

With the stems shaped roughly, it's time to cut the sheer of the hull. The sheer is the line of the top of the canoe as it sits in the water that gives the canoe it's familiar shape. Cutting the sheer is pretty straightforward:Start by placing a batten along the sheer from the station molds and use that to draw a line to be cut to.

Remove the batten and use a utility knife to cut to the sheer line. Be sure to cut this a little proud, as you will place the inwales a little below there and trim the hull to match and ensure a smooth joint.

This shows the completed cut. Now I just have to do that four more times!

One more view.

Once the sheer is completed, it's finally time to begin fairing the hull. For those not familiar with canoe or boatbuilding, fairing is simply taking the strips from a faceted state from the initial assembly of flat pieces and smoothing the angles to make smooth curves all around no matter where you go.

Here we have begun the initial fairing with the random orbit sander.

A little closer up view.

Note also that I have plugged the screw holes in the outer stems with dowels. This fills the holes first and foremost and it also adds a very subtle design element. The dowels will be visible when the canoe is finished and will be finely placed "dots" that show. I think they will look pretty neat. On my last boat, the only screws I used were on the gunnels at the deck ends. As a result of using the screws there, I had to plug the holes in this manner. Once it was done, I really liked the way it looked and decided that the next canoe would have these screw holes along the entire length for subtle decoration.

You can see the fairing of the outer stem as well as the dowels sticking out of their holes. They will be cut flush once the epoxy sets.

Another view of the dowels and fairing of the outer stem.

Here is one of the dowels cut flush. This gives an idea what it will look like when complete.

Another view of the stem.

The fairing process is fairly involved and takes a bit of time. Steps to be followed from initial fairing to ready for glass are as follows:

Initial fairing- Either by hand plane, hand sanding, ROS with 80 grit paper. Whatever you feel comfortable with. The key here is to take the high spots where the planks meet and knock them down to make the hull initially fair.
Filling- It's inevitable that there will be a need to fill somewhere on the hull. I did the filling after the initial fairing for a couple of reasons. First, by completing the initial fairing, I can better assess the spots that need filling. Second, I am going to sand the hull at least two more times and will be able to clean up anything that needs it on the next couple of sandings.
Second sanding- Again with 80 grit. I know this sounds a bit aggressive, but the filler from step 2. is epoxy mixed with sanding dust (wood flour) and that stuff is hard to sand. I go aggressive to clean that up. However, care needs to be taken in order to not create dips and gouges with the power sander.
Wet the hull- This is done to raise the grain of the wood fibers that may have been mushed down during the sanding processes. It also will highlight the spots where you still have glue that needs to be cleaned up. If you don't get all the glue/epoxy off the hull before 'glassing, those areas will show as light or blotchy. The way I see it, if something is avoidable, avoid it.
Final sanding- This sanding is accomplished with 120 grit after the hull is completely dried out from the 4th step. This will prepare the hull for the 'glass and also knock off the raised fibers from the wet the hull step above. Once this step is complete, the hull is ready for 'glass and epoxy.

Hopefully, with the posts and pics, and now with the schedule I just laid out, things still make sense. I will be completing the sanding and fairing soon and getting to fiberglassing, so stay tuned.

Better late than never!

2009-03-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

I have been socked recently with travel, either through work or for personal reasons. This has significantly affected my ability to work on my canoe. I'm actually on travel right now in Vermont. At any rate, I have some updating to do so here goes....

As you can see from the post from 1 Mar, the stems are attached and square in profile. This will not work for several reasons, the main reason being that it isn't right. In order to fix that the stem needs to be faired into the hull so that it flows all the way to the ends and is both aesthetically and hydrodynamically correct. The next few pics show the beginning of the fairing of the stem that is completed with a spokeshave and block plane. There are some special problems with these tools being used for this as they are both designed for flat, planar work and the stems and the ends of a canoe are very complex shapes. That is why this is only the rough shaping to get them into the ballpark. I will complete the fairing and shaping with my random orbit sander.

In the next episode, I'll begin fairing the hull with the random orbit sander and complete the final shaping of the stems as well as plugging the screw holes in the outer stems with dowels.

How about some pictures???

2009-03-02T10:41:00.004-05:00

I don't really have enough pics on here. If you want to see more, check out my pics here!

Fitting and attaching the outer stems.

2009-03-01T13:26:00.003-05:00

So, now that I have all of the strips on, I need to trim the ends of them to be flush with the forward edge of the inner stem so that I can attach the outer stem and get a good fit with no gaps. As long as the strips are cut flush and perpendicular to the centerline of the canoe, the outer stem will fit and look really good.

After the strips are cut, I use the outer stem to layout the mortise at the keel. This is so that there is not a hole through the hull and it also helps to give a cleaner look to the canoe where the stem meets the bottom.

Shot of the mortise for the outer stem

Closeup of the mortise

This is the outer stem being dry fit

Another view of the dry-fit of the outer stem. Looks good to me, I'll glue it in

This is the stem after gluing in

You may have noticed the black screws that are holding the stem on. Those are temporary. After the epoxy sets, I will pull the screws and plug the holes with wood pegs. I believe what I am going to do is drill out the holes to 1/4" and insert a dark colored wood dowel. I spaced the screw holes the same on each stem so that will be a design element. Subtle, but very deliberate. I think it'll look good. I just hope that the wax I put on the screws allows me to pull them with no problems.

After I get the holes plugged, I will cut the sheer line and begin fairing. I hope to be able to begin 'glassing by next weekend. We shall see.

Completing the hull

2009-02-28T12:44:00.005-05:00

With the bottom completed, I can start to work toward the sheer of the canoe. That's the top edge that the seats and thwart and decks are attached to. I need to install some "filler" strips above the first strip I installed when I started planking. (this is actually working toward the ground in the following pics) Once all the filler strips that I need are in place then I can get to work trimming the ends of the strips in preparation for the outer stem.

Well, that takes care of the sheer line; it just needs to be trimmed to look like a canoe. I will do that later after the outer stems are in place and it's time to begin fairing.

Back from CA. Let's get to work!

2009-02-23T12:00:00.001-05:00

Just got back from California (traveling for my day job) and now it's time to get serious about getting this thing ready for 'glass. I really wanted to get the hull complete before the 1st of March, and probably could have met that milestone if I didn't lose four weeks to travel. I really shouldn't complain too much though, at least I have a job.

Any way, when I returned from CA, this is what I was working with. The bottom still needs to be closed up and this is very time consuming due to the amount of twist and bend and the multiple directions that it all goes as well as the clamps and wedges and tape that has to be put on.

Let's get started

A few more strips

Nearing the end. Only two more to go.

This is it with the last strips in place.

Close up of the last strips

Now I need to work on getting the sides of the canoe built up to the sheer line at the ends. That should bo fairly quickly since the strips are pretty much straight with a little bend. Once that gets built up, I can trim the ends of the strips and cut the mortices for the outer stems and get them installed, then it's fairing and fiberglassing time. Check back soon.

Going back to Cali

2009-02-07T10:00:00.003-05:00

So, I finally got the strips on the first half of the hull. Now it's time to cut to the centerline and then start fitting the strips on the other side. Let's get started, shall we?

Here is where we begin.

Cutting the centerline with a sharp chisel.

I started cutting the centerline using a very fine saw. That wasn't working so well, so I went back to the book, Canoecraft, for guidance. Mr. Moores discusses using a razor knife and straight edge for the initial cutting to within 1" of the centerline, then following up with a chisel and either block or rabbet plane. I don't have a rabbet plane (maybe I'll build one after this canoe is out of the shop) and I don't have a straight edge as long as the keel line of this boat, so I just used a chisel. I was surprised at how well it did the job. As long as I worked from the center toward the stems, the chisel was cutting across the grain and keeping the bevel of the chisel toward the cut gave me excellent control. I was able to make the entire centerline cut in about 2 hours.

And this is what I finished with.

More planks going on!

The planking went surprisingly fast. I still had to wait for the glue to set pretty well between each strip, but the weather was very nice and the glue was cooperating nicely. I was looking at about an hour between each strip before I could take out the wedges and staple the planks and not worry about them pulling out of place or away from the molds.

Tape is a great clamp.

The picture above shows several strips of tape across the hull. That is to keep the two sides of the hull lined up while the glue dries there. I had hoped to complete the bottom of the hull before taking off for California, but after working all day and getting within 10 strips, I was spent. The following picture shows where I left off. When I get back home, I will hit it hard and get the hull complete and ready for 'glass within a week (maybe a week-and-a-half?) hopefully.

I have to leave it here.

Nearing the half way point on the hull.

2009-02-05T16:38:00.005-05:00

I have been beating myself pretty hard on this lately. I really want to make my mid- to late-March deadline, so I have been working till about 0' dark-thirty every night trying to get the hull ready for glass. Unfortunately, I will be traveling for a week with my day job, so that adds extra pressure to stay on schedule. This series of pictures shows where I was when I started on Sunday night and goes through Wednesday morning.

The process has gotten considerably slower since I started turning around the bilge. The strips are under a lot more stresses being twisted and bent in many different directions as they are installed. Having to hold them in with wedges and clamps until the glue sets takes much more time.

The hull is very tight. I have looked and can find no gaps. I anticipate that if there are any gaps in this hull, they will be along the centerline, but I'm pretty sure that I can avoid all of that with patience and very close attention to detail. The fitting of the strips for the other half of the bottom of the hull will be more like joinery work and that is something that I really enjoy doing with hand tools.

These two pictures (above and below) are where I stopped working on the hull on Tuesday. Clamps, wedges and tape were all left in place for the night to let the glue do its work.

This last picture shows the hull the next morning after I removed the tape and wedges. At this time, I am about 9 strips away from finishing the first half of the hull bottom.***

***I don't have pictures because I need batteries in my camera, but last night I was able to get seven more strips on and now am only two strips away from center. I will get those on tonight.
Tomorrow, I am only working a half-day at my day job and I will be able to cut the centerline and start the other half of the "football". I will have fresh batteries in the camera and get that documented. Then I will work all day Saturday until I have to get to the airport for my trip Sunday morning.

Anyway, I hope to be pretty close to fairing the hull when I return and getting ready for 'glass by the last week of this month. Stay tuned!

Nearing the end of the stems!

2009-01-29T16:42:00.007-05:00

Last night was another good night of work. I only got about 5 strips on each side of the hull, but considering the extra effort needed as the come around the bilge and take more compound bends, not too bad. You may notice that I am having to use tape between the station molds to keep the strips tightly together until the glue sets. that increases the time between each strip going on. Also, it gets increasingly more difficult to make those compound curves and twists with only my own two hands.

Ready to start

This picture shows the inside of the hull and how tight the strips are to the station molds

A few more strips
Note the fine entry/exit of the hull and how it curves inward toward the centerline before curving outward toward the center of the hull.
Another shot from the other end showing the entry/exit lines.
This is where I stopped last night.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the progress. I would like to have the hull completely assembled and almost ready, if not completely ready, for 'glassing by 7 Feb. A tall order, but at this pace, I don't see any problems getting there.

Good night of work!

2009-01-27T12:30:00.003-05:00

Last night was pretty productive. I was able to get quite a few strips put on. Progress was fast. I didn't take the first picture until I had already gotten the first few strips on.

This is after the first three strips.

More strips!

Glue on the strip and stem ready for the next strip.

This is the back side. It's kind of difficult to work back there. Maybe I'll clean up the shop!

This is how I left it last night.

I should be able to begin closing the bottom soon. Stay posted!

Making Progress!

2009-01-24T18:06:00.008-05:00

I've really been slacking on getting this canoe done. I would really like to have the hull complete and ready to glass by the first week of February. I really Haven't done anything since bending and gluing the stems.

Steaming the stems. Say that 3 times fast!!!

Pulling the stems from the steam.

Let them dry.

So after a week of just noodling around in the workshop, I finally got back in there today and got serious. I was able to complete setup of the mold on the strongback. I also got the stem molds and stems in place and was able to begin shaping the stems. This is something that I should have approached a little more tentatively. I was a little aggressive and cut them to the wrong angle, and had to adjust. Sorry I didn't post a pic, but I was more concerned with correcting the problem at the time than documenting my screw-up!

The completed mold ready for the stems to be shaped and the strips started!

And so, the excitement builds. I was able to attach the first strip to the hull today also. Unfortunately, it's around the low 40s and so my glue isn't setting as quickly as I would like so I have to wait for that to set up in order to place the first strip on the other side. I will try that first thing in the morning before church, but if I don't wake up early enough, then I will get it after the first service.

First strip!!!

Procrastinating!

2009-01-23T12:09:00.003-05:00

Do I really need to say more?

Paddling in the Snow!

2009-01-20T23:12:00.001-05:00

I Don't think they'll be a problem today.

This is my first ever post. I will follow up with more info about me and what I do later. For today, let's just focus on what I did today.

This is the view from my canoe of Northeast Creek. Beautiful.

My canoe on a coffee stop.

For those that don't know me, I live in Coastal North Carolina near Camp Lejeune. That means I experience mild winters (usually). Today, however, we were the gracious recipients of a winter storm that gave us ice and about 2" of snow. Glorious, wet, sticky, fluffy snow!!! I have always loved the winter and since I live in the south, I don't get enough of it.

I have ice in my beard

So, because of the storm, I got released from work early and on my way home I put my truck into a ditch. (it's been too long since I had to drive in snow). Anyhow, after I got pulled back onto the road, I made it home without further incident and decided to go canoeing for the remainder of the afternoon. Enjoy some pics from that and like I said above, I will tell more about what I do and how I entertain myself later.

Thanks for reading!