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Second the osage orange, or locust, which may be easier to find. Laminate for extra strength.

Howard -

Following this thread with great interest as there is nothing finer than fresh coffee sipped outside on a cold morning. Add in an open boat and all is right with the world. I have every...

If I recall, I laminated my Pathfinder's chine stringer from three pieces of 20x20 fir -- anything thicker just snapped. This was done BEFORE the frames were in place since it seemed easier that way....

Guys, if this was built by the same John Swain who built the Sultana in Chestertown, it might be worth looking into. He's a shipwright and knows what he's doing. Even so a survey is a very good idea.

I've installed it and use it too: lag screws into garage studs. Even so I get nervous about the torque on those long arms and store heavy stuff close to the wall. They are VERY heavily built, and...

Godspeed, Squeak.

Don - please clear your private messages (your mailbox is full). Folkboat question incoming.

Many thanks!

Seth

I love them. All of them. I read the way a hungry pig eats. Pullman, O'Brian, books for children, books for adults.

Our reactions to books are so closely braided to our own personalities that...

One of the funniest books I have ever read. We named our cat Harris after one of the characters.

And the tin of pineapple!

I love the chapter headings. "Strange Disappearance of Harris and A...

Godspeed, Dave. You are part of everything I build.

Dave and Penny,

Strength and courage to both of you.

Several years ago -- five? seven? -- I had posted rambling confused questions on drilling long counterbored holes in thick wood for...

Beautiful and inspiring! Thanks, Tom. I've got a Pathfinder under construction down here in Virginia. Do not be shy with pictures!

Several years ago I was looking at a used 'Mill. When I pushed a screwdriver through the rotten bottom I looked at the guy and said, "I'll give you 80 bucks for it." It came with the trailer,...

After seeing the method in Larry's book I tried the block-with-screw technique. It works great, and has the benefit of being very finely adjustable for depth, distance from the edge, and sharpness of...

Dogfish Head 60 IPA is indeed exceptional. Joe, have you tried the 90 Minute? It's so strong you'd better already be sitting down when you take that first swallow. But it is oh so good.

I put one in my Windmill -- a wet boat anyway -- and I love it. It takes hardly any speed at all for it to start gurgling and sucking and I watch the water just drain right out. Magic.

FWIW, I've...

Paul -- That's dendrochronology, or "tree-ring dating," using patterns of annular growth rings to help determine age. It's pretty iffy (and inexact), even in archaeology, and would be difficult in a...

Make your own:

diced habaneros: a dozen or so
minced garlic
lime juice
few drops of olive oil

WASH HANDS BEFORE USING THE BATHROOM.

Second choice: Inner Beauty habenaro hot sauce (also...

Wait a second, "doubled Cape Horn solo in a fifteen foot sailing canoe"?

!?

I think we're going to need a little more information on that one!

Yes, but I wouldn't expect a boat built in 1993 to use those tough old pre-war galvanized fastenings. Heck, even the galvanizing on the hot-dipped screws you can get today scratches off pretty...

I've been tempted, sorely tempted, for months. But I checked with the broker: galvanized fastenings; out of the water for 2 years; oak frames.

If she were closer it would be worth a trip. But...

I have done this very same job, with a Windmill that had been left outside for a few years. I replaced the bottom, keel, transom, daggerboard well, and thwarts; chines, side panels and decks were...

Old glove fingers. Secure with magnet.

"Riddle of the Sands": Yes. I've never sailed the North Sea but still find it compelling.

Every Swallows and Amazons book. "We Didn't Mean to Go To Sea" is wonderful, but they're all magic.

And...

I was recently at a conference where Katherine Patterson, who wrote the novel, pointed out that the producers had taken a few moments from the movie and woven them into a somewhat deceptive preview....

Dmede -- Several years back I had a similar experience with Rick at Logs to Lumber. I visited his mill several times -- he does custom cuts and is interested in wooden boats. But he was so...

Two more of Butcher Boy. No wonder she's fast; hardly anything underwater!

When was she last afloat?

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid217/p20ad0cb20d6a33d6d96b735b77558c1d/ec7b451f.jpg...

Every time I've dealt with U-Haul it's been a disaster. Same goes for everyone I know who has dealt with them.

I've faced a similar challenge trying to get a trailer boat to water without a...

Bob, I ordered "Wood - a Manual..." from DN Goodchild a year or two ago, and it came promptly and in good condition.

But I found that in some cases, especially towards the later volumes in the...

Hey, most of my lines have two ends, too!

Wow, Lee Valley's sloyd knives are up to $11? Buy a bunch, they're worth it. Keep them sharp enough to shave off your arm hair; dry them after they get wet.

My measure of a knife is not how good...

L.W. Baxter -

Thanks for your reply and encouragement. But there is really no doubt about this: the gapping is structurally unsound, yet the piece can't be replaced because half of the...

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I have decided to trash the backbone, but keep the frames and floors (all already constructed and sound).

The backbone as it is now is built of compromises on...

Ian - congratulations, she's a sweetheart. Well done.

If you gunkhole anywhere on the Chesapeake I expect to see you!

Thanks, Bob. I will indeed seek out Jay Greer's advice.

I know I would feel better with a re-built, correctly-built backbone. As emotional as this decision is, I can't afford to be nostalgic or...

Thanks Bob and all. The Forest Products Lab wood handbook data indicates I can expect additional shrinkage of these pieces.

What I didn't include in my first post is that this could be the end of...

I’ve posted about this before, but I’m coming to realize what a serious problem it may be.

I’m building a 30’ plank on frame, Buehler-design sailboat, in an unheated shop in Virginia, with a dirt...

At the risk of being Scotted, here's one:

"One loutish, headstrong penis, a barbarous cuntivore without a flyspeck of decency in him. The capscallion of all rapscallions. A scurvy, vermiform scug...

Bob, to follow your point above about external strapping, Larry Pardey recommends that method for building rudders. His straps were rabbeted in flush, I believe. I don't remember if he also used...

You should at the very least have a (clamped) straightedge to sight down. Drill slow and line it up correctly to start.

That said, it's a pretty narrow thickness you're drilling through; it might...

The moisture content was high, unfortunately. They were trees that had been felled for a year before they were sawed into the 10x10s I then shaped into the timbers. I sealed the ends and the sides,...

Does anybody have any experience with the deadwood drying out in new construction?

It's similar to what happens when you haul a traditional boat and the seams open up ... but not quite the same.
...

I'm building a 30' traditional plank-on-frame sailboat with white oak keel and deadwood. The timbers were all coated with CPES and red lead, sealed with bottom paint and then roofing tar before...

Smoked cat garnished with a vulture feather and a drop of kerosene.

Goat Saliva-Marinated Cobra Duodenums, Braised In A Light Owl Oil And Grilled Over Electric Eels, Served On A Bed Of Bedbugs
...

This is wonderful, thank you all. So much to see, so little time. I'm beginning to think that six months wouldn't do it justice, let alone six days. Much planning to do...

My wife and I have managed to arrange to spend a week in NZ the first week in December. We'll be flying into and out of Auckland, and our aversion to high-speed, breathless sightseeing means we...

Thanks, everyone, this is great advice. Planking first it is, with frames cross-braced. Which make sense: letting the planks determine final hull shape, not the deck beams.

Thanks again.

Aha, right, that's exactly what I was talking about. It seems "right" to have the skeleton of the boat -- frames, deck beams, carlins, etc., and then proceed to planking.

But why or why not? Is...

I realize this is a pretty general question, but here goes.

This is new construction, a 30' plank-on-frame sailboat. The books I've read all say complete the planking, THEN install the deck beams...

The problem with buying a new truck for off-road use is it's usually too nice to risk banging up. And MANY but not all new trucks are designed, built, and marketed to appeal to the idea of...