The Harbor Master Called me Today

[jsjpd1]

Interlux underwater seam compound Andy.

[jsjpd1]

Not much to report. That is to say that there has been lots of plugging holes, applying fairing compound, sanding, and scraping paint. Might actually get to the point where the port side gets topside paint soon. That would be nice.

[swoody126]

Jim, your tenacious spirit continues to amaze me

sw

[2dogsnight]

Love this boat!
.......middle of May already Jim, you think she will be ready (hull) to see her in the water ??

[jsjpd1]

It's not looking good, is it?

[2dogsnight]

I see one plank is needed, some cotton here and there, some paint and you are ready to go !
......you are almost there.
I was more thinking about this year wet weather in PNW - realizing that we are in the middle of May already

[Stiletto]

That planking timber is beautiful! Great job, thanks for showing us.

[Downwindtracker2]

That is quite the journey, you've rebuilt a boat. A Captain Obvious remark if there ever was one. I've read, at this point, 59 pages. Because of this thread, I'm sure there will be a few more boats saved .Both in it can be done and the how to.

The only wooden boat I've built isn't even a boat, it a cedar strip canoe , Ted Moore's "Nomad", a 17' prospector. It was in yellow cedar, I'm very allergic to red . I worked one weekend in a red cedar mill as a millwright and my throat started to close. Scary. I was fine in yellow cedar mills. In BC, it's just called yellow cedar. I have the plans and a stash of 6mm plywood for a Nutshell pram and enough long yellow cedar for Ted Moore's "Redbird".

When ever my puny projects seem overwhelming, I''ll think about yours.

Good Luck
Ray,
those are cute helpers

[jsjpd1]

Hi everyone, thanks for checking in. It is funny Ray, here we mostly just call it yellow cedar too, and Sitka spruce is just spruce.

Every once in a while I like to page back through this and remind myself of where I was earlier. This time last year I had just cut out the old ninety gallon fuel tank. A lot has happened since then. Today was plugging more holes and filling little divots in the topside.

[andrewpatrol]

Really starting to come together Jim, pat on the back.

[jsjpd1]

Thanks Andy!

I decided I needed to strike the water line but I don't have a fancy laser or a chalk line so I went with plan C. Stretch a line on the boat.





Then paint it.



When the paint dries I'll run a handsaw down the line to permanently scribe it in place.

[jsjpd1]

That'll work.

[Peerie Maa]

Well done. Now send that saw to the saw doctor.

[Steamboat]

Well done. Now send that saw to the saw doctor.

No saw dentist needed, the tooth is there. Now the saw may or may not need sharpening. . .

[jsjpd1]

5240822[/URL]]Well done. Now send that saw to the saw doctor.

Do they still have those? Heck, I'm not even sure there is a competent machine shop here in town anymore. Now days you just buy new parts or a new saw.

Well, most people anyway. And I do keep my saw sharp.

[jsjpd1]

The sound of my afternoon today.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=__pKt-iUdD8

[nedL]

Very nice Jim! You are really moving along there.
So I'm not the only one who sharpens my own hand saws?
You might consider polishing the last bit of your caulking iron a bit so it is shiny and smooth so the cotton slides on it more easily. (Sorry,.. just couldn't resist. )

[jsjpd1]

Where were you earlier, when I needed you, Ned?

[andrewpatrol]

Just had a look at the EweTube vid Jim and Id prefer to lay the same length of epoxy filets than that caulking business. One thing Ive always wondered was why those hammers are made with such a long head, do you have any thoughts? can you feel the planking tightening up as you go?

[jsjpd1]

I read somewhere that the shape allows for a concentration of force while not being too heavy and allowing an easy swing. It seems to work alright, but it is not all that light as mallets go. You can feel a bit of bounce back once the cotton has been driven in which means it's time to move on, don't want to drive it all the way through the seam.

[Peerie Maa]

Do they still have those? Heck, I'm not even sure there is a competent machine shop here in town anymore. Now days you just buy new parts or a new saw.

Well, most people anyway. And I do keep my saw sharp.

I am sure that every tooth is sharp, it is just that in the image every other tooth looks to be taller than those in-between. Do you run a file over the tips to even them up when you sharpen?

[jsjpd1]

I see where you're coming from. That's a cross cut saw, so every other tooth is filled from the other side so that they form a vee in the middle of the blade. My rip saws look much neater.

[MattSplatt]

So... hang on... you were ripping a waterline mark with a cross cut saw? No wonder we are confused. :-)

I love your work. Keep it up!

[nedL]

I have thought caulking mallets are shaped like that to allow for a bit more of a pivoting motion and not so much of a swinging motion. Less tiring for hours and hours of use. Probabably a good 45 years ago someone told me that the slots in the head were to release some of the shock and vibration as sound energy, again making less stressful to use hour after hour. Whether or not there is any truth in either of those,... I don't know.

[signalcharlie]

Great work! Where are your Corkers? Great upper body exercise, save time from going to the gym.



K&A

[jsjpd1]

5241730[/URL]]So... hang on... you were ripping a waterline mark with a cross cut saw? No wonder we are confused. :-)

I love your work. Keep it up!

What can I say, I like that saw.

5241806[/URL]]I have thought caulking mallets are shaped like that to allow for a bit more of a pivoting motion and not so much of a swinging motion. Less tiring for hours and hours of use. Probabably a good 45 years ago someone told me that the slots in the head were to release some of the shock and vibration as sound energy, again making less stressful to use hour after hour. Whether or not there is any truth in either of those,... I don't know.

Could be Ned. By the time I inherited that mallet the lessons that went with it were no longer available.

[jsjpd1]

I primed the new topside seams on the port side with thinned paint and then, since I was there, put a quick coat of thinned paint on the top sides.







The nice thing about having a thin coat of white on is that now I can see the spots that still need fairing.

[epoxyboy]

Psssst! Jim! There's a missing garboard plank! Or is that part of the cunning plan, whereby you just get to sweep sawdust and shavings out the hole in the bottom?

Pete

[jsjpd1]

That is part of my cunning plan Pete. How did you know?

I haven't put the garboards back yet (the other side is off too) mostly because of the access they provide. But there is some other outstanding bottom work to do as well. There is still a bit of refastening to do, plus caulking, and painting. Truthfully I have been focusing on the port topside because it's close to done and it would be really nice to walk up to the boat and see something finished and looking good.

[jamo]

Jim: About your caulking mallet - You're right about the long length concentrating the force without having to swing the mallet too hard. Also, on a well made mallet, the slots actually open up a tiny bit at contact then spring back together giving the user a little springback when pulling back for the next swing. In reality, one could caulk a wooden boat with a screwdriver and a regular hammer but the job wouldn't be as uniform, and the job would take forever! I've used old navy oak mallets and black locust ones and have bought and sold many of them over my career and I found the the best were often a surprise because they didn't look all that good to start with.

Nice work there, by the way...

Jamo

[cstevens]

Looking good Jim. Something about getting paint on that makes the finish line seem much closer.

[jsjpd1]

Today only, free roll and tip lessons!

[m2c1Iw]

Must be nice having such a willing crew and skilled.... great job girls.

Mike

[swoody126]

SO COOL...

sw

[jsjpd1]

The girls actually did a really nice job, I was impressed.

Dressed.



Undressed.



I like scraping paint with a little help from the torch. It gives a guy time to contemplate and think things over. Sometimes that results in some unwelcome conclusions however. Like the conclusion that I have a few more planks to fix because the butts fall on a frame.

Like the top butt in this picture.



It's solid but I don't trust that there is enough of either plank on the frame to really allow for a good strong connection.

Or this joint, which is right at the waterline on the starboard side.



The forward plank has lost its fasteners or the plank end has gone a little soft. Either way I can't really leave it the way it is and once it is a part I can't really see butting it back up on a frame. So I guess there are going to be a couple more holes to patch real soon.