Building A Mast

[SWA]

The slow process of building my boat (small (16')day sailor) continues. I am at the point where I need to decide whether to build a mast or buy a used one. I was wondering if there was any sites or books that talk about building a mast. I have seen the articles on building a birdsmouth mast, but am uncerttain how you put the sail track in on such an animal. I see a number of solid wood masts that really look nice. Welcome any thoughts or suggestions!

Steve

[ChuckG]

Hi Steve,

Chapter 22 of of Greg Rossel's book, Building Small Boats, is titled "Solid-Wood Spars." I think that is just what you want. It describes the process of laminating up a four-sided tapered pole, taking it to 8 sides, then 16 sides, then round. Rossel's book is great, you'll want it on your shelf in any case.

Chuck

[Wild Dingo]

Then again... our hosts mag has done articles on spar making I even think old Bud Macintosh did one some time back?

And if one does the searchy thing on the forum here there are threads about just his subject lots of great advice there...

Actually mate go have a gander through Jim Hillmans "WB FAQ Building and Repair, ver. 2.0" thread here theres bound to be something ...well actually if you go in there you will gather SO MUCH great info that you will get lost for some months so take a cut lunch and a water bag!

Good luck!

[Art Read]

'Bout halfway thru this "little" photo journal there's a few pictures that show how I built up my spars for a similar sized boat from scarfed and laminated spruce.

Dark Harbor Photo Journal

[Steve Lansdowne]

Hey, Steve, good to see you're coming along on your Snipe. The hardest part of building a mast is getting the wood. Making a spar gauge and using a plane and sandpaper is all it takes, along with some muscle. Go for it!

[Mrleft8]

I made the sticks for my boat out of standard lumberyard spruce. It took about 15 min utes of picking through the pile to find 2x8's that were completely knot free, and with nice straight grain. I got 4 pieces total (for brain damage protection...Good thing too as I very carefully cut my mast exactly 1' too short the first time....), for under $30. I ripped them on the tablesaw, glued the "bookmatched" halves together, and tapered them. Then I 8 sided and planed them round(ish). After that I put the mast on the outboard side of my lathe and sanded it down to 220. 4 coats of spar varnish, and "Bob's yer uncle"! All told I'd guess the mast took 8 hours to make. The sprit boom took about 4 hours. I used Titebond 2 for the glue. Perhaps I could have used rescourcinol, but I did that with the first (too short)mast, and really didn't like the dark glueline. It's about as difficult as tying your shoes, once you get started.

[Paul Scheuer]

Bird's mouthing seems to be the rage. But for your mast, you might end up with no hole. The book matching above is a good idea for keeping whatever warping might occur under control. It's also a natural for making a sail slot, with the joint fore and aft, using a router or the right planes. If you're going for a sail track, you probably don't want the joint under the track.

Did I hear that this is for a Snipe. I'll take a look at how the one I have is made. It's currently stowed behind a few other projects.

[SWA]

Paul,

Thanks for your input. The boat is indeed a Snipe, and I am debating about building a mast or buying one. Quite honestly, I like the idea of building one if I can do it well. A lot of the mast that people make use hoops and not a sail track. Doing the sail track correctly as well as scarfing the lumber for a 23 foot mast is my concern. I would be really interested in how your Snipe mast is set up as well as how the rigging is done. Does your Snipe use an aluminum or a wooden dagger board. Thanks again!

Steve

Chuck

Thanks for the input. I ordered the book yesterday and am anxious to read it.

Steve

[WindHawk]

Also, you don't need a track, or even a halyard unless you want one. Simply tie the sail to the mast. There is a very good thread on this that's currently active.

[Paul Scheuer]

I just went out to look at the Snipe mast that came with my "free boat" project. It'll be a while before I can get a good look at it. It's covered in a plastic wrapper, behind the lawn care equipment zone, behind the skiff parking zone, hanging under the kayak. It appears to be about 3 inches dia. with a sail slot. The hardware looks to be light-weight, "Race Lite" stuff.

[ 06-27-2004, 06:56 PM: Message edited by: Paul Scheuer ]

[Meerkat]

Available from the Woodenboat Store:
by David C. "Bud" McIntosh
illustrated by Samuel F. Manning
254 pp., hardcover
ISBN # 0-937822-10-8
Table of Contents:
# Laying Down
# The Making of Molds
# The Ballast Keel
# The Backbone: Keel and Sternpost
# The Backbone : Stem, Rabbet, and Frame Sockets
# The Backbone: Tail Feather, Transom, Molds, and Sheer
# Ribbands and Timbering Off
# Floor Timbers
# The Planking Process: From the Sheer Down
# The Planking Process: From the Garboard Up
# A Smooth and Fair Hull
# Ceilings
# Fitting the Deck Framing
# Laying the Deck
# Building the House
# Hatches and Other Deck Joinery
# Fittings the Bulkheads
# Spars
# The Rudder
# Tools and Devices

In the chapter on spars, he discusses a simple tool to be used with an electric drill for shaping spars. It essentially consisted of a wide pully or drum meant to be mounted to the drill. A belt of sandpaper is looped over the pully, "sand" side in, and the wood to be shaped. He says it makes short work of it.

[ 06-27-2004, 08:48 PM: Message edited by: Meerkat ]

[Meerkat]

Originally posted by WindHawk:
Also, you don't need a track, or even a halyard unless you want one. Simply tie the sail to the mast. There is a very good thread on this that's currently active.

No offense Windhawk, but a laced on sail is not very seamanlike, except, possibly, for a boat that doesn't get into water much over knee deep and never goes out unless the wind is guaranteed to never go over 5kts.

For starters, how will you reef it if necessary?

I had a cat ketch that had sails that sliped over the masts, but the sails could be rolled up on the mast to reduce sail. I forget exactly how the boom was organized to allow that (it was a "Sea Pearl 21".

I think your boat is quite handsome and all, but I would change to a halyard raised sail with tracks or hoops and some means of reducing the sail area (slab reefing comes to mind) for safety.