an infrequent repository of mostly new stuff
building a pair of 19th century gunning skiffs
Em starting from the stern.
Emily and I put the first coat of Le Tonk on South’s interior. After months of looking at the dull matte sanded finish, the transformation was a bit shocking. Not only did the shine return, but also the color. The tung oil varnish really brings it out, as any varnish would. Continue reading “Return of the Shiny”
“Le Tonk”
Imagine a salesman comes into your shop.
Says he’s got this great new product for your boat. This is how it works:
South, with bentwood Ribs and Knees.
Knees, Ribs, Breasthooks, Cockpits . . . these are boats we’re building, right?
Ribs and Knees are now installed in South. North has its Ribs clamped up while the epoxy sets, and will get Knees this weekend. It took a tremendous amount of work to make these little features, but they’ve turned out really well, and I’m very pleased. Continue reading “Ribs and Knees”
Toby hates hugs
It took two full days per boat to replace all the temporary steel drywall screws with bronze. I used to think drywall screws were expensive, but these little shiny things are like jewels in more ways than one. Continue reading “Bronze for Steel”
In the Stacks of the Local Sawmill
I have a natural tendency to linger in sawmills and lumber yards. Besides the smell of the forest and warm glow of the wood, everywhere you look you see the potential of beautiful things you could make with what’s there. There’s still something very old school about a sawmill, too. Not much has changed about them in hundreds of years. Continue reading “An Interesting Trip to the Sawmill”
Backing Blocks for Hardware
Before installing all the copper grommets, I did a bit more framing. As mentioned before, if you keep thinking ahead you discover other things to do now, before the decks go on, that will make life easier later. This is a good example of that: Continue reading “Cockpit Prep and Backing Blocks”
Copper Grommet Blanks
Predicting an actual launch date seems all but impossible. I’ve given up on guessing, as apparently I have no idea how long it takes to do these things. All I can do is keep working, knowing that one day they’ll be done, and that day is getting closer.
That said, we’re heading to the coast in late August. We’ll spend a week with my folks on one of the sea islands where they live outside Beaufort, South Carolina. As I described in an earlier post, it’s a fascinating place to explore, both by land and by water. Given the unbearably slow pace at which I seem to work, chances are slim one of these boats will be ready in time, but I’m going to try. Continue reading “Picking Up The Pace”