Look Ma, No Staples

The first picture is of a custom tip for the glue bottle. I had a piece of 3/8 inch tubing that I heated with a lighter, pulled the tube when it was hot which caused it to lengthen and shrink in diameter. The small diameter helps get the glue into the cove of the cedar strips.

Second picture shows the jigs that I use to clamp the strips in place with out using staples. The plywood on the bottom are U shaped clamps used to hold the bottom of the starter strip and with wedges, used to hold the strips against the forms. The Z shaped clamps are screwed to the forms and moved after ever one or two strips. Again wedges are used to force the new strip against the previous strips and with another wedge to hold the strip against the form.

Third picture is of a frame used near the bow and stern to hold the strips against the forms. These hold the strips tight against the forms in the area where there is a lot of stress on the strips. This strip would be helpful even when using staples, because the staples may not hold a highly stressed board.

The last picture is just a progress shot.

Quote of the day: In Mexico we have a word for Sushi: Bait. Joes Simon.

Rough Tree and a Solid Stance

A few photos that I had intended on posting previously.

The first is a view of a board as it looked after being sawn via one Homelite chain saw.

The Second is a view of the tree in plank form. (You might need to click on the photo to zoom in to see it amongst all of the junk in the shop.)

As mentioned, I will be spewing tips for the boat builder on this Blog, so one tip is that the stand for the forms should be very solid. I like the tripod shown because it will not move when working hard on the boat, especially with the extra added weights on its base. The typical H frame stands that hold the beam in one direction and has a saddle for the boat when turned 90 deg are nice but be sure to add some weights to make sure you have a solid foundation for maintaining accuracy with the forms and for the building.

Quote of the day: Pay no attention to what the critics say…Remember, a statue has never been set up in honor of a critic! Jean Sibelius