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  1. #16
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    I've been sidetrtacked into a bit of a home improvements binge lately. The weather has just been so nice for working outside, and I had some cool ideas.

    Boatbuilding will resume shortly.

    Yes, really.

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  3. #17
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    Right, well that was an obscure and unconventional use of the word "shortly". Ahem. Life got in the way a bit.

    However, today is Hunting Through Wood Pile Day, as well as Finding Tools I Haven't Used For Far Too Long Day. The plan is to get at least something cut and glued by Sunday night.

  4. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    North Gosford
    Age
    65
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    128

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    Interesting project-I'm looking forward to more progress.I'm toying with a rowboat for my next build,
    Cheers,
    Dave.

  5. #19
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    Ok, actually managed to get something done, apart from the Great Bicentennial Spring Cleaning.

    Story is I had some rough sawn Surian cedar that I wanted to use. That means I had to dress it accurately for thickness.

    Problem: no haz thicknesser, and cbf'd trying to organise using someone else's since I don't have a lot of stock that needs dressing. Also, Surian is often a bit "woolly" when you run it through a thicknesser, and can tear out quite badly if cutting direction is wrong or blades aren't razor sharp.

    However, me haz router. Routers are very handy things. So, I made up a jig out of some scrap timber and plywood to turn my router into an impromptu thicknesser, with the advantage that due to the way the cutter works on the router there is less woolliness and less chance of tearing strips out.

    It works. All I do is drop the rough stock into the base, and shove a few wedges in finger tight to hold it still. Then I just put the router in the top bit and slide it around. Instant dressed stock, accurate to a small fraction of a millimetre. It's actually better than some stuff I've seen from not-quite-perfect thicknessers.

    It'd be extremely tedious for doing large amounts of stock, but it's fine for what I need, and it's free, and I don't have to take stuff elsewhere, etc.

    The bits I did this afternoon are the stock for the transom and stem. Not much, but off to a good start. The remainder of the plank (sitting on top in the first shot) will be turned into the two thwarts.
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  6. #20
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    K, got a bit more done. Ripped out some stock for the frames and made a steambox.

    The frames will be laminated, but I'll steam bend the strips first. I find this much more pleasant to deal with during glue-up than a bunch of feral unsteamed strips that are constantly trying to escape. Can use thicker strips too, so less waste and less glue. As long as they're given a couple of days to dry out after steaming, they'll glue up without problems.

    I've decided to go with only three permanent frames. The for'd and aft stations will be temporary moulds. After thinking about it, I reckon that will be fine. The planking is thin, but she'll have those stringers behind each lap. Other similar boats, with slightly thicker planking but no stringers, get away with minimal framing.

    So anyway, got the basic bits for all that. Still doesn't look very interesting. Next job is to make up the bending/laminating forms for the frames, after which things will start getting more interesting.
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  7. #21
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    Just doing preparations for bending and gluing stuff at the moment, but while I was making a cup of coffee I thought I'd post something for people who might have bought themselves a new dropsaw but don't have much experience with said tool.

    I wanted a pile of wedges, because wedges are really handy when trying to persuade bits of wood to behave. I wanted about a hundred of them, and I wanted them fast, and I wanted to be able to count to ten on my fngers when I finished. It's not worth taking risks with dropsaws.

    The following pic shows how to do it. If the saw is used sensibly (don't just jam it straight into the wood) it'll be rare for a piece to kick up. Even if it does kick up, you wont get injured. The small plywood fence stops your stock moving around when the blade drags on it. The piece of 3x2 on the left holds the stock down when you lean on it, and keeps your left hand well clear of the blade.

    Don't cut all the way down through the ply, just deep enough to split the stock almost into two wedges. "Almost" because it stops the bit on the right of the cut misbehaving. Just pull the two wedges apart later. If you do completely split a bit of stock it'll usally stay still if your blade is good, but it's a bit safer to leave them just joined.

    There ya go. Easy and fast.
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  8. #22
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    K, basic bending/laminating forms for the three permanent frames. Bits of wood. Hey ho.

    Tomorrow should be Making-Straight-Bits-Of-Wood-All-Bent Day, barrring asteroid strikes or whatever.
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  9. #23
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    K, so straight bits of wood are bent now. Terribly complicated and all. This here boatbuilding stuff sure is intimidating.

    First pic shows the magic power plant for the steambox, namely Ye Olde Leccy Jug. Steambox stands on its own legs and has a cut-out on the underside, which matches the shape of the jug's spout. Result is that all I have to do is shove the jug under the box and roughly wrap a bit of rag around for a sort of steam seal. Shut-off switch for the jug is weighted down with a bit of 2x4, so it'll keep on boiling. Bits of wood go in the other end, with another rag. Since the cedar I was bending was about 6mm-ish thick, around 15 minutes does the trick. This also happens to be close to the limit of one jug of water, so it's all good.

    Result in second shot. There ya go.

    ETA: Oh yeah, this cedar was kiln-dried too. Sometimes you'll hear people say you can't steam bend kiln-dried timber. It depends..............

    ....on what sort of wood it is, how thick it is, how severely it was cooked during kiln drying, how long it's been sitting around to reach equilibrium after leaving the kiln, how much of a bend you're trying to force into it in relation to the thickness of the strip, whether it was cut by virgins on the full moon, and whatever else. If in doubt, try it.

    Also, steamed cedar smells great.
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  10. #24
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Portland, ME USA
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    837

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sumbloak View Post
    Just doing preparations for bending and gluing stuff at the moment, but while I was making a cup of coffee I thought I'd post something for people who might have bought themselves a new dropsaw but don't have much experience with said tool.

    I wanted a pile of wedges, because wedges are really handy when trying to persuade bits of wood to behave. I wanted about a hundred of them, and I wanted them fast, and I wanted to be able to count to ten on my fngers when I finished. It's not worth taking risks with dropsaws.

    The following pic shows how to do it. If the saw is used sensibly (don't just jam it straight into the wood) it'll be rare for a piece to kick up. Even if it does kick up, you wont get injured. The small plywood fence stops your stock moving around when the blade drags on it. The piece of 3x2 on the left holds the stock down when you lean on it, and keeps your left hand well clear of the blade.

    Don't cut all the way down through the ply, just deep enough to split the stock almost into two wedges. "Almost" because it stops the bit on the right of the cut misbehaving. Just pull the two wedges apart later. If you do completely split a bit of stock it'll usally stay still if your blade is good, but it's a bit safer to leave them just joined.

    There ya go. Easy and fast.
    No problem with grain orientation in the wedges? It seems like the wedge would be quite weak because the long edge grain is perp. to wedge.

    Good job on progress!

  11. #25
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    Eh? Why would the grain be perpendicular to the wedge? I was cutting the stock along the grain, not across it. I'm not that silly. Yes, I know it's a dropsaw and they're supposed to be for crosscutting. You can also use them for a bit of judicious ripping. Anyone who has had occasion to use one extensively has probably done several weird things with it. Basic tool-using ape behaviour.

  12. #26
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    Just a bit more detail on the steambox, since this forum seems to get questions about steam bending every so often.

    I know some people use wallpaper steamers or various other things, which is fine if you have them. I didn't have them, and didn't feel like acquiring them. However, just about every house already has a decent electric jug.

    This setup is limited by the capacity of the jug, but is perfectly adequate for small boats which only require bent stock up to around 8mm. I've used other setups, but find this one to be the best. It has a minimum of components and leak points, and removing the jug for a refill is a simple "slide it out, fill it, slide it back in".

    The box istelf is just screwed together. There's no need for glue. No need for plywood either. Rough sawn 8x1 would be just as good. I just used what I had lying around.

    The other end of the box stands on legs about 40mm taller, just so any condensed water will run back towards the jug end.
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  13. #27
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    Jun 2007
    Location
    Aberfoyle Park SA
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    63
    Posts
    1,787

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    Very neat & simple. I like.
    (I tend to make mountains out of mole-hills for this tooling stuff...)
    cheers
    Alan J

    Nothing says "Unprofessional Job" so loudly as wrinkles in the duct tape. - B.Spencer

  14. #28
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Albury Well Just Outside
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    13,315

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    This is an interesting thread. I will be watching this build.

    Although I have never done any steaming I agree just a box to contain the steam and a source to stream.

  15. #29
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    Glued the frames up this afternoon. I'll leave them wedged up until Sunday night or Monday arvo, just to make sure the glue's good and solid. Wedges really are a lot more convenient than clamps a lot of the time, especially if there's only one pair of hands available.

    Incidentally, the innermost strip isn't glued to the others. It's just there to take the crushing on the inside blocks. Cedar tends to get a bit squashed on their corners. So, the finished frames will be about 6mm smaller than what you see in the picture. There will be quite a bit of taper out towards the sheer too. I just ran all the strips full length for the moment.

    I can still skim the inner strip down in thickness later. Might take it down to 3mm and use it for stock for a laminated breasthook or whatever.
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  16. #30
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    Sep 2012
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    NSW, Australia
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    Glued up blanks for stem and transom. Transom is just a plain butt joint, since the glue is stronger than the wood anyway. The base it's being glued up on is the router sled turned upside down.

    Stem has an offcut of the 3mm planking ply in the middle, with outer veneers running fore and aft, just to make it a bit less fragile during building. It'll be fairly thin by the time it's bevelled. Not a problem when finished, but could be liable to damage during planking, so the ply is there to stop it splitting.
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