My Dinghy Dream

2012-01-31T07:40:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 30th Jan 2012

Not blogged for a while as the studio has been too cold for working in (or 'in which to work').
Have been reading a bit though after having bought a couple of books. There is enough info in the both to keep the mind working for the next 20 years. I hadn't realized (ignorance really) that I would be treated to such a huge new vocabulary when I began this project. Who knows what 'spiling' is for instance. As I said enough to keep one going for ages.
The books are - How to build glued lapstrake wooden boats by John Brooks
Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual by Iain Oughtred

Was in the studio today to cut out pices of 1/8" plywood for laminating for the stem and centre frame. As these don't have to be deadly accurate I used the hand circualar saw. Good job too. Cut them for the centre frame at 1 1/8" rady to plane to a finish of 7/8"

clamps, clamps,and more clamps...

2011-12-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

Looking at pictures of boats being built it seems that everyone needs a boatload of clamps. They are used for holding planks, gunwhales, seats and anything else one can think of. A one off boat builders costs climb hugely if many clamps have to be bought just like if one needs a piece of mahogany for the transome, say 11/2ft by 3ft but have to buy a whole sheet. Fine if many boats are to be built but not so if one is the goal.

Either I will have to make more boats, borrow beg or steal tools and materials or just spend the money. Probably turns out that it will be a mixture of them all (maybe not the stealing part!).

All this because I need some kind of clamp to hold the plywood while the scarfed joints are drying. Chatting to friends helps of course as they usually have a ton more knowledge than me. Afriend suggested threaded rods might be a good idea in some circumstances. Looked into it and for six dollars I can buy the materials for making clamps for the plywood scarfs. Not bad.

Vaclev Havel and Christopher Hichens die within a couple of days of each other. Both a great loss to this world. RIP

2011-12-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

Time to try joining two pieces of plywood. Never done it before so have spent the past few days reading all I can about it. I purchased a small power plane in the summer knowing that I would be doing this. Have never used one of those before either so another learning curve there too. Experts say practise 'scarphing' or 'scarfing' on scrap pieces of plywood so that is what I am doing.
I found several well detailed websites on the subject so chose one and began. After about 30 minutes I had what looked like a pretty decent scarf. This was on a thicker piece than I will be using for the boat so now I need to find some thinner pieces and have a go there. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this first try went, though not perfect, and I think that was helped by the good quality of the advice on the websites. Planing across the surface of the edges seemed to work better than down them.

I am glad though at this stage that I am using cheap plywood as there is no room for error and doing the same thing on a $100 or so sheet of ply would be very intimidating indeed.

I like the electric hand planer too. It was light, quick and easy to handle.

I am doing this because I want to. It is fun so far but have I bitten off too much?
Keep going very slowly and time will tell.

Today's news : from the Globe and Mail - 'Record high household debt in Canada triggers alarm' Hope I don't contribute to that while making this boat!

2011-12-09T10:43:00.001-08:00

Study plans and book over and over again until the details start to become clear. It's funny how we expect children to learn things at school after they have been taught or told things once or twice ("Don't you remember ? We did that only yesterday/last week/last month/ in grade 4). Yet here we are reading and looking at pictures over and over before it really starts to become clear in our heads. Hmmmm....

Comments on the various discussion boards on the topic of which kind of plywood to use are endless and very interesting. It is amazing how many people take the time to answer questions and give their input into the topic. Great!
I have decided to go the cheap way for a variety of reasons.
1. Not a Cadillac boat.
2. To be used by me over a limited number of years
3. The other boat I made (stitch and glue plywood) has lasted well with just a paint job for 5 seasons so far and that was made out of Meranti.
4. The Meranti plywood I have found looks really good with no filling on the surface ply

I wonder how accurate the drawing and cutting needs to be to get a good boat out of this. In my experience transferring from paper drawings to wood and then cutting with power tools never seems to provide perfect shapes. Perhaps they might be out 1/8 or 1/16 inch here and there. I have read that this method of building allows for small mistakes because of the use of epoxy fillers. We'll see. I don't want my boat to end up like the Marco Polo. But then again she was the fastest ship in her day!

2011-12-07T11:07:00.001-08:00

This blog thing seems to be badly organized but hey! What do I know as I am just a silly old grump.
Have built two sawhorses and am ready to make my first cut on the 1/2in plywood for the first station.
Do I have all the right tools? Not yet. But will borrow or buy when necessary.

It's easy to use as a journal as this is. It helps me think and keeps me on track.
Haven't figured out how to turn photos yet.

costs

2011-12-07T08:54:00.001-08:00

1. "How to build a Shellback Dinghy -

2. 1 sheet 1/2 in plywood for stations
3. drywall screws
4. 3 sheets 1/4 in Meranti ply
5. 2X4s etc for frame
6. 1/8 ply (oak) for laminating stems
7 threaded rods for homemade clamps

Time to create a spreadsheet to keep track of costs

Idea

2011-12-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

Start with an idea or a dream.
Ever since my first sail on the Norfolk Broads in England I have wanted to build a small sail/rowing dinghy.
Now I have the space and time but no spare cash. So how to make it happen?
I have decided on my boat and have done much research in the library and on the net.
Now I need to set up an account and start putting money into it as a fund for the materials. I have decided on a step by step approach ie what do I need to do next to move the plan forward.
Step1 - decide on boat - done - Shellback Dinghy
step 2 - buy plan - done - from Wooden Boat Store
step 3 - see if there is any literature out there to aid in giving info to build boat - books, articles etc - done - purchased small book "How to build the Shellback Dinghy" from Indigo

4 - make a list of material to purchase and put the items in order of use.
5 - open account