Penktadienis, Liepos 8, 2011
Days 4-6
I knew, at the outset of this adventure, that I would be acquiring new skills.
And so I have:
Building sawhorses without a detailed instruction booklet and fancy connectors
Reading assembly instructions written by someone who builds kayaks for a living, not by someone who understands that some people need more detailed information - I know; you say that I can view the DVD or email you if I have a question, but believe me, you will get tired of my questions...
Mixing and applying slow drying epoxy - I swear that I will use the proper breathing apparatus next time.
Hand planing. I have a fondness for this process. I think the planes that my husband has are too heavy and too big for my hands, but I do love what these babies do. I also found that I have a fondness for the shavings, and have a hard time just throwing them away. Luckily the shavings are abundant, and the wall hanging I am imagining can be assembled at any time. And, because the kayak is made of cedar strips, the aroma is just fabulous.
But, I digress.
This is the stem that will become the inner stem of the stern of the kayak. It measured 5/8th inch by just shy of an inch by 41 inches before we "convinced" it into this form. My job was to reduce the sides so that it was 1/8th of an inch on the top edge and 5/8ths of an inch on the bottom edge. And then do the same on the inner bow stem. Over four hours of planing, I learned a lot about planing. I can even plane with my left hand. The plane weighs about 10 ounces and is about half an inch too long for my stubby little hand though. It is a bit of a challenge to hold on to this tool and make nice shaving motions. I have new muscles in my old arthritic hands, and I can feel the new movement in my arms, shoulders and neck; so I guess I can put off thinking about joining a gym for a couple of months. Yay!
See the nice triangular shape I managed to get with the plane? (I know that technically it is another geometric form, but the name eludes me at the moment). And those lovely aromatic shavings? Come on; don't tell me that you don't sometimes pass by something irresistable, back up, close your eyes and take a deep breath, and/or gently touch and feel the texture for a moment and, having gotten your fix, move on to fulfill your original pursuit.
You don't?
Well, you should.
Back to the kayak... Alex and I made a scarf cutting box to make the scarf cuts in the cedar strips that will make up the skin of the kayak. The kayak is about 17 feet long and our cedar strips are not. So we will have to glue the strips together using scarf joints. Basically it is a long overlapping joint. More glue surface, better joint. And each joint has to be hand cut - so we built a scarf cutting box. It does resemble a mitre box, but has a steeper angle for the cut, not the ordinary 45 degrees. And it is made out of cherry. And it is glued down onto a piece of scrap wood so I can clamp it to the bench if I desire.
Next steps: we have to take the boards of red cedar we have and turn cut them into strips. Each strip will then have to be shaped on each long edge - one side rounded, the other a matching cup, so that each strip will fit into the next.... like when you put wooden flooring together, only smaller. And we have to do that first, because when you start applying the strips you start at the point where the hull meets the deck. And I have a specific design in mind that needs the darker red cedar right there. So.... see you in a couple of days.
In the meantime you can see that I have not been taking care of dust bunnies...
Lol...
I knew, at the outset of this adventure, that I would be acquiring new skills.
And so I have:
Building sawhorses without a detailed instruction booklet and fancy connectors
Reading assembly instructions written by someone who builds kayaks for a living, not by someone who understands that some people need more detailed information - I know; you say that I can view the DVD or email you if I have a question, but believe me, you will get tired of my questions...
Mixing and applying slow drying epoxy - I swear that I will use the proper breathing apparatus next time.
Hand planing. I have a fondness for this process. I think the planes that my husband has are too heavy and too big for my hands, but I do love what these babies do. I also found that I have a fondness for the shavings, and have a hard time just throwing them away. Luckily the shavings are abundant, and the wall hanging I am imagining can be assembled at any time. And, because the kayak is made of cedar strips, the aroma is just fabulous.
But, I digress.
This is the stem that will become the inner stem of the stern of the kayak. It measured 5/8th inch by just shy of an inch by 41 inches before we "convinced" it into this form. My job was to reduce the sides so that it was 1/8th of an inch on the top edge and 5/8ths of an inch on the bottom edge. And then do the same on the inner bow stem. Over four hours of planing, I learned a lot about planing. I can even plane with my left hand. The plane weighs about 10 ounces and is about half an inch too long for my stubby little hand though. It is a bit of a challenge to hold on to this tool and make nice shaving motions. I have new muscles in my old arthritic hands, and I can feel the new movement in my arms, shoulders and neck; so I guess I can put off thinking about joining a gym for a couple of months. Yay!
See the nice triangular shape I managed to get with the plane? (I know that technically it is another geometric form, but the name eludes me at the moment). And those lovely aromatic shavings? Come on; don't tell me that you don't sometimes pass by something irresistable, back up, close your eyes and take a deep breath, and/or gently touch and feel the texture for a moment and, having gotten your fix, move on to fulfill your original pursuit.
You don't?
Well, you should.
Back to the kayak... Alex and I made a scarf cutting box to make the scarf cuts in the cedar strips that will make up the skin of the kayak. The kayak is about 17 feet long and our cedar strips are not. So we will have to glue the strips together using scarf joints. Basically it is a long overlapping joint. More glue surface, better joint. And each joint has to be hand cut - so we built a scarf cutting box. It does resemble a mitre box, but has a steeper angle for the cut, not the ordinary 45 degrees. And it is made out of cherry. And it is glued down onto a piece of scrap wood so I can clamp it to the bench if I desire.
Next steps: we have to take the boards of red cedar we have and turn cut them into strips. Each strip will then have to be shaped on each long edge - one side rounded, the other a matching cup, so that each strip will fit into the next.... like when you put wooden flooring together, only smaller. And we have to do that first, because when you start applying the strips you start at the point where the hull meets the deck. And I have a specific design in mind that needs the darker red cedar right there. So.... see you in a couple of days.
In the meantime you can see that I have not been taking care of dust bunnies...
Lol...
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