I’ve been working steadily on boats trying to get them ready for spring launch, but I had an interesting side project building a new roof frame for a classic street rod, which I wrote about a couple weeks ago. I
Pelican’s progress
I hope everyone had a good St. Patrick’s day! I didn’t wear green, but I did have an extra helping of ‘spirits’ to mark the occasion. The owners of the Pelican new build stopped by for a visit the other
Clamping revisited
I’ve posted before about clamping because, in wooden boat work, you’re always trying to clamp things that aren’t straight, flat, or square. This week’s clamping challenge was a garboard plank on the 12 1/2 I’m restoring. The first plank was
Just say no
Nancy Reagan was referring to saying no to drugs. I don’t have that problem. My ‘drug’ of choice comes in a long neck bottle or is distilled from corn mash. Perfectly legal. What I do have a problem saying no
Night Moves
I think Bob Seger had something else in mind when he penned Night Moves. In my case, I just had to work a bit late and found myself in the dark with the time change and all. Makes for
Penguin Plane
I’ve been working on the restoration of this nice little Penguin class sailboat when I can. Since she’s made of stable plywood, I’m adding a layer of fiberglass and epoxy to make a nice hard candy shell on the boat.
Concrete Evidence
Occasionally, being a boatbuilder attracts calls from some unusual customers. See, we already do kind of weird work, so if someone needs something odd done, we get the call. This job was pretty simple, so I thought. Just fiberglass some
Steam in bag goodness
I’m not going to eat steamed veggies on a Friday, no way, but how about some delicious mahogany. I first learned of steaming wood in plastic bags in a Runabout restoration book years ago. I thought that author had a lot
To early for a scarf?
OK, it’s not cool enough for a warm wool scarf, but it’s always perfect weather for a scarf joint! A scarf joint is usually used to make a piece of wood longer when you don’t have access to
Lumberjack dreams
So, I needed some green (unseasoned or dried) white oak for steaming some boat frames into shape on a round bilge boat. I usually go to some local sawmills to get