Posts

Weekly Reflection

  week of May 16-23   This week was really challenging but I had a lot of fun. Putting the fabric skin on the boat was certainly a challenge but we were able to figure it out. I think that the challenge of working with someone who was equally frustrated as me was not my favorite but we worked through it with only one (mostly accidental) stabbing with a sewing needle. Doing all of the finish along with putting the skin and all finishing touches on in a week felt really good. I think that the achievements that I made this week were awesome and I’m really proud of myself. Being able to actually go canoeing in the boat that I had worked so hard on in the past two weeks was really satisfying. I think that all of my work was really good and I am happy about what I have learned and accomplished. For the rest of my time I want to stitch together a video of the work that I have done and show the process of building the canoe. In the future I would like to paint little daisies on the rub rails t
Post a Comment
Read more

Day Thirteen 5-22-2021

Image
 The End!  Today I installed the rub rails making sure not to screw them in too far because of the shape it would have cracked. After that we worked on the metal that wrapped around the stems, drilling into the metal and bending it over the decks and around the stem. We screwed that in and clamped in place blocks of wood to put in place of the seat backs for a test run. We took the boat to Hopkinton Pond and paddled around for a bit figuring out where the seat backs should be installed. We got back and installed them with bolts and called it a day.
Post a Comment
Read more

Day Twelve 5-21-2021

Image
 Rub Rails Today we worked on the rub rails; milling, sanding, fitting, and finishing. We started by getting my already cut pieces along with the boys’ pieces and we milled them to be a U-shape with the router table. We milled the rub rails for my brother’s boat as well while the router table was out. After that I sanded them down to be smooth and nearly perfectly round. After I was done sanding I planed the ends of the rub rails so that they would be rounded. After that we made sure to fit them to the boat and drill the holes into them where the ribs laid. After lunch I put two coats of finish on them and called it a day. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Day Eleven 5-20-2021

Image
 Skin  Today was the big one! It was quite frustrating and long but today we got the skin on. We started by just getting it on and then we laced it up with the sail needles and imitation sinew in order to get it tight. Once tight we stapled the fabric into the out-wale about an inch and a half apart. We then wrapped one side around the end and stapled it and cut it with a sauter gun. After that we wrapped the other side and once again cut it and proceeded to cut all of the excess fabric with the sauter gun after undoing our lacing. We called it a day and went to have lunch before putting the two part urethane coating on.  I was in charge of mixing the batches while my dad rolled them on. After using all of the urethane and putting on five coats we were done for the day.
Post a Comment
Read more

Day Ten! 5-19-2021

Image
 More Finish Today was a late start due to a college meeting that I had so I headed down to the shop at 10:40 thinking that I would be doing some research about applying the skin tomorrow. Oh boy was I wrong. When I got there my canoe was outside on sawhorses where I sanded every single piece (for what felt like the millionth time) until it was time for lunch. After a really short lunch we went back to get our second coat of finish on. I completely forgot to take pictures today so here is a funky one that was featured on my private snapchat story. (hours 10:45-12:30 and 1-4 [4.25 hours])
Post a Comment
Read more

Day nine 5-18-2021

Image
 Finish (first coat) !! Today I started by sawing the excess length of ribs off, with only one injury. (blood: ✔️, sweat: ❌, tears: ❌) I then hand planed the top of the ribs so that they would be flush with both the in- and out-wales. Finally I sanded the top of the in- and out-wales before sanding the entire boat, inside and out. I went and took lunch afterward before we started the process of finishing. After a quick lunch we got to the shop, and turned on a podcast (highly recommend Crime Junkies) and got to finishing everything. This took ages but time flew by and it was actually pretty fun. (worked 8:30-12:30 and 1-4:30 7.5 hours)
Post a Comment
Read more

Day Eight 5-17-2021

Image
 In-wales and the Floor Today was a really neat day because we finished all of the frame work of the boat. We attached one inhale in the morning, it involved an absurd amount of clamps and stress, but only a bit of glue and messing up. First we fitted each end to the decks and then prepared our clamps so that we would be able to connect the in-wale, out-wale, and each of the ribs together with glue. Once done we began on the floor which was actually pretty fun. We fitted, cut, and sanded each piece before we went on our lunch break. After lunch we set up to rivet the floor pieces together before my dad's client arrived for a meeting. I 'harvested' clamps so that after we could attach the second in-wale and cut any loose strings from the lashings that we had done. After the meeting we attached the second in-wale, this time flawlessly and without me messing up, and proceeded to connecting floor pieces. We riveted the pieces together and called it a day, I should be able to ge
Post a Comment
Read more