The Ply Wooden Boat Part III Construction

We the boat materials purchased, I returned from Lowes. Back in the drivechoice of the cabin we stay at I set up the saw horses (to realize I’d miscounted 2”x4” and only had enough to make them 24” wide) and got to work.

First I sat on and “tested” one of the plywood pieces which I had ripped to about 30” (I think that’s right, but I should have taken notes) to make the bottom of the boat. I wanted to go wider than the 24” that GardenFork.tv did in order to displace more water and provide more buoyancy. I sat on that piece and pretended to row, testing that it was an appropriate width.Once I had settled on the width I reviewed the boat bottom with my cousin Robert (who was kind enough to help record the video along with my cousin Nick) we decided that it should have some taper to it at the bow and stern. I marked out the shape with the chalk lines and the casket shape of the boat was arrived on.The next step was to install the battens which fit where the sides meet the bottom. I used a scrap of CDX to mark out the width of the sides and then used relative dimensioning to size the batten pieces. Each batten piece was sat in a double bead of M-1 sealant and screwed to the base using the Kreg screws.

Robert carefully considers the shape of the hull.

With battens installed, I cut the sides. Because of the casket shape I couldnt simply use a single, flat side piece as the GardenFork.tv boat had. Rather than make three (3) pieces per side and have that many more battens to install and joints to waterproof, I simply made kerfs in the inside face of the walls at the angle changes. When the sides were screwed to the battens, they formed around the shape of the bottom (though the cupped in slightly at the top).

Once the base was cut to size, the sides where the next to be assembled..

Next came the stern, which was a simple square piece of CDX. Because it was square, I used it to help fight the cupping that bending the sides had created. The stern was installed by seating it in more M-1 and screwing into battens between the stern and bottom and the stern and sides.The bow was installed similarly, though because it was installed at 45° to the bottom it took a bit more fudging to install and had much more cupping of the sides to deal with.

With the sides, stern and bow installed, it was time for a snack.

Once the sides were all attached, I installed a batten around the top outside edge to stiffen the sides and provide a lip to hold and carry the boat with. I also installed a batten across the top from side to side. This batten was to hold the sides apart and further reduce the cupping at the top of the sides that had resulted from bending them around the casket shape of the bottom.

Some gentle clamp pressure helped un-bow the sides so that I could install the cross batten.

The last step of construction before waterproofing was to add a keel. My keel is relatively small and oddly constructed. The bracing all around it was necessary to avoid screwing into the ?” edge of the plywood. At home, I probably would have dominoed it on. On vacation I had to settle for the Kreg screws (but no Kreg jig) I had brought with me.

Keelly.

More (Ply)Wooden Boat posts.

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An Alternative To Tin Can Carts Part I

My wife is a crafter . . . she’s crafty? . . . she makes things and shops at Michael’s.Before Christmas she pinned a tin can caddy on Pinterest and asked me if I could make some. She planned to decorate some tin cans for her crafting friends to use as storage and organizers. The caddy would allow them to take the cans to scrap booking parties and  the like. Of course I accepted the challenge and set about looking at the tin can caddy my wife had pinned.

The caddy on Pinterest has six (6) cans arranged in two (2) rows. Three (3) on each side of the center plywood handle. Based  on the photo, it wasn’t entirely clear how the cans are attached to the center handle. My guess is  either short screws near the top or glue.When I discussed the can attachment issue with my wife, I explained that I didn’t think a single short screw near the top would be good enough (especially as it would allow the cans to twist and the screws would work loose). I broached the idea of embedding magnet in the center so the cans would be removable. This was vetoed, but the idea of removable and swappable cans appeal to my wife. I finally settled on having a bottom to support the cans and a top ring to keep the cans attached to the handle.

My design would be made from ½” Baltic Birch plywood. Each Can Caddy would have a center handle piece, a single bottom which would run under the handle and extend out on both sides and two (2) upper can retaining pieces (1 on each side).

The original caddy.

Laying out the height of the can retaining piece.

I began by taking out a can and using it as a reference. By marking it out full scale on my bench, I figured out that ½” would be a good spacer between cans and for the width of the bottom and upper pieced to extend out beyond the cans. I simply held my hand above the can and determined how much higher the handle piece should be and where the handle opening should be.

Layout of the bottom with the curved corners.

Designing the upper can retaining pieces came next. I laid out the centers of each can cut out. I also used a compass to mark the curves at the outside corners, which were centered at the outside can centers.

The bottom would be the same shape as the upper can retaining pieces without the can cutouts.

With the design done, it was time for batch fabrication.

Squaring up a board

Rough boards need to be squared up before they can be used in our project. Here it is my method.

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Old way for frame and panel construction

A traditional method for frame and panel construction consists in  assembling frames using mortise and tenon joints and inserting panels in grooves cut along the perimeter. the job Success heavily depends on an accurate layout and compliance with the various working stages.

For cutting grooves we will choose a plough plane blade with the same width of the chisel we will use to cut the mortises and which is consistent with the panel thickness (1).

The tenons will be cut on the rails and consequently mortises are positioned on the stiles.  Establish the length of the stiles and cut them leaving few inches at both ends. This spaces (horns) will be useful to work safely during the mortise cutting and avoid splitting problems (2).

Use the rails to mark their position on the stiles and divide the space according to the scheme shown in the picture (3).

Layout tenons on the rails  with a mortise gauge (4): the distance between their shoulders plus the  width of the stiles must correspond to final door width. Use the same mortice gauge for tracing  mortises on the stiles.

Cut mortises and tenon cheeks first (not yet shoulders) (5-6) and realize the grooves on stiles and rails (7-8).

Cut the tenon shoulders and create the haunch (9), the height of such element being equal to the groove depth.

Dry assemble to check all joints and then glue up. When the glue is dried, cut the horns and insert the door into place (in this case a frame has been added).

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