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Charles Treichel

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Charles Treichel last won the day on February 22 2013

Charles Treichel had the most liked content!

About Charles Treichel

  • Birthday 08/14/1940

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Madison, WI & Anacortes, WA
  • Interests
    Boats, cars, construction.
    In the old day, if we built a boat from wood it was likely because we couldn't afford to buy one. Today some recreational kayaks and canoes are dirt cheap, but functional. At over $180 per sheet of 1/2' marine plywood, and the cost of fasteners, etc it is discouraging to build a wood boat. (and certainly not to save money!)
    If I have an objective, it is to try to accomplish a quality construction using acceptable substitute materials. More on this later.

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  1. Most intereting; I have had similar thoughts. Right now I am in Anacortes where I keep a 20' C-Dory on a mooring in Burrows Bay. I'm also building a SOF kayak. Used sailboats with blown out rigging are dirt cheap and may have an appropriate hull, and possible a small engine. Cut down the keel, and make a few more modifications and you may be in business. The main disadvantage may be speed. I like my C-Dory with a 90 HP Evinrude E-Tec. It goes 24knots and consumes little gas; I can raise the engine and slide into any calm beach. I would have a hard time with a boat that only goes7-8 knots.
  2. On a previous boat I experimented with various adhesives and found that "Goop" really worked well.
  3. I think I will be able to bend it down about 1/2" per side. Hope that will be enough.
  4. I was looking at Jeff's boat and noticed a significant "bending" which, I presume, is to assist in the tensioning of the fabric when he removes the clamps that probably held the sides of the coming even further downward. By planing a little off the top and bottom of the coming it would be easier to bend, or I could just plane off a little of the bottom atl the front and back to make it a little easier to bend. I am not sure of what is an appropriate amount of bending or how important it is to tension the fabric.
  5. I'm back in business, following some carpel tunnel and elbow surgury, and finishing the Poca Barta frame at my home in Anacortes, WA. Just about ready to start the skinning, and will follow up with photos and writeup when finished. Question: I am afraid my coming ring is a little too stout and will resist bending. I am considering planing it down a bit. Just wondering how easy yours was to bend.
  6. I have a hard time using all those accumulated shorts of various hardwoods for kindling. But they were taking up too much space so I bit the bullet and here are the results.
  7. I believe the key to safety is understanding the tools and their potential for danger. That is why I like to show novices what can happen with flying boards, etc. and the importance of keeping body parts out of harms way.
  8. I've had too many problems with splitters and factory supplied guards, but the best bet if you are not confident of what you are doing is to use one and put up with the inconvenience. The only time I have ever had an "accident" with any of my tools (including chainsaws) is when I attemped to cut a tiny board with the blade up only about 1/4". It resulted in a nick to my middle finger. I use a variety of pushers to keep my hands away from danger. I have also demonstrated to myself and others the hazards of kickbacks and flying boards. I think this makes a lasting impression on novices learning the use of these powerful tools.
  9. It seems that about half the shops I have visited have at times removed the blade guard from their table saw. I sympathize with them because the guard is often a clumbsy thing to deal with and frequently gets in the way. I am guilty of this myself so I thought I would toy around with devising a more "user friendly" guard that could stay in place. The guard is made from a piece of 1/4 plexy and mounted from the ceiling of my shop on an adjustable mechanism to keep it in close proximity to the top of the blade. The back flap is made from a piece of converor belt and is mounted to the fence. For a cross cut the flap can be lifted when inserting the stock, if necessary. For ripping it can be removed and the saw positioned so that a pushing aid can move the stock through the blade with the plexy offering some protection from the blade. I am not making any blanket recommendations on duplicating this until I gain some experience testing it under different conditions.
  10. I made up another scarf jig for the radial saw This one lays flat on the table and has a groove cut to a depth down to the top of the fence. I did this so the stock could pass over the top of the fence thereby allowing the cut to be made in the middle of the stock. The angle is set so that the stock will not interfer with the column of the saw. I use this to rough cut the stock and then finish up cutting a parallel trim cut with the jig shown in the previous posting. The reality is that with a little bit of care this may be unnecessary. The guard on the radial saw has been tilted back for clarity when taking the photo. Of course you would need clearance behind the saw to cut in the middle of a long stringer.
  11. I received a small sample of 8oz poly with about 50-60 threads/inch. I tested it by ironing and it shrinks about 10% (and even more if you get it too hot). I tried painting it with an oil based paint and it seems to nicely take the paint. I put a second coat on and believe that would seal it. But, as this is new to me, I have nothing to compare it to.. Anyway, I won't be working on my kayak until this summer when I go to Washington, so I thought doing some research might turn up something. But, now as it turns out, the supplier has run out of the material and is no longer offering it for sale.
  12. Just wondering what the specs are for polyester. 8oz/yd? Is there any reason to go heavier or lighter? What is the ideal thread count? Uncoated. How does one tell if it is coated or not? Any other relevant specs?
  13. Perhaps a little more than slight. The frames are finished and they come out to about 8#. The stringers should be the same weight as cedar and my rudimentary tests show them to be stronger.
  14. I've been toying around with various means of cutting scarfs on stringers for my kayak project and here is what I came up with. I realize that space constraints may render this impossible for some workshops. I have cut several now and find that this seems a relatively easy and safe way to get good cuts. When using a radial saw the most important safety aspect is to keep hands out of harms way and to have your stock backed up against the fence. Therefore the tip of the stringer must be brought into contact with fence before initiating a cut. The clamps hold the stock firmly and the cuts are consistant. A further improvement would be to redesign the jig to allow for different angles. Hope I am not treading on someone elses idea as I imagine this has been done before.
  15. I wasn't talking about oak plywood; for better or worse I am using real wood cut by myself from real trees. I've done some rudimentary tests and am satisfied with the results. I've reduced the dimensions of the stringers slightly so the weight will come out about the same and be just as strong. The issue of quality I was referring to was the various grades of construction plywood vs Integraply or perhaps Baltic Birch. (neither of which I decided to use) When I see sheets in a stack all warped up and am aware of all the voids and filled in areas, I refer to that as quality, which is not to say it is inadequate for its purpose, which obviously is not for boats.
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