Lombard

2. Never use the rip fence and sliding bevel at the same time to cut through material. (I can elaborate on a safer option if anyone would like) I for one would like. Thank you.

If you google Blind Bolt, go to their site, and view the video. It may be just the ticket. Also I just mounted a ladder / lumber rack on my truck that uses sleeves that become permanent once set, and they are solid. They require the use of a thread setter. Second time I've used that product that receives rough service, and no failures to date. Those came from an outfit called Pro Hoist.

Holy smoke Jeff, that was fast. My wife just called me, and said my package came to the house already. That is awesome, it seems like I just barely clicked confirm payment, and it was at the door. I have had time to think about how much experience I have scarfing joints. None! It is not at all like the Z splices I use to join bow wood in the handle on my band saw, so I looked around and found a good price on on the toggle clamps, and will adopt the one I built to be like the one in your Duckworks tutorial. Thank you for your prompt service.

Looks good, and the time savings you get using it makes it worth its weight in gold.

I do respect your input. If you understood the hazardous nature of what I do for a living, you would know just how careful I will be. Dealing with dangerous situations and hazardous equipment has been my lot for nearly thirty years now. Like fire I won't fear it, however will respect it and use all due caution.

See what you mean. I will build one like yours in the near future. As it is this one puts me all the way to the left side of the saw, out of the line of fire, and will have to suffice for now. It is either push clamps or fabric. I am on a budget for this project, and choose fabric. Due caution will be observed when using this jig though. Thank you for your input.

This is what I've come up with so far Jeff. Still need to fashion a knob for the front. I am thinking, that another block mounted parallel to the kerf, and a 1inch in 12 inch wedge will positively secure the stock. It slides well enough using the double miter slots, however a little turtle wax will smooth it up nicely. Following your advise, the sled allows me to be completely out of the way of any kick backs.

Yeah Jeff, it is at position 288 in the kindle version of the book. Looks like a straight forward project.

I spent hours going through a large stack of WRC at my local lumber yard. Selected the best that was to be had out of the available stock, and will need to do a bunch of scarf joints to eliminate knots. This leads me to the question, does anyone have suggestions or links to building a scarf jig for a table saw? Carved out another paddle from a clean and very fine grained, fully quarter sawn piece of WRC this morning. Much, much lighter than the pond dried pine on the left. I will do a storm paddle with the WRC at some point as well. Got some strips cut as well.

Looks like progress to me. Jerry have you ever made it out to the big Intra West Flagship resort of Whistler Blackcomb? Simply some of the best skiing I have ever done.

Worked on the paddle again yesterday. Got it much closer to the final shape. Just a matter of slowly removing a little mass throughout. Hoping it will lose a pound of water weight, which will help lighten it some. It weighs five pounds currently. Rain, rain, and more rain here today. Think I will finish Sea Wolf on kindle this afternoon. It was good to read Treasure Island again.

Found some half inch marine fir at a cabinet shop. I was looking to find a local source for Baltic Birch. The man had the fir sheet left over from a project he had done. He charged me twenty dollars for the 4 x 8 sheet. Less than what he said he paid, just to get it out of his shop. It seems sound except for a small flaw where a corner got crunched. Got my frames partly laid out, but still need to obtain my stock for the stringers. I'll wait until that is milled, and use actual pieces for the keel and stringers to finish laying out the frames. In the mean time started a paddle out of some pine, no idea what kind. It is heavy with moisture. My hope is it will lose a bunch of water weight once it is shaped to final dimensions. Paddle is roughed out, but still have a good bit of material to remove.

Looks like you have made some good progress. Looking forward to more.

Very nice Sir!

I noted that too Dave, the way he haphazardly laid his planes on the bench, and misnamed them. I see folks at gatherings doing the same thing to expensive pattern maker rasps, throwing them in with a bunch of other metal tools, right along with their draw knives and spoke shave. Some of them marvel at the way my tools cut, and swear there must be some secret technique. When asked I'll reply just like my Grandfather did, "take care of your tools, and they will take care of you, it is just that simple." Lot of fellas get it, others you can hold their hand and guide them every step, they still don't get it. It is like carrying a conversation with a fella that keeps a dull axe.

Looking really good Dave. Unable to tell from the photo, are your floor stringers proud of the keel or flush?

Yeah I was just looking Jeff, something like 2.5 million titles in the public domain available just at Amazon. Something for everyone. P Doug, those leaves are black gold for my garden, once I put them through the composting process.

@ Doug and Steve, thanks guys that is very helpful. I had a message from Amazon in my inbox about Kindle books. Didn't know at all what the heck that meant, however upon investigation, found that I had Kindle books available. Don't have a Kindle and only have a vague notion of what it is, so had to go to Amazon's help section to find out. Well it looks like the genie is out of the bag as to what awaits me under that ole Christmas Tree. I am not letting the family know that I know. ;-) Anyway downloaded for Kindle for PC. Easy as pie by the way. Once that was done, and the sync button hit, in no time at all I had several Kindle books available. Turns out Kindle is nicely formatted and easy to read on my laptop. Ended up reading Jeff's book Fuselage Frame Boats from cover to cover, (so to speak), last night. Well written and easy to follow instructions, that should easily guide a rank novice through the process of building one of these lightweight boats. The book coupled with the information on Jeff's web site answered most of my remaining questions, however me being me, I still ended up with questions. The FreeB-14 still interests me, I like the notion of initial stability, plus ease of entry and exit with the larger coaming. I am 5'11" 200lbs, and at fifty, not nearly as nimble as in the past. My questions involve the placement of the brackets, and the depth of the A dimension on this particular boat? The off sets do not reveal this, so does this mean the boat has no rocker? Could it be as simple as making an A dimension baseline, and adding or subtracting the different elevations of the Z axis? Now on to Treasure Island.

Dave that is awesome, and thanks for taking the time to post. My CS15 build of hull #29 is still a ways off, and posts like this help keep the fire kindled. The only sailing experience that I have is on the windjammer Mary Day, as a tourist who only helped raise and lower sails, and a lesson at Lanier Sailing on Lake Martin in Alabama, a couple years ago, so I was paying attention to what you were doing with the sails. Your video has left me thirsty for more. Thanks again, Dave Lombard

The enthusiastic smile of the Captain and crew says it all. Thanks for sharing.

I have been restricted in buying any books or magazines subscriptions since October, as by order of the Boss. AKA... The Wife! Further instructions included making note of any books or publications that strike my interest on a list beside the grocery list that is magnetically attached to the refrigerator. The result being that instead of getting Jeff's book, I now await for Christmas, in the hope that a book sized package will await me under the tree. I have only added two things to said list, Fuselage Frame Boats, and Sail Makers Apprentice by Emiliano Marino, so I have a better than average chance of the kids or my spouse coming through for me. In the meantime, as an academic exercise, I have downloaded FreeB-14, and have been trying to sort out the off sets, and drawing templates. Having no real reference without the book I am just guessing at this point. This brings to mind a couple questions, that some of you with experience might be able to help me with. Will the book make it clear where to draw notches for the stringers? In photos of the work seen on this forum and Jeff's Blog the frames appear to have concavity between stringers, is this for a certain purpose? Here is photo of what I've drawn so far, do I appear to headed in the right direction? Thanks in advance, Dave Lombard

Shrink that pattern down, make a pair, add some webbing with bindings, and you would have some awesome snowshoes.

I use Eastern Red Cedar, (which incidentally isn't a cedar but a juniper. Cedar produces cones, junipers produce berries), to make hunting weight traditional bows. As you can see in my avitar photo it will bend a good bit. Grain selection is critical for making primitive hunting bows, as is moisture content. You would no doubt have to do a bunch of scarfing to eliminate knots. I built a 12' ERC canoe back in the early eighties, that was nothing short of breathtaking, despite all my amateur mistakes. That canoe was encapsulated in polyester resin, with 6oz cloth inside and out. That is right polyester resin, and it is still in service with no de-lamination to this day. I used the polyester resin as it was given to me, and I was in college just this side of flat broke.

Had the opportunity to review the CS 15 plans again this evening, and answered some questions I had written down from the last two readings. One thing I came across, and may just be a discretionary detail, had to do with the keel. In the hull construction plan view, the keel makes a low angle transition into the stern, and in the construction details it is drawn with a radius. May be insignificant, but wouldn't the low angle transition have less bite in the water than one with the radius?

More for sure.