Gaff Jaws

[cs]

Real quick. I'm at work and want to go at lunch to get some 8/4 white oak for the gaff jaws, but I don't have the plans in front of me. Can someone quickly give me the rough dimensions of the jaws so as I can get enough material.

Chad

[adla]

74" x 1-1/2" full round, the jaws 3" x 14" twice, roughly

a.

[cs]

Thanks. So a piece of 7/4 white oak 2' x 6" will work.

Chad

[cs]

Well, I'm back. Ended up having to get a little over 3 board feet (cut off pile) @$4.60 a bf. Ended up costing $17.25, but I can know make my gaff jaws.

Chad

[Dave R1]

Chad, are you planning to put a bit of curve in the jaws? You can see a bit of it in this drawing.

You might have thought of this but plan your cuts carefully. Some of the waste front the space between the jaws could be glued on top of the jaw blanks so you have the thickness to carve the curve.

[cs]

Yes I will be laying it out just like shown in the plans. The plans called for 2" stock and I want to use the white oak, but had none in 2". All I had was 1", so today I corrected that problem. Cost me more than I wanted, but alas I wanted it.

Chad

[Craig]

Chad I extended my jaws this season. (+3") My main peaks higher than the plans call for so the jaws always rode on the tips. I went straight again but the curved look better I think.

[umop_apisdn]

What is the purpose of the "tumbler" in that picture? The weekender doesn't have that as part of the plans.

Noel.

[Barry Pyeatt]

The tumbler helps to spread the loading against the mast. Less wear and tear and as the gaff moves with the sail position it helps to keep it working smoothly. The larger flat surface lies flat against the mast helping to spread the pressure against both surfaces. Most often these would be used with round masts but they help to some extent on square ones too. It does require a longer pair of jaws on the gaff and it helps if the jaws are bent so that they lie more or less horizontal, when positioned, as they surround the mast itself. This isn't nearly as critical or even needed on a small boat like the weekender but with larger craft and greater loading it does make a difference in wear on the mast and the gaff.

Many builders in the past wrapped the inside surfaces of the gaff jaws with leather and laced it to the jaws so that the leather would take the beating instead of wood on wood causing damage to both. A lot of the older boats also installed leather or canvas shields wrapped around the mast a the working heights to help protect the mast and jaws as well. This was often coated with several coats of paint to help to protect the canvas and make it last longer too.

[Craig]

I left my mast as an octagon and the jaws were eating up the edges. I wrapped them in boot leather to stop the wear. It works very well.

[cs]

I was noticting the other day that where the gaff jaws will ride on the mast is shown as square. I made my mast this way, do you think it will cause a problem or did I skip over the part in the plans where it said to round the mast?

Chad

[capt jake]

Mine is square and the jaws don't hang up. They work fine.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Should be fine for them to work on a square mast with rounded over corners. The original Stevenson's boats have square masts and most of the builders have square masts and there have been a lot of them go before that have worked out well.

I'll personally attest to the fact that Capt. Jake's works well. He has a pretty nicely balanced rig on his Weekender. It is a joy to work with as he has it laid out.