A Small Boat Project

[Steve Day]

Hi Gang,

I finally got back into the boat building after the move, hurricanes, hurricane relief, etc. that 2005 brought us.

My wife's niece is having a baby in January and she wanted me to build one of the cradle boats for them. Sooo, I am building one.

Here is a shot of the progress to date. I have "dry fit" the sides and took a shot or two of her like that. This project is fun and fits into the garage with no difficulty.

I probably will try a kayak next.

Steve

[Frank Hagan]

Steve, it looks like the Baby Tender II from Jordan Wood Boats, right? I just built one for my first grandson (who will be here any minute ... due on 12/25!).

I had a couple of "challenges" with it, so if you need any help, give me a shout.

[Steve Day]

Frank,

It is the Baby Tender II. Nice eye to see it from that picture. My biggest challenge to date was to get the wood planed down to 5/32" with a hand held power plane. That was an interesting exercise, but I got some really nice pine and it planed well.

Did you use the copper rivets he recommends, or did you use some other method of fastening the planking together?

As I said before, this project is a lot of fun.

Steve

[Frank Hagan]

I used the copper rivets, but I have to say I thought they were a bad idea. I ended up grinding them all very smooth with a Dremel tool, then sanding them. I was worried about the rough surfaces possibly scratching the baby (the roves go on the inside, and you pound over the copper rivet into a mushroom shape). In the end, my wife made "bumper pads" that cover all of them anyway.

I used red oak and that was also challenging. I split two of them; I think the oak is too brittle.

The other problem I had was that the countersink and drill I used for the screws was 5/16", and I couldn't find plugs for the holes. I finally found them in red oak under "bungs" at Jamestown Distributors.

[timnphx]

Well, It looks like this might be a good project for me as well as I have recently been informed that I will have my first grandchild due in approx April, 06 So lots of time to get' her done. So you all say its the Baby Tender II from Jordan Wood Boats. So have to go take a look.

[Steve Day]

Here is my rather small version of the clamp farm. I am putting the chines on the Baby Tender II tonight.

Haven't had a whole lot of time lately as we have been enjoying the big boat the last few days.

Frank, I've decided to epoxy the strakes together on this one. Actually, it looks pretty good and is quite strong.

Steve

[Frank Hagan]

Here is my rather small version of the clamp farm. I am putting the chines on the Baby Tender II tonight.

Haven't had a whole lot of time lately as we have been enjoying the big boat the last few days.

Frank' date=' I've decided to epoxy the strakes together on this one. Actually, it looks pretty good and is quite strong.

Steve[/quote']

Probably a better choice! I would do it that way if I were to build another one.

Its looking very good, Steve. The rest of it should go pretty quickly now that the sides are on.

[Steve Day]

Got the bottom screwed and epoxied in place today. not worthwhile taking a photo until trimmed and sanded. Should have one in a few days.

Steve

[Steve Day]

Got the bottom trimmed and sanded and took a shot with my new digital camera today.

More to come.

Steve

[Steve Day]

The boat is finished!!

I got it all put together this evening and she looks great.

As soon as I figure out how to link photos to here, I'll post a couple.

Steve

[Steve Day]

I posted a couple of photos in my gallery on this site.

Steve