Birds Mouth Mast Questions

[Maria CS20 104]

Hey All, we cut down 5 1" X 12" x 14 foot clear douglas fir planks. They are closer to 5/8ths thick than 3/4 thick and I cut them down into 1/14" wide staves. Absolutely incredible material and tight grain. Felt like mounting one board in a gold plated frame, it was beautiful, colors from light tan to almost a salmon pink in tint, grain so tight it was difficult to count the rings in a frame, almost a shame to cut it down................ALMOST felt guilty.

I got these boards for $2.27 a board foot and the fellow I got them from is holding another 100 board foot for me. That's why I've got to build another boat............

Questions:

I need to make 16 lengths at 22 plus feet (22' plus 3 to 6 inches) and I have a scarfing jig for cutting 12 inch scarf joints. I think I need to scarf and epoxy all staves, letting them cure for a few days before I cut the birds mouths. Am I correct? I have several feather boards I can set up to prevent chatter and self distruction when feeding the 22 plus foot staves through the table saw. Is there any NEAT trick or setup I should know before I cut the birds mouths?

Once I epoxy up the scarfs, I intend to shoot them with wire brads (2) to hold them stable and keep them from sliding out. I will then wrap each epoxied scarfed join in 4 mil plastic and clamp four of the staves together on a flat surfaces. This way they don't stick to anything or each other and I can ensure they are flat sitting on edge and "bound" together. ?????/???? Better ideas?

I have stand rollers that will provide for feed out support of the staves as I cut the birds mouths, I figure I'll use 4 and I will have a helper (boat troll) to assist me for infeed and outfeed. Any ideas???????????????? Input.

I played with the router table Again, if I feed slowwwww I can get a clear kerf, Hiloronde was right, my depth was a bit off and the table is only a 13" x 18" unit mounted on a portable platform. Found it difficult to hold even 6 foot pieces properly stable so I think well go with the table saw.

Once I have all cuts completed, I feel very comfortable with the assembly effort. I cut 1 1/2" thick rings from 4" OD heavy PVC pipe and cut the top third off of 10 rings. These are set on 3/4 pieces of scrap 3/4 plywood and I counter set screws to hold them down so the "mouth" (open side is up) and the gap is about 3 1/2". I can actually place birds mouth staves into these and the parts slip into place with ease. Using a few rubber bands on the very end pieces, I need no help in sliding the 8th stave into place and the weight of the staves pushes them into place. I will however have a "boat troll" to assist me, and no doubt, laughing at me as I beg and cry for assistance.

One last question for this posting. I am THINKING.............probably not clearly............but thinking that I would like to attach the sail to the mast using PVC rings cut from the heavy duty PVC pipe. I think 3/4" wide (4" OD) and sanded to smooth the edges to a half round (making them look like Ivory rings). The plan, MY PLAN, is to have these rings attatched to the sail about 1 every foot. I do not like the idea of lacing the sails to the mast and I really like the more traditional look of the rings, rather than sail guides. I could even wipe them with UV rated varnish to "age and ivory them a bit, just a few coats). Yes they will rattle and shake, I am sure, but I believe that the creaking and rattle of sails and fastening is a blessed sound to an old sailor...............

Ideas and Input to make the PVC ring thing WORK for me?

Thanks to ALL..............AGAIN

Jim Atkinson

[hokeyhydro]

Router is slow? I use a carbide "birds mouth" bit and can shove wood through as fast as I can. My router has adjustable bit speed (RPM) to match bit diameter. I use infeed/outfeed tables on the router table, and have the infeed/outfeed tables set up to mount on the table saw as well.

Scarfs should be staggered along the mast, as in different places for each stave. I cut my staves a shade oversize and then run them through a surface planer after scarfing to smooth out any scarf irregularities. You can then clamp 3 or four staves together, lining up square sides, and then plane the square sides toward the mast top to get a tapered mast.

For assembly I lay staves edge to edge on top of a few well spaced strips of duct tape, slobber epoxy on the edges, and roll it up, tacking the staves in a tube with the duct tape. Then I wrap zip-ties around it every 6"-8" apart and cinch them down = done.

For the sail I slotted 1/2" CPVC pipe on the table saw using a jug, Roughed up the unslotted side and screwed and glued the pipe to the mast back. I used G-Flex for glue, and WEST 105/206 for the fillet mix to fair the pipe in. Dirt cheap sail track works with plastic slugs. I'm running a close to 100 sq ft full batten sail and no problems with the CPVC track at all.

[John Burritt]

Jim - re: assembling your long scarfed staves. If you have a flat floor in your shop, you can set them up on edge so that the scarf on one stave alligns with the flat on the next one. Put some plastic around each glued scarf. You should be able to assemble the whole set and clamp them all together without tacks. Setting them on edge will keep the staves straight at the scarf joints.