Herkimer & Perkins: Building Backyard Boats in Buffalo, NY

My Backyard Boats:

The Piccup Squared

Mast, spar partners rounded up

14 July 03: Work is going well. Mast and supporting spars -- yard and boom -- are glued up, ripped into rough form, planed, and sanded. All the other parts that needed to be laminated -- leeboard, rudder, rudder cheek, and tiller -- are cut out and glued. The end is in sight, though it will take another 20 hours or so to finish at the rate I work, which is slow for a fairly high level of finish.

The last bit that isn't started is the polytarp sail, though I have the materials in hand.

I called the state Dept. of Motor Vehicles and was told that as long as a vehicle and its load are less than 40 feet long, a red flag is all that is needed to be legal. That is a relief, because this boat is a bit heavy at the launching end to get off of the rack on the pickup truck. I can put the boat inside the bed with one arm, using a hand truck jammed into the space between the bed and the tailgate. It sticks out 5 feet. Red flag. Legal.

Cost so far: Add $5 for glue for the laminating, $4 for nuts and bolts to finish the oarlock fastening, and $5 for poplar for the tiller, mast partner, and mast step, for a total so far of $385.16.

Time spent so far: Add 10 hours for the work on the mast, yard, and boom and 5 hours for the other projects mentioned in this post, for a total so far of 156 hours.

Piccup Squared building log index

The spruce blanks for the boom, at left, and the yard, center, and the mast, right, are ready for planing and sanding. I ended up with a hook in the mast that I'll align fore and aft, and there's a crook in the boom, too, but it won't be a problem. Spruce 2x4s yield all the spars.
My workshop in the basement has the stationary power tools and a long bench with vice. That's where I've been working on the spars and laminations. The spar job took about 10 hours. It's funny, but I don't use my router on boat work. It would be quicker, but harder to control, and any boo-boos would be glaringly permanent. I like the irregular quality of the hand work.
The mast after sanding. It's ready to roll. The setup with clamps and the block were how I sanded by turning while running the random-orbit sander to touch up the belt sander work that came first.
All three spars are planed and ready for sanding here. I settled for eight-sided, squarish profiles for the yard and boom but rounded the mast after initial planing.
Finished!
The leeboard is three courses of 1/4-inch bc pine plywood. Because I went with a larger leeboard to go with a larger sail that Jim Michalak added to the original plans, I had to use two pieces for the middle course. It won't be a problem, though.
After putting about a quart of Elmer's glue on the leeboard plywood, I screwed the whole thing to the workbench to clamp the courses and get good squeeze-out.
The plans specify a 2x4 for the tiller; I laminated two pieces of 3/4-inch thick poplar to get the blank right. I prefer gluing up to using single pieces, to avoid warping and twisting. Just pay attention to the annual rings of the pieces.