My
Backyard Boats:
The
Quark
|
|
Stem
looking good in poplar
19
March 03: I
cut the stem out tonight from a piece of select-grade poplar
2x4 that I had lying around the shop. It looks great, and I
like everything about poplar except the smell, which isn't all
that bad but it's just that I love the way pine smells. Poplar
and pine cost about the same in select grade. This Quark boat
project is as much a test of poplar as anything else, since
it really may be too small for an adult to use. We will see
on that. The poplar will get a test when I rip the pieces for
the external chines. I'm seriously considering using poly glue,
the kind that kicks when one board surface is wet down before
applying the glue. Since this boat is for experiments, I'm going
to consider using cheaper glue for the initial bonding, then
use epoxy fillets on the inside and a coat on the outside, with
glass tape on the chine joint.
I
cut the stem out with the table saw, after removing the saw guard
and setting the angle. It was a bit tricky but went well. The
saw guard was not setting right, which made me think that the
saw would actually hit it, so I removed it for the operation.
I don't like table saws and I don't like to work without the guard,
but I don't like living in fear even more, so I did what I did,
carefully.
Time
spend so far: 1 hour at the home store, and 5 hours
in the shop yesterday, and an hour today, for a total so far
of 7 hours.
Stem
wood is pretty in poplar -- 2 x 4 x 15 inches.
|
|
I used a pen to line out the cuts. |
|
The
finished stem. It is within a 64th of the plan dimensions.
That's pretty good for my table saw. |
|
|
