www.talesfromtheboatshed.com

I received a call from the IBTC: “Could you help out – our joinery instructor is off and we need some cover?” “Starting when?” I asked. “How about this coming Monday?” came the reply.

We settled on a two week stint, as I was not wanting to get tied in for too long – after all, I have some projects to complete, and a boat to build!

So, two weeks ago, Sylvia dropped me off at Victory Gate after my Monday morning GP surgery, with the tool chest I had made just over a year ago, and I walked in to my alma mater, excited and just a little apprehensive.

Nine students, who had done three weeks of joinery before ‘lockdown’ and had now been back a week … a quick round of introductions, and it’s back to work!

It was lovely to be back in Boathouse 4, and I had a great time. I think the students gained some benefit from my limited experience and modest knowledge, which I managed to spread over the two weeks!

I even practiced and demonstrated some saw sharpening.

Bob is taking over for a while now, and I gave him a list of the topics I had covered in my daily tutorials – a surprisingly long one:

Planes
Uses (flattening, smoothing, and removing wood)
Bench planes: numbering and names:- smoothing, jack, fore and jointer
Setting up; Adjustment of frog; Refurb
Block planes, shoulder (incl. Record 311)
Router, rebate (incl. side-rebate) and combination/plough planes
Bollow
Scrub, including how to convert Stanley 4 to scrub plane and use
Wooden: coffin, scrub, shoulder, moulding, plough, jointer etc … how to adjust/use Lubrication wax/oil-rag-in-a-can

Spokeshave
Metal: curved/flat soled
Wooden spokeshave – not sharpening

Chisels
Bevel, Firmer, Mortice (incl. pig-sticker), Gouge

Rasps
General advice; Shinto saw-rasp; (Auriou rasps)

Buying tools
Websites; Suppliers, Tips on choosing/buying

Marking out
Marking knife, knife wall, squaring off

Using tools
Planes; Chisels; Saws

Sharpening
Freehand, use of honing guide, stropping (hand (!), leather on wood paddle with buffing compound)
Plane blades, chisels, and a brief intro to sharpening rip saws, more as an encouragement to try and have a go!

Tips
Removal of broken screws using rolling pin Sprigging holes
Dovetail joints: Marking out; Cutting; Easing

Timber Technology
Defects
Natural – bark, sapwood, borers/fungi, shakes etc
Felling – thunder shakes
Conversion/seasoning – checks and splits, bowing/cupping/diamonding/wind Seasoning – air-dried, kiln

Controlling and targets for moisture reduction
Conversion
Through & through; Quarter/Rift sawn; Wagenschot (a la Triss Stone) Quarter-sawn vs vertical grain
Wane
Characteristics to identify species: grain (incl. medullary rays), density, colour, smell Choice of species for boatbuilding – ‘backbone’, planking, spars … etc. (Intro. only)

Wood finishes
Prep
Types
Rub-in oils; Oil-varnish finishes; Evaporating finishes; Varnishes; Paint; Epoxy Boat soup (!!)

Durability
Tips and buying suggestions

Saws
Sharpening (INTRO)
Hand, Panel, Back saws
Rip vs Cross
Tools required to refurb and sharpen

Will I be back? Well, I may have ‘got the bug’ so, yes, I have offered my services on an ad hoc basis, and hope to turn up again – like a bad penny!

With some help from a shipwright friend, I have finished lofting the 10ft Gartside dinghy, and am pausing to tackle another, rather nautical, project.

The last couple of lines – the Diagonals – were plotted, but I just could not get the required ‘fair line’. The lines just looked too flat amidships. After checking, double checking, even triple checking the coordinates, I was stumped. So, I phoned a friend.

With him giving me a firm nudge, I grasped the nettle and, by moving one nail on each of the diagonal lines – one by several millimetres – we soon had two pleasingly fair lines.

Now, all of the views, with all of their intersections, must correlate with each other. So, I had to use the changes made to the Diagonals to re fair the lines on the other three views. I think I had been reluctant to boldly change those points, because of a dread of having to go through this process of ‘lofting to agreement.’ Happily, with just a couple of points to change, the process went pretty well.

So, here are some pictures of the final result:

And now for something completely different.

I have been asked by a friend to make a display case for his Navy sword. I had already made a start, a few weeks ago, preparing some yellow cedar from the ‘Winchester wood haul.’

The smell of the cut cedar is lovely, and the grain pattern is gorgeous – at least it is to look at – but it’s a devil to work, as the grain direction changes so much!

Yesterday, I started on the joinery. Using a Paul Sellers technique, a simple jig ensures that the dovetails are cut square and true.

I’m aiming to use mitred dovetail joints, particularly at the back, where I need to cut a rebate for the back panel of the case. They are tricky joints, and that rebate may be a bit of a challenge with the wavy grain … fingers crossed!

After weeks of trying to make space in the garage, I finally cleared an area to loft the 10ft Paul Gartside dinghy.

I laid down two layers of 12mm plywood, glued and screwed them together, and added a few coats of paint. Once dry, I set out the grid – with a little help from my little helper!

Snapping a blue chalked string line, gives a long straight datum line, and the grid of waterlines, buttock lines, and station lines is built up from there.

In order to get accurate perpendicular lines, a set of trammels or a beam compass is used. Being able to use Dad’s beam compass was a joy.

It’s a bit hard on the knees, so a kneeling pad or knee-pads are invaluable.

By the way, no shoes allowed!

Next, it’s time to make some battens from an 11 ft length of straight grained, knot-free wood.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon making a lot of shavings (!), to get the timber ‘faced and edged’ ready for ripping to 20mm wide battens. It was thirsty work, so a drink or two was in order, to celebrate progress made.

After a bicycle ride this morning, the thicknesser came into its own, and by lunchtime I had a selection of battens of varying thickness.

And now it’s time to put down some lines. Starting with the sheer line, I plotted the relevant points from the table of offsets, put some nails adjacent to my marks, and laid a batten around the nails.

Now, it is quite common that the coordinates set out in the table of offsets, don’t always form a curve that is ‘fair’ (no humps or straights, just smooth and … fair). However, I was a little surprised that the batten did not lie nicely against two of the seven nails – especially so, as the table of offsets notes that the sheer line were amended in 2005. Anyway, I think that I have a nice ‘fair’ sheer line – a good start.

And those ducks? Well, lofting ducks, or spline weights, were traditionally used for lofting as the picture below shows. They look like whales rather than ducks. Those weights on the loft floor (that used to be my Father’s) don’t look like ducks either, but they will fulfil the same purpose.

We have just had a lovely visit from our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.

It was great to see the Learning Tower being ‘christened.’

Happy Days!

My progress towards building a 10 foot clinker dinghy is faltering somewhat. A case of one step forward, two steps back! The problem? Making space in the garage.

Buccaneer is out of the garage, and in Fareham Creek; and we have shared a couple of hire skips with our neighbours, and cleared out loads of stuff too.

But, in clearing out loft spaces, we have been left with several boxes that need to be gone through. The result? The garage is as full as it ever was!

But, it’s not just boxes of accumulated ‘stuff’ that is holding back my progress. Last Saturday, my friend Richard and I headed over to a place just north of Winchester to look at some wood that a man wanted to get rid of. As we drove down, Richard said: “I can’t really call this one – it might be nothing much, or it could be a gold mine.”

Well, gold mine it was!

In a metal clad barn, down a small leafy lane, was a stash of wood that would fill half a garage or more. The owner had got it about ten years ago, from a man who made long-case clocks. The wood was almost all hardwood, and generally of very good quality. I spied some boards that were about seven foot long, over two foot wide and varying from one to three inches in thickness. We took thirteen of these, leaving half a dozen that had rather too many shakes (splits).

Now, elm is rare these days, after Dutch Elm disease, though some survive in Brighton. In fact, I recently heard of some newly felled elm being available from there, which I had planned to have a look at this week. No need now, as we found several pieces of elm in the barn, and they are fully seasoned, not freshly felled. The size of council paving slabs, but thicker, they were duly added to the haul, together with a selection of the smaller hardwood stock.

After two trips with a large trailer, we called it a day. This lot will keep me going for a good long time, and there is that small issue of storage!

A little project from which I have learnt a lot: Lily’s Learning Tower.

Putting screws into the ‘end grain’ of plywood does not make for the strongest joint – the risk is that the plywood will split under load along the glue lines of the laminate.

To make this simple piece, made from 18mm birch ply, I used dowels to provide a cross grain hold for the screws.

I used the same sized dowel to plug the counterbored screw holes. With hindsight, smaller plugs would have been better, I think.

Anyway, here it is:

I have a few coats of clear varnish to apply, and then I am looking forward very much to seeing some photos of Lily trying this out.

In 2001, I bought a Tela Dayboat from Greg Dalrymple at Salterns Boatbuilders in Old Bursledon. We named her Buccaneer.

Greg had set up Salterns Boatbuilders in 1996. The yard had originally been built in the early years of the last Century by the Admiralty as a base for experimental boom defence systems. It then became the operational base of the Secret Service (MI5), founded by Mansfield Smith-Cummings, whose spies included Erskine Childers, Compton MacKenzie, and John Buchan. Used as a base for the construction of experimental hydroplanes in the 1930s, it was then taken over by British Aerospace, initially as a place to store drawings and plans away from their main Hamble site in case of bombings. However, its quiet secluded location soon led to it being used to build midget submarines in WW2. It seems that it was abandoned after the war, and was eventually bought in the 1980s by a private owner. The site is designated as an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest).

Greg ran Salterns as a small traditional boatbuilding outfit. Working alone or with one assistant boatbuilder, he specialised in producing classic gaff-rigged boats, with GRP hulls moulded from old original boats: the Memory 19, the Tela Dayboat, and the Wagtail Dinghy. He also turned out some one-offs – I remember a catboat being launched with her owner during one of my visits to the boatyard in Salterns Lane.

Situated on a small creek, off the Hamble river, Salterns Boatyard was an idyllic spot. I loved the Boathouse too: boats in the process of being built, the smell of wood and varnish, the tools, and the solid fuel burner in the corner, complete with the kettle. Indeed, I wonder if my desire to learn boatbuilding comes at least in part from my visits to that yard, and to seeing Greg’s work.

The original Tela was a ‘seeking’ boat from the Bristol Channel, built in 1911 on the Barry Docks in South Wales. Whereas the better-known Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters would race to the Scillies to meet incoming ships and provide a pilot, the little ‘seeking’ boats provided the same service for hopeful pilots, but did so in the vicinity of the docks themselves. These working boats had to be both seaworthy for their year-round work, and fast – the first to arrive got the pilotage job.

Apparently, Tela was built by an out-of-work Norwegian shipwright/sea captain, Gustav ‘George’ Helstrom, with the intention to outclass the current fastest ‘seeking’ boat, Stranger. Whether or not she did become the fastest boat at that time, is unknown, but she certainly proved her worth, later racing successfully in the Barry Yacht Club.

It was Chris Libby who designed the ‘modern day’ Tela at Penryn Bridge Boatyard. During a slack winter, he decided to build a GRP gaff-rigged dayboat. Finding the 16′ 6” Tela, rotting away on a beach up the river Fal, he decided that she would provide the ideal mould for his new boat.

Chris built about a dozen Tela Dayboats. In the late 1990s, Greg Dalrymple bought the moulds, made some amendments, and started production. Buccaneer is the fourth Tela built by Greg. At Salterns, he amended Tela’s design by changing the shallow L-shaped centre-plate to a higher-aspect ratio casting, that weighs in at 80lb (36kg). This increased the draught from 2ft 10in to 4ft with the centre plate down – just 1ft 2in (0.36m) with it raised.

Her LOA is 16′ 6″” (5.03m) – extended to 18′ 9″” with bowsprit (5.7m). Her beam is 5′ 6″ (1.68m).

With 550lb (250kg) of lead ballast, Tela now had a 50% ballast ratio, allowing Greg to increase the size of the rig by 30% to 150sq ft (14sq m). A topsail can also be rigged. I have one, but I find it more awkward than useful.

She is very stable indeed, and can usually be sailed without needing to sit out on the side decks; yet she is responsive, and easy to handle single-handedly if necessary.

Buccaneer is rather too heavy to launch and recover for a day’s sailing. She needs a mooring, and that has been the only real drawback. For a couple of seasons, I kept her in the creek by Salterns Boatyard, but was beginning to outstay my welcome. I moved her to a pontoon birth in Haslar Marina for a couple of years, which was very convenient, but costly. (Marinas usually charge by the length – including the bowsprit!!) I just wasn’t getting out enough to justify the fees. Since then, she has given us fun on the Norfolk Broads during a holiday in 2008 but, I am ashamed to say, has otherwise sat ‘berthed’ in our garage.

Now that I am working just a little, and have finished the Boatbuilding Course at IBTC, I hope that she will get a new lease of life. I have found her a berth at Fareham Marina. What it lacks in terms of ready access to the Solent, it makes up for in accessibility … and has cheaper fees than Haslar.

So, it’s time for a quick refurb. The sails have been checked, the spars have been prepped and varnished, the floorboards removed and re-oiled, and a split in the mast step has been fixed. I just need to service the outboard, scrape her hull and give her a couple of coats of antifouling.

The Tela really is a beauty, and Buccaneer always draws attention and admiring remarks and questions. It will be great to see her back in her element once again!

I have held off updating this blog, wanting to be able to report that Sylvia’s laptop desk is finished. And it is!

It is a Paul Sellers design, made of Oak. The desktop, bin lids and vertical veneers are quarter sawn – the medullary ray patterning is really lovely.

After a bit of a wait for some ‘stop hinges,’ which duly arrived this week, I started fitting them, straightaway.

With the hinges fitted, I did a final sand and de-nibbing of the bins and lids; and applied four coats of Peacock oil yesterday evening.

It was great to finish the assembly today. Here is the final result:

I shall do a final de-nibbing with ‘0000’ wire wool in a couple of days, apply the very final coat of Peacock Oil, and then enjoy watching Sylvia’s impatient wait for a week or so, before I can wax it and let her loose!

Just as the numbers of coronavirus cases are reported to be declining, I have finally managed to get all the ducks in a row, and to be fully signed up for the Covid Clinical Assessment Service. This is part of the 111 NHS calls system – the service that retired doctors are being asked to volunteer to work in. My first shift was 2000-2400 last night. I enjoyed it – the hardest thing is getting the IT right – the medicine is much easier. Just like getting back on the bike, really!

Not quite a joiners rod, but I set out the leg frame angles on a piece of ply, and transferred the tapers and joint markings to the components of each leg frame.

These mortice and tenon joints went pretty well, especially as it’s at least nine months since I last did any at IBTC.

Before glueing up, there was still a lot to do. The lower rail is curved and rounded, and the legs are rounded too. Out with the spokeshave, and the floor was soon strewn with heaps of shavings!

After cutting mortices to take the transverse rails, I glued up the frames.

A mitre is formed on the legs where the lower rail meets them, giving a more ‘naturalistic’ branching effect. A new style and technique to me, but I enjoyed the process and am pleased with the resulting two leg frames:

The cross rails required straightforward 90 degree tenons but the lower back rail is also curved and rounded.

Here is the completed frame … so far, so good!

This project has not quite been all consuming – I have laid the composted bark mulch on the garden beds, and it looks great – better still, the blackbirds aren’t scattering it everywhere, which is a bonus. So, it’s good to pause come evening time, and to enjoy the fruits of my gardening labours, a book and. glass of wine!

Cheers!!

Well, that went well!

This afternoon, it was out with the mortise gauge. Soon, the components of Sylvia’s desk frame were dimensioned, using the bandsaw to remove the bulk of the waste, followed by a final finish with my jointer plane.

All thicknessed, and ready to be cut to final length. Tomorrow, after a morning at the local surgery, I will draw out the joiners rod and start work on the joints.

A couple of hours work, and the excitement builds!