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 Posted on July 5th, 2010
Once again vacation (kayaking, windsurfing, and sailing at Cuttyhunk Island), our building project, and, alas, life have overtaken blogging. Well, Chine bLog is back. The good news is that the design and building project – the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe – is progressing well.
As you can see, the stringers are mostly on and the ribs trimmed. The ribs are trimmed because they are all pegged to the outwale, keeping them in position. We are now some ways into lashing the inwale in, creating a nice, secure sandwich. The inwales are also tied and pegged into the forward breasthook. In short, she’s getting more and more solid.
It took a little while to figure out the lashing around the frame / inwale / outwale joint. I am pleased with how this first one turned out. The extra piece creates a better surface on which the iakos will bear. The lashing is easier at each rib, but cutting all the notches to recess the line (done with a round file) makes things somewhat time-consuming.
Speaking of the iakos, » Continue reading Update on the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe project – structure coming along nicely »
Posted on May 26th, 2010
 We took the deep plunge into the world of steam-bending and came out of it… with ribs! Ribs that look pretty good! Ribs that seem to be pretty fair! Woot!
We finally got a spell of great weather and I was able to grab two days of staycation to buckle down on this step. Some before and after is worth a look. Here is my set-up, minus the heat source (an electronic hot-plate / portable range, $20 from Target. My wife informs me that the kettle is Felix the Cat, though I am not fully convinced this isn’t further evidence of this being a Mickey Mouse operation.
 Here are the ribs. I went with the tried and true white oak. 
Here is the whole business running. It was tricky – definitely on the outside end of the heat tolerance for some parts.
And now… the results! 
I’m pretty happy with it, at this point. Now, on to final fairing and lashing…
Posted on April 25th, 2010
After our prior post showing off the designs of Klaus Schmitt we got some more to add to the collection. We continue to love what Klaus’ eye and style. Take this launch, which Klaus calls “Pidgeon 21.” Great lines and so much classier for cruising the lake on a nice day.
Another new one is “something a bit different. A shanty boat for Lake Champlain. » Continue reading More from the boat design collection of Klaus Schmitt »
Posted on April 18th, 2010
Great news out of our little boatyard here at Chine bLog headquarters: the main hull – wa’a – of the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe now has outwales and thus shows her shape. There is still a little to do in the stern with the port outwale needing a little more coaxing to get into shape. The bow breasthook also is awaiting installation. With that and some touch-up, though, we are ready for ribs!
I set her up on the lawn to mock-up the finished boat. Obviously the iakos are placeholders (though this was not obvious to my wife, who tried to gently express concern that 5/8″ square spruce sticks would not be effective cross-members). Here she is, with non-iakos and an ama that didn’t want to be upright.
The current boatyard is in the background. That is PEACE OF THE PUZZLE under the tarp.
Posted on April 8th, 2010
The skin-on-frame outrigger canoe has been coming together in the last week or so. The pieces I formed over the winter months were ready for the keel, which got all its rib mortises. With a first coat of linseed oil on, I began tying the major structural elements together. The arrival of spring is clearly another factor. As you can see, operations have moved outside for some glorious post-kid’s-bedtime building in the spring air.
At the time I took these, I was still relying on clamps more than I need to now. The frames, stems, and “bulkhead” pieces just inboard from the stems are fully on. As I write the outwales are now being coaxed into shape. I suspect this will be a tricky process. These images at least give a sense of what the main wa’a will look like.
Posted on March 28th, 2010
We at Chine bLog were humbled recently by an unsolicited request to post a set of traditional boat design sketches. It wasn’t clear what the requester meant, but he was speaking our language, so we asked for more details. What came back is what we expect to the tip of a lovely iceberg. The designer is Klaus Schmitt, a NYC-based architect with a naval architecture background (make comments below or contact him via Chine bLog). We are thrilled to be able to share Klaus’s ideas with you – they are fantastic.
Take this one, “24′ Lobster Boat.” Klaus has managed to make a small boat that looks solid and well-proportioned when such a project could have easily skated into “silly.” Nice sheer and good stem.
Klaus says of himself and his work: » Continue reading Proudly presenting the traditional boat designs of Klaus Schmitt »
Posted on March 16th, 2010
Thanks to the help of a friend in the neighborhood (he owns a nice table-saw), I was able to mill some much better stock for laminating the frames. You may recall I had taken a whack and not been happy with the results.  Well, better stock and a little practice brought great results the second time around. The lamination was pretty clean and the form dead-on. After a bunch of clean-up – spokeshave, block plane, rasp, and 100-grit sandpaper – the frames look great.
As orientation, in case it isn’t clear, the mortise in the bottom is for the keel and the ones at the top are for the inwales.
I have one of the waes done (the cross-pieces that form the attachment points for the iako – outrigger – itself) and another on the way. In the course of some badly-needed shop-reorg I turned up a couple nice pieces of cherry that were perfectly sized for the waes. Bingo – done and done. I think the contrast will be great and the cherry will be a good fit for the job.
Next up I’ll be finishing the second wae, oiling these parts, and starting to tie these pieces together. I am also 1/4 done with the rib mortises in the keel. With those done, I’ll be able to glue the keel scarf and tie the frames and stems on it. And then, my friends, we will have us some progress!
Posted on February 18th, 2010
I believe I have mentioned that I work in sub-optimal conditions for a boat-builder, even one focusing on small craft. Our house is modest and my workshop is in the basement, overrun by stuff in storage. I count on being able to work outside, but this gloriously snowy winter (yes, I said “gloriously” – snow is fun too) has wiped that out. I plus along in the space I have, and thus you see pieces below laid out across living space.
So here are some signs of progress, albeit slow. As with the keel of the ama, I cut the first few feet and relaminated it to give it rocker. Here is that task, in progress.
I took a whack at laminating one of the frames. I have subsequently decided to junk this one. There were two issues. First, I am still figuring out my new bandsaw, and the strips were pretty lumpy (even after some planing). They didn’t lay together well. Compounding this, I also messed up the glue up and I wasn’t confident in the piece’s strength. Lots of learning there. Too many strips, too short working time, and too little glue (using Titebond III).
I decided to use the frame to further test and cut out some of the mortises. The keel scarf is not yet glued, but I was able to mock things up by means of some clamps: one frame, the full keel, and two stems. Great to see.
Here’s the same set-up looking forward (excuse the living room). You can see the bow stem is cocked to starboard. Seems there is a little twist in the keel. I have to see if I can pull it straight with the gunwales.
Posted on January 22nd, 2010
I have so engaged in designing and building that I haven’t been on the computer as much in the PMs. I have clearly been missing out on what some of our traditional boat peeps have been putting up. In case you missed it directly, here is some stuff to check out:
Indigenous Boats
Bob over at Indigenous Boats always has great stuff. No falling off as we checked in.
70.8
Tom at 70.8 has a few really nice posts: » Continue reading Catching up with the traditional boat blogosphere – recent stuff from some peers »
Posted on January 19th, 2010
So we went back to the drawing board for a bit on the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe project, as we noted last month. It was a productive venture – we made some improvements, got a lot of problems solved, and got some useful planning in. We confess, though, that we were eager to get back into the building phase, and around the holidays, we were finally able to do so. First step: stems.
 I decided to do sawn stems, which I think has worked out well. I got the components glued up and then waited for my Christmas present to come in: a band saw. To be clear, I barely have room for such a toy, but gosh – is it wonderful! I put it through its paces cutting the shape of the stems and then cutting the bevel on them. It will literally make this project possible. I also splurged on a new dust-collection system: $19.00 on a small shop-vac form Target. Oh yeah, we are gettin’ faaannnn-cy.
 So here are the results, minus sanding and some seam-filling. I am pretty happy with the results and am getting psyched to pull the keel together. I have the scarf cut and am ready to put the rocker in next. I’m getting giddy…
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