12. Cayuga Lake in Winter

As seen from my dock, on Feb 26 2008, during a light snowstorm.
Click on the thumbnail.

Six more weeks of winter?

11. Trimming to a line

Life gets busy, progress gets slow, but I am still working steadily on my canoe.

According to the instructions, when laying the strips gets difficult, when I reach a point where they twist and don't want to lie flat, I strike a line where they do want to lie flat, and trim to that line. So, with a sigh, I cut into the strips I had laid, again, as I did at the tumblehome edge.

The most trimming happens at the ends. So, for the last few strips on each side, I could have used shorter strips. If I had read ahead a little bit, I would not have used my finer, full length strips.

I have been a little reluctant about this step. Yes, after trimming down to this line the next strip went on more easily. However, the strips are still vertical at the ends and horizontal at the beam (in the middle) Having said that, I'm still going to follow the directions closely. Just take a look at my last post (#10) to see what Mr. Schade can do .. so I will follow his instructions.

Here are the tools I use for trimming down to a line; chisels and planes.

This wooden rabbet plane belongs to my father and has a wonderful patina. It is more difficult to use than the modern plane, and more difficult to adjust, but it's blade is full-width (the definition of a rabbet plane?) With it, I am able to plane next to the forms. The forms get in the way of the other plane I have.

This picture shows the stamp of a previous owner, a "C. Nelsen"
A much fainter stamped impression reads:

Ohio Tool Co.
Columbus

The number 11 or perhaps a roman numeral 2 is also visible.

10. The Professional Version

Nymph was spotted at the Wooden Boat Show last year, according to a friendly forum member, who provided this lovely picutre.


This is what a professional can do. And how about that paddle?

The dark cloth inside is carbon/kevlar + epoxy, which I am not planning on using. I'll be using S-glass + epoxy.