Finally... some progress and an update

Two weeks without an update! Wow, time to fix that.

Boat building progress yesterday... lately it seems I haven't made much "real" progress on my Goat Island Skiff. I guess that is because I've been sanding and fairing the rudder, and the progress is slow and marginal. Just how good is good enough, and why can I never seem to get there?

Yesterday I set the rudder aside (no, it is not done) so I could laminate the centerboard blank. The seven pieces of Western Red Cedar and two pieces of Ash fit together just like they did last month! After dry fitting things together to make sure they were in the right place and making sure the clamps were ready to go, I sat down to think my way through the process once again.

• Turn the WRC staves on edge and clamp them together
• Mix epoxy
• Apply epoxy to edge of staves with roller; Apply epoxy to one edge of each ash stave
• Turn clamped set of staves over
• Apply epoxy to other edge of staves with roller
• Mix thickened epoxy
• Apply thickened epoxy to edge of WRC staves with roller; Apply thickened epoxy to one edge of each ash stave
• Unclamp staves and turn on sides
• Line up staves using reference line
• Clamp staves together with three evenly spaced bar-clamps
• Clamp cauls in place near ends of blank

Here is what the end result looks like:

Now I wait for the epoxy to set up.

In the meantime I am working on the #5 jack plane. A friend commented the other day on wondering about what hands had used his planes before him. I'm trying not to think about where this plane has been! It was filthy, layered with an oily, gritty, crusty combination of grime and rust. And that was before I took it apart! When I removed the frog I found a greasy/oily collection of sawdust, dirt, and something gritty (sand?). The Dremel scrubber brush has been useful. So has the Dremel wire brush, warm soapy water and an old toothbrush. Here is the plane in its current state:

It may be easier to replace the iron, but I will spend some time working on it tomorrow. And, of course, I will continue to clean the rest of the plane. I also need to get a larger piece of glass to use for flattening the sole. I'm also looking for a source for rolls of sandpaper - standard sheets are too short.

I will soon have another real boat part ready to go!