Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to build a canoe

[catsittingstill]

Had a good day today. Didn't get started until later than I liked, on account of a couple of loads of laundry and a morning walk and a longer-than-usual mandolin practice, but I got all bundled up (because the barn/workshop is kind of chilly when it's 45 degrees out) and took all my canoe-building books (you know you're a book nerd when one canoe-building book isn't enough), and the canoe plans (for luck--I'm still building the strongback, but never abandon your directions, even if they have nothing to do with what's going on right now), and two bottles of water and went off to work on the canoe.

Well, okay, the strongback. Which is now almost half done. Yay! Of course, I'm still a little worried about whether it will be straight when it's done (the most important part). And I broke a 3/32nd inch drill bit, which I promised Martha I'd replace.

Not only that, but Kip has to grade papers tomorrow (sympathetic look) so we're not gaming, which means I can work on the strongback tomorrow too! Double yay! (Okay, I must have a fever from all the enthusiasm. I'd rather work on the strongback than game?) But *that* means I may actually get the strongback done this week like I hoped, in spite of all the other interruptions that led to me spending much less time in the shop during the week than I'd planned. On the other hand, one interruption was exchanging a bent 1 by 4 for a straight 1 by 4 for the strongback, and another interruption was borrowing a kind friend's truck (and the friend) to buy another sheet of 3/4 inch plywood to make the stations that will be mounted on the strongback. So they weren't exactly "not working on the canoe." They were just not working on the *canoe*. If you see what I mean.

But I will quit early tomorrow so Kip and I can go out to dinner for my birthday :-).

Comments

[patoadam]

Have a happy birthday!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I did :-)

[gfish.livejournal.com]

At least the colder temperatures will give you a longer epoxy working time for the layup. Sounds like wicked fun. :)

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I don't want a working time that lasts until the beginning of May, really.

Though one apparently can get formulations of epoxy that will cure down to any temperature above freezing. The down side is I'm not sure what the work time or clarity would be.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Hrm, you probably don't have a convenient marine fiberglass store there. The one I go to in Ballard has always been very helpful when I have unusual questions. If you can find something like that, it might be worth going in to see what they recommend.

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

Have a happy birthday poem!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much--that's beautiful.

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

You are welcome!

It somehow came out hexameter, sort of. Maybe I've read too much heroic poetry; but I'm really not sure why. The thought pushed the form, not t'other way 'round.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! And I suspect somone at tnatj's housefilk will celebrate with a song you wrote, considering there's almost always one of your songs sung there.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I'm pleased and proud that the folks at tnatj's housefilks perform my songs :-)

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

When you first used the word 'strongback' in an earlier post, I thought I'd figured out what it meant from context, but that doesn't mesh with how you're using it here, so could you perhaps explain?

Happy birthday, and good luck with the canoe project!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. How to explain this.

Imagine a canoe sitting horizontally, upside down (maybe it's on a pair of sawhorses). Imagine a series of cross-sections through the canoe, perpendicular to a line running from bow to stern (slicing the canoe like a carrot).

Imagine these cross sections traced onto plywood and cut out. These are the "stations." If they were held at the right distances from each other, and in the right orientations, one could shape a canoe over them.

To do this, the stations are attached to something. Something nearly as long as the canoe, wide enough to be stable, and strong enough to neither flex nor sag nor twist under their (considerable) weight. This something is called the "strongback."

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday, and know that if we lived within six hours' driving, Kathryn would be insisting that she get to watch you make the canoe.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I might be able to post some pictures, but I realize it isn't the same. I will say that while I would be happy to show off to Kathryn when things are going well, occaisionally I make stupid mistakes (only one on the canoe so far, but it's early yet) and then I would prefer not to have company. :-)

And thank you for the the birthday wishes!

[faxpaladin.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Thank you!