Jaysen's V12 -- 'Lil Bit' of everything fun

[Jaysen]

My approach will be like a router. Many small passes. This thing has a 1/64" setting which will get the most use.

[terrulian]

What is 50/50?
....Oh, I just realized you were kidding. You had me going after your recent health problems.

BTW, while you are investing in more power tools, I recently have gone the other direction. I am going acoustic, or vegetarian, or something, because I have sworn off electric gear, sort of. I'm sure I'll backslide a bit. I've just paid for some old planes and other tools that set me back the price of a nice table saw and here's the result from flattening one board:


Working this way is not quite as accurate as a router and table saw, but at least it is way more trouble.

[Jaysen]

I prefer hand tools. But time is not the largest commodity for me. So for this... more power!

Here's the sprit post initial shaping. Taper is to spec (ish)

Going to shape the mast before I start final smoothing.

[Jaysen]

And tony, here's my secret for the taper. Hand cut tenon to create the low point stop for the planer. Look into that idea for how to increase the accuracy of you planing.

This is super sloppy but you get the idea.

Tools used: pencil, saw, straight edge, ruler, arm.

[cape man]

Tools used: pencil, saw, straight edge, ruler, arm.

Its always the arm that stops working for me.

[Jeff]

Nice work Jaysen!!! Jeff

[Jaysen]

Here's the pics from today.

Jumping into the sprit mostly shaped. Per plan it's 1.5" at middle down to 1" at the ends. Poet plane made short work of it. The "45" on the corner was a bit off but ...


Next up is the big one... The mast started of as 1x3s. I needed to remove .5" all around. The Porter Cable power plane was eating the mast with no issues.


After getting to the 2"x2" size I hand cut a tenon to 1.5x1.5, the desired final taper size. I did extend the mast 2" to accommodate. This tenon was used to support the static end of the power plane. Starting at the top of the mast and running to the 5' mark (indicated start of taper) remove 1/32". The plane we remove a HUGE amount from top section on the initial cut. Make the first pass about 18". Do the same thing for each cut going 3-4" further every pass. When you get to the 5' mark, set the plane to 1/64 and cut from the mid point toward the top of the mast. Once you have no shoulder left in the tenon set the power plane to the lowest cut and make pass from mid to top until smooth. Rotate mast 90 deg and repeat the entire process. For the record this is how I did the spare as well.


Once you have all 4 sides done, with the power plane still at the lowest setting, make passes from step to top to smooth the taper transition. you really only need 2-3. Here you can see the taper. Nice and smooth starting at the mid point.


Making the mast 8 sided was less fun than the sprit. The sprit can be free handed (at least I could). No matter if you are free handing or using some guide, the first pass on the corner needs to be SMALL. 1/64" at most. For my "guide" all I really did was create a wedge to hold the mast with the corner straight up and then held the plane level. There are lots of ways to do this.

**WARNING** The narrow end of the mast will need MUCH LESS planing than the wide end. You have to pay careful attention to avoid over cursing the top of the mast. I use a "feather" or "lift" of the plane as I approached the end. It's not a safe thing with a power plane. BE CAREFUL.

Here we are with 8 sides.


Want to guess what I did for about 2hr? If you guessed "sanded the crap out of the formerly square mast and sprit" go get yourself a cookie.

There's no magic here. I took a 6" RO with 60gr and set it on "I hate me" speed and started sanding. I used a "cross hatch" motion (think figure 8 ) over 18 inches running diagonal over three faces. After 3 complete cross hatches rotate the spar one face. Think sanding 1-2-3, then 2-3-4, then 3-4-5, etc. Work the same 18" until there are no hard corners. Move 3" up the mast and repeat. This means you are only doing 3 new inches and working 15" you already did. I recommend hard liquor and loud music. Otherwise insanity will find you.

The alternate method for Tony... Use a spoke shave. Keep stone and strop handy. work following grain on a lift. You' want concave not convex. Remove no more than 1/64 thickness. Make one pass from flat to flat removing each hard ridge as you go. Should be round after one full revolution. Would be faster if you didn't have to sharpen after ever 25-30 pulls.

I didn't get a good photo of the smoothed mast and sprit. I did add a round tenon to the the extra 2" on the mast. This will be used to secure lines needed for rigging as well as a block or two. Tenon entirely with hand tools. 1/8" deep kerf, 3/4" chisel to remove the bulk of the material and sand paper to smooth.


And here's the shot of the completed mast.


Did some shaping on the crooked rudder just to have something to use to get on the water fast. Did a bit of touch up on the dagger too. Here is EVERYTHING with a fresh coat of epoxy.




Tomorrow will be sanding, sanding, and a bit more sanding. If all goes well maybe have some graphite on by end of the day. Thinking I'll graphite the whole thing and then paint over that. I still need to drill the mast partner and decide exactly how I'm going to do the mast step. if all goes perfect possible splash next weekend.

[Fuzz]

I see no reason a man of your talents does not build his own oars also.

Pretty snazzy work you are doing there.

[glossieblack]

Pretty snazzy work you are doing there.

I agree with Fuzz.

[Eric1]

I see no reason a man of your talents does not build his own oars also.

Dang it Fuzz! Never Challenge a Swamp Guinea!!
Jaysen, You pretty much have to make oars now.