Band Saw Woes and Oar Work

I was working on the oars when the bandsaw blade came off the wheels! It may have been the "back and forth" motion I was executing on the oar handles. Not sure. Well, it ruined the blade and I figured the "tires" needed changing anyway. 

I ordered new tires from Amazon and installed them tonight. The top wheel is a little less than 12" and the bottom is almost 13" in diameter. The top tire went on fairly easily. The bottom took some work. I made a couple attempts and then measured to see the wheel was bigger; so I stretched the tire holding it with my foot and pulling up hard. The next attempt was successful.

I rotated the wheel a good bit to center a new 1/2" 6 tpi blade and made the necessary adjustments with the screw in the middle of the top wheel per the instructions. Turned the blade on for a bit and all looked fine. 

I figured I would go back to working on the oar handles. I had made a jig so I tried to finish them up. I did finish one and ran out of time on the second.

The jig works pretty good. Here's my finished  (almost) handle on the first oar.

It looks a little off center. I guess I missed getting the hole in the end of the handle in the center. Hope the second turns out a little better. 

Here's a pic of my sanding getup. Not original but I believe it's going to work fine for the handles, looms and all my spars. I do need to put something on the reel to get some good friction on the inverted belt. I believe a strip of an old pool bottom will do it. Right now I'm using 60 grit paper.

I do plan on making a rounded end on the handles and a rounded transition from the looms to the handles. Not sure how yet, but I'll figure it out. 

I plan on making a longer jig to round off the looms. I'm expecting good results. We'll see. 

 

Sourcing & Costs

I have spent a lot of time sourcing materials for the boat, time that will not show up in the "build log". I've got just about everything I need now except for the "little stuff". 

A lot of the time spent has been in an attempt to economize on this build. I'm trying to do it for $3000. The kit cost over $7000 and that's before the 2021 price increase which Clint hasn't posted yet. Prices were due to go up as much as 20% which would put the CIY at well over $8000. 

The big purchases have been made. Of course, it all started with the plans which were $250.

I ordered plywood today from Bedard Yachts in Clearwater, FL. Their prices were good, not the best, but I knew they would carry quality material. I decided to go with a mix of okoume and meranti. Meranti is cheaper but weighs a little more. That's not really a concern for me. I'll use okoume for the bright parts and the meranti for the painted parts with the exception of plank #1 which has a pretty big curve at the bow. Okoume should make that turn a little better. They also found a carrier with a terminal a few miles from my house. Shipping will only be $200. I couldn't drive to Florida and back for that money. Total cost is less than $900. 

I ordered my sails a couple weeks ago. Prices for already built sails ranged from $800 to one quote for just a main for $1400. Too rich for me. I ordered a built mizzen from Duckworks which happens to be cheaper than a kit. I ordered the mainsail from Sailrite for $300. Total cost will be a little over $400. 

Of course, the trailer was a potentially expensive item. As posted earlier, I found one for $160! It will take another $100 or so to get it up to speed but a good purchase. 

My epoxy was ordered from B&B Yachts in Vandemere, NC. Three gallons cost me $190. 

Wood for my oars cost about $50. 

The last major purchase will be lumber for my spars and transom. I'll be using box store lumber for those. I will be using "select pine" for the spars which is clear. Scantlings will be a bit bigger that plans call for. I'll use some kind of pine for the transom, maybe even #2 grade if I can find some without a lot of knots. I might cover it with a layer of glass. It will be painted. I think I can get all of it for maybe a little more than $100. 

That leaves me with "incidentals": paint, rigging, hardware, wood for cleats & rail, brushes, rollers, fiberglass (I may have enough on hand), consumables such as sandpaper, etc. My expenditures so far leaves me with around $1000 left in the budget for these items.

Time will tell whether I'll make my $3000 budget, but so far, it's looking pretty good. 

The Cart Before the Horse

Or maybe I should say the trailer before the boat. Of course, I've known that I would need a trailer for the boat I'm building, completion of which is probably a year away. With that said, I've still been browsing Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. It looked like I would be able to get a decent trailer for somewhere around $300 which I set as my "budget".

Though there is no urgency, I decided I would continue to look and if the right one showed up, I would get it. I missed a free one not long ago because my tow vehicle was having alternator problems. I missed another for $100 because it was on a church day and it didn't last 24 hours.

Well, one showed up yesterday which had just been listed. My day was flexible so I jumped. Talked to Scott, the seller, and he was very helpful in describing the trailer in more detail than just a picture. I liked him and decided to go for it. Drove 120 miles (each way) to look at it.

From the moment I talked to Scott on the phone I liked him. When I arrived it was like we'd been friends forever. He was a pretty neat guy, recently retired from 32 years in law enforcement, he piddles around with buying and selling old boats and trailers. He owned 4 wooded acres and had maybe a dozen boats sitting around with a few more trailers. He told me he does it to stay sane. He'd recently lost a 27 year old son to a freak medical situation and found great solace in keeping busy with his hobby. Seems we had many shared values and beliefs. After nearly an hour "tour", we looked at the trailer - looked very solid. Needed a little work but good "bones". He helped me get her ready for the road and even threw in a jackstand, winch, and a couple extra rollers. He seemed to be having a lot of fun. What a great guy! He even invited Robin and me back up and said he'd smoke a chicken for us in his homemade smoker. 

So I've landed this 1979 Dilly galvanized trailer for $160. I had to take a trailer light kit with me, it will need tires and a fitting or two; but a good find I believe. I'll cover it and park it 'til ready. Gonna be some motivation to get hopping!

Here she is:

Plans have arrived!

The plans for the CIY 16 arrived today. Clint had already sent me a link to the files but the hard copies have arrived including the Building Guide which I already printed from the file. The plans are on 17" paper so I was not able to print those.

All I can say is WOW! Clint is so detail oriented and what great drawings! This is going to stretch me. It's going to be a challenge. I'm thinking 500 hours will not be enough. I was figuring a spring/summer 2022 launch. That might be ambitious the way these plans look. But we'll see. Maybe once I get the hang of it, it'll move along. He estimates 400-600 hours from the kit depending on fit and finish. Of course, I'm building strictly from plans. 

Here are a few pages from the plans to give you and idea of what they are like.

Well? What's say we go and build a boat!!!!!

 

Oars

I'm waiting on the plans for the CIY 16 to arrive. I talked to Clint Chase yesterday and they are on the way. He completely redid the plans because there were so many updates from his original, so it's taken him a couple weeks to do it. He has already sent me links to two files which I have printed. One is 60 pages and the other is 120 pages. He is one detailed dude!! Obviously loves his computer and the drafting programs he uses. To top it all off - he is very nice to talk to on the phone. Seems like one super guy. I've heard nothing but good about him. 

While I've been waiting on the plans, I decided to start on the oars. Before I turned my 7' oars loose with the Little Bit, I outlined one to use as a pattern. 

Since I'm trying to do this new build as inexpensively as possible (let's just say it: I'm cheap), I'm using box store lumber as much as possible. I found two pieces of 1x8x12' "common board", which is supposed to be white pine, with just a few tiny knots. I figured I could rip it into thirds, trim two feet off the end (which I would use as the blades), and laminate it into blanks. Here are my two oars:

Well, not really; but hopefully they will become my two 9'2" oars.

I've spent 4 work sessions over the last week totaling maybe 9 hours thus far. 

ripping the boards

gluing up the blades

thems gonna be long oars!

after sanding the squeeze out

laminating the 3 layers

after shaping them up a little with the band saw

8 sided the looms

They are obviously very rough at the moment, but I think I'm going to have, at the very least, two very functional oars even if they aren't perfect (which they wont be - trust me on that). 

Right now they weigh 5.5 lbs each and seem pretty stiff and sturdy. 

Some planing, shaping and sanding yet to go... 

Work Bench Built

I guess this is the last step in preparation for the boat build. I had previously cleared out my workspace (which is nothing more than a gigantic crawl space under my house) which is 10' x 32" with a ceiling height of more than 7'. I put on my Christmas and birthday wish list a few tools which I received. I just needed a work bench, so last night I knocked that out. 

I found a nice piece of 3/4" plywood for $15 that a guy was selling as he cleaned out a "workshop". Also bought 2 pieces of 1/2" for $10 each to use as molds for the build. Dropped over to Lowes last night around 6:30 and bought two 2x4's each 16' long and two 2x4x10', one of them treated (the one that will be in contact with the floor). I also bought a package of 4 wedge anchors 1/2" x 4", which came with a concrete bit, and a box of #12 wood screws. 

By 10:30 p.m. I was done! Here's the finished bench.

I cut the 4' x 8' sheet of plywood right down the middle and made a 2' x 16' bench. That will be long enough to build my 17' mast (a little overhang wont hurt) and other spars as well as other jobs, eventually acting as a bench/shelf. 

Next step: BUILD THE BOAT!