I spent about 3 hours last night working on shaping the mizzen mast. My plan was to construct a jig that would allow me to cut multiple faces on the roughly square blank that I had glued up. The jig would allow me cut the tapper as well.
I purchased a #2 1x4x12 to use as a the jig. I cut two short pieces, one off the end of it and another off another 1x4x12 that I had purchased. These formed the end of the jig. I then marked a line that would give me the desired taper based on the centerline of the mast.
I then drilled holes in the uprights at the desired radius and inserted nails into each end of the blank into predrilled holes in the center of each end of the blank.
I set the fence on the band saw the width of the 1x4 and got ready to make my first cut. I soon realized that the jig needed some support. The mast could provide that with a spacer in the middle.
I went to cutting. I soon realized after the first cut that I would need a second nail in one end of the jig to keep the mast from rotating while cutting it. After I started putting a spacer and extra nail in the jig, cutting went pretty well. I ran out of time before finishing all the cuts, but I believe I got it. Tomorrow night we'll see.
In this last picture you can see the mast taking shape.
No comments:
Post a Comment