Day 7 At the Shop

Miter Saw in Action

 Today was a very productive day in the boat shop. In the morning some of the group members left with Mr. Grant to the lumberyard to get wood so we can begin making the boom and gaff. Meanwhile, the rest of us were working on the fitting the last deck brace and installing additional sole braces, with the help of Mr. Grant and Mr. Haile. The previous deck brace had not fit properly because the camber did not sit flush with the sides of the boat. After realizing our mistake, Tommy, Andres, and I were able to come up with a more accurate and effective way to measure the angles needed to cut the notches out of the deck brace. This method proved useful and was used again to fit the final deck brace. The final deck brace was low on one end by ¾ of an inch, so Mr. Grant suggested we cut a piece of wood 4 inches long and ¾ inches high and drill it into the inner side rail of the boat. With that block of wood in place, we centered the deck brace on top of it and anchored it to the piece of wood and the side rail with a single screw.  -Sawyer Rogers

Eye of perfection

Sanding to perfection

Fitting the sole brace.

Bella uses a chisel

In class today we accomplished exactly what was needed to be done. We had great teamwork as always and everyone was very persistent. As usual we split up into two groups. The group upstairs, working on the boat was using the saws and sander to get perfect angles. We were cutting pieces of wood that would support the sole plate. It took us a long time to get the right measurements that would fit the curve of that boat. When we finally achieved our goal, we were ready to bolt it in. While all of this was going on, Tommy Mumford, Sawyer Rogers and Andres Herrera were busy building the last two deck beams for the stern of the boat. Downstairs some of the boys worked on scarfing timbers for the boom and gaff and put in a lot of time and effort to try and get it done. Over all it was a very successful day and we are one step closer to reaching our goal. 

There's a lot of talking involved.

~ Pauline 

More talking.

Tommy custom cuts a aft deck barce.

Day 6

Pauline Paints While Bella supervises.

Connor epoxies the spar

Emily paints along side the freshmen wrecking crew.

Today was a very productive day. We were able to make a brace for the bow, take some measurements to visualize how the mast step will look, and place a few deck beams in that will eventually become the support for the mast. At the front of the boat, the bow is very narrow, therefore making it very delicate. For this reason, we had to create a brace for it. Graham simply explained that using a 1x4 trapezoid would do the job. Moving down the ship, the mast step comes next. Our boat is slightly smaller than it average size, so the measurements had to be adjusted. Inching back and forth, we were able to come up with an accurate location. Our next step was to place the deck beams in that would come to support the mast at the correct angle. This too took a lot of inching back and forth, but we were able to figure it out. When it came to building the deck beams, which was a very difficult task, Tommy Mumford was our expert. With a few men at his side, he successfully created two very important deck beams. Many small task were also accomplished throughout today that will only get us further on accomplishing our goal, and we are all looking forward to the next couple weeks! - Bella

A master craftsmen.

The Spar

Today was another phenomenal day at the boat shop. Down in the basement, one of the groups worked on epoxying the 3 mast pieces together and made sure they stuck together with a plethora of clamps. Meanwhile upstairs the remaining members worked on the deck beams and finished painting the inside of the boat. After returning from a well-deserved lunch break, Mr. Grant showed us how to engrave wood with a router. We will eventually put those skills to use in order to make the name plate for the boat. Finally, to end the day, we met in the auditorium to watch Master and Commander, a movie about British & French ship battles. It was a great way to end the day. - Connor

No caption necessary.

Routing out signs, E M I L I E

Day 5

Henry paints while Tommy watches it dry.

A new best friend.

Connor cuts off bolt ends to flush

Sawyer works the hand plane

Mr. Grant talks while Connor waits to grind more bolts.

Day 5

Day 4:

Cutting Spars using a feather-board

Graham tells like it is.

We had a much shorter class today, because in the morning and afternoon we had a “Health Day.” However we were able to squeeze in one session at night where we made some headway on our boat.  Each of the three groups split off to complete their different projects.   Group three is in charge of all the spars of the boat, including the mast.   The mast was the main project we focused on tonight.  We started off by cutting the 16 foot pieces of 2x4’s so they would be only 5 inches in width.  After hauling the pieces into the basement, we began scarfing the wood.  This meant we were taking the 16 foot pieces of wood and joining them together with smaller pieces that were about 5 feet long, which would give us a total of about a 21 foot mast.   In order to do so, we had to shave down both pieces of wood at the same angle so that we could glue them together more easily.   Before glueing the shaved wood together, a sheet of plastic was placed between the wood and the sawhorse because the Epoxy glue doesn’t stick to plastic. After applying two coats of the Epoxy glue onto both pieces of wood, we clamped them together and left them for the night to dry.  – Emily Klein

Henry Wagner keeps it straight.

Scarf Joint

Day 3

This was our first big day dedicated to working in the shop. We started the day off with a talk about joinery and fasteners. We learned about the different metals used to make nails and screws and for what they’re used. We also learned a bit about end grain and cross grain in wood. 

After that we split up into our groups and went about our assignments; one group went with Mr. Grant to the lumber mill to purchase spruce boards to make our mast out of. Another finished up their saw horses while the last group worked with Graham on the mast step (it's what the mast sits on) and deck braces. 

Outside the 16-foot 2x12's were ripped into 2 x 5 pieces. Tomorrow evening we will glue 3 of these together to make a 5x5-inch square mast, which we will round later.

Our Visit to Lowell's Boat Shop

Day 2

To start off this winter term course, we were given our first hands-on challenge. Mr. Grant split the group up into three different teams, each given two or three planks of wood and a few tools. He displayed an old, beat up saw horse; a stand consisting of a thirty-two inch piece of wood with four legs to support it. Our only restriction was that it must be twenty-three inches tall. My team decided to make a replica of the saw horse that was displayed, making small adjustments when it came to a nail or a screw. After building our first saw horse, we stepped back and evaluated how we could make it better. The legs were slightly unstable, and with some measurement changes, we were able to make the next one almost perfect. This course will take lots of evaluating and some trial and error. Everyone, including the teachers, are learning to build this boat for the first time, but with the help of Graham (last name?), our mentor from Lowell’s Boat shop in Amesbury, MA, we will be just fine! -Bella

 

On Saturday, our second day of the course, the group loaded into a Brooks van and drove to the Lowell Boat shop, now owned by our newest instructor Graham McKay.  Upon arriving to the shop, Graham gave us a little bit of history about the shop.  He told us about Simeon Lowell, the founder of the Lowell boat shop, and how his business slowly expanded over the years and was passed down through different generations of the Lowell family.  I thought it was really cool when he told us about how the fishing process evolved over the years in order to expand production.  It changed from men fishing with individual rods all in one boat, to the men splitting up and fishing from different smaller dories, expanding the amount of water covered and increasing the number of fish being caught.  Graham also gave us a tour of the different rooms of the shop, which include the top floor where Graham keeps his different types of wood to dry before it can be used.  One new fun fact I learned was that some wood takes multiple years longer to dry depending on its thickness!  We also got a look inside one of the newest additions of the shop, which was the paint room.  The paint room was added onto the shop in the 1940s.  We will be traveling to the Lowell boat shop a few more times throughout the course. - Emily Klein

First Day

On Friday January 6th our class met for the first time at Stevens House. In attendance were Alesandra Miller, Connor Mahoney, Cole Millington, Clayton Rice, John Haile, Henry Wagner, Sawyer Rogers, Peter Nossiff, Pauline Zenker, Marty Hackler, Bella Papapetros, John Grady, Emilie Klein and Andres Herrera. We would have to wait another 24 hours for Tommy Mumford to arrive to be a complete class. This is a historic group!

Our first day was mostly introductory; there was a safety lecture and a tour of the boat shop. Mr. Grant spent time showing us tools and explaining their uses. After that we went out to the garage (it was pretty cold) and leveled off the hull to water level. That meant putting blocks under the boat carriage near the bow. We leveled the boat hull fore and aft.

Friday evening we met again at Stevens House for a lecture from local boat builder Graham McKay. Graham is this course's subject expert, and meeting him was a highlight of the day. Graham is also the boat builder at Lowell's Boat Shop in Amesbury, MA (http://www.lowellsboatshop.com) We will visit him there on Saturday.


At the end of the class we were given a challenge by Mr. Grant to build two identical saw horses per team. We are broken into 3 teams and we'll make them on Monday.

The Great Saw Horse Chase