boatmakertoo

What a beautiful boat! I find that Chesapeake Light craft has some amazing products. Your careful execution of this project is an example for us all. For the readers that would like a much cheaper but similar craft plans can be found at the Spira International website (Back Bay Pram) and in Harold Paysons book "Build the New Instant Boats,"(Nymph). Some slightly larger examples are available from Jim Michalak (Picup) email Jim@jimsboats.com and the ever popular Gen-L site. This size boat is a great project for a starter and produces a boat that will give a lot of pleasure even if one choses to build a second larger vessel. Great instructible.

I believe that knots, like "Civics", should be taught in the public schools. One never knows when the need will arise. Many activities require a knowledge of knots. Any kind of boating, fishing, often camping, tying loads to vehicles, building emergency or temporary structures to name a few. Anyone can learn them. Millions of 10-12 year olds learn them as Boy Scouts. I don't know about Girl Scouts. One contributor wrote an instructible about the "taught line" hitch, always one of my favorites. Good instructible, helps satisfy a general need.

Haven't seen a petticoat like that since the 50's. Memories.

Great idea. At one time the hardware stores sold wood turnings of various designs with threaded holes and threaded dowels to connect then through shelves as you have done. My favorite was a turning that resembled bamboo. These disappeared from the market long ago. Perhaps you could carve the outside of these dowels with your CNC machine to make them more interesting. A little lathe work would not be amiss.

I wish that someone think of a way to signal my kitchen to make breakfast or other meals and then clean up afterwards.

Helium is not flammable so venting should be sufficient. Perhaps not appropriate to this discussion but an old welders trick might be helpful with propane tanks. Gasoline tanks can be purged with exhaust gas from your car engine or any other internal combustion engines. It does a good job of removing vapor and is warm enough to vaporize small amounts of residual liquid. Jury rigging suitable hoses or tubing is not rocket science.

Good idea if you need a long thin drill. Nails can be used in the same way. Long finishing nails are particularly good.

Amazing! I have not seen a leg vice since about 1958 when My grandfather's house was sold. I don't Know what happened to his workbench but it was probably not appreciated by the buyer. Yours is very beautiful. His was made in about 1904 and was hard used for 50 years. It looked it. I found it fascinating even when I was a toddler. It seemed very efficient when he would clamp it to a large piece of wood and proceed to plan it, route it, carve it or what ever. Much fine woodworking was accomplished with that vice.

You are correct of course. It I always a good idea to clean materials to be used in preparing food. As you are aware there are no known hazards associated with copper and food contact though, rarely, some people have an allergy to the metal. I too have installed copper plumbing in Maryland and California. The only caution is that one should not use lead based solder. Of further note my Mexican relatives use large copper cauldrons to deep fry pork over open fires or propane burners. This is a cultural tradition for holiday family dinners. These cauldrons are available in Mexico in enormous sizes. I know of no U.S. sources.

What a great idea. Some of my retired friends have spent small fortunes on RVs that are never completely satisfactory. Seems that adapting an ambulance will lead to a better result. I have a friend who bought hearses. When first married he and his wife were told that because of a missing ovary they would be infertile. Seven children later they found a used hearse was a cheap and satisfactory family car. Different vehicle, same principle. Think about a larger box.

You are right. Copper is good. So is your English. I envy your linguistic skills. My second and third languages are Fortran and Lisp. I have a wonderful copper skillet that makes perfect large crepes. Every bootlegger uses a copper coil to condense his product. My house is plumbed with copper much of which I soldered myself. No one has ever raised the issue that plumbers should avoid soldering copper pipes. I have noticed that many contributors to "instructables" are week on the subject of chemistry. Perhaps there should be a DIY course....

Very nice design and execution. Moving the wheels back will make the thing easier to steer when reversing. I own the 1100 pound version of that Harbor Freight trailer which is the same length but with slightly smaller wheels. I plan to move the wheels back 2 feet because the thing is so twitchy in reverse.

Any ideas about crickets? Here in LA we have rats, mice, roaches, squirrels and lizards. The rodents prefer to live outdoors. On the two occasions when a rat got into the house I got rid of it by leaving a door open for a while. The red squirrels here are fun to watch and never come in, the roaches are easy to catch but rarely come in. The lizards are friendly and only come in by mistake but the crickets are a real problem.

Definitely better than classic Irish stew. In the original the meat is mutton and is not browned. The other ingredients are only potatoes, onions and parsley. It is cooked until the potatoes loose all form and become mush. There is no broth. Mutton has a very strong odor compared to the meat of the younger animal. Why anyone would make it is a mystery. I discovered that the version made by my great aunt is actually the old country recipe. We ate it often during WWII because other meat was rationed but mutton was not. Your version looks wonderful and I can't wait to try it.

Good design. Gluing the threaded rod to the bar surprised me. Though military hardware is often glued together and proves to be reliable personally I have not had good luck with glue and metal. Your paper templates are a great idea and one that I will use. I must say that I envy your workshop.

I always enjoy knife making stories and I liked this one a lot. In each case there is the problem of finding the blade material. Some use old files, some circular saw blades. I have personally used machine hacksaw blades. These knives had thin flexible blades suitable for filleting fish. As another contributor has written a good source of steel is auto leaf springs . Machetes are "traditionally" made from auto springs. If you can find some springs you could cut out the middle man who makes the machetes. Your instructions for heat treating the metal bring this business into the realm of the DIY. I hope for an "instructable" on forming blades by forging. Perhaps your next project?

I find myself motivated to comment on JamesGannons concerns. Craftsmen often make their own tools. The small tweaks create a tool that is just a little better in some way than the factory product. Often the homemade tool has a special purpose not envisioned by tool manufacturers. Usually the craftsman uses the materials at hand to create tools. The woodworker uses wood and the potter uses clay. I possess several block planes and clamps ( inherited) that were made by my ancestors. I find that buying or making your tools is a lifes work or even more than one lifes work. One adds tools as the projects demand. One does not buy a table saw for a single project but rather as an investment in the future. As time passes more tools accumulate and more projects become possible. Spreading the cost …

I find myself motivated to comment on JamesGannons concerns. Craftsmen often make their own tools. The small tweaks create a tool that is just a little better in some way than the factory product. Often the homemade tool has a special purpose not envisioned by tool manufacturers. Usually the craftsman uses the materials at hand to create tools. The woodworker uses wood and the potter uses clay. I possess several block planes and clamps ( inherited) that were made by my ancestors. I find that buying or making your tools is a lifes work or even more than one lifes work. One adds tools as the projects demand. One does not buy a table saw for a single project but rather as an investment in the future. As time passes more tools accumulate and more projects become possible. Spreading the cost over time and projects makes things reasonable. In time JamesGannon will find that his projects require fewer or no new tools and his wallet will fatten in a most satisfactory way. By the way, I loved your instructable.

I find that I miss the pork sausage of my youth. The stuff in the stores is sometimes close but not really as good. For some reason restaurants seem to have a better sausage. I love McD's sausage biscuits and Denny's breakfast sausage. The flavoring mix eludes me when I try to make my own. I think thyme is an important ingredient and possibly sage. Have you any suggestions?

Loved the video. It is a pleasure to watch a skilled craftsman work. Envy your workshop too. The last time I saw anyone make a dovetail with a backsaw was about 1950.

Truly amazing. You power four 40 watt amplifiers with a 24 watt power source. The energy crisis is over.

That is one beautiful canoe. The patience and discipline required for such work is amazing. I certainly don't have it. Congratulations.

Krokigena has suggested Coca Cola which will probably work as it is often used to clean carburetors. The active ingredient is phosphoric acid. "Lime Away" is phosphoric acid and works well at cleaning rust. Generic Phosphoric acid is available in gallon size at places like Home Depot. It is rather faster than vinegar but is much more expensive. Another method is electrolysis. The tool is immersed in a weak electrolyte like sodium carbonate + water and connected to one terminal of a battery trickle charger. The other terminal is connected to any convenient metallic electrode. Bubbles are produced in great profusion for a time then more electrolyte must be added. Generally a pain. Your vinegar method is probably best from several standpoints.

Very difficult and painstaking work. The result is reminiscent of a coracle. A coracle would be basically a round basket covered with something. Traditionally it is covered with cloth waterproofed with paint or pitch or wax. If you are up to trying a coracle you can find an example at "Hannu's Boat Yard." That one is made from strips of plywood but your 2X4 method should work. Another possibility would be the Greenland Kayac for which there are examples on line. These are larger craft and one 2X4 would probably not be enough. The covering of modern examples is nylon waterproofed with paint. Originally created by Inuit hunters they were constructed from driftwood and covered with seal skin. Used in the open ocean they can travel long distances.

Well done! You are doubtless aware that lye can be extracted from wood ash. The gray stuff is what you want. It is very strong and will attack the skin. Small amounts in water will do the job. Another possible experiment.

Thanks so much. This is very timely for me as I am about to build more saw horses. Presently my existing pair are fastened into a table like affair designed to allow handling 4X8 sheets of plywood and I need another set. Your design will be perfect and is much simpler than the design that I had in mind. I use these things so that I do not have to get down on the ground to work on stuff. My next project is another boat which is going to be bigger than the last one. I think that you should encourage the helpless to try projects of this kind rather than suggest that they should avoid your instructable. It is always possible for the inept to get help with tools and techniques at places like Home Depot and local "adult education" courses. I learned from the best, my grandfather…

Thanks so much. This is very timely for me as I am about to build more saw horses. Presently my existing pair are fastened into a table like affair designed to allow handling 4X8 sheets of plywood and I need another set. Your design will be perfect and is much simpler than the design that I had in mind. I use these things so that I do not have to get down on the ground to work on stuff. My next project is another boat which is going to be bigger than the last one. I think that you should encourage the helpless to try projects of this kind rather than suggest that they should avoid your instructable. It is always possible for the inept to get help with tools and techniques at places like Home Depot and local "adult education" courses. I learned from the best, my grandfather, a master carpenter with magic hands. The only problem is that I didn't learn more. I still use some of his tools just for the memories.

Tatebullrilder, Congratulations this is clearly a very evolved device: After WWII gasifiers were used in Europe and Britain to power motor vehicles including tractors. In some cases the gas was collected in large bags and strapped on the back of the operator of a powered cultivator or even a motor bicycle. Those were desperate times there and not unlike an apocalypse. Fuel and food were scarce as was everything else. Along with the charred wood and the tar produced is a small amount of methyl alcohol which is a useful fuel. If you add a condenser you might be able to collect this as well. (Don't drink it. It's poison.) The ash is a source of sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, good for apocalyptic soap making and dissolving zombies.- Boatmakertoo

Great Idea! thanks.

Yellow jackets used to be the scourge of camp grounds. My wife would rid our camping area of them by direct action. A piece of spam or cold cuts and a flyswatter were her weapons. The meat attracted them to a picnic table and the swatter did the rest. It usually took only a short time and provided amusement while multitasking other camp chores or reading. The red wine thing surprises me and the bottle trap is a great idea. I wonder if there is a preferred bait for yellow hornets. Plastic bottle traps of similar construction also serve for catching bait fish. Large plastic water bottles work best for this purpose. Bait the bottle with a little cat food, bread or whatever. A pebble inside will aide in sinking the trap. I use paperclips to wire the inverted top to the larger base. Cat…

Yellow jackets used to be the scourge of camp grounds. My wife would rid our camping area of them by direct action. A piece of spam or cold cuts and a flyswatter were her weapons. The meat attracted them to a picnic table and the swatter did the rest. It usually took only a short time and provided amusement while multitasking other camp chores or reading. The red wine thing surprises me and the bottle trap is a great idea. I wonder if there is a preferred bait for yellow hornets. Plastic bottle traps of similar construction also serve for catching bait fish. Large plastic water bottles work best for this purpose. Bait the bottle with a little cat food, bread or whatever. A pebble inside will aide in sinking the trap. I use paperclips to wire the inverted top to the larger base. Catching small fish in this way amuses and instructs the children as well as providing bait for serious fishing.

Great idea! Wish I had thought of it. Some years ago I sought to find a suitable motor for a potters wheel and failed. It never occurs to me to use a treadmill motor. In the end I bought a "wheel" ready made which cost much more.

Some time ago Home Depot was offering discounts on new tools in exchange for the old ones. I tried to get them to sell me one of the worm geared circular saws that they had exchanged but they wouldn't do it. I have an old Bendix Holgun that belonged to my father. He bought it in 1948. I have repaired the cord but little else. I installed a 3/8" chuck and it seems to handle the larger bits without difficulty. It has been in use, though not heavily, from 1948 to the present. The trigger is not completely reliable today and of course it runs at constant speed and has no reverse. The year he bought it I used it to build my first boat, a hydroplane only 8 feet long and later a 12 foot outboard powered skiff. It has been used in many home projects. The two of us rebuilt an old 16' cypru…

Some time ago Home Depot was offering discounts on new tools in exchange for the old ones. I tried to get them to sell me one of the worm geared circular saws that they had exchanged but they wouldn't do it. I have an old Bendix Holgun that belonged to my father. He bought it in 1948. I have repaired the cord but little else. I installed a 3/8" chuck and it seems to handle the larger bits without difficulty. It has been in use, though not heavily, from 1948 to the present. The trigger is not completely reliable today and of course it runs at constant speed and has no reverse. The year he bought it I used it to build my first boat, a hydroplane only 8 feet long and later a 12 foot outboard powered skiff. It has been used in many home projects. The two of us rebuilt an old 16' cyprus bay built boat using the drill and hand tools. This exact drill was manufactured for a long time and I remember seeing them in the hands of maintenance workers as late as 1975. I have other old tools like this. One is a Mall saw, a 6" hand held circular saw of conventional design. I use a plywood blade on this saw and it makes nice smooth cuts in up to 3/4" thick sheets. It belonged to my grandfather who was a specialist in building complex and ornate stairways in large Baltimore homes. This saw I believe he acquired during WWII while working building cabinets in Coastguard boats. I love these old tools and use them just because of the memories they invoke. In my current boat project I have been using my grandfathers coping saw and block plane but a new Bosch jigsaw. The only problems with these old steel cased tools is that they are heavy and present a possible shock hazard. It is probably advisable to make sure that they are grounded through a three pronged plug but I confess that I don't worry much about the shock.

Great instructible! Weight loss based on thermodynamics rather than mysticism. Something I can believe in. I have failed in every other way but recently managed to loose 15 lbs where I hit the plateau. Your success inspires me so I am going to "keep on tryin." Your pictures reveal a healthy glow. It suits you.

Perhaps a food processor could be modified to do the spinning. Alternately one could use the Paula Dean trick and scramble them in the regular way but boil them in an oiled plastic bag. Don't forget to oil the bag with veg oil. Another trick is to boil unscrambled eggs. Depending on cooking time your egg could be either poached or hard boiled without the shell. One can also monitor the eggs status while cooking

Nice apparatus. Actually the solution produced is a mix of sodium and potassium hydroxide. It is used, as one correspondent says, to create hominy by soaking dried corn and rinsing away the shell. Hominy is eaten as is or dried and ground to make grits or ground further to make masa which is mixed with lard and made into tortillas. All of these products may be more easily from your supermarket.In our family lye soap was made with small amounts of vinegar to neutralize excess lye. Not an exact thing so one sometimes felt and smelt like a pickle after a bath. At least it did not remove the skin. Another use for wood ashes or the lye is in ceramic glazes. It provides the flux needed to reduce the melting point of other minerals. Another use is to mix the lye or the ashes with leguminous …

Nice apparatus. Actually the solution produced is a mix of sodium and potassium hydroxide. It is used, as one correspondent says, to create hominy by soaking dried corn and rinsing away the shell. Hominy is eaten as is or dried and ground to make grits or ground further to make masa which is mixed with lard and made into tortillas. All of these products may be more easily from your supermarket.In our family lye soap was made with small amounts of vinegar to neutralize excess lye. Not an exact thing so one sometimes felt and smelt like a pickle after a bath. At least it did not remove the skin. Another use for wood ashes or the lye is in ceramic glazes. It provides the flux needed to reduce the melting point of other minerals. Another use is to mix the lye or the ashes with leguminous compost and urine to produce nitrates which can then be made into gunpowder. Wood ashes and lye were once commonly used to adjust the pH of soil in farming and also provide sodium and potassium for the crop.

Beautiful knife! Your instructable was very clear and actually instructive. The Video was particularly good and the many illustrations were extremely helpful. I find some instructables difficult to understand both because of language difficulties and the absence of good diagrams or photos. Not the case here. The best thing was the detail that you gave for annealing and tempering the metal. One could use it for making any shape blade. I was puzzled about the rivet. Why only one? I usually use at least two.

This is a great "instructable" because of historical parallels. Galilio used a telescope with a magnification of about 20 thus a beginning astronomer, using this instrument, is starting at the beginning of the art. Galilio's eyepiece was a concave lens. This design gives a correct image - not inverted. His lenses no doubt created all manner of aberrations yet they changed our view of the universe. He gave a telescope to the Vatican Jesuits who reported that the Milky Way was made up of individual stars, that Venus exhibited phases similar to those of the Moon, that Jupiter had 4 orbiting moons. I don't know what they saw of Saturn but my experience is that the rings are not defined with a magnification of less than about 45. Galilio was punished for espousing the Copernican t…

This is a great "instructable" because of historical parallels. Galilio used a telescope with a magnification of about 20 thus a beginning astronomer, using this instrument, is starting at the beginning of the art. Galilio's eyepiece was a concave lens. This design gives a correct image - not inverted. His lenses no doubt created all manner of aberrations yet they changed our view of the universe. He gave a telescope to the Vatican Jesuits who reported that the Milky Way was made up of individual stars, that Venus exhibited phases similar to those of the Moon, that Jupiter had 4 orbiting moons. I don't know what they saw of Saturn but my experience is that the rings are not defined with a magnification of less than about 45. Galilio was punished for espousing the Copernican theory in writing but the observations, however interpreted, stood. Brahe, Kepler and Newton rather quickly vindicated Copernicus and Galilio but It was not until the 20th century, even after the acceptance of the General Theory of Relativity, that the view of the universe expanded beyond the Milky Way. Sadly the views of the planets with a small telescope do not reveal the wonderful color and detail of instruments such as the Hubble. I find Jupiter to be a bright white orb without any detail at all. Some amateur planet watchers construct very long focal length (low "f" number) reflectors to reduce the glare and increase magnification. Telescopes can be attached to cheap digital cameras and create digital images suitable for computer enhancement. Perhaps the subject of another instructable.

Have been trying to think of a good RasPi project. This project suggests "laptop." ( hahaHaha) I have an old Dell laptop that is actually just a battery discharger. It is too hot for my lap and too heavy to carry around but one could gut it and replace the innards with the Pi. Plenty of room for batteries, has a keyboard and display.( and a hard drive and a cd drive) A practical, portable work station and cooler than a toaster. It even has an attractive carrying case. There are foreseeable problems but that is the fun part. Thanks for the idea.

Basic bread dough with olive oil (or corn oil, or canola....) becomes pizza dough. The semolina is a nice touch. The oil makes the dough stretchable in the traditional manner. The problem that I have with the unfrozen store bought dough is that if not used quickly, it ferments in the container and the container bursts leaving a gooey mess in the refrigerator. The revealed recipe takes very little time and is well worth the effort. Sauce is not necessarily king because one can make a pizza with no sauce at all. I sometimes use thinly sliced tomatoes with the juicy parts removed on top of the cheese and add partially cooked bacon strips on top of the slices. The oven finishes the bacon. Only cover about 1/3 to 1/2 of the crust with tomato slices or the whole thing gets very soggy.

Great design. I think I will make one. For uncounted years I have used a guide that is mechanically similar to the wider half of your gadget. It has the disadvantages noted though it is simpler to make. It is also 8ft long which can be awkward so I have made a shorter version. Clamping them with C clamps can be trying and taking it to places other than home in my small car is no fun either.