The last "still planking" post

OK, we are really almost done this time. 3 planks to go. We've even scheduled our planking party for 5-7pm, March 6. You're invited. Rather than wait for that momentous occasion for a blog update, I figured I'd post about some other goings on in the shop.

But first, the obligatory progress shots....

Riveting is getting interesting. The tight squeeze for the inside guy can make one a little moody. To rivet one plank, you're down there for about 3 hours. This is the end of one such run.
I just realized going back through some of the pictures I've posted that most were taken after Friday clean up. Here is a more realistic picture of our shop, except usually those sawhorses would have something on them.

Upstairs there are 3 boats getting started. Two new apprentices, instead of building a susan skiff (of which we have 4 for sale already) are building a 1/2 Peapod. Apparently it is for taking to trade shows and the like. Not sure if it will row very well.


As for boats that will float, we build those too. The first is a Lawley tender. The porcupine look is caused by all the zip ties they used when steaming in the oak frames. They are a lot easier (and cheaper) than about 200 clamps.


But for sheer sexiness, you can't really beat this boat. This is a Abeking and Rassmusen tender. Check out the stern on this one.


Of course, sexiness has its problems. That curvy back end caused both garboards (that is, the bottom plank that meets the keel) to crack in the back, despite steaming.

I should mention both of these boats are for sale. They are being built on speculation. Hopefully come spring someone with a big boat they need to row out to will be looking to replace that old
plastic dingy (Jimbo, Muzzy?).

It is fun to go up and look at these tiny little boats. I think we could fit 5 or 6 of these boats into our hull.

In other news, our woodturning class started. This past week I turned a mallet. I'm sure woodturning is fun, but right now, it is actually kind of a chore. After 9 hours in the shop, I have to drive 40 minutes for a 3 hours class, and I don't get home until 10:00. Maybe someday I'll be glad I learned.

On a more fun side project note, I'm building a 1/2 hull model. I've been scrounging the library for "my boat." There are limitless designs out there, and I've always been drawn to the turn of the century ocean racers. The ones with the long overhangs, curvy transoms and spoon bows. Of course, those boats were all 100 feet long. Well, around 1930, Phillip Rhodes designed a few boats that look like these classic racers, but in a more managable size. This one is designed at 24 feet.



Could this dream become a reality someday? We'll see.

Stay tuned. Hopefully next post I'll figure out how to do video and we'll get a home movie of the boat flip.

Still Planking, Part 2

The days are getting longer, the shop is getting warmer, and the boat is getting heavier. Only a few more planks to go.



It is getting pretty cozy underneath the boat. Jamie recently went out and bought us some Christmas lights to hang up inside. The mood lighting is nice. I'll have to get a late night picture for the next post. We also have a new team member, Dylan, so there are 4 of us now.

The planking is getting a little more aesthetically tricky. Now that we are getting to the very end, we are running out of room for the plank edges to run. We are constrained by where the last plank was placed and where we know the final plank must go. We want a nice fair curve that results in a plank that starts wide in the middle and ends up skinny at the ends. It shouldn't go from wide to skinny, then back to wide again, which is known as fishtailing. We are running a delicate balance in the front end of the boat between having a fishtail or having a sheer line (that final plank line) that is too flat (i.e. not fair... i.e. ugly). This is the kind of stuff you don't learn from a book or a two week boatbuilding course. You have to build the whole thing. Now I know to pay a lot more attention in the lining off phase (you can read more about that on a prior post... we took our best shot, but we didn't know the implications... now we do).

Now a little shout out for my IBM compatriots (** geek alert **)... this planking stuff has all sorts of opportunity for lean manufacturing. I'm constantly doing tact time calculations on the process and finding tombstones. There were 3 of us working on a process that takes 1 person about 1 week/plank. We should be able to do 3 planks/week then right? Our average for the last month and a half has been 2, an output that would have any mfg manager breathing down my neck (our managers are pretty lenient here.... probably has something to do with our pay scale) Now that we have an extra person, our potential goes up to 4 planks/week, but this potential is mitigated by the reality that we can only work on 2 planks at a time on the boat (one on each side). But there is plenty of work that one can do on a plank before you get to the boat (see Planking! post from last Dec.) It is the classic case of 4 rowers going at a steady pace being able to go faster than 4 at different paces. We'll see how it turns out. I wonder if the IMEC conference would accept a paper on this.

In other news, I met Nicole out in the White Mountains for some snowshoeing. We climbed Mt. Madison on a beautiful Feb. day. The views were fabulous, although the wind was a little rough. Nicole didn't like her crampons very much.