A place to share YOUR boat building story

• Independence Day
  
  
• Two to Nashville by Ray Macke
  
  
• Boatbuilder of the Month
  
  
• Designer's Notebook: So You Want to be a Boat Designer?
  
  
• Boat Plans by ArtDeco
  
  
• Photos sent in since the last WebLetter...
  
  
• Seasick Solutions by David G. Brown
  
  
• Shop Talk: Is it Time to Get a Fresh Edge? by Steve Scott
  
  
• Recent email
  
  
• eMail of the Month
  
  

• We at Glen-L are looking forward to the 4th of July when we'll get togther with family and friends for some good times, and to spend a little time reflecting on how blessed we are to live in the greatest country on God's green earth.
• We hope that you, too, will celebrate our independence, and say a prayer for all of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen who are serving and sacrificing in order to keep us safe here at home. Whether or not you agree with their current mission, I'm sure that you'll join us at Glen-L in praying for their safety and provision, and the successful completion of their mission so that their return home will be sooner rather than later.
• What a country! - God Bless America!

Until next month . . .      
Editor      

* Independence Day July 4th *

O n July 4, 1776, we claimed our independence from Britain and Democracy was born. Every day thousands leave their homeland to come to the "land of the free and the home of the brave" so they can begin their American Dream.

The United States is truly a diverse nation made up of dynamic people. Each year on July 4, Americans celebrate that freedom and independence with boating, barbecues, picnics, and family gatherings. Through the Internet we are learning about and communicating with people of different nations, with different languages and different races throughout the world. Bringing the world closer with understanding and knowledge can only benefit all nations.

We invite all nations to celebrate with Americans on this Fourth of July.

Happy Birthday, America!

Two to Nashville

Lake Barkley and the Cumberland River
by Ray Macke

It was a beautiful spring evening on the Nashville municipal boat dock. The sun had set a few hours earlier and we had just returned from a stroll across the Shelby Street Bridge. The bridge overlooks the downtown area as well as the dock and offers an exceptional view of the city lights at night.

Returning to Therapy we settled into our lawn chairs planning to sit on the dock and watch a movie on the DVD player. I noticed the piercing spotlight of a tow making its way up the narrow stream towards us, knowing it would be passing in a few minutes. Our backs were to the bridge when we suddenly heard a loud splash.

My first though was, “What did they throw off the bridge?” It had sort of a pop like a wide piece of wood hitting the water. We turned to look as the splash was subsiding and after a few seconds something slowly bobbed to the surface. It took a moment but then I realized it was a person. We had a jumper! I quickly looked downstream and the barge is still coming. “This is going to be interesting,” I thought.

Continue

Editor's Note: Therapy is Ray Macke's Cabin Skiff. For more of
his adventures, see the WebLetter Index of Articles under Cabin Skiff.

Boatbuilder of the Month

Gene Hall - Tunnel Mite

Gene's Story . . .

1. You can fall off a 3' stepladder just as easy as an 8 footer.
2. (More often than not) paint thinner is flammable.
3. Anything that has "stainless" written on it is expensive.
4. Building a boat is a great experience!

Editor's Note: See the complete story of
Gene Hall's Tunnel Mite build and more photos here.

Designer's Notebook: So You Want to be a Boat Designer? S o you want to get into the boat design business. You work in a clean environment; you do what you want to do (hopefully) more than anything else and you can make scads(?) of money. Sounds like a dream made possible if it were true. Most successful designers have some background in drafting, a good eye, and at least some engineering or aptitude for it. It does take a little more than hanging out a shingle that states you are a yacht designer. Some can be fortunate enough to start off as an apprentice in a design office but most firms want a person with more than just a desire to be a yacht designer. Schooling is available although very limited when it comes to small boats. A few colleges have courses but most relate to larger designs. "Westlawn School of Yacht Design" was founded by Gerald Taylor White in Westlawn, New Jersey somewhere around 1930. It was the only real avenue to take if you were interested in pleasure boat design from that period on. The company exists today with the name "Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology" (www.westlawn.edu) and has broadened its scope to many phases of yacht design. There are also a limited number of colleges that offer specialized courses in yacht design. Boats are built from wood, fiberglass, steel, aluminum, and tomorrow probably some new "super stuff." It has long been our opinion that anyone who designs for any given material should have some practical knowledge on how to put it together. This can be debunked by many in the field who never get their hands dirty. It depends who you design for. A yard that builds steel boats is surely going to know more than the designer as to how it is put together. However, those who design for the amateur builder should be able to be conversant with the problems that may occur. Okay, now you have filled all of the above minor problems. We call them "minor" as the name of the game is to make money (what an evil thought!). Of course there are a zillion guys out there that have the same idea. How do you succeed over all that competition? We will let you in on a little secret…..damned if we know. Most small designers have the design business on the side; they also have a regular paying job. Those who go at it full time probably are not getting rich, unless they hit the Lottery or make it "big" in Vegas. You are probably thinking "but GLEN L did it." True, so it can be done. However, we had advantages that most don't have. First of all, an independent income from a previous job that kept us at least in beans for several years. No overhead and the willingness to do most anything in the field to make a buck such as making custom boat fittings (sand cast patterns), take off the lines from an existing boat, design a group of cabins for them, produce stock designs, and once in a great while a custom design. Marketing a small skiff, custom built to our design, and selling them to dealers brought in a few bucks. GLEN L was also fortunate to hook up with several magazines, notably Popular Mechanics, and did DIY designs for several small boats. The pay wasn't much but the publicity and resultant sale of plans did much to expand our enterprise. Looking back, the biggest thing we had going for us was luck and being at the right place at the right time. From day one we built boats and as time went on, we were able to have a complete shop to build testing prototypes. Not many design firms were so lucky as to build boats from their designs, try various building methods and products, and then test the boat. This also played big with the boating magazines. We not only had designed the boat but had actually built and tested the darned thing. The basic tools a yacht designer required were limited and relatively inexpensive. Standard drafting tools, some splines and weights, plus a few French curves and you were in business. It must be emphasized that a good eraser was also an important ingredient. Today the computer rules supreme. A good computer with a boat design program along with a cad set-up is the new trend. Yes, some still work by hand but the electronic marvel is much faster, albeit more expensive. The cost of a computer alone will more than pay for a fine set of hand drafting supplies. From our standpoint, designing and building boats has been our life and it's been a good one. GLEN L has developed into a family business with the newcomers' enthusiasm being contagious and very pleasing. So from our standpoint, boat design has been a life of fun. Could you be so lucky?

Seasick Solutions

So you've tried everything to prevent your little water warrior's face from turning green? Maybe these simple answers will do the trick.

by David G. Brown

Q: My kids love to get out on the water, but one always becomes seasick. We've tried almost everything. Any suggestions?

A: The only sure cure is to sit under an oak tree. However, it's not practical to carry an oak tree to sea. During my 15 years of running a sailboat race committee boat, I had a different "crew" every race. We would sit anchored until the last boat finished, sometimes hours after the first-place boat. Naturally, I gathered a lot of experience with seasickness and learned some "tricks" to reduce problems.

Don't go out with an empty stomach. Hunger tends to feed that queasy feeling. Avoid a greasy breakfast; skip the corned beef hash in favor of pancakes or waffles. While underway, have snacks available. Bland, salty pretzels work best, because they help settle the stomach and stay crisp in the moist atmosphere. Chips work, but can go stale too quickly. Peanuts and trail mixes are also good choices.

For good-tasting medicine, take along some of Grandma's old-fashioned ginger snaps. Homemade cookies baked with real ginger are the best snack of all. Ginger root has a demonstrated ability to calm queasy digestive systems. If you don't want to bake ginger snaps, look for anti-nausea pills and chewing gums containing ginger root or ginger oil.

Encourage potential victims to drink water to prevent dehydration. Soda pop settles some stomachs, but distresses others. If the victim wants a fizzy drink, consider Vernor's brand ginger ale. For some reason it seems to work better than ginger ales intended for primary use as a bar mix.

There are anti-seasickness pills, like Dramamine or Bonine, available. These must be taken before going on the water so they have time to take effect before feeling nauseous. Beware: Most people do get drowsy when they take these pills. MotionEaze is a natural formula applied behind each ear. It's said to be effective even after the onset of seasickness.

Wristbands work by applying pressure to a specific point on the arm near the wrist. They're claimed safe for children and have no drug side effects. Simple bands cost under $10 and are reusable.

Assign a member of the crew to keep watch over anyone who's known to get seasick. The first symptom will be listlessness. The victim will withdraw from conversations, so act now or get the bucket later. Victims should be encouraged to sit out in fresh air where they can see the horizon. Keep them chatting, and never allow victims to stare down into the boat.

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company

Shop Talk: Is it Time to Get a Fresh Edge?

SIGNS THAT YOUR TOOLS ARE LOSING THEIR CUTTING POWER

by Steve Scott

Beginning boatbuilders are told often about the importance of keeping tools sharp. Deciding when to stop and resharpen or replace a tool ultimately depends on how much poor performance you’re willing to accept. Applying that lesson, however, takes practice. For starters, how can you tell when a tool is losing its edge?

Christian Becksvoort calls the descent from sharp to dull “a gentle, downward curve, with steadily declining results and ever more effort required.” Is it time to get a fresh edge?

We asked Becksvoort and others to describe some indicators that it is time to sharpen. the three warning signs: effort, results, and tool condition.

How hard are you working?
When deciding whether a tool is losing its edge, “my first clue is an increase in cutting resistance,” says Garrett Hack.

Simply put, a dull cutting edge on a hand or power tool requires more force to cut the wood. On router tables, for instance, a dull bit means you’ll have to exert more pressure to keep the wood against the fence.

“A dull bit will tend to push the material away,” Roland Johnson says. “A sharp bit just cuts.” In similar fashion, a dull jointer knife wants to lift a board off the table.

You’ll have to push harder to move stock through a cut if a bandsaw or tablesaw blade is dull. A dull tablesaw blade requires extra effort even if cleaned of gum and pitch, Becksvoort says.

On the bandsaw, you’ll find yourself pushing the blade against the rear thrust bearing as you force stock through a cut, according to Gary Rogowski. this is more apparent with thicker stock.

With handplanes, Hack says, a dull edge is most noticeable on end grain. And dull chisels are harder to handle.

“On long grain I have to push harder,” says Hack, “and I sometimes lose control because the dull edge wants to dive into the fibers rather than sever them.”

Becksvoort sharpens his chisels after one large section of work or two or three smaller pieces.

What do the results look like?
If increased effort is the first sign of a dulled edge, poor results are the surest.

Jointers and planers will leave tearout when blades are dull. Becksvoort changes them after two to four months of frequent use. the dulled blades give the wood a polished appearance that is “very shiny, but not particularly smooth.”

A router with a dull bit can burn the stock, but that also can happen with a slow feed rate. A surer sign, Hack notes, is a cut with feathery or splintered edges.

On the bandsaw, Rogowski says, a dull blade will wander and yield a wavy cut, or begin to drift increasingly to one side.

With chisels, Becksvoort finds that when chopping slots, “I begin to get an unacceptable amount of tearing as I chop down across the grain.”

Hack gauges the sharpness of a handplane edge “by looking at the shaving and by feeling the surface.” On long grain, he looks for tearout and a dull or slightly rough surface. “the shavings no longer come off as a continuous thin ribbon but are getting sliced down their length at each nick, or they have holes where tearouts occur.”

How does the tool look? If you are still unsure that you have a dull blade, look at the edge itself.

On plane irons and chisels, a dull blade will reflect a line of light at the cutting edge. Dull sawteeth are much harder to see. they won’t look or feel any blunter than sharp ones. but if a good cleaning doesn’t improve their cutting ability, you’ll know the edge is suffering.

Recent email:

Subject: Mailing List
Date: 17 May 2008

Subject: Fathers' Day
Date: 13 June 2008

Subject: Thank you
Date: 15 May 2008

Subject: Glen-L
Date: 26 May 2008

Editor's Note: As we've already informed Charlie, anyone can review the progress of other builders as well as post their own build updates on the Glen-L.com website by following the instructions at our Project Registry. All builders can also post pictures of their boats, from the very start of their build through completion and cruising the lakes or high seas of their choice at our Customer Photos area by following the instructions at How to Submit Photos.

Subject: Plugging Screw Heads
Date: 30 May 2008

Subject:Restoration
Date: 2 June 2008

Subject: Lake Arrowhead Wooden Boat Show
Date: 9 June, 2008

Subject: Business Comments
Date: 5 June 2008

Subject: My First Glen-L Boat
Date: 11 June 2008

Subject: Eight Ball Stitch & Glue
Date: 25 June 2008

Subject: Console Skiff
Date: 14 June 2008

WebLetter Index
Glen-L Home Page