Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

cutting the scarf

Last week a friend started working on a new boat in the same shop I work in. He started by cutting the scarf on the 1/4 plywood. I clamped a scrap piece of 1/4 Okoume plywood to the bench and showed him how I cut it with a plane. He then clamped his 1/4 hydrotek plywood down and went to work. For some reason the hydrotek kept clogging up the plane. The blade was sharp. It just didn't work out. I tried a different plane, same thing. Both were 12 inch jack planes. Later I went back to the okoume plywood to try again and it cut just fine.

Anyone else have this trouble. He then went to work with a belt sander which is no fun.

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on April 17, 2011 at 9:44am

Seems people's standards have changed. The quick thrill of a bargain is all too alluring. People have forgotten what it feels like to use real solid wood. Forgotten how god it feels to know you are supporting the work of a skilled artisan who loves what they do.

I think when people start living from the heart, doing what they love to do like fishing and floating the rivers... caring for themselves and the world... more sustainable choices will be made. I am optimistic the the good ol' USA is gonna rebound from our bad habits. Think what a great bonfire IKEA will make. All those petrochemical laminates and glues will make for quite a party.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 17, 2011 at 4:34pm

To all;

I have a Doug Fir desk made father made sometime before 1959. It has a space for an antique device called a typewriter. Other than a few dings and dents it is as good as it every was. No fancy metal ball bearing drawer slides, just a nice fit and the original parafin on the drawer bottoms.

Someday it will be a real curiosity for the next generations when they inquire what the funny space in the middle is for. It is something that I take for granted and forgot about it's history and construction until we had this discussion. I wish I still had all of his tools, planes, table saws, etc. All I have from him as far as tools is a tool bax used to carry tools from job to job.

Regards,

Rick Newman

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Permalink Reply by Dave Z on April 17, 2011 at 5:05pm

Speaking of sustainable, all this philippine mahogany, meranti, luan, occume, sappele, etc... is it sustainable? we might be part of the global issue and using the pretty woods from this hundred-years-old trees from countries that might not be aggressive in sustainability activity.

Rick, what the heck is a "type writer?"

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 17, 2011 at 6:42pm

I think that it is something that hunt and peckers used to used to transfer ink to paper in an organized fashion. You tap on the keys and some mechanical magic made a matching metal letter strike an inked ribbon. They had a funny thing called a return key. It was right next to the any key. I think you might be able to find one in a museum somewhere. They were invented some time after Mr. Guttenberg made the first printing press.

Some were even so modern so as to use electricity, that invisible stuff that can hurt if you get in its way. While demonstrating a 48 joule energizer in a trade show I stuck my hand across the terminals. It was an exciting converstation!

I believe but I am not certain that most of the woods you mentioned are harvested in a sustainable manner or so it is claimed. I wonder how hard it would be to slip a few non-sustainable trees in a shipment.

Rick Newman

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Permalink Reply by Dave Z on April 17, 2011 at 6:47pm

That's a great explanation Rick. Should enter that on wikipedia. hahaha.

I get some Koa wood from Hawaii once in a while for the ukulele's I've built, but they are only allowed to claim trees that have fallen in an act of nature. Standing, live Koa is off limits. I love the look of Koa.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 17, 2011 at 11:00pm

Hello to all, I was looking for some spruce and wood sources. I found an exciting source of reclaimed wood> http://crossroadslumber.com/html/products-reclaimed-wood.htm. There is one store in California and one in Port Townsend, WA. They have some interesting wood. I doubt that it will be cheap but it will be real!

Rick Newman

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Christensen on April 30, 2011 at 4:57pm

I finally broke down and bought the West System scarfer, it kicks ass, once you have the right blade (took a few passes to get that figured out). I started with a 60 tooth (I think) carbide finish blade, but had to switch to a carbide framing blade. It cuts a 8:1 on 1/4" ply, which according the all-knowing Gougen Bros. is sufficient (I had previously cut 12:1).