Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
The Chine Blog
With a lot of this boat-building stuff to-date, I seem to fearlessly blast ahead relying on the experience I've gained in the cabinet shop and on the job site back in the day. Oh yea, and the web site here helps a good bit too in terms of confidence...
Not to say I'm a master woodworker (or even close), just plain fearless and quite possibly stupid.
That is, I was fearless up until I had to put in the chine logs. Let me tell you, that stuff flat out scares the bejeezus out of me and I not feeling much better now that I'm done with it. There is no piece of furniture on earth that could ever require the contortions I saw that chine log make. Unnatural is what it is.
With a lot of grunting, sweating, and swearing the first log made it into place. Got the second within about a centimeter of being seated, and all of a sudden....cccrrrrraaaaaakkkkk, POP, riiippp. Not sudden enough to scare you, yet too quick to do anything to stop it - kind of like the semi slow-motion of a car accident. It broke right in-between frames 8 and 9 and when it went, the part I was not holding onto, ripped a good sized slash in the 1/4" ply side. Ahhhh - the Humanity!
Now, I'm sure the experienced crew building frame-style boats has had this happen many times before. However for those making stitch and glue boats and especially the new boat builders like myself, who have not had this pleasure, let me explain - and maybe in doing so, it will be therapeutic for me...and hopefully not scare you too much in the process. For as a first time builder I want(ed) everything to be so so absolutely (and possibly unrealistically) perfect. And of course, seeing this kind of carnage on a project that was going so well was just devastating. Let me describe the torrent of emotions:
Absolute disgust: I just wanted to leave the shop, drink 24 beers, throw up, and go to bed. Unfortunately, I had the additional treat of having to clean up the 5200 smeared all over the place (talk about insult to injury). I couldn't even look at the boat for a whole day.
Recriminations: Then the thought process turned inward for a couple days to figuring out why...Why me god? Wondering, why did I pick that piece? Did I miss a defect? Did I not look closely enough? Why didn't I have it facing the other direction - then the weak spot would have been at a less severe bend? I swear, I actually wished for a time machine.
Coping: I finally came to realize, well, what's done is done. Since I have to go on, I will begin with small steps - build some floor segments, maybe work on the rower's seat, and finally- repair the damaged section. I cleaned out the tear in the 1/4" ply, epoxied it up real good and sandwiched it back together between two pieces of ply - I can do this, I've done it on many things wood.
Acceptance: In the end It worked. In fact, it worked real well. I'm probably the only one who will ever notice the hairline scar. And, I've even gotten over the whole "it has to be perfect" thing. Even if it seems a bit silly, I love the boat again. It is really great that with a little epoxy and a lot of sanding, the world can be made right. Best argument ever for making things out of wood.
Now, don't get me wrong, I was still scared to death putting in chine log #3 (Alright, actually it was the 4th one at that point - I was so rattled from the experience, I cut the replacement chine 1' short). Never the less, old "#4" it found it's way into place; and life and the boat are perfect once more.
Views: 159
Comment
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Comment by John Greenleaf on May 10, 2010 at 6:15am
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That sounds really heartbreaking. Any reason for not using some glass - just going completely traditional ? I'm pretty rough on things; I think I' need to use glass if I ever make one.
And let me just say ..Yikes! If that ever happened to me in a tree stand - they'd find me (days later) hanging upside down and stone cold dead from a heart attack.
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Comment by Steven Miller on May 9, 2010 at 10:06pm
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I have had two bows actually bust my noggin open when they broke; they were both self bows though (all wood, no glass). When glass bows break they normally delaminate leaving a splintered mess but only hurt pride.
I had an osage bow for my son down to final sanding about a week ago and decided to see if it would go to MY draw length (I'm 6'7"). It sounded like a gun going off. Live and learn.
But, i'm almost to chine installation on my first McKenzie so i'm watching these comments close!
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Steven, Thanks for the advice - I'll keep it in mind... I may also have to try it in the actual bow building process one day myself. I shoot traditional also - currently use the good ol store bought- bear grizzly. But all this working with wood and glass and epoxy also made me think about bow building. Unfortunately, If I take up one more project that is not house-related my wife might strangle me. It is definitely on the "list" though.
On a related note, having a bow break at full draw must be really frightening (with me building it, this is a real possibility)- I've only ever had strings go, an that's scary enough. - Can't imagine the whole bow busting...
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As a long-time builder of traditional bows (archery) I can testify that I have broken a few pieces of beautiful wood ;-) But one trick I can share that might help with chine installation is to let the wood "rest" at certain places in the bend then come back and continue on. By this I mean bend the chine to "close to installed", the point where your fearless cabinet maker mind tells you that the wood is screaming for some relief; then stop. C-clamp or otherwise into place and let the wood sit there for a while. The wood fibers will get a memory and compress slowly. BUT, Make sure that you're not bending the wood into an odd shape that won't fit the boat. Clamp or attach at the last place that it touches the boat and then at another spot about half-way to the end of the chine! If you clamp or tie it back near the end of the chine the wood will form a bow shape and will not fit the boat. Is this as clear as mud?
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Comment by JeanM. Andrson on May 8, 2010 at 3:30pm
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John, Todd and I truely think you should be a writer on top of a boat person. Keep at it!
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Good to know I'm not alone; I assumed this part of the building experience made for some real horror stories for more people than just myself...I guess it is that terror, coupled with the humor (it would be even funnier for me if the story was not autobiographical) and the eventual success (relief) that makes for such a memorable experience. I can see how one might get really addicted to this.
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Comment by Bryan McDade on May 5, 2010 at 11:27pm
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I understand the disgust, it's like a personal affront. Mine was ipe and a very tough slpinter went clear through my finger. Kids were helping, scared them too.
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Comment by Dave Z on May 3, 2010 at 9:50am
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Been there John. I feel your pain!
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Comment by Jesse Ronnow on May 2, 2010 at 8:27pm
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lol. Good times!
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Comment by Mike Baker on May 2, 2010 at 2:47pm
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Great story John,
You captured the emotions of breaking a chine perfectly. I have been fortunate in that I have only broken two in 14 boats, but the memory lingers.
Mike
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