Get the Lead In

Finished the lead pour.  It took all day- mostly waiting for the lead to melt.





I was a bit concerned that I had enough lead.  I had 3 buckets of tire weights but I wasn't sure if they were all lead.  As it urns out about 80% were lead and the rest mystery metal.  But the melting went well.  It was easy to scoop out the chaff so that just the shiny, molten lead went into the keel. There is enough left over for the centerboard as well.  Who knows, maybe I'll make an anchor next-not!

I took all of the precautions including a face mask, good gloves and a leather apron.  In the end all was safe but I didn't want risk this pretty face.

Here is the forward compartment filled.  That was easier.  The aft compartment was a bit tricky establishing level since the back tapers.  I did several pours and this seemed to work better since I readjusted the keel each pour to make the surface of the lead "level".

The keel is now complete.  It will need a little clean up to allow the caps and the keelson to seat nicely. I placed it on a furniture dolly for now- it's not as light as it was this morning.

Next stop is the centerboard!

Keel is Complete.

I finished the keel this week.  I hope the aft section is centered well enough. 

I plan to pour lead tomorrow.  Finding adequate lead became a challenge.  It turns out that the state of California outlawed lead in January, 2010.  So all lead now must be accounted for and tire shops aren't so willing to give it away since they might have to explain it to the authorities.  I had a heck of a time going to all of these old used tire shops down south of me towards Mexico scrounging a few pounds here and there.  I believe I have enough but I'll find out tomorrow.

It Doesn't Look Like a Boat Yet

The noseblock was fun.  It's been years since I've used a plane but it came out pretty well.  I threw the woodshavings on there for artistic effect. How quaint.

 I don't own a bandsaw so I had to find a cabinetmaker who helped me out.  This curved cut was a bit more challenging than I expected but the belt sander helped the curve.

The keel was a bit of a challenge.  What's in this picture is still drying as I type so I can't yet tell you if it fell apart later or it it's warped.  (See the pocketship blog entrys from this week).

 The epoxy container is sitting on the mid block over the butt joint between the fore and aft keel sides. 

Too Late To Turn Back

Got the blocking on the trunk.  I found these spring clamps at Home Depot for 99 cents apiece.  The color was not optional.  The advice about "never enough clamps" is true.

 One half of the centerboard trunk completed

 Finished the sandwich.  A little sanding around the edges and it came out nicely.  So far so good!

Pocketship Full of Sand

It took me a while to build up the courage to tackle this project.  My wife and I are recent empty nesters and while I own my own business and still work more than full time I thought it would be a good project for my weekends.

I fancy myself as an amateur woodworker (some people build fine furniture, I build sorta fine furniture) but I have no boatbuilding experience.  Plus living in the desert of California, near Palm Springs, there are not too many resources or bodies of water to indulge my fantasy.  So, with encouragement from Dave Curtis (not from him but from his excellent blog) and from the patience of the guys at C.L.C. answering my many stupid questions, I decided to take the plunge (not literally).

The plans arrived- I chose to not do the kit- and the clock started ticking.

The pool table is finally getting some use

Awl ready to begin

This is actually the second post but because I'm a tech dork it is now in first position and I don't know how to change it.

Cleaned the garage.  My wife's car got to live here for a week or two until the plywood arrived.

Then I began the actual work.  This was my first experience with fiberglass and epoxy and it came out acceptable for a novice.  The fingerprints are not visible in this picture.

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