Spars and Related Bits

Work continues on the spars and related bits:

Boomkin: The boomkin has been cut to its rough shape. The band saw did a good job cutting the tapers - the minor irregularities of the cuts are due to operator error. The spar gauge was put to work lining off the boomkin for rounding or, more accurately, ovaling (pretty sure that's not a real word) since the boomkin has a rectangle cross-section.

Main Yard: Two 1x3s (19mm x 89mm) were ripped and planed to 19mm x 70mm. These will be glued together to form the blank for the main yard. The plans specify a 30mm x 65mm cross-section, tapered a bit on both ends, for the yard but I may not take the blank down to 30mm. I'm a bit concerned about the stiffness of this yard. My experiences with yards for the Goat Island Skiff have me thinking this yard will not be stiff enough. Since I am planning to experiment with birds-mouth spars, my first attempt will be an alternate yard. I'll have the as-drawn yard ready for varnish before I am able to experiment with a birds-mouth spar.

Main Boom: The 9mm plywood sides for the main boom have been butt joined using thickened epoxy. Once the epoxy cures, the sides will be glued to the frame.

Boomkin Mount: I fabricated the pieces for the mount this past winter but, because I damaged one piece, hadn't assembled it. Today I cut out a replacement piece, drilled an oversized hole for the mounting pin and filled the hole with thickened epoxy. Once that cures, I'll line up and drill out the proper sized hole for the pin and assemble the mount.

Main and Mizzen Mast Steps: This evening I am reviewing the drawings for the mast steps and checking my wood supplies for the hardwood needed to make the mast steps.