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Visual History
The Building of Aslan
Updated 12/02/00
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A
Visual History
The Building of Aslan |
Updated 12/02/00 |
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Here, the boom and the gaff are glued up and clamped with hose clamps. I'm using the "Bird's Mouth" method, as featured in Wooden Boat Magazine, to make the mast, boom and gaff for Aslan. I have more information in the construction pictures about making the mast. |
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Rounding off the corners of the boom and gaff isn't hard; a power plane first takes off most of the material, and then a block plane pares the "Bird's Mouth" assembly down to "nearly" round (I say "nearly" because I'm lazy, and have decided that perfectly round spars are a sign of unhealthy obsessions.) |
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I cut the gaff jaws out of 2" thick hardwood using the band saw and table saw. Where the jaws attach to the end of the gaff, a cove has to be cut matching the round profile of the gaff. A table saw can cut coves easily. You set up a fence, in this case a board clamped to the saw's table, at the proper angle. I set the angle of the fence by first drawing the gaff's profile on the end of piece of scrap, and setting the fence on the table top. With the blade just showing a 1/4" or so, I lined up the scrap behind the blace and sighted along the board at table level. Adjusting the board angle allowed me to line up the drawn profile with the angle of the blade. After clamping it in place, I still had to run the scrap through it and adjust a couple of times. Once the fence is set, you start with the blade just barely above the table surface, run the piece along the fence, and then raise the blade a bit. |
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Here you can see the final cove cut on the gaff jaw on the right. It is slathered with an epoxy and pine wood flour mixture as a glue, and through bolted with stainless bolts. |
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This is how the assembly looks when done. This shot is actually
a trial fit before the epoxy and wood flour glue is put on it. It
shows the close fit of the cove cut on the table saw.
Still to come in this section: adding the throat halyard hardware to the gaff. |
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Added 12/2/00
The first digital photos from my cheapie digital camera. The gaff jaws were through-bolted to the gaff with stainless bolts along with the epoxy-wood flour mixture. |
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Here's a pic of Aslan with the lower portion of the mast in place, the portholes trimmed out, the combination hatch and companionway door assembly on top. Once I get Aslan outside, I'll include some higher resolution shots of her overall look. I'm satisfied that she is shaping up well. |
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