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Armchair Boatbuilding!

Polly

By Polly
in Restoration Projects

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Timbo

Timbo

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I first came across Japanese traditional woodworking tools in American and Canadian woodworking videos on YouTube. Woodwork is something that, although I love it, I have a lot of difficulty with. Cutting things straight is the biggest problem. If you give me a perfectly true and square piece of timber and I simply carry it across the boatshed, when I arrive at my destination is will no longer be true...and possibly round. As I'm left-handed, and that no longer works properly, holding things like saws and chisels seem unnatural. 

Japanese saws or nokogiri were the first to capture my attention. I was making small wooden boxes to practice various joints particularly splined mitre joints. I bought a small Irwin flush cut saw to cut the splines flush with the sides of my boxes.
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I was amazed at how easy I found the saw to use 'cackhanded' and would use the saw for jobs that were way too big for it. In the end, I bought a larger Ryoba or double-edged saw, also by Irwin, with crosscut teeth on one side and rip cut teeth on the other. Just like western saws, Japanese saws are designed to be resharpened. However to sharpen a Japanese saw takes the skills of a real master in the craft. Consequently, Japanese saws have replaceable blades. This was a problem with the Irwin saws. The replacement blades cost more than a new saw and handle, and the button to replace the blade just happens to be in exactly the same place that your finger rests on the handle when you are cutting. Consequently, I would frequently find my arm would fly back holding the handle and the blade stuck in the lumber.

I decided to invest in a proper set of Japanese saws. Okay, they cost a lot more than the Irwin models from Screwfix, but the quality is far superior. I bought three saws, two kataba and one dozuki. The kataba is a general purpose saw with teeth along one edge. I have one for crosscutting and one for ripping. The dozuki is similar to the western tenon saw in that it has a thicker spine along its back to stop the blade from flexing.

I watched quite a few traditional Japanese woodworkers on video and was quite surprised to see a master Miyadaiku, a shrine or temple maker, cutting out intricate joints first with a motor chainsaw, refining it with circular saw, refining further with a plunge router before finally reaching for the traditional hand tools working his way down to a hand plane small enough to be held between thumb and forefinger.

As for me? Sensei Doug BlundrlNavy will say 'you not get anything anywhere near square you Ah so!' :default_norty:

 

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Polly

Polly

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I followed Timbo's YouTube links and have spent a few days on and off watching the series of boatbuilding videos from Jamestown.

Oh boy!  This is an exercise in how to make very skilled tasks look easy, which of course they aren't. I have really enjoyed watching Lou the boatbuilder as he steadily creates beautiful work. Thanks Tim for the steer, and no I don't plan to grow a moustache!

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Timbo

Timbo

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There's another series somewhere Polly that features an American Boat Builder. It's more of a What Not To Do series. I will try and hunt it out as the chap seems to have taken his video's down. This prime womble had stripped down a beautiful 1920's wooden cruiser and then instead of varnishing had used epoxy inside and out. The result? He had a perfect 3mm thick 'resin cast' of a 1920's wooden cruiser as the timber had turned to mush under the epoxy resin. A surveyor used a hammer on the guy's hull which shattered like brittle toffee!

As Lou says 'You don't use epoxy as varnish on wooden boats!'!

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