Back Home and Luthier Wood

Finally got back home and once the weather got nicer began to finish the new set of oars I started at Brad's shop.

Sewing on the leathers with sinew, curved needle, water and contact cement.

Adding the leather oar stops.  This was a pain as we weren't quite as well set up as Brad's shop, and the plastic strips I used weren't tough enough, requiring doubling up.  Came out ok in the end.

Boiling up some paraffin wax for the leathers.


Meanwhile, elsewhere some flamed maple has arrived for mandolin backs, and here are several pics of me resawing some Brazilian rosewood I've had since the early '80's for guitar backs and sides.

Grand Canyon Dories

Since Plan A was going to need some rethinking, I spent most of the morning going around to the various Grand Canyon outfitters who provide food etc. for trips down the canyon.  Not sure if that's what we'll end up doing, but I've been invited on a Grand trip Sept '18, so I thought I'd check out Moenkopi, Ceiba, and PRO.  Nice guys all.

Then I headed over to Grand Canyon Dories.  It was a wonderful stop, they let me poke around the boathouse, take some pics, and answered a ton of questions about building, repairs, packing, etc.

The fiberglass repair room.

The Marble Canyon is the new Martin Litton tribute, made I think at least partly of Core Cell, so somewhat related to Huerfano.

Here's a shot of the repair kit list on the inside of a rocket box lid.

You've probably read about this one. Cool to see.

Oar School

Just a little late getting this one on the blog.  Been busy getting Huerfano ready for the Deso trip this May, plus mandolin and guitar mold building, bamboo rod tapering, riding dirt bikes, work, life, etc....


Anyway, tail end of February I headed down to Flagstaff with two sets of perfectly good, new Smoker oars, ready to destroy.  Otherwise known as "bludgeons" by others.  The goal was to cut away what wasn't a good, shapely, functional oar, leaving the rest.

The truck was a little full, with a dirt bike, various bags and other gear, plus our mountain bikes, since we were meeting friends later in Phoenix.

Here we are at Brad Dimock's Boat shop and headquarters for Fretwater Press, in Flagstaff.  Introductory talk is getting us ready to either build some new oars or reshape some older bludgeons.  There was math involved, with geometric examples which left at least me wishing I'd gone with the second cup of coffee.  

But no worries, it all becomes crystal clear after doing it yourself and making numerous mistakes.  Here's Bill and Brad laying out a centerline on a new set.

And the dory crew, Brad, RJ, Andy and Coop discussing some finer details of bludgeon shaping.

Me trying, later unsuccessfully, to avoid screwing up a perfectly good set of new oars.

First set in progress, with the evil grinder.  These actually came out pretty good. 

Andy, Coop, and RJ in various phases of bludgeon remodeling.

Meanwhile, the inside crew, building new oars (and clearly much more advanced on the Darwin scale since it was bitter cold outside for the grinders), are trying to use every single clamp in Brad's shop.

Marieke planing the orange off a new set of ash and padauk oars.

I took a break to go upstairs and take a look at all of Brad's various boats in his loft.  This is his original Briggs.

After remodeling two sets of Smokers, and in the process making one blade just a wee bit too thin, I decided to use the rest of my class time to start a new set with ash and walnut.

 

Andy and Brad helping glue up my lams.  Highland clamps to the rescue again.

Meanwhile we started other side projects - fiberglass tips and leather oar wraps.

Greg and Brad wrapping the leather oar stop with epoxy.  

 Brad drilling the grip to add counterweight.

And Marieke bringing her padauk back to life with some LTV.  Looks great.

Then it was off to Phoenix for dirt bike riding and meeting up with Cheryl and friends.  But the next morning brought a small change in the plans:

Lottery Luck

We pulled a Deso May 28 permit so it's looking like there should be plenty of water with the 150%+ snowpack for a maiden dory trip.

Also incredibly won an early July Selway trip. Will definitely not be taking Huerfano on that one. No love as usual on the Yampa. Becoming a yearly ritual.

Off to Flagstaff next week for an oar class at Brad Dimock's shop. Will be taking one of the Smoker sets for a tune up.

Oar Power

It's amazing how many people, when they hear of my interest in building a dory, ask with their first question, "what type of motor will it have?"

The engines have arrived in the shop!  Via the Andy Hutchinson - Ned S. express from Dolores to Salida to COS.  Thanks guys!

Sawyer Smoker Drifters, w/o rope wrap or foam handle.

Starting to gather the leather, sinew, skills and knowledge, etc to wrap the oars.  Also thinking about painting designs.

Making the yearly batch of posole.  Mmmm, the house smells good.

And here's a pic of Kev and I flaming bamboo culms for the next set of bamboo fly rods.  Well actually Kev flaming and me offering support!  Pretty much similar to the time "we" installed the dory hand rails.

Happy Birthday

It was around this time last year that I laid some Core Cell form on the garage floor and, forgetting to use some wax paper underneath, proceeded to epoxy it to the concrete. It was the start of a long, frequently enjoyable, sometimes challenging, but alway fascinating project.

Things have been winding up here at the Marland Boat Shop.  I may actually get my parking spot back for my truck just before winter.  There are only a few things left to do - all on hold until my oars arrive - the final fitting of the foot rest and footbar, and shaping and gluing the seat.

And the leather wrapping of the oar shafts, plus the custom painting of the oars, to match the color scheme of course.

Today, Huerfano's birthday was celebrated with installation of her seat cushions - custom made to size and with room for the seat drainage holes by Jason at Wet Dreams Supply in Flagstaff.

Now it's time to start planning the permit selections and hope for some rivers to take her down next year.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.