A Shipwright in Training

A light load at work has given me a little more time in the shop to work on the toolbox. The first coat of tung oil / varnish is now on, and it darkens things up nicely. One or two more coats, followed by a couple of topcoats of oil / poly blend for durability and we’re there.

Each corner has a maple dovetailed wedge set into it both for strength and as a nice accent.

You can see where the handles will eventually go on the sides of the case. I’ve added these blocks with the rounded tops to distribute the area that will be stressed by picking this thing up by the handles. It’s interesting how the flash brings out the differential absorbtion of the oil into the mahogany. It doesn’t look nearly so blotchy under normal light.

Here are the 2 interior boxes. You can see the lifting handles are set into the left hand box. You can sort of see the areas that have been cut out for these handles on the right hand box. I think these are totally cool looking. They are set flush with the top of the box and are quite sturdy.

More fun with hardware. The drawers have a little space recessed in them for the brass pull rings. These are just big enough to put a finger into to pull the drawer open. This is handy because the boxes will be fitting into the larger box with very little clearance. Having knobs that stick out would just waste space and invite dings.

Here’s a detail of the drawer and the sliding dovetailed divider between the 2 drawers. You can see that there is a small bead carved into the top of the drawer. I wanted to do something to make the drawers just a little less plain and boring, without really distracting from how much I like the grain of the wood.

Last bit about the interior boxes. You can see that the back panel is like the top of the larger toolbox: it’s bevelled and “floats” in a channel cut into the box. This allows for wood expansion and contraction and is one of those things that woodworkers often learn early in their career. A friend of mine’s brother made her a beautiful desk once that just split itself apart because he didn’t allow for wood movement… it was a shame to see.

Over the past month I’ve been slowly working on the tool box, so here’s how it’s shaping up. The large outer box is mahogany and the 2 smaller inner boxes are pine. The drawer fronts on the smaller boxes are an interesting wood that right now escapes me.

Here you can see the top has been finished with tung oil.  It’s a raised panel surrounded by a 3/4″ edge of curly maple and then mahogany.

The main box hasn’t yet been oiled up.  That’s a job for the next few days.  It’ll have a tung oil sealer and a poly / oil topcoat.

Here are the inner boxes. They haven’t been finished yet either and the little drawer pulls aren’t installed yet. I’m going to scratch a thin bead around the edge of each drawer.  I love the front wood, and it looks amazing once you oil it.  Always more to do…

I know all of you will rush over to your coffee table and pull out the May/June copy of Wooden Boat Magazine that you’ve been waiting until just the right time to read when I tell you that there’s a big old article about IYRS. The photos are a mix from the catalog and new for the article, and the article gives a good history of the place from the point of view of a builder who initially thought the place would never make it.  It’s a good read and I want to be there Right Now.
In other prep news…

the house is refinanced, the money I took out of the equity is socked away safely in short term cd’s earning 4.7% interest and there’s a few folks out in Newport who are keeping me in mind if they have a room opening up in the fall.

On the home front, my attention is going more towards the various projects that need to be done before I go. The garage will be scraped and painted in the next week and I’ve been replacing cracked siding over the past 2 days getting it ready for that. It really is in rough shape and all I’m doing right now is delaying the inevitable day when someone decides to put the poor thing out of its misery. It sure will look nice for a while though…

In this last month a whole pile of woodworking projects have popped up: a mailbox, shelving units, a desk, a bench… and I’m still working on my toolbox.

Oh yes, the toolbox, part 2. I decided to make a nice toolbox in the fashion of the old woodworking apprentices a while back. I thought it would be appropos to make it from white oak, a traditional boatbuilding wood. I didn’t really consider how HEAVY such a thing would be. Huf. Of course, the initial design had room for every tool in my shop just about… after making the basic box it was clear that this puppy was best suited for a stationary life. Perhaps it’ll be a blanket chest. At any rate, it was back to the drawing board, and after some thought, I substantially reduced the size and used mahogany instead. It’s coming along nicely and it’s much much lighter. With tools, it’ll still weigh in at around 100# I’m sure, but the old box was pushing 50# dead empty. Not really the kind of thing you want to be hauling out of your car regularly.

Film at 11.

Curious about what the IYRS shop actually looks like?  Here’s some photos that Jan took a while back, along with a little movie of the place.

Today I finish up with the house refinance to get out enough money to pay for this adventure.  Deep breaths, deep breaths.

The application for RI licensure is in the works.  Next step is to work out an arrangement with a clinic there to work a few hours / week.

I was up in Milwaukee last night to celebrate St.Pat’s day in a properly Irish fashion by going to a concert at the Irish Cultural Heritage Center and staying out late with friends drinking beer in a brew pub.

As long as I was up in Milwaukee, I stopped in to visit with Michael who owns Chelsea Boat Works. Wow, what a place. There’s no photos on the web site to give you a true feel of the place, and I think that’s probably a good idea. It’s a working shop, which means piles of parts all over the place. Michael does a mix of wood boats, engine work, fiberglass work, and just about anything else that seems like a good idea. We spent about 2 hours walking around, talking boats and the business of restoring them.

Here in the Midwest, the wooden boat market is primarily power boats. And Michael knows power boats. Holy cats, he’s got a bunch of really special boats that you won’t find anywhere else, because they just don’t exist anywhere else: the last of this particular model, the prototype of another model, boats that have been in museums.

To be a boat restorer, you have to have access to space, and it helps to be a fanatic about a type of boat. I don’t really fit either category. I’m a fanatic about beautiful boats, and mostly about sail. I think I need more time with boats to become a proper fanatic. As far as space goes… not yet.

There are other things that I learned from the time at Chelsea. It helps to have as many income streams as possible. Michael sells parts, paint, finishing supplies, does restorations & new builds, does fiberglass as well as wood, does engines, electrical and cooling systems… He’s selling boat parts that he scavenges from old hulks on Ebay. He networks like crazy and knows every builder and boat restorer around the state. He talks boats all the time and has been instrumental in promoting the restoration of wooden boats in the area. He goes to shows with his boats and keeps in touch with past customers. He’s honest and values the relationship with his customers above all. And with all that, it’s taken some time for him to make any real money at this business. And, he’s been having a blast for the past 7 years.

It’s a fair trade.