A place to share YOUR boat building story

"Boats to Build" Performed by Gove Scrivenor

• Good Times in 2008 by Rich Coey
  
  
• Glen-L Boatbuilder of the Month
  
  
• 100 Skills Every Man Should Know
  
  
• Designer's Notebook: Yankees and Epoxy
  
  
• Thanks for the Plans by ArtDeco
  
  
• Photos sent in since the last WebLetter...
  
  
• Shop Talk: 7 Tips for Clean Plywood Cuts
  
  
• Recent email
  
  
• When Pumpkins Drink...
  
  

Until next month . . .      
Editor      

Good Times in 2008

by Rich Coey

It's the end of summer here in California and we just finished the last official cruise of the season. This has been the first full summer since 'Reminiscent', our Glen-L Monaco was launched. The season started out on May 4th at the West Coast Rendezvous, where we had a great time meeting everyone and seeing all the other Glen-L projects. Next was the Antique and Classic Boat Society Show and Cruise at Bass Lake, California. This was a combination event with the Northern and Southern California Chapters. There we met Esley Cowman and his wife with their Monaco named 'Acajou'. Next was Clearlake which was a show, then a lunch cruise to a private island with all the boats.

July held the ACBS South Lake Tahoe Show with many amazing classic boats. The day after the show was a cruise to Emerald Bay for a picnic. The last event of the year was a Cruise on the California Delta. It was a three day event with a BBQ, a cruise to a private club on an island for lunch, and a catered dinner with impromptu excursions throughout the weekend.

We meet new people everywhere we go. The boat seems to attract a lot of attention. You would be surprised how many people either have or have had Glen-L boats. We met one man (I don't remember his name) at a marina on the Delta, who had a Missile that he had redone. His father had built and launched it at the same marina in the 60's.

Building our boat was a lot of fun and I plan on doing another, but have to say using it has been the most fun. Even though Tahoe is beautiful, our favorite place to go is the California Delta. With 1,000 miles of waterways, from half-sunken houseboats with people living on them to duck blinds to mega-yachts, there is something new around every corner. In between the sponsored events we take day trips for brunch at Pirate's Lair, or lunch at Giusti's, who claim to be the first restaurant on the Delta and almost 100 years old. If you could see this place you would believe it.

Other times we have gone on cruises with our friends Jerry and Kate who we met at a Lake Tahoe event. Their boat, Razzmatazz, a 1941 Chris Craft barrellback is a Concourse d'Elegance winner, but these days, like us, they prefer to be out on the water instead of tied up at a show. In August, Jerry organized a 100 mile cruise on the Delta. What a fun day!

We are looking forward to next year and hopefully another Glen-L Rendezvous to start it all off.

-- Rich and Sherri Coey

Glen-L Boatbuilder of the Month

Stephen Yokubaitis - Glen-L Riviera

Steve Yokubaitis has a "Mistress" - the beautiful Glen-L Riviera pictured below! Born in Omaha, Nebraska on October 19, 1952, he is the youngest of 3 children born to parents Elsie and Vincent.

Steve is a petroleum exploration geologist since 1978. He lived for 20 years in Denver, and the last 10 years in Amarillo, Texas. Currently working for Rio Petroleum, Steve is married to Ruth (20 years).

The following is Steve's boatbuilding experience, in his own words . . .

"The Riviera is the first boat that I have built. She is named 'Mistress'. I enjoyed all of the hours that I spent working on her and it was also a great learning experience. Building any wooden boat entails lots of work with various hand tools and involves lines and surfaces with continuously changing curves. The Riviera is certainly about curves. Therefore, building a boat like the Riviera can be as much an artistic process as it is a mechanical process and I especially enjoyed that mix. My wife says that being a boat builder requires you to be six different people; woodworker, architect, mechanic, artist, inventor and dreamer. She may be right.

I enjoy working with wood and certain types of wood are enjoyable for specific reasons; with pine it is the smell, with walnut, the smooth texture and beautiful grain and color, and with Honduras Mahogany it is the choice of widely varied grain to pick and choose from to achieve a certain look. Cutting all of the veneer myself allowed me to hold back certain pieces for use in particular places. This was especially true on the deck. I 'book matched' the deck down the centerline and used flat grain mahogany stained a brown tone for the finishing boards with ribbon grain mahogany for the rest of the deck stained a traditional red tone. On the foredeck I used mahogany with a curved crotch grain. It was a lot of fun composing and constructing the deck veneer.

I'm sure that I will always be building something with wood and may someday build another boat. I envision that it might be a 14' flat bottom rowing skiff. I have always enjoyed rowing ever since I got my rowing merit badge in Boy Scouts. I would like to dream that my next boat would be the 44' Marauder but there are a lot of reasons why it won't be; not the least of which being the length of time that it would take me to build it by myself, and where I live relative to an ocean to float it. Oh, well.

I am certainly grateful to my wife for all of her help, especially those many hours spent spreading epoxy. I too, am thankful for the lessons that my dad taught me about working with wood and the joy of being on the water in a boat."

Editor's Note: See the story about Steve and his "Mistress" in
the Amarillo Globe News and more pictures in Customer Photos.

100 Skills Every Man Should Know:

2008's Ultimate DIY List

Brains and charm are fine, but a real guy needs to know how to do real stuff. If you ask me, the #1 Skill Every Man Should Know is How to Build a Boat - after all, the world over suffers from floods, tornados, tsunamis, etc. - and a boat supplies shelter, transportation, a means of catching food ('gators, crocs, fish), quality family time, and most of all, fun!

Popular Mechanics magazine's expert editors, after months of debate, compiled the following lineup of essential skills, broken down in 10 categories for the competent man - plus 20 tools you need to own.

Read, enjoy, then build a boat!

Continue

Designer's Notebook: The Previously Ubiquitous "Yankee" Screwdriver The "Yankee" screwdriver revolutionized driving screws long before the electric drill/screwdriver became commonplace. The source of the name "Yankee" screwdriver is not known; it could be the trade name of the original, but we like to think of it as an offspring of "Yankee" ingenuity. The younger set probably doesn't know of this clever tool. Essentially it is a screwdriver actuated by pushing the handle down. A spiral threadlike mechanism causes the lower section (screwdriver) to rotate. The device is spring-loaded and the handle returns upward to its original position when the downward pressure is released while the screwdriver portion does not rotate. By pushing the handle down several times the screwdriver drives a screw rather rapidly in comparison to a hand driver. The screwdriver bit could also be reversed to remove a screw, plus the bits could be changed and the "Yankee" substituted as a drill for limited use. One big problem is that the driver can slip from the screw slot when the handle is pushed down hard (required if driving a long or difficult to turn screw). Since the down pressure is considerable, the driver slipping can create quite a gouge in the adjacent wood. It is soon learned that keeping the centerline of the driver in line with that of the screw is imperative. Not easy, but patching the gouged wood is not fun and in the case of a mahogany surface could cause many "expletives deleted". One of our tool catalogs did list the "Yankee" screwdriver as still available, but most did not. It is a handy tool for driving screws without electric power, plug-in or battery. We have several sizes in our portable "quick grab" toolbox . . . perhaps because of nostalgia, or maybe just because they are quick and easy to use? Clamping Epoxy Glued Junctions Most who work in wood have been taught, or soon learn, that glued joints must be firmly clamped together. Crank the clamping handle as tight as you can and let the glue ooze out. Unlike most adhesives, however, epoxies require only moderated clamping pressure. The adhesive should not be squeezed from the joint. The strength of the junction is based on a thin coating of epoxy remaining between the mating surfaces being bonded. If the junction is clamped excessively tight and most of the epoxy is forced out, the joint will probably fail. A starved epoxy glued junction that has failed will have a sugary or grainy appearance. A properly glued junction will pull the wood apart before failure and have a film of epoxy between the mating surfaces. It's probably worthwhile to make a couple of test samples of epoxy glued joints before you start building your boat. Use different clamping pressures and get the feel of how much is best for the epoxy you are using. Incidentally, Jim Betts, in the short-lived IABB booklet described a new "miracle" adhesive. Most older adhesives were made of horses' hooves. This new horse-based adhesive guarantees that you cannot get the parts apart after you use it - it comes with a real live horse that kicks you in the ass if you try to separate the parts!

Product Review

by Andy of Andy's EZWoodshop

Irwin® Quick-Grip® 6'' Bar Clamp

Irwin 12" Quick-Grip Bar Clamp/Spreader

Irwin 18" Quick-Grip Bar Clamp/Spreader

Irwin 24" Quick-Grip Bar Clamp/Spreader

Irwin 36" Quick-Grip Bar Clamp/Spreader

Irwin 50" Quick-Grip Bar Clamp/Spreader

Note: Many thanks to Andy for allowing us to reprint this excellent article.
See more of his articles at Andy's EZWoodshop.

"Heaven on Earth is a choice (or a boat?) you must make, not a place you must find." -- Anonymous

Shop Talk: 7 Tips for Clean Plywood Cuts

1. Scoring. The key to preventing splinters from appearing along the edge when you crosscut plywood is to pay special attention to the thin veneer layer. One of the easiest ways to do this is to score or cut through the wood fibers of the veneer before making the cut. A sharp knife or a rotary fabric cutter, like you see in the photo at right works great for this. You’ll find this method is fast and effective. But you’ll need to take some time to align the saw blade accurately with the score line. That way, you’ll cut through the fibers you already scored.

2. Saw Blade Scoring. Another method to prevent splintering is to use your saw blade to score the veneer of the plywood. With this method, you’ll need to make two passes, as shown at left. On the first pass, set the blade at a height that will just cut through the lower veneer layer. Next, you can raise the blade and complete the cut with a second pass. You can use an auxiliary fence on your miter gauge to help keep the workpiece aligned with the blade. And if multiple pieces are being cut, adding a stop block helps to ensure the pieces are the same.

3. Adjust Blade Height. The height of the blade as it cuts through the plywood can be a cause of splintering. If the blade is set too high, the teeth cut almost perpendicular to the veneer. This makes a clean cut on top but it causes chipout at the bottom. You can correct this problem by simply adjusting the blade height so that it’s only 1/8" above the plywood. The change in cutting angle reduces chipout.

4. Tape. Another way to prevent splintering is to support the veneer layer as the blade makes the cut. One of the easiest ways to do this is to apply a strip of masking tape directly over the layout line (see photo at left). This gives the face veneer enough support to keep it from being torn away by the saw blade. After making the cut, slowly remove the tape by pulling it toward the edge of the cut.

5. Zero-Clearance Inserts. A good way to get a clean cut is to have no opening between the blade and the table saw insert. Then as the blade cuts through the workpiece, the insert is there to back up the bottom veneer of the plywood. This ensures you’ll make a clean cut each and every time. A quick, zero-clearance insert can be made by using carpet tape to attach a piece of hardboard to your table saw. Then raise the blade through the top.

6. Backer Board. A quick method of supporting the veneer layer is to place a piece of hardboard directly below the workpiece as you make your cut. The hardboard supports the bottom veneer layer so it can be cut cleanly without splintering. Again, it's helpful to add an auxilary fence to the miter gauge, like you see in the illustration below. This helps keep the workpiece aligned with the blade and holds the backer board firmly in position as the cut is made.

7. Circular Saw. Cutting plywood with your circular saw presents a different problem. Here, the splintering occurs on the top side. If you need a clean cut on both sides, start by placing the good side down. Then, make an auxiliary hardboard plate, like you see in the illustration at right, and attach it to the baseplate of the saw. The plate acts as a zero-clearance slot for the blade as it cuts the plywood.

Recent email:

Subject: Glen-L WebLetter
Date: 8 October 2008

Subject: WebLetter
Date: 7 October 2008

Subject: Barrelback 20'
Date: 7 October 2008

Subject: Squirt
Date: 7 October 2008

Editor's Note:
See pictures of Paul's Squirt in our Customer Photos area.

Subject: "End of Summer" WebLetter
Date: 13 October 2008

Subject: Project Snorkfröken
Date: 7 October 2008

Subject: Glen-L WebLetter
Date: 8 October 2008

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