a new tool...

I know exactly how this guy feels, something worth a read/watch, and in the "Sounds like an apt punishment to me" department...

I just added a new battery powered shop-vac which looks to fulfill our current needs just fine. Even better, I can now get rid of the shop-vac that, even after five years, I've yet to find a place to stow it that makes sense. As a bonus I can lose the little 12-volt dust buster that just does not earn its keep.

Color me doing the happy dance.

Listening to a plethora of White Stripes coverage

So it goes...

Too many tools?

Needful reading, bulkhead head banging inducing, and in the "So many problems" department...

I've always been in the "You can't have too many tools or clamps!" camp. Having the right tool for a given job makes sense.

These days, I'm thinking that, since I don't do some jobs anymore, having the right tool where those tasks are concerned is now a surplus to requirements situation. I feel the need to do a need/want assessment on my tool inventory and purge what's not earning their keep.

In the meantime, I've got quite a few projects and another dinghy to build this month so I'll have plenty of opportunity to weigh whether some tools are just taking up space.

More on the purge once I get into it.

Listening to five versions of California Dreamin'

So it goes...

heresy continued...

A rather harsh reality, some depressing NASA data, and in the "Not your normal subway buskers" department...

Face it, when you think about it, just about all boat interior joinery is just building boxes.

Boxes are pretty simple to make and if you can't build a box, you're in some serious tyro territory.

Sure, you can make them a bit more complicated (dovetail joints, for instance) but with modern adhesives that's more of an aesthetic decision rather than a needful one.

Butt joints and modern adhesives work just fine. 

Back when I was doing interiors on the Bruce Bingham Flicka design, the interior assembly took three days. Add another couple of days to make the interior kit and we're talking a week of labor. 

I expect that if you hired a guy to do about the same amount of work in your kitchen at home, you'd think a week would be excessive. 

For home builders, as opposed to folks who cobble boats for a paycheck, the amount of time things take seems to adapt to the time available. While a production worker can build a nav table and surrounding shelves and suchlike in a day, the home builder can take months or even longer to build what is essentially just a few boxes. Add an inset compass rose to the table and it can take years.

Sure, there are any number of tricks one can use to make building boat interiors easier, as well as less expensive. In my case, I let Fred Bingham do most of my thinking for me. I've never come across a problem that "Practical Yacht Joinery" did not have an answer for.

But, I can hear you saying...

"Boats have curves and shapes that make it nearly impossible to make boat furniture!"

...and yes, dear reader, you'd be right that boats have shapes that confound even the most bespoke carpenter square. Luckily for us, there are inexpensive tools available that make even the most audacious compound curves fast and easy to deal with.

Having the right tools is a big help, but the real game changer is getting to know just how much labor goes into making that drawer or similar contrivance and adapting your work habits to exclude time spent on other stuff.

Listening to Ganstagrass

So it goes...

a cool tool worth watching...

It's World Water Day, some current Covid news, and an apt point...

Reading my new copy of Professional BoatBuilder I see there's a great review of a small portable CNC robot/machine that's pretty affordable as such things go (a kiss less than $4k).

It's really pretty cool.

The thing is, I've been thinking quite a lot about CNC use in boat building these days. It has a whole lot of advantages but I've yet to find it applicable to building dinghies or the sort of boat building that I do where it makes economic sense. That said, CNC would make a lot of sense for someone selling lots of kits or a production yard where they make a lot of boats.

It's really just all about scale.

l do have one issue where boat designs is concerned. I've noticed that some designers are moving towards designing for CNC. Recently I found an instance where someone selling a boat plan for CNC only which I find just a little bit worrisome.

As cool as CNC is, unless done on a large scale, it adds cost I'd rather not pay. Add in the fact that I've never found lofting and cutting out various boat parts difficult or problematic. Considering the speeds attained by most all of the CNC cutters for small shops that I've seen, a guy lofting and then cutting with a router or jig saw can kick some CNC ass in the speed department.

Not that I'm a Luddite or anything close but I worry that far too often we tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater when new tech gets brought into the mix. Then again, I'd be lying if I said I was not going to keep an eye on future developments of the Goliath system.

Listening to some covers of note

So it goes...

On the need/want front...

Just another blight on the water, a kid smarter than his parents, and in the "It's not over yet" department...

Yesterday, I saw that Northern Tool had an angle grinder to chop saw doohickey on sale and I found that it instilled a certain "this should be in my tool kit" lust.

After all, it only costs $29.95 and would come in all kinds of handy when cutting things like chainplate stock, metal tubing, and pipe. Granted, it would take up some room and I don't really do all that much cutting of metal these days but it would be a nice tool accessory for those times when needful.

Of course, putting the item through the Need/Want stress test I realize that it is something I don't really need. However, I did realize that if I were to build another boat it would come in very handy. As such, the decision to get one is currently on hold till I'm actually building another boat.

As it happens, later the same day I found myself using my favorite screwdriver replacing a machine screw on my dinghy while afloat. The machine screw in question was in the splash zone of the of the dinghy and half of the time my screwdriver was in the water. Off hand, I can't think of a better way to lose a screwdriver.

Realizing that the very last thing I wanted was to lose my favorite screwdriver, I decided that I really should have one or two extras just in case. After the machine screw was replaced without losing said screw driver, I did a quick Need/Want test on getting an extra or two and the extra screw drivers passed the test with flying colors as I really do need a couple of spares.

Listening to an excellent Coverville episode

So it goes...

a mobile boat building shop...

Something that may cause you to punch a bulkhead, a good point, and in the "I predict a looming teacher shortage soon come" department...

Professional BoatBuilder has an awesome article in the new Feb/March issue entitled Going Mobile which describes putting a commercial wood shop into an 8' x 13' trailer. 

Just think about that for a moment or two.

One idea I've had for quite a while was to build a modified Teardrop trailer into a mini-boat shop/in a box sort of thing. A small trailer not unlike the Carapate would be a great starting point.

Listening to a whole lot of Adam Schlesinger coverage

So it goes...

A best buy in rigging gear...

An article that I found a lot more interesting than I expected, somewhat troubling, and in the "I have a very bad feeling about this" department...

I was perusing Duckworks the other day and noticed they had a set of splicing fids for $3.25 and it got me thinking. Plastic fids make sense as they're smooth so won't snag on rope fibers and they do the job. Of course, fids are such a simple tool that you can make your own or adapt something that's laying around like a ball point pen or knitting needles. I can't actually recall how many splices I've done with ad hoc fids but I'm sure it's an impressive number.

While I take a certain amount of pride in being Mr Cheapseats, I will confess to owning some nice fids of the more than cheap variety. I have a set of Selma fids, a D-Splicer, a couple of open back fisherman's fids, as well a plethora of knitting needles, forceps, and other fiddish-shaped bits of plastic or metal that seem to have found their way into my rigging bag.

Still, to be completely honest, I'm pretty sure that the cheap plastic fid kit would do 99% of the splicing I do regularly. For those who only do a few splices a year they'd be more than up to the job. Better yet they even come with splicing directions.

I'll also add, that since it's that time of year, they'd make a great stocking stuffer.

Nuff said.

Listening to a pivotal Beach Boys album

So it goes...

A better way...

Something to do with manners, the sound of a far off place, and on the subject of working sail...

 

I've got some stuff to do today so I'll leave you with a great link to an awesome hack for sanding your boat from Wooden Boat magazine that will make a less than fun job a whole lot easier.

Listening to Yasmin Williams

So it goes...

some times a bit of brute force is no bad thing...

A very needful read, L,G, & M also getting it right, and in the "We need real action instead of thoughts/prayers" department

A couple of tools you won't find on most people's boats is a sledge hammer and a crowbar. Now, I'll be the first person to admit that a sledge hammer or a crow bar do not quite fit in the refined tool category but they do have their place.

For instance, I needed to make a small adjustment to the rig that would otherwise require taking the boat into the local boat yard to use their crane to lift the mast a couple of inches which would have also required the expenditure of too many hundred dollar bills for the lift.

Then again, the reason I needed to adjust the rig and mast step had a lot to do with the fact that the crane operator in question was the cause of the needed adjustment/fix to the rig as the initial mast stepping was something of a clusterfuck and I really did not want to repeat the experience.

Now, if I were someplace where they had bridges I'd just lift the mast and re-step it using a simple block and tackle but down here in paradise you don't see a lot of bridges...

So, what's a poor boy going to do?

Which is where a crow bar and a three-pound sledge hammer come into play. A half hour of elegantly applied brute force with the added assist of a bit of leverage from a small crow bar did the trick finest kind.

There are lots of ways and situations where a sledge or a crowbar might be just the right tool for a given problem.

Anyway, it's something to keep in mind...

Listening to Jason Isbell

So it goes...

What stuff costs ongoing....

Some depressing penguin news, a basketball player of note, and in the "Someone should have come up with this years ago" department...

So, the other day, I found myself at the local Ace hardware in search of four 8mm machine nylok nuts so I could reinstall a couple of cleats at the stern of "So It Goes". The good news is they had the nuts but the bad news was that they cost $1.19 a pop!

Seriously, is that batshit crazy or what?

Once back aboard I checked my normal supplier of fastenings to see that their price was $0.15 which a a heck of a difference. If I were to buy a sack of a hundred they'd cost $10.32 which brings the price down to just about $0.10.

Ten cents makes a heck-of-a-lot -of-sense over a buck nineteen!

Face it, boat projects always cost more than we want them to but buying stuff from folks who are gouging at the levels I keep running into is just stupid and it makes all kinds of sense to invest in a supply of the most used bolts, screws, and nuts as it will save you a lot of money and even more importantly it will also save you a lot of time.

By the way, Bolt Depot is really good at shipping quickly and affordably as the various bolts, nuts and other various fasteners I needed for my current self-steering build were shipped within an hour of placing the order and in our hands down here in the Caribbean within three days.

Listening to Los Lobos covering the Beach Boys

So it goes...

I need a couple of these...

A couple of very important points, teacher's declining salaries, and in the "Boaters best avoided" department...

While perusing the Greenlight Surfboard Supply website I stumbled upon a very cool tool that makes all kinds of sense for just about anyone doing fiberglass work.

Check it out.

While a very simple concept based on the single edge razor blade which has always been my go to tool for trimming glass and scraping small imperfections in tight corners Greenlight's Razor Scraping/Cutlap Tool is all kinds of better than just a razor blade. Certainly a must have for anyone building surfboards but it's also a real game changer for folks working on boats as well.

Just a thought but while you're checking out Greenlight's site you might want to take a look at their selection of shaping tools and sanding gear which tend to be a bit more evolved than a lot of the tools you tend to see in boatyards

Listening to The Iron Leg Radio Show

So it goes...

A sensible tool kit...

EBM calls out bullshit & assholes, some depressing news on the carbon footprint of cannabis, and something important in the "Half-assed measures get half-assed results" department...

Stumpy Nubs is a wood working channel I follow. Partly because he's entertaining but mainly because he always makes a lot of sense.

His $100 tool kits make loads of sense, Sadly, these days, we're so conditioned by consumerist propaganda to buy lots of stuff that we sometimes lose track of just how little you can get away with. As it happens I built a Wharram Tiki 31 with not much more than Stumpy's very basic tool kit as described except I built it without any power tools as my build location did not have any power available.

Just the other day someone was asking me what sort of table saw he should buy so he could build a nesting dinghy and was incredulous when I told him a simple jigsaw would suffice.

Listening to some songs with "Ship" in the title

So it goes...

A new addition to the cockpit?

Something you may want to read, an apt climbing story of sorts from Dick Dorworth, and EBM with an interesting link...

Stewmac has an interesting workbench I keep coming back to.

 

A big problem on any 40-foot or less sailboat is it's really difficult to have a real workshop or decent workbench where you can build hatches, various boat wood butchery projects or the odd twelve-string guitar. In my case the last couple of days I've been rebuilding some hatches which has me working, mostly on my knees doing the needful joinery and fiberglass work.

I'll go on record here and say that if you're six foot five working on your knees in the cockpit really sucks.

Which brings me to the Stewmac guitar workstation which has a form factor that would allow one to work standing up with the added advantage of being fairly easy to modify to allow it to be demountable and would not take up too much room in a cockpit locker when not in use.

Better yet, for those of us on a budget and adverse to Stewmac prices, it's not exactly a difficult chore to backwards engineer the concept and build an even better for your own needs version. Hell if I can build a guitar building a better work bench is child's play. 

Hell, with a better bench I could save time and with that extra time might actually be able to start building Cruisercasters because no one's building a do everything boat friendly electric guitar for boatfolk who can't quite get in sync with so-called travel guitars.

Listening to Los Lobos

So it goes...

On not being able to fix something...

A list of infamy, something on the subject of renewable energy, and a cartoon for those who've not been paying attention...

My Ryobi generator died this weekend due to a thrown rod.

A statement which, I suppose, will have folks sending emails telling me that if I had only bought the more expensive Honda I would not be facing the need to repair or replace the Ryobi because "you get what you pay for".

As it happens, the Ryobi generator ($500) has outlasted my last two Honda generators ($1000 each) combined at half /quarter the cost so, in my thinking, the Ryobi is a hell of a lot better than the Honda.

Of course, the problem with both the Ryobi and Honda generators is that they are simply not designed to be repaired and the cost of most major DIY repairs will cost more in time and parts than the price of replacing the generator with a new one. I won't go in to just how stupid and wasteful that sort of consumerist BS actually is but you might want to think about it.

Worse is the fact that getting the information you actually need to repair either a Honda, Ryobi, or whatever generator you might have is ultra-problematic because most companies don't want you to be able to repair their goods and seem to be dead set against selling you the needful replacement part required... Seriously, you'd think I was asking for defense secrets rather than trying to just find out what model engine my generator uses and where/how to buy parts for it.

On "So It Goes" I've made a real effort to keep stuff off the boat that cannot be user maintained and repaired or, at least, only require some common expertise such as machining or access to readily available parts or components.

Which leads us to the question about what generator I'll be replacing the Ryobi with. My first consideration is does the generator have a real shop manual. Secondly, is there solid information on the various components and are said components actually available or are they only available to affiliate repair centers?

The late Larry Pardey once said something along the lines that "If you can't fix it, it doesn't belong on your boat!" and that advice makes a whole lot of sense.

Rant over.

Listening to the Waterboys

So it goes...

A quick thought about small projects and fixing tools...

A very scary number, a bit of literary trivia, and in the "Bad decisions have bad outcomes" department...

Yesterday I had something that needed fixing and, as I had the perfect tool for the job, I expected it to be a very quick fix.

Have you ever noticed that there is no such thing as a quick fix where boats are concerned? Especially when you've said the words...

"It'll be a quick fix!"

When I got the tool out I proceeded to put a new sanding belt on and noticed that there was not enough tension to keep the belt on. "Not a problem" I said to myself all I have to do is to take the tool apart free up the mechanism put it back together and then I can get to do the quick fix.

Of course, while taking it apart it was easy to see what the problem was and all I needed to do was to free up the spring shoot in some WD-40 and I'd be back in business.

Now springs are wonderful things but it's always a good thing to remember that they can store a shitload of energy when compressed. I even said to myself "be careful with this little sucker because it'll want to go walkies" and so took steps to keep an eye on preventing just such an occurrence.

I should have been a bit more careful but who'd have known that the little spring in question would have enough energy to shoot straight up into the stratosphere not unlike a SpaceX rocket on steroids.

The quick fix has not been accomplished and today, no doubt, will be spent trying to source part #6307-043 or reasonable facsimile.

On the positive side I am very impressed with the Wen manual and exploded diagram that they have for the sander and wish I had the same sort of documentation for all of my tools.

Lastly, I'll hazard a guess that the errant spring will re-enter the the atmosphere some time after the not-so-quick-fix is finished.

Listening to boygenius

So it goes...

A very fun sailboat design...

Regarding that Greenland/Puerto Rico thing, a passing of note, and, apparently, it's a great time to be a criminal...

I just got a note telling me that Chesapeake Light Craft has added some plans to their downloadable section. That's good news in a pandemic.

Better yet, one of the designs is the Bolgeresque Nesting Expedition Dinghy which I've had my eyes on for some years now. It's a design I'd truly like to mess around with. More to check out on the design here and here.

Seriously how can I not like a micro-mini take on Phil Bolger's Jessie Cooper design?

As it happens, while checking out the Nesting Expedition Dinghy I came across a tool of interest that calls out to be added to the tool bag aboard So It Goes. I mean, everybody could use another saw...

Right?

Listening to Eamon Fogarty

So it goes...

Adventures in shopping...

L, G,&M on life in a failed state, and the asshole of the day award goes to this jerk...

Every once in a while I find myself in absolute awe at the balls marine retailers must have to sell stuff with a near-criminal mark-up.

For instance; I have two indestructible canvas rigging bags that are excellent quality, have given me years of use, and are still going strong As it happens, the WoodenBoat store seems to have the exact same bag for sale at $21.95 which a tad more than the $9.99 Harbor Freight (who I bought mine from) sells it.

So here's the WoodenBoat bag...

...and here's the Harbor Freight bag.

A tool that belongs in just about anyone's rigging bag and lives in mine is a "Speedy Stitcher" awl.

West Marine sells its Speedy Stitcher for $29.99 while Harbor Freight sells their identical "Quick Stitch" for $6.49.

As it happens, while I was on the WEST Marine site, I checked up on their lure prices of the Cedar plug sort. West sells its rigged 6" plug for $18.59. Looking around for pricing on the Sea Striker plugs I found the street price to be somewhere between $10-$13 dollars

Sea Striker plug from West Marine

That said, Tail Chaser Lures (my go-to place for Cedar plugs) sells their rigged painted six-inch plug for $7.95.

Tail Chaser Cedar Plug

I'm pretty sure you can do the math but I'll point out a few dollars here and there really do add up where budgets are concerned.

Listening to Noel Redding & Friends

So it goes...

Something worth watching regarding tools...

Someone who still has doubts about penis size, regarding the continuing war against liveaboards in Florida, and in the "Wrong on so many levels" department...



Listening to some Falcon Ridge Folk Fest 2017 covers

So it goes

This makes some sense...

On the subject of endangered species, a bit of interesting reading, and an HST observation of note...

Bucket Head.

For $25 it's something of a no brainer for a boat friendly shop vac.

Listening to some songs of murder

So it goes...

Not just a box of tools...

A really bad idea, some nervous making news regarding National Parks, and a bit of good news from California...

Some time ago I wrote about the Power8 compact tool kit as a possible solution for a minimal onboard power tool/workshop solution. A multi-tool compromise sort of thing because it's just plain problematic to cart around all the tools we'd like on a boat. While not anywhere near perfect it would sorta/kinda do the job.

Apparently they've improved and upgraded the concept and the new DOER is the result.



ToolGuyd (my favorite tool review source) talks about it and if the concept works for you there is a lot more information on DOER's Kickstarter page.

Of course, just a thought, but you might also consider reverse engineering the idea and doing something similar with the tools you already have.

Just saying.

Listening to Rodrigo Y Gabriela

So it goes...