On Week Four we shaped and fitted the inner stems and hog. This week we repeated the process on the outer stems and outer keel. The bevels on the stems and keel were planed on the bench with the hand power plane. The garboard planks were also planed level to create a 2″ wide surface where the keel attaches.
Planing the garboards where the keel attaches
The sides of the keel were shaped on the bench using a hand power plane
Checking the fit of the forward stem
The stem is trimmed flush where the keel will be attached
We got a start on making the oars this week. Laminations of spruce were glued up to form the 2-1/2″ square loom (shaft) with additional white oak pieces glued to the sides at the blade end. Sourcing lumber for the oars has been very difficult. Our first choice was sitka spruce but availability and cost forced us to look at alternatives. We ended up picking through the construction grade spruce at a local building supply for the straightest and knot-free boards we could find. It will be interesting to see how our first oar turns out.
Sanding the hull using a random orbital sander attached to a shop vac
Ayle of Quinte 