[bolger] Almost cutting bulkheads
Many thanks to all for the good advice about cutting bulkheads and
working with routers and sabre saws. Hadn't thought of using tape or
coating with expoxy first to minimize splintering. I am using a fine
tooth Makita balde in the sabre saw that cuts very nicely and doesn't
chew up the wood.
What follows is I think a pretty typical day for the occassional boat
builder of modest skills.
On the way back from an out of town business trip stopped in at a
woodworkers warehouse and bought a thin straight cutting bit and asked
the salesman how to make a router compass. These stores are great
around here and very patient with weekend carpenters like me. Fellow
showed me how to take the base off the router and construct a compass
and afix it to the router. Finished out my day and went downstairs
after supper and cut out a 12" piece of luan. Traced the router base on
it and drilled the appropriate holes. Got the whole rig assembled and
tried it out on some scrap. Had an exciting moment when I tried
pretending that the non plunging router was a plunging router. The
router uncsrewed itself to its full depth. Shut it down in time. The
next time I left the bit just barely exposed and held the luan up and
let the whole rig down gently. Would have been much better if I had
drilled a starter hole but it worked fine. Got a nice circle. Let the
bit out more and cut the circle out with almost no chatter and no more
splintering than from any other cut we have made. A few swipes with
sandpaper and it was perfect. Thought about cutting out the holes on
the bulkheads but decided to call it a night and wait until I was fresh
to try something relatively finicky. Sat down and read the list and
picked up a number of pointers that would have made for a far less
exciting and entertaining evening. Best of all I read GHC's reminder
that I might not want to cut the holes that big anyhow but wait and lay
out deck plates. Took a look at the plans. This takes care of two of
three circles that need to be cut. Had a lot of fun, was completely
diverted from stress provoking thoughts for a while, made a really
handy gadget, learned a great deal about boat carpentry in general and
what upsets routers in particular and made no discernable progress on
the boat. The boat is actually closer to being built. You just can't
see it. Pretty typical day.
Leander
working with routers and sabre saws. Hadn't thought of using tape or
coating with expoxy first to minimize splintering. I am using a fine
tooth Makita balde in the sabre saw that cuts very nicely and doesn't
chew up the wood.
What follows is I think a pretty typical day for the occassional boat
builder of modest skills.
On the way back from an out of town business trip stopped in at a
woodworkers warehouse and bought a thin straight cutting bit and asked
the salesman how to make a router compass. These stores are great
around here and very patient with weekend carpenters like me. Fellow
showed me how to take the base off the router and construct a compass
and afix it to the router. Finished out my day and went downstairs
after supper and cut out a 12" piece of luan. Traced the router base on
it and drilled the appropriate holes. Got the whole rig assembled and
tried it out on some scrap. Had an exciting moment when I tried
pretending that the non plunging router was a plunging router. The
router uncsrewed itself to its full depth. Shut it down in time. The
next time I left the bit just barely exposed and held the luan up and
let the whole rig down gently. Would have been much better if I had
drilled a starter hole but it worked fine. Got a nice circle. Let the
bit out more and cut the circle out with almost no chatter and no more
splintering than from any other cut we have made. A few swipes with
sandpaper and it was perfect. Thought about cutting out the holes on
the bulkheads but decided to call it a night and wait until I was fresh
to try something relatively finicky. Sat down and read the list and
picked up a number of pointers that would have made for a far less
exciting and entertaining evening. Best of all I read GHC's reminder
that I might not want to cut the holes that big anyhow but wait and lay
out deck plates. Took a look at the plans. This takes care of two of
three circles that need to be cut. Had a lot of fun, was completely
diverted from stress provoking thoughts for a while, made a really
handy gadget, learned a great deal about boat carpentry in general and
what upsets routers in particular and made no discernable progress on
the boat. The boat is actually closer to being built. You just can't
see it. Pretty typical day.
Leander