End gaps

So how do you fill in those end gaps anyway?
If your first strips follow the curve of the bow and stern you get a cool smooth transition on each end. However as you progress along with each additional strip you end up with a funky weird curve that the strips have a hard time holding. So I like to put on two strips following the curve and then the third strip goes parallel

with the waterline to relieve the stress. This leaves an odd triangle that needs to be filled in. Fortunately with enough fiddling around you can fill in this area with hand shaped strips to fit....

Uke Stand

Messing around with a beat up piece of walnut and the top of an old fence post. Stick in a tool holder and you end up with a pretty nice ukulele stand.

Interior stems

So I get the question a lot, "How do you bend the boards around the sharp corners?" Do I use steam or soak the boards in water or a half a dozen guesses. The reality is quite simple, I use clear oak for the interior stems and do this in three pieces. I rip strips just shy of a quarter inch, apply a liberal amount of glue, and bend them around the end forms and clamp, clamp, clamp. Oak is a nice hardwood but it is also flexible when cut into thin strips. Seldom will it crack or splinter while bending as long as you go slow and steady. These stems give a good surface to glue the body strips to as we start to come up the sides.

Super Awesome Electric Ukulele

Just because some days i have the attention span of a squirrel....
I give you my interpretation of a super awesome electric ukulele... made from a solid piece of walnut about an inch thick. Friction tuners, a handle from a tattoo gun and a passive pickup and a spare piece of aluminum and some fret wire make up the hardware. Finished with a rubbed on tong oil finish, strung up and ready to play!

Fiberglass wet out

Got the fiberglass on the Queen wetted out last night... progress one day at a time..

Queen Charlotte Progress

Finally got the shop cleaned up and the kayak prepped for fiberglass. The white shroud looks pretty cool but the epoxy will look even cooler...

 

The whole canoe

Check out this panoramic of  the canoe mold on the strong back. Keep in mind this is 17 feet long.

Special thanks to the B-man for taking the photo.

The whole thing.