Excuses excuses...

Especially for Anita Locke here is an update on the blog.

Although in my last post I had ordered the wood for the boat this unfortunately did not go according to plan. 

I ordered quarter sawn larch with no knots and what I got was not quarter sawn douglas fir with lots of knots... you can see the problem straight away there folks.

Anyway it took me a bit of time to locate someone else who can do the job. I believe I found the man for the job and he goes by the name of Timmy the Larch (not his real name) and lives in Wexford. He is also apparently quite an inventive person and designed some sort of silage bale wrapping machine, the significance of this factoid is that it means he has been very busy doing silage for the Summer.

So he rang me about 2 weeks ago or so to say the wood was ready and it was them the gearbox decided to break in my van so all of these things have colluded together to delay me collecting the wood. 

the good news is though that I tihnk this is the week I can collect the wood and hopefully by next week we will be back on track to build the currach so stay tuned and don't switch to some other currach channel....

Thanks to Anita for rising me from my slumber ..I do forget that people do look at this blog...

Gunnel Bend Construction

Having ordered the wood for the boat, (clear Larch) tis time to start thinking about the bending form. The wood is going to be green this time so I anticipate it will be easier to bend but I'm still going to build  a tolerance in for springback. For those who don't know, this is the amount that the wood will spring back after you release it from the clamps after having steam bent it. I'm going to allow roughly 25% springback going by the last time we did it and if I get it wrong then we can still make it work, easier to work back from too much bend then to try bending again when it's out.
These are the dimensions that I will be working to, and I will start building this form today or tomorrow more than likely.

Interlude before the main event

Just a brief update.
I ordered the wood for the gunnels from the sawmill today so will hopefully hear something on that next week. In the meantime I had another leak from the same spot on the copper cylinder but I have patched it again and ran another test and got to 97degrees celcius with no leaks at all so we're ready to go on that front.
While I am waiting for the wood to be milled I will start building the form that it will bent around, going to do a more thorough job this time as I have a feeling I will be using these forms more than once. Started drawing a dimensioned plan view of it in SketchUp tonight and will finish it on Monday more than likely. I will put up a picture of this to give you an idea of the shape I will be aiming for even though the finished product may not turn out to be those exact dimensions.
Expect another post after the weekend...

Steambox, second trial

Ok so the first trial had some issues, it was leaking like a sieve (though in fairness I expected that) the tank holding the water was leaking and so was the box itself. So on the tank I did some patching with silicone and hopefully that will hold up to the heat from underneath and then at the back of the box where I expected it to leak I just sealed it on with some silicone last night.
I actually tried to go get wood today to be ready for bending the sides but the sawmill wasn't open cos it's Saturday so that will have to wait til during the week, some day when I get off early from work and can make it out there or else I'll get one of the lads to pick it up for me.


Now I am basically ready to start the building proper, next on the list is the form that the gunwales will bend around and I will have to make some kind of boom/holder for the camera so I can video things properly. As I am building the forms I will discuss the sizes and the way to lay it out

Steambox setup

Well I promised more frequent updates and I fully intend delivering. Every bit of the build is going to be discussed this time and there will be a lot more videos of the process as it really is the only way to accurately describe the process. I actually did another wee video of the steambox coming up to temperature but forgot to turn the phone the right way so I'll just redo that at the weekend. Issues that cropped up during this test... the box is not sealed well enough, this is reasonably easy fix as I kinda knew it would need soem sealing at the back part of the box as I only pushed it in and didn't do any kind of airtight seal. I will pick up something in the builders providers tomorrow and seal it up tomorrow evening ready for a proper test on Sat. There was a decent old leak in the cylinder where the coil comes in, I suspected there would be one because there had to some reason the cylinder was thrown in the shed so I just put somesilicone type stuff on there and hopefully that will work. There won't be any pressure on the cylinder so hopefully the silicone can stand up to the heat and that will be that problem fixed. Other than that there were really no negatives at all, the insulation did the job really really well, once the cylinder started boiling the temp climbed very very fast, somewhere close to a degree every two seconds I think but will get all nerdy about that on Sat and get some more accurate figures. Tonight the temp got to 97.4C but wouldn't go any higher because of the amount of steam escaping, we'll see if we can to the magical 99.9 at the weekend, the temp where wood gets very malleable indeed...

....and we're back...

Well finally I'm back to building this currach again. Been working lots and getting things a bit more ship shape in The Barley Loft ,as the workshop is known.
So the basic overview of the steps to building the naomhog is as follows.. (or at least the way I plan to build it)

1) Build the gunwales

2) Make the tachtaí and join top and bottom gunwale

3) Make the seats and join them to the gunwale

4) Bend the ribs and fit them to the lower gunnel

5) Put the stringers on

6) Cover the currach in fabric and waterproof it

7) Make the oars and and oarlocks and go rowing!


So as before when started Currach One, one of the first things we do is steam and bend the gunwales. So we need a steambox, I decided to build this one from insulation mostly, have never really seen anyone build a steambox quite like this before so I guess we'll soon see if there's a reason for that!

 As you can see on the left I made corners out of 75mm rips of ply screwed together, The steam box is obviously going to be around about 2400mm or 8ft long.
Currach Two is going to be shorter than Currach One, going to go for a length of about 17ft/5200mm this time and it will be designed for two people to row I think.


<---- That's Poutine!!



I then ripped the insulation with a straight edge and my Hilti circular saw with the bigger blade. Hooked the Hilti up to the Mafell automatic vacuum I have and it worked a treat, normally cutting insulation like this is a an awful balls and results in dust everywhere, particularly down your ENT!

I then made the insulation rips and the corners into sides 

Here's a little video of the final result and the setup for the steam part of things.

So the posts are going to be a lot more regular now, don't really have too many nixers on at the moment and I am very eager to get going on this currach... it's been a long time coming, we'll see if my theory about it being easier to get wood in Ireland than Canada holds true or not. 

Should have another post and video by the end of the week with more detail on how the steambox is working out ... if that all works fine then it will be on to making the form for the bend at the prow of the boat.

Current 'state' of affairs

So have been very busy lately, had a little restoration project with Jacqui. She's breathing new life into a old chair so there quite a bit of play in the old joints (somewhat like myself) so I'll be putting that back together hopefully tomorrow. You can see it on the bench there.
So this is the workshop that the currach will be built in. At the moment it's probably one of the messiest workshops in Ireland if not the world, quite different to the pristine workshops you normally see on the net!
Lots of tidying up to be done this weekend and next week before I start laying out the frame for bending and figure out some way of creating steam. Left my wallpaper steamer in Vancouver so the next one will probably consist of a large pot and a gas flame to generate more significant quantities of steam.
As you can see the loft is very well lit now, just finished that the other night cos it only ever had one bulb that worked off a 2 way switch. Lights were kindly donated by my buddy Rob. The mission today is to get some sockets going cos at the moment I pull power by dropping a lead down through a hole in the floor and plugging in downstairs in a different shed.
The wiring is a wee bit messed up in there as I seem to have 220v comin back on a neutral from somewhere.
Video of back feed
It's not something I'm overly worried about at the moment in terms of getting things workin but I will have to chase it down as its just not good practice. There does seem to be some leakage from the electric fence for the farm which is being pulled from the lighting circuit and should really be on a separate fuse with the sockets. Probably going to get hold of a little board and practice my wiring and see if I can organise the all a bit better, might go crazy and even label some stuff!
Will update in a couple of days...

It's a new day and a better day's comin...

Ok so this is what has happened in the last couple of months. As can be seen above (it's a picture of the new bridge in Waterford) we are back in Ireland which of course is the home of currach building. If I wasn't bullshitting in previous posts then the process should be a little easier here than in Canada. Firstly I should be able to get the wood a lot easier, it should be cheaper and of course I should have more space to build it in.
I will be building it in a shed on a farmyaes, it's a 100 year plus building but it's completely dry and apart from some starlings who have taken up residence is all mine.
This building  was previously my workshop but after 6 or 7 years of neglect could really do with a good clean and some rearranging. I also have to reconnect the power there so I can have some light in.
I reckon all this will take a couple of weeks as I have a full time job and nixers (extrs) as well so not much time at the moment. Setting a tentative start date for the next currach as 17th of March which is of course Paddys Day
Watch this space...

Currach saved from fiery end!

Well after many shenanigans and various false hopes last night the currach went to some good people who live near the Fraser River down Tsawwassen direction. There was some scratching of heads but before too long Will and Jacob and myself had it strapped to their utility trailer and with all the ribs and other spare pieces safely ensconced, away they went,
Hopefully they will be able to figure out how it all goes together and we'll see it on the water next year sometime. Great to see it go to someone so I didn't have to chop it up, considering there is already about 500 dollars worth of wood gone into it it would have been a shame on a couple of levels to see it chopped.

After Christmas I hope to be up and running with a start to finish description of another currach build, this one will from the green shores of Ireland. I should be able to take the lessons learned building this one and do an even better 'how-to'. I know a couple of people on the other side that do video work so hopefully there will be more video of each step this time and that'll make it easier for woodworking novices to follow what's happening, till then....
Bon voyage...

Free half-built Currach anyone?

Well we have run out of visa options (thanks Canada) the flights are booked and we'll be home in three weeks ish so if anyone out there knows someone in the Vancouver area who has the space and would like a half-finished 21 foot row boat and nearly all the parts needed then tell them to get in touch as soon as possible cos it's getting chopped up for firewood by this weekend at the latest unless I hear something definite...
Save a currach!!

(This offer conveniently includes instructions on how to build a currach....)

Broken

Just a wee post to explain the hiatus, while assembling the boat we broke another gunnel, got really pissed off with things breaking on it so we decided to take a break from it for a while.
Have also had a number or other things going on, workwise and healthwise for my lovely lady, there's also the small matter of trying to sort out a visa. Despite having been her for 5 years we are having a major problem with not only getting our new visa, but also even getting a reply from the immigration officer involved. There's a good possibility we'll have to leave Canada (possibly in a rush) in the next little while if something doesn't move forward.
If the currach doesn't get built here then I will certainly be building one in Ireland and I will have a lot more video of it if I do it there, either way this blog will eventually be a record of how to build a currach replete with plans so don't give up on it yet ... thanks for your patience.

Currachs are in the details...

Welll nothing too exciting to report at the moment ..have been attaching bits and getting ready for the final assembly.

There's a lot of details to be taken care of before the boat can come together.. all the silly stuff that you don't really think about when ya start building a currach .. and currachs are some of the simplest boats to build in a lot of ways cos they are quite forgiving.









So  what's left to do?

The upper gunnel has to come together. All the wedges of the thole pins have to be done.
The mortices for the ribs and the holes for the thole pins have to be made.
All the wedges have to be cut for the thole pins. Another breasthook has to be made.
The reinforcing gussets for the upper gunnel have to be made.
All the stringers have to be glued together.


We have had a lot of problems with the gunnels cracking when we are bending them. We cracked another one the other night cos I lost the thermometer and didn't know what temp the pipe was at. Looks like it was too low. Anyway instead of buying yet another one we decided to cut it in half and then soak them again and steam and bend the halves while cutting out the bit that cracked, this worked out pretty well and it's all bent up now waiting to be epoxied back together.
We always set this blog out to be a true record of trying to build a currach from scratch having never built a boat before. Hopefully people who are thinking of attempting this will be able to learn from our mistakes. God knows we have made plenty so far and I'm pretty sure there is more to come, they don't bother us though, both of us like working through them.

Scarf joints and stringers

Right so, once the gunnels are done (and we are getting closer I swear) we will move on to constructing the body of the boat that your feet rest on as you row. This consists of ribs and stringers. Ribs are exactly what you would think by the name and on our boat we are making both them and the stringers out of cedar. They will be running in the same direction as the seats and are steam bent into roughly half circular shape as you would have seen in much earlier posts.

All clamped up and nowhere to go...

Original split

You may remember a couple of posts ago we had a bit of an auld problem with the prow splitting apart on the boat... this is not only before it has hit the water but before it has even been assembled!

Anatomy of Currachs: Tachtaí

I realise the rowing terms and seeing individual bits being made may not make a whole lot of sense so for those of us who like a visual aid here's a kind of infographic I did this morning to explain the constituent parts around where the oars go.

Tachtaí

These are know by various names, elbows or knees or God knows what else but we're just going to go by the Irish name which is tachtaí (phonetic: tocktee)

Rainy Day Post

Original joint glued and pegged

Just a quick little post. The joint we did at the prow of the boat split apart today.

Thumbs are wicked handy...

Not broken but may have a chip floating around in there.. won't make the boat building go any faster that's for sure...

Now it starts to look like a boat...

Well, although my original estimate of having a boat in the water in a month has truly been shot down. For the last three weeks we really haven't been doing anything because of the previously mentioned hospital visits. We got going again at the weekend and did some assemblage last night.
It went really well and we got lots done.

Hiatus

Well there was a big gap between posts there due to Jacqui being taken to hospital but she's nearly better again so it's been back to building the boat again this weekend. Above is the result of the bending we did.

The mistakes we made on the first one were significant and taught us a lot about bending bigger bits of wood.