Monthly Archive for April, 2011

RiversWest has been holding an exciting series of workshops intended to teach or improve some of the skills required for boat building. Led by member Randy Togerson these workshops are being held at the RiversWest boat shop on the third Saturday of each month. The concept behind these workshops is that the leader is not necessarily an expert, but has organized a process and instructions, and any really specialized equipment, but all of us are figuring it out together as we go along. Since most woodworkers and boat builders tend to work alone and are often self taught, and since most of us already have the basic skills needed for these projects, this format is working very well. We expect to repeat any workshops that are especially successful, and for which there is demand.

The first workshop was on building oars. Randy provided an elegant design, and showed the attendees how to shape their oars using a plane, rasp, spokeshave and sandpaper to obtain a smooth, fair surface.

This was followed by a set of three workshops on wooden plane making. In the first workshop we built three varieties of plane makers floats; each person went away with at least two. These tools are used primarily to clean up the throats of wooden planes, but can also be used to fine tune tenons or other kinds of precise joinery. In the second workshop we built plane irons, skew chisels and marking knives. After hardening all these items by heating them in a special oven to 1800o F and then quenching in oil, in the third workshop we built the wooden plane bodies out of hard maple. As with the oar making, there was a strong emphasis here on shaping the wood. The sides and bottom of the plane bodies need to be perfectly square, but the ends are rounded to fit the builder’s hand. Most of the attendees had working planes by the end of this session, though everyone still had some work left to do at home. In the course of these workshops we all learned a great deal about working with metal, metal hardness and how it is achieved, sharpening plane irons, and the mechanics of wooden planes. Beyond what we learned from Randy we also learned from each other.

The next workshop coming up will be on paddle making. Attendees will have two options; they can either build a canoe paddle or a Greenland style kayak paddle. This will be similar to the first oar making workshop; everyone will go away with a paddle and an improved skill set.

Following this we will be holding a workshop on spar shaping. This will be a demonstration, only one mast will be made, but everyone will be able to have a hands-on experience.

These workshops are open to members and non-members alike, though we have been charging non-members a bit more. The cost for most of them has been between $10 and $50 for an all day session ($15-$60 for non-members) depending on the cost of materials. For more information on the schedule and cost, as well as more photos of the finished items, please go to our web site: www.riverswest.org .

We are hoping to get ideas, volunteers to teach, and sufficient interest among participants to continue these workshops. Woodworkers and boat builders alike tend to work alone and are often self taught; workshops like these are wonderful for expanding our thinking about how to perform the technical parts of our craft.