DONE!

For those who have been out of touch with us for a while, the Beast was officially floated today and rechristened as Ingrid. Our project presentation went off without a hitch, and the canoe floated beautifully. Unfortunately, the only pictures I have are on film, but there were many cameras present, so we will work to get pictures from people and post them.

Thanks so much to everyone for their help during the project, especially Roger Wakeman, Joe Kovolyan, and everyone else in Facilities Management, without whom, this project would never have been possible. We'd also like to thank Mr. Robinson and Mr. DiCarlo for their help and guidance through the building process, and for allowing us to use their tools.

For anyone who is interested, Ingrid is currently tied off and beached by the track. We're not exactly sure what we will do with her yet, but Keith suggested that we move her to a more central location, and convert her into a garden planter. If anyone has any other ideas for future usage of Ingrid, please comment and we will take your suggestions under consideration.

finishing the inside

The most annoying part of hollowing the log. This is in the stern, and it is an absolute bear to chop through. There are three different knots in the wood in this small area, and the wood that is not knotted is almost sponge-like. The knots are hard to cut through, but once you get started on them, they're not too bad. The spongy wood is the worst though. Personally I've never seen wood do this. It is almost as if it is completely waterlogged, except that it's dry. When you swing into it, instead of splitting, the wood swallows up the blade of the adze or axe, and gives in, like a gummy worm or sponge. Then when you pull the blade out, the wood swells back up to fill the cut. Like I said, the wood seems waterlogged, but it is dry to the touch. Very weird. The only way to work through it is just determination and perseverance.
The dry rot that Gar mentioned earlier in a post. Luckily, the rot does not go all the way to the bottom of the hull, but it is an issue we need to deal with. Because we have several inches to work with, we've decided to leave it be. The worst case scenario we can see is that the rot does not go all the way through, but comes very close and so if we took all of it out, we would end up with a very thin hull. From what we can tell, it runs the length of the hull, so we're thinking that leaving it alone is the best plan.
The almost finished inside. You can see the depth we've hollowed out to. Now the hardest thing will be flattening the sides. From this angle you can see that the hull does not come straight down to the bottom, but instead curves in. We're working to get that curve out. Any wood that stays in the hull that we don't need is extra weight, and also takes away from the space inside the boat for us to sit in.
Because of the questionable weather and the fact that we are carving a hole in the log, we put up a tent over the log so that if it does rain, no water will get into the log and fill it up like a giant bathtub. It's also nice to keep the sun off when we're working, though it does limit our motion a little bit. I've already accidentally put a hole in it from the axe.

one week into hollowing

The tools of the trade resting on the log. The depth is hard to gauge from this angle, but it is currently about six inches deep along the length of the log. This picture is two days into hollowing, so it is going fairly quickly.

Here's a better view of the inside. You can really begin to see the depth taking shape. At the top of the dugout, you can clearly see the curved cuts made by the adze. When chopping with the adze, the wood comes out so easily. It's interesting because the technique for chopping is very different than with an axe. With an axe, you want to chop across the grain at an angle, then come from the side, but with the adze, the best method we've found is to chop almost directly down onto the wood so that the wood almost calves off. If you imagine a glacier coming into a bay, and the very front edge sheering along its length and a long, tall strip peeling off. That's similar to what happens with the adze.

Again, the axe and adze on the log. From this view you can see the general shape that the inside will eventually take.

more pictures. leveling the bottom and beginning to hollow.

The top of the log, ready to be hollowed out. We marked the gunnels with red spray paint to ensure that we wouldn't cut into them by mistake.

Mr. DiCarlo taking a turn with Beowulf. When the log was moved, we were able to slide two railroad ties below it to elevate it off the ground and cut down on moisture and all the other bad things about having a big piece of wood directly on the ground. Right now, the side that Mr. DiCarlo is taking a swing at is going to be the bottom.

There's the log! Because of the construction, we were able to move it around the corner of Webster, so it is now sitting right outside of my kitchen window. Mr. Robinson and Mr. DiCarlo can be seen scheming as usual.

Finished?

Mr. Robinson, you are a GOD.

After another successful day with the chainsaw and Mr. Robinson, the canoe is looking better than ever. We have decided to change directions, and the stern is officially the bow. This drastic change is due to some natural shaping of the log and some quick decisions with the chainsaw. It is just easier to push a smaller, sharper end through the water than a fatter, flatter end.

The inside is looking crisp and finished, despite the patches of dry-rot we have hit on the starboard side. As to the dry-rot (because it appears it has yet to be announced to our dear fans): there appears to be a stretch of dry-rot running along the grain the entire length of the log. In order to prevent any surprises, Matt and I took an electric drill to it in order to gauge the depth, but the results came out inconclusive: we couldn't really tell how deep it was. Again in order to prevent etc. etc. we have decided to not dig out the middle any more. Essentially this means that the "dug out" section is a mere 3 inches short of where wee wanted it to be. No real worries there.

So... all that's left to do: paint it, move it, name it, and float it.... oh...wait... we don't have a name... CONTEST TIME!!

If you have a name you think would be fitting of our loyal log, leave it in a comment, along with a brief explanation of why you think so. If Matt and I decide it is up to snuff, you may be the lucky one to name our project! Let's hear the best of 'em folks!

PICTURES!!!

for the first time in weeks, we're able to upload pictures!

Oh No! Where'd the log go? Unknown to us, construction was planned for the space between Webster and Dunbar. Supposedly, they are removing the tunnel between the dorms, and building a new staircase on the side of Dunbar. Work will be continuing all summer long, which will be a pain in the ass, but Dunbar needs to fit fire code, so it's a necessary evil. Unfortunately, we were not informed of this prior to starting our project so we had to move the log from its original position...

Shaping

So on Tuesday, Mr. Robinson came by with his chainsaw and helped us shape the ends. I would diagram this as Matt has so skilfully done down below... but I don't know how...sorry! Essentially, to put it in Mr. Robinson's words, the bow "looks like a giant sharpened pencil." Soon (hopefully tomorrow) will be the shaping of the stern so that we can be on time for our Wednesday unveiling. Hope to see you all there!!

hollowing out the inside

as said before, we are just killing the inside of the Beast. the best method we've found is a combined arms approach.

space is getting a little tight so Beowulf is of limited use now, but Mer Mer and the adze, newly christened as Shane, have been a great combination. both are small enough to swing inside the boat itself, as opposed to Beowulf who is way too big to be effective. the basic technique we are using is a two-step process.

first we go through with Beowulf or Mer Mer and chop down along the grain to loosen the wood up. we'll also crosshatch it occasionally if there is a particularly hard section like a knot. then we'll switch to using Shane and chop along the length of the Beast, taking out all the wood that was loosened by the two axes.

this method is extremely effective for removing wood from the bottom and middle of the boat. once we get that wood out, then we can chop in from the sides and even them out, keeping them flush and parallel with the gunnels.

it's hard to imagine because there aren't any pictures (damn internet), but if you can, when the wood in the middle is taken out, there is essentially a four or five inch wide channel running down the middle of the boat. the channel has straight sides and a flat bottom from Shane. the rest of the inside, then slopes down from the gunnels to the bottom, where it meets the channel cut by Shane. where the sides and the channel meet there is a sharp corner, perfect for chopping.

from end on, the shape then looks something like this:

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\ /

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|_____|

after chopping out the corner, the cross section looks something like:

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\ /

\ /

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|_________|

as the channel gets wider and wider, the angle of the corner decreases, making it more difficult to chop it out with Shane. at this point, Beowulf becomes the most effective tool again. we can chop straight down the side of the hull, going with the grain and the wood just shears off. we can then come through with Mer Mer or Shane and chop out all the loosened wood and flatten out the sides, bringing them in line with the bottom. the cross section after this step looks like this:

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| |

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\ /

\ /

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|_________|

we then just repeat this process several times to get the whole hull looking like this:

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|________________|

wow that was a long post. we've been doing a lot of work and haven't been able to keep up with posting for a while. like i said, photos are coming, the internet is just acting up. hopefully, by the end of the weekend we'll be completely done with the inside and ready to move onto to the outside. mr. robinson has again graciously offered the use of his chainsaw should we need it, so stay tuned for that. the trouble with the outside is that there's a lot of wood to be taken off, but there's no easy way to stay consistent without a saw, but that's a discussion for another post.

take it easy.

"If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed."

-Christopher Johnson McCandless

almost there

after a week and a half of work on the inside, we are almost there. we need to take the bottom down another few inches, and widen it slightly, and then we're done and ready to move to the outside.

in other news, the internet is still screwy and i can't upload any more photos. i'll try again this weekend, but no promises.

also, our final presentation time has been finalized. we will be having a grand launching at 5:15 on Wednesday, June 2nd by the crew barge on the Exeter River. the barge is just behind the track if you don't know, and everyone is invited to help us christen the boat and float it on the river for the first time.

killing it

we laid out where we want to chop out in the middle, then spray painted the gunnels so we won't accidentally chop through them.

using the freshly sharpened adze and Beowulf, we've just been killing the inside. today i worked for about an hour and a half, and took out a section of the inside about two feet long to a depth of about eight inches with the adze, then took Beowulf to it and knocked out about another foot to foot and a half of length down to the same depth.

it seems weird that the inside is (so far) taking less time than the outside. you'd think it was the other way around. my guess is that it's because of what we need to take out. on the outside we were trying to bring it down to a specific line, and so we had to be fairly precise. on the inside though, we're just taking out as much wood as we can right now, and once we get down to almost done we'll be more precise, so right now we're just swinging away and taking out huge chunks of wood really fast.

with wednesday afternoon and principals day coming up we should be able to get a ton of work done on the inside, and hopefully finish up the inside by next week, then start shaping the hull.

god bless you please mr. robinson

And here's to you, Mr. Robinson

Gar and Matt love you more than you will know

God bless you please Mr. Robinson,

Heaven holds a place for those with chainsaws (unless they're from the texas chainsaw massacre)

not to hard to figure out what we did today. mr. robinson took some time out of his day to give us a huge hand in the canoe. he brought his chainsaw over and we notched the whole length of the top in about ten minutes, then we took Beowulf to it, and leveled it off in another twenty.

the plan now is to finish the bottom this weekend. by finish we mean the way we want it to be on our final canoe. right now, it is leveled, but it isn't smooth. so over the next three days, we'll use the chisel and Merritt to smooth what will end up being the bottom. we may also break out my orbital sander to get it down to a sleek, smooth surface that will allow us to destroy the concrete dinghy in the race at the end of the year. once we are done with that, all of webster and wentworth will be recruited to help flip the log over (they don't know it yet) so we can start carving out the inside.

we also got it put up on two railroad ties, so we don't need to worry about the top (which is actually on the bottom right now) getting wet and punky again. we already dealt with that once when leveling it. another really nice thing about having it up on blocks is that we now have a flat surface on the bottom to hold onto when we flip it.

the second half

the log is now leveled and flipped, so we can start carving the outside of the hull. we were hoping to get some help from mr. robinson and his chain saw, but with the huge number of DC cases this week, he won't be getting much sleep, so we're going to have to go to town with beowulf and get it leveled by hand.

the lesson learned from this is: don't do stupid shit. like have go to a summer house for a party and get caught by the cops. it doesn't just screw yourself over. it also affects the entire community. right now, the chainsaw is completely irrelevant. the fact that we're worried about our project pales in comparison to stuff that everyone else is going through right now.

proper axe usage

Gar demonstrates proper use of the axe. We are chopping notches in the log down to the line that we are leveling it off to. In this video, Gar chops out the wood between the notches. This is the most effective way to remove wood that we've found. We got a big two-man saw from Mr. Robinson, but it is about a hundred years old, and about as dull as a butter knife, so unfortunately we will not be able to use it. Despite this, the fact that we actually used a lumberjack saw and five pound axe to carve a dugout canoe is badass. It is believed that we are the only two students on campus that are qualified to wear flannel.

axe vs chisel

The first two pictures are from after we brought out the big axe and really started going to work.  The work done on the log in the first two is the result of about an hour of work.  The second two pictures are the result of three days of work.  It's not hard to figure out which method is more efficient and effective.

names

with the project fully underway, i thought it was time to start giving some personality to our tools and log.

the log, as it has always been is The Beast

we need a name for the canoe.  suggestions are welcome.  i'm getting a female vibe from the log, but maybe that's just because i was listening to "your body is a wonderland" by john mayer while working on it today.  anyway, we need a name.  Rosalita maybe?

for the big axe, Beowulf

little axe: Merritt

circular saw: Chief Justice John Marshall ('The Chief')

chisel: Captain Call

hammer: Gus

it's interesting what you find important at midnight when you should be doing bio homework.

now that i have time

so now that i don't need to run off to frisbee practice, i can actually describe just how freaking awesome the big axe is.

at the beginning of the day, we had removed about six inches of wood down to the five inch depth, with another foot at varying depths.  we had also scored the top of the log with horizontal saw cuts to make taking wood out easier.  all that was the result of a week of work with a chisel, hammer, and hand hatchet.

now, after under an hour of work, we still have six inches down to the five inch depth, but the entire top of the log is taken down about an inch.  that is the raw power of a big axe and saw.  tomorrow i'll take a bunch of pictures of the log, and maybe make a video of the process.

it's been so long since i've swung a big axe that i forgot just how satisfying it is.  with mr dicarlo we brought the edge to knife sharpness.  combine that with five pounds of weight, and you get one incredibly effective tool.  the axe cuts through the wood like it was butter.  an overused comparison, but it's appropriate.

i'm late, but this is too awesome to miss

broke out the big axe today for the first time.  5 pounds of wood destroying magic.  the thing cuts through like butter.  i swung it for about twenty minutes, and took out as much wood as four days of chiseling would do.

now we really are canoe team BADASS.

and i'm really late for frisbee practice now.  but the canoe is back on track.

the weather

Another rainy day here in the Northeast, so no work now. We are certainly coming along on the cross cutting and slowly hacking away. Mr. Dicarlo's bigger, stronger, more badass axe will certainly help!

We have altered the strategy a little, making more, shallower cuts in the top of the log, thus making the leveling process a little faster. We'll see how that goes.

Also! Got a drawknife and a set of saw horses from Keith, the Exeter Boatman for the crew team which will both come in very handy when shaping the hull.

More to come soon

day one

day one of work is in the books.  we worked for about two hours leveling the top and bottom of the log.  this is going to be the longest part of the project.  we're using a circular saw and cross-cut saw to notch the top, then chopping out the wood in between with the hatchet and chisel.  once we get the notches in, chopping the wood out is easy, but the notches are a pain in the ass to make.  we'll be able to work faster now though because we know exactly what we need to do.

on a side note, it would be really nice if we had a chain saw.  if we were able to use one, we'd be done with levelling the top and bottom, and could have moved onto shaping the outside of the hull.  but the school wouldn't let us.

pictures will be coming tomorrow.

we will also be having a bonfire at the end of term with all the wood we have chopped out of the log.  judging from the amount today, it's going to be a pretty big fire.

Bearboat Pro

just found one of the coolest computer programs i've seen.  it's called Bearboat Pro, and it's a computer drafting program for boat hulls.  it's mostly focused on kayak hulls, so i'm not sure how much use it will be to us, but if i can figure out how to work it, it might be exactly what we need.

in other news, i skimmed a forum on concrete canoes, and they're pretty cool, and the people who make them are brilliant engineers, but it is still concrete, and concrete does not float as well as wood.  not to get too cocky too early, but i think that hill ryan and the engineering club's concrete canoe is going down (figuratively and literally) in the race at the end of the term.

Mock-up sketches

preliminary scale sketches are done.  right now, final length will be 8'9'', beam will be 2', depth will be 1'9''.  the beam and depth are comparable to a normal canoe, but the length is significantly shorter.

just for the sake of comparison, behind webster is not only our log (shortly to be canoe), but i also have my old grumman aluminum canoe.  i measured it today and it is 14' long, 3' wide, and 14'' deep.  some of the features of our canoe will be based off the old grumman.  the biggest question we have now is, "should we put a keel on it?"

the advantage of a keel is that it can make a flat-bottomed boat, like ours (preliminary design at least) have some of the properties of a boat with more curve to its hull.  the downside is that keels are relatively fragile compared to the rest of the hull, and it would be a huge pain to put on on our canoe.  as we finalize our design we'll make a decision about a keel.

my scanner doesn't work, but once i find one that does, i'll post our preliminary sketches.  hopefully we'll be able to start shaping the hull this weekend.

also in the forecast is a lesson on tool care, notably sharpening with mr. dicarlo.  all our tools have an edge, but are far from a finely honed edge that would be remotely useful in carving wood.

First pictures

the log in place.  pictures are both end on, and broadside.  it's hard to tell from the pictures, but the bottom of the log is going to be the actual bottom of the canoe.  it's been sitting for so long that the bark has already come off...i'm not sure if this is good or bad.  i guess we'll find out once we start carving it.

Falling into place

Gar and I went down to the hardware store this weekend and got the tools we need.  From Ace Hardware in Exeter: chisels, a rubber hammer, and a chopping axe.  From Woodcraft in Portsmouth: a rounded Pfiel adze (handmade in Switzerland).  Total cost: $147.97.  Pretty good for the scale of the project.  We're trying to get some money from the library to offset our own costs.  Dunno how that's going to go yet.

Facilities also moved the log today.  Neither of us were expecting that.  It's currently sitting on the grass behind Webster.  Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to talk to them, and they moved up the wrong log.  It's the log we originally intended to use, so it's not the end of the world, but if possible, we're going to try and get a slightly longer log, so we can make a canoe that is that much bigger.  I lost the memory card to my camera so no picture yet, but it's coming.

Beginnings

We have our log

Mr. Wakeman informed me that Facilities will help us with whatever we need to move the log into place to begin working on it.

Last night I went down to check it out and took some measurements, so we'll be able to make a scale drawing and start figuring out exactly what we're going to do with it.

The project is starting to come together.