Building ‘Sharpy’ Part 36

Douglas Fir as delivered

The weather forecasters got it right. Today was fine and dry, at a temperature of 6 degrees Celsius - ideal for shaping the boom. The low temperature helped keep me cool as I planed the Douglas fir. The aerobic activity was good for the old ticker. I thoroughly enjoyed the exercise.


The boom is more or less finished; only the ends need rounding, and three holes have to be drilled through it for the sail lacings and the mainsheet attachment. The spar is quite sturdy, being 1 and 9/16 inches thick at the centre, tapering to a diameter of 1 ½ inches at the ends.


Workbench braced

Robbins Timber of Bristol did me well, by supplying a really straight-grained piece of Douglas fir, sawn slightly larger than the maximum dimension at the centre of the boom. They taped it to a much thicker piece of timber to protect it during transportation. I used the extra piece of timber for making a brace to keep the Black and Decker workbench from moving. Without the brace, there would have been nothing to stop the bench moving when I planed the wood.


Almost finished



Link


Robbins Timber of Bristol

http://www.robbins.co.uk/