Splicing and Gluing

Gluing Oars:
Today our class continued laying out the oars for the shallop. We had to draw the oar with all of the right measurements on the plank of wood we are planning to use for the oars. After we laid out the oars we started gluing them together. We needed to sand them down first so the the glue would hold better to the wood. After we sanded down the boards we put the glue down, then spread out the glue all over the board from corner to corner. After that, we finished up with clamping the two boards together so that the profile of the oar was on the top because later we cut it out with the band saw.
This class has been a lot of fun. I like coming to school knowing that I have this to do first thing in the morning. It is a really nice way to get going in the morning. I love getting to do all the hands on work. It keeps me interested in what I am doing and keeps me wanting to do more of this every time I come to class.
Dylan Crowell,
Student Shipwright

Grommets and Splicing:
Today we almost finished our grommets. We started splicing the rope together to make a circle. We cut off the long end so it was the same length as the shorter one, about six inches. We split the rope strand into 3 pieces and numbered each one. One side were 1's and the other were 2's. Then we spliced these pieces back into the grommet. Our home work assignment is that all of our extra rope from the rigging crew is going to be turned in to a rope key chain made of different knots.
Jon Brooks,
Student Shipwright