First Plank

The buzzing around the shed has slowed due to the students going back to classes. Many students have been back to work after school and in their extra time. Peter even came in the morning of delayed start to help. Such dedicated boat builders! Community volunteers have been filling in and are a great help in moving the project along.

The first plank was screwed into place today. The first two planks are the most difficult to fit and when they are in the planking will go much faster. The shipwrights start at the center bottom and work each side symmetrically, that way there is much less stress on the frame.

Here is a short video of the shipwrights in action.

Edutopia Video

One of the goals of this project is to share it with others both locally, nationally and internationally. To share our project, we have made the following video for Edutopia, the George Lucas Foundation, which supports project based learning.

" Project learning, also known as project-based learning, is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges, simultaneously developing cross-curriculum skills while working in small collaborative groups.

Because project-based learning is filled with active and engaged learning, it inspires students to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they're studying. Research also indicates that students are more likely to retain the knowledge gained through this approach far more readily than through traditional textbook-centered learning. In addition, students develop confidence and self-direction as they move through both team-based and independent work.

In the process of completing their projects, students also hone their organizational and research skills, develop better communication with their peers and adults, and often work within their community while seeing the positive effect of their work." more from Edutopia. . .

Finishing the Body Mold

Today, we finished putting up the body molds, which shape the skeleton of the boat. We had a support beam put on it at the wrong water line (the lines parallel to the water) so we had to make another. It was glued too high, and the beam was glued into place. We had to make the replacement beam so a strip of wood could be put through the middle, adding structural stability. Another body mold was taken down yesterday to make changes, so we had to put it up again. The remaining three body molds were put into place today.

We also began construction on the oars for the boat. It involves gluing two pieces of wood together with poly-urethane glue, which is watertight, and clamping the pieces of wood together. Traditional wood glue is only water resistant. These blocks of wood will be cut into the shape of an oar. Because we have to use most of the clamps to hold the long strips together, we can only do one oar at a time.

The wood for the keel arrived today!

Shallop Ship Building Student,
Peter Kosakowski

Body Mold Steps

Today we worked on the body molds. To create these molds, you start out with two pieces of wood, that when placed together, create part of the boat's hull shape.

Next, you create another copy of these pieces. Once you have the copies of the shape cut out, you put the shape together and create a new piece that joins the two parts of the body molds together.

Next, you create two corners that will fill in the rest of the shape of the mold. To create the rest of the molds' pieces, make another copy of the center and corner parts of the mold. Now that you have all of your pieces you should screw them together. Once you have your mold put together, you shape them with either a spokeshave, block plane, or chisel.

Lastly, you sand down the edges of the body mold.

Amy Franklin
Maine's First Ship Student
**Just added to the Friday, July 16th blog is a video made by Amy. Check it out here.

Plane, Shave and Sand

Today we have continued to plane, shave and sand our half models. They are starting to take shape and many people have finished theirs today.

After we complete the construction and sanding, we then use boiled linseed oil to preserve and create a visual attraction to our hard work.

The final step is mounting the half models onto a backboard that we will create tomorrow. The main tools that the group has used are planes, spoke shaves, wood rasps and sandpaper. We are on the right track and hopefully coming closer to starting the shallop that we are anxious to get started by the end of the week.

Maine's First ship Student
Aaron Doughty
7-12-1

PS. We also started interviewing students for the upcoming "How to Build a Half Model" video. Peter will be working this week with Amy and Cody on video projects.- PI

More Half Models and Workshop Materials

The weather cooled today and there was a nice breeze in the boat building shop. Today was filled with the cutting and planing of the water line on the half models. When students were finished with their work and others were still working, Cody and Amy took video of their fellow boat builders. When Matt, Max and Aaron were finished, they began working on projects to improve the shop floor such as building rail posts for a barrier to separate the guest area and the work area of the shop.

Volunteers were busy setting up displays and cutting wood for shop improvement projects. Check out the boat builders in the following video.