Oars, Video and Rabbets

Today, I sanded oars until the middle of them were round. I also, cut out frames made of white oak to put on the boat mold. Matt made a video of students working and made a Garageband song on one of the MLTI laptops to go with his video made on iMovie. (See below) Nick made wall racks to hold our folding chairs. Kelsey and Max worked to notch a rabbet on a stem using chisels. Aaron and Brandon worked on notching rabbets on the keel.
Maine’s First Ship Student
Cody Seekins

Body Molds, Oars, Video and White Oak

Today we worked on the jig. We started to chip away the boat molds and repositioned the mold. We're almost finished. Also, we worked on the oars. We have four done but we need six more. Plus, I took video today of every one working on the jig and I can't wait to come tomorrow to build, hopefully, some parts that are going on the boat.
-Cody Seekins

What an incredibly productive video day for Kelsey, Mike and Amy. Amy uploaded two new videos and Kelsey and Mike each made their first ones, They did a fabulous job on these. Congrats filmmakers.

We also had a visit from Fred and Sue Beaman from Georgetown, who cut a white oak on their property for the shipbuilders to use in the shallop. Their tree will be put to great use. Here they are next to the pile of boards from the tree.
Ship builders chose woods based on availability and characteristics, matching species to the needs of the vessel. Keel, beams, and frames, or ribs of the ship are best made with white oak. White oak is hard, strong, relatively inflexible, and rot resistant. More common red oak isn’t as good for shipbuilding because it is not as rot resistant as white oak. --Penobscot Marine Museum
P.I.

Bud Warren and Half Models

On Thursday, most students had finished their half models. We finished half models by sanding them with a fine grit sandpaper. Then we beveled cut backboards out of pine and put a linseed oil finish on the models. Those who finished their models started building a jig or a ladder. A jig is a copy of the lofting surface but the jig is elevated so we can build the shallop on it.



On Friday, those who finished their half models completed the jig. We leveled the jig out and secured it to the floor. Other students finished their half models. We broke early today in order to listen to a lecture about the Popham colony by Bud Warren. He gave us detailed information about the history of the area and Ft. Popham.
Matt M.
7/16/2010


The video crew had a busy day on Friday, completing the last details on a video and uploading it to You Tube. This is the first, all student filmed and edited video, of the Shallop project. Great job, Amy. You will see this video on Monday's blog entry. The crew then prepared to video our guest speaker, Bud Warren with three cameras. Cody was in charge of the audio and mid-level distance, Amy videoing close-ups and Brianna was videoing the audience and setting. The batteries in the microphone went dead half way through the lecture but this was just another "lesson learned". On a long video, make sure the batteries are brand new- or fully charged. PI