COVID doesn't need to end fun things. What simple boats could be built at home during quarantine and social distancing. Here are my suggestions.
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When I recently bought an outboard motor, I needed a stand to keep it on while I finish building my Glen-L boat. I found a few good tutorials online for building your own stand. However, I wanted my stand to have the same 12 degree transom angle that is common to many Glen-L outboard boat designs. Borrowing ideas from some of the better tutorials I found, I made some basic modifications and came up with this. For lumber, tools and materials, I used: (4) 2x4x8 boards, (1) 2x8x8 board, (2) regular casters, (2) locking casters, a circular mitre saw, a circular saw, a cordless drill, misc. bar clamps, 3” wood screws, and (16) 1” lag screws. Getting started on the base (When attaching parts during construction, pre-drill the holes before driving the screws.) Start by cutting four pieces of 2x4: two pieces that are 36” long, and two pieces that are 24” long. The 36” pieces will form the base of the motor stand. Take the two 36” base pieces, and decide which will be the forward ends and aft ends. Measure and mark a line 16” aft of the forward ends. This will mark the location for the upright supports. (*Note: for lighter motors, such as my 8hp rated at 81lbs, you can also mark this line at 18.”) Measure and mark a line 16 inches aft of the forward end. 18 inches is optional for lighter motors. Attach one 24” piece so that it connects the two 36” base pieces at the forward end. This will form part of the “shelf” for holding the gas tank, etc. You may find it useful to only use one screw per end, so that you can easily square up the assembly when you add more parts later. Set the second 24” piece aside for the moment. Fasten one of the 24-inch pieces to the forward end of the 36-inch base pieces. This will form the forward end of the shelf. Adding the support blocks Set your mitre saw to cut at a 12 degree angle. Set your mitre saw to cut at a 12 degree angle. Cut two 4” pieces of 2x4 so that one end has the 12 degree cut, and the other end is left square. Make sure both pieces are equally sized. Trim the square end if necessary. These pieces will be blocks that will support the upright sections of the motor support. Cut a 4-inch support block using 12 degree angular cut. Place one of these 4” support blocks upright on one of the 36” base pieces. Align it on the forward side of the line you marked earlier. Using this piece as a guide, mark another line across the 36” base piece on the forward side of the upright block. Repeat on the other 36” base piece. You should now have two lines marked on each base piece. Use the support block as a guide to draw a second line, forward of the first one. Lay the 4” support block down on the 36” base piece, so that the short side of the block is in contact with the base. Align the angled end of the block onto the second line you marked. The angled end of the block should now be facing the aft end of the base. Fasten the 4” support block to the 36” base. Repeat on the other 36” base piece. Attach the support block so that its angled end faces aft. Fit the second 24” piece you cut earlier against the squared ends of the 4” support blocks. Make sure the assembly is squared, and fasten this 24” piece to the 36” base pieces as shown. This will form the aft end of the shelf for the gas tank, etc. If you only used 1 screw per side of the original cross-piece, go ahead & add more screws to prevent any flexing or movement of the base. Attach the 2nd 24-inch piece to the base assembly. This will form the aft end of the shelf. Building the upright supports With your mitre saw set to cut at a 12 degree angle, measure and cut to two 32” lengths of 2x4, so that one end has the angled cut, and the other end remains squared. These will be the upright pieces of the motor support. Measure and cut a 24” piece of 2x8. This will be the motor board. Both ends should be squared. Align the two 32” upright supports on the floor, so that their angled ends are in alignment. The long sides should be facing upward. Place the 2x8 motor board across the uprights, and align it with the top, or squared ends. Using the 2x8 motor board as a guide, draw a line across the 32” upright supports. Use the motor board as a guide to draw a line across both upright supports. Place the base assembly on its side, on the floor. Fit the angled end of one of the 32” upright supports into position against the 36” base and the angled cut of the 4” block. Using the block as a guide, mark a line across the 32” upright support. Repeat on the other 32” upright support. Use the support block as a guide to draw a line across each upright. You should now have two lines marked on each upright support. Measure the distance between these two lines. It should be approximately 23.5”. Measure the distance between both lines on the upright supports. With your mitre saw set to cut at 12 degrees, cut two more pieces of 2x4 to the length you just measured. One end should have the angled cut. The other end should remain squared. Make certain that the short side of this piece equals your measured distance, (approximately 23.5”). These pieces will reinforce the upright supports. Align each 23.5” reinforcing piece onto each 32” upright support. The short side of the reinforcing piece should fit between the two lines marked on the long side of the upright support. Fasten into place. Place and attach the reinforcing pieces onto the upright supports. Fasten the motor board into position on the upright supports, making sure the assembly is squared. Attach the motor board. Adding the casters Turn the base assembly upside-down on the floor. Place, mark and attach the casters into position as shown, using the 1” lag screws. Place and attach the casters. Attaching the motor support assembly to the base Take both the motor support assembly and the base assembly, and place them on their sides on the floor. Fit them together, and clamp them firmly into position. Fasten them together by driving two 3” wood screws upward through the base & into the bottom of the upright supports. Drive a third 3” wood screw through the back of the upright support & into the 4” support block. Carefully turn the assembly over, and repeat these steps on the other side. Attach the motor board assembly to the base. Fastening the motor board assembly to the base assembly. With the assembly still on its side, place a small scrap of 2x4 underneath the forward part of the stand. Place a longer section of 2x4 underneath the aft end of the stand, and position it between the base and the motor board. This will be the aft support of the motor board assembly, so arrange it for maximum support of the motor board. Using the base and the upright support as guides, mark the lines on this piece of 2x4. Cut to these lines. This will be the motor board support. Place and mark the cut lines for the motor board support. Using the motor board support as a template, mark and cut an identical piece from another section of 2x4. Fit each motor board support into position and fasten into place with 3” wood screws as shown. Use the motor board support as a template for making a 2nd one. Attaching the motor board support to the back of the motor board assembly. Attaching the motor board support to the base assembly. Attaching the motor board support to the base assembly. Stand back and admire your work. You’re done! Completed outboard motor stand.
Make Your Own Canoe Paddle: I have recently finished building a cedar strip canoe, and had barrels full of thin, small pieces of cedar and ash left over. The pieces of wood were so small and thin I had been burning them in our patio fire pit just to keep them from taking up sp…
Lou Brocetti 19' Power Sharpie While we're on the subject of sharpies, I should mention - my good friend, the superlative boat builder/designer Lou Brochetti wants to sell his practically brand new motor sharpie. Sorry, I don't understand why. He gets a hankerin' to build a new boat from time to time, is all I can figure. Two summers ago, Lou took this boat to the San Juan Islands, in Washington State. It was a brand new boat then and performed beautifully, just as planned. Well, Lou was tickled because, of course, it was his plan. You may wonder why this is considered a sharpie. Well, I had that question too. Why not a semi-dory? So, I've come to these conclusions. First, Lou knows what he's talking about. Second, a semi-dory (which is most often a motor dory) has a flat aft profile allowing it to plane. I owned a semi-dory once, with an old Evinrude 35 hp that would push it's heavy-built plywood hull up to a wide-open 25 mph! We called it the Bay Bomber. I swear it used a gallon per mile. Lou's sharpie is slower and infinitely more efficient. It has quite a bit of rocker in the bottom, a narrow transom with very little interest in planing. With a 9.9 hp outboard, it burns a gallon of gas every four hours or so, at cruising speed, which is around six knots. Lou's second trip in this boat was last summer on Franklin D Roosevelt Lake, which is behind Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. According to him, it just might be one of the best cruising grounds in the world. If you want an efficient motor driven gunkholer, you should call Lou. He has just the boat for you. (Shown here tucked comfortably up on a remote sandy beach.) A pretty salty, hardworking boat, built just for fun. Lou Brochetti, Redmond, Oregon: 541-504-0135
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