I've chosen to build a box mast from native Hoop Pine and using lightweight Paulownia for the infills and the blocking. I was lucky to have been able to source clear Hoop pine and in 4.8m lengths so did not need to scarfe joint any of the staves.
Marking out the staves...
Planing the taper in the staves... You can see the foils in the background which have received their first coat of Norglass marine enamel (colour is Port wine). More of the foil painting later.
Cuttin the Paulownia infills...
Japanese pull saws make short work of the Paulownia cuts! This one is a Kataba, for ripping with the grain. It has aggressive teeth and no back, so depth of cut is unlimited.
Using the Dozuki for cross-cutting. It has fine teeth and a back support on the blade to keep it rigid. A nice feature of this saw is the angled tip tooth which is used to start a cut in the middle of the timber. It really works!
Glueing up the narrow staves and the blocking to make a "ladder" frame. Lizzie checks nearly all my work.
Detail showing the Paulownia infill in place...
The first stage of the mast is almost complete, Narrow staves epoxied to the infills and spacer blocks.
Here, the narrow staves are glued to one wide stave. I broke a couple of spring clamps in the process :(
The next step is to epoxy the wide staves to complete the box mast construction.
Excellent progress! The pictures are helpful.
ReplyDeleteThank Bob. I think my next task will be to build a couple of sawhorses like yours!
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