Like many of you, I’ve been spending a lot more time at home during the pandemic. I count myself very lucky to have a job that I enjoy and do from home, so for me, life hasn’t been upended as it has been for so many. I also have a basement with the space and tools to keep myself occupied during the recent spate of additional time at home. In the last few months, I’ve been taking on some projects that I’ve been too busy to make time for and some that I’ve just been curious about. The five presented below fit nicely in Webster’s definition of puttering around: “doing small jobs and other things that are not very important.” I don’t really need any of the things that I’ve built lately—what I need is a haircut—so my aim has been to fill the time I’d ordinarily be with my family, friends, and community with projects that provide some relief from the sad and disturbing news that has inundated us all.
Tool Tote
Making a fancier version of Joe's tool tote didn't improve upon its usefulness, but the more complex joinery let me spend more time in my shop.
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I like the jig-saw table. Might be just the thing for those of us that only have portable power tools. Next up would be turning your router into a spindle shaper….
One of the things that puzzles me on the Norwegian tillers in modern designs is that they don’t go to the hole drilled in the tiller head and the round tenon to fit it. That way you don’t have to have some kind of fancy universal joint between tiller and yoke. Of course you could go the way I do on RAN TAN with an L-shaped tiller to get around the mizzen and a conventional extension on its end.
For designing and making patterns for sails is very good program named sailcut (www.sailcut.org). It is opensource and I have found it very handy to design small sails. Some time ago I also pushed their code change for better designing small spinnakers (the software is mainly for regular sails and did not allowed to design symmetric sails like spinnaker), now it is able with some fiddling with numbers to got pretty neat cuts for spinnaker. There is also guide how to measure and cut sails under its webpage.
I have designed ~8m2 spinnaker for my 420 class dinghy that way. Still did not get the time to order material, cut and sew that.
Your idea of using plastic sheet and Gorilla tape is similar to my 75-sq-ft balanced-lug rig sail to power JAKE, an 11’ pram of my own design and somewhat fashioned after Doug Hyland’s Oonagh. I used shrink wrap cutoffs from covering my cruising sailboat.
The head and luff are reinforced with Gorilla tape as well as the cringles on the four corners and single reef points and associated nettles. As a flat sail it trims unusually well and powers the boat surprisingly efficiently.
The shrink wrap is quite strong and has stood up to Florida sun for the better part of three fall-to-spring seasons. The only porosity has been a couple of mangrove holes poked into it while trying to sail through our narrow mangrove-lined channel in shifting winds. I now row it to and fro from my slip to a temporary mooring outside of our little marina saving the sail from user abuse.
I agree, a great idea. Looks perfect for those bigger jobs that a scroll saw has trouble handling.
I like your jigsaw table as a cheap addition to a poor man’s workshop however I propose a slight addition in the name of safety. A cap or shield on the arm over the top end of the blade would eliminate the possibility of a seriously nasty poking injury in a moment of distraction or loss of balance.
I had seen a Viking chair many years ago and thought what a great idea for any family that enjoyed the outdoors. After time, I had forgotten about it. I can see it fitting in nicely in the bow of my boat.
I also thank all who shared the idea of using the gorilla tape as a reinforcement for the plastic. Such a simple idea. The photos of the tape patterns are very useful.
I liked “Puttering Around” a lot. It reminded me of some of the more rudimentary benches and boxes my dad made for his work as a drapery installer: a couple of step benches and two long wooden boxes for stacking drapes in. I really never paid much attention to them, but every once in a while he’d talk about them with a sense of pride. They were simple but nicely built, functional and durable—the lasted forever. I’ve never been tool or mechanically oriented—my crown jewels were a book stand and a knife holder I built in wood shop in junior high—so the things you build have a sense of magic to me. Reading the articles left me feeling that I’d just paid a visit to your shop.
Hey Chris,
Had to share this since I got the Chair idea from your recent article in Small Boats. I made mine with 2×12 stock I had laying around. I have a 4-year-old granddaughter who will claim this for her own when she sees it.
Thanks,
Charlie
Yes, I could see myself falling asleep in one of those chairs!
Removable cabin? Would love to see a picture.
You can see more photos and a video in “Gimme Shelter,” an article I did about motor cruising in my Caledonia Yawl.
