# Pufferfish 19 wood core build



## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Chris poling the HB Marquesa for the first time. This is my 2004 model.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Taking delivery of the 2018 Lithium, hanging with Chris on his 60th birthday at Pierre's with Captain Joe Murphy, hanging with Brian Floyd, spending the night on Hogfish Maximus with the kids in the little basin.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Glades camping. Pufferfish 19 inspiration.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Chris' Drawings of the pufferfish 19


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Pufferfish table build and setting up the stations. You draw the canoe outline on the table with pencil and then lay out the stations on the table per the plan.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Buying the battens. Basically just 12' long thin moulding at the hardware store used for trim carpentry.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Using the battens to fair the stations. You just place the long thin wood trim on the stations to make sure the curve that you are making will actually allow the wood to bend over it. If there are high spots, you just sand them down. This canoe drawing was in Chris' head, so the full on dimensions were approximate. The fine tuning of the hull shape happened on the stations using the battens.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

The wood supplier I used for the Conchfish 16 had retired. (Bill Nelson of Precision Woodworking and Moulding in New Bern NC). He is 86 years young and a true class act. I drove to New Bern yesterday to have lunch with him and visit. He's a personal hero of mine. Sorry he sold the business and retired. Happy for the adventures he has planned for himself in the future. These kind of men are the salt of the earth. I want to be like Bill Nelson when I grow up. 

We used Eastern White Cedar for the Conchfish 16 build (sourced at Precision in New Bern with Bill Nelson) It was $3.20/bf (board foot). This price was S4S straight line ripped at 1'' by 3/4''. Great price! I was able to source Western Red Cedar in Raleigh NC at Capitol City Lumber 4216 Beryl Rd, Raleigh, NC 27606 // capitolcitylumber.com // (919) 832-6492. I could fit 12' long boards in my van. They were 4/4 thick (one inch) and 5 3/4'' wide. The boards were S3S (surfaced on a planer one one face and both sides). It was $5.30/bf. I plan to S4S (smooth all four sides on a planer) with my Laguna 16'' planer, square the ends on my miter saw. Then use a 1:10 angle (equivalent to 5.7 degrees on a protractor) to create a scarph joint to glue up the 12 foot boards lengthwise and create 24 foot boards. I will then straight line rip the 6 inch wide boards into 3/4 inch wide strips on my 36'' Laguna Bandsaw. This will yield 24 foot cedar strips that I can use to plank the canoe. 

Regarding the different Cedar varieties: My first impression is that the Wester Red Cedar is superior. The stock I'm working with for the Pufferfish 19 is much clearer, with less defects like splits and knots. The Eastern White Cedar had quite a lot of knots in it and seems less flexible than the Western Red Cedar. I may change my mind as the build goes on, but so far I think the Western Red may be a superior product. The disclaimer is that I may just have a cleaner lot of Western Red to choose from at the Capitol City Lumber supplier I am using now. No telling. Anyone with experience please comment.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

My family vacationed in Lake Tahoe, CA in the summers a few times while I was in high school. My Dad would talk about how my Grandfather (his Father) had one of these old school wooden boats that he would ride around Lake Tahoe back in the 60's. This is one of the design inspirations for the Pufferfish 19 build. Super sexy lines.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

New lights for the warehouse. It is getting dark early and we will need to work late. They are blinding bright LED's.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Delivery of two pallets from US Composites ( http://www.uscomposites.com ), Basalt Cloth, and Divinycell H-80 foam from Merritt Marine in Pompano Beach, FL.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Pufferfish logo, steaks on the fire, and dogs driving vans. Inspiration.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Go Eric....


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## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

Thank you for taking the time to put all this together.

Also good looking Boykin!


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Awesome man! Can't wait to follow along with the process, thanks for posting up!


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

This is awesome


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## Indoman (Jul 25, 2013)

Very curious to hear what you and Chris think of the basalt cloth. Ease of lay up, more/less resin to wet out, etc. 

Fun to watch!


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Basalt cloth delivery unboxing. Plain weave basalt fabric weight 350 g/m² roll width 100 cm roll length 50 m.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Samples sent from smarter building systems llc. 4 Porter Ave Newport RI 02840. T. 401 481 8422 
Www.smarter-building-systems.com


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Apologies for uploading the same photo twice. I’m new to this. Moderator assistance is always appreciated. My cell is at the top if the thread or just let me know what or how to do some other way. Thank you.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Don’t sweat the tech stuff...it’s the info that counts....


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

lemaymiami said:


> Don’t sweat the tech stuff...it’s the info that counts....


Ok. Got it. Thank you.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Solo work time. This evening was spent planing the western red cedar down for the pufferfish 19. Next step will be squaring the board’s ends in preparation to make the scarph joints. The joint to connect the boards lengthwise is a scarph joint. This joint is often misspelled as a scarf joint. A scarf is a long piece of cloth that people wrap or tie around their necks to keep warm. 


Here, I am using two large three phase woodworking tools: a Laguna planer and a Laguna cyclone dust extractor. The planer gets each board to the same thickness and parallel to the opposite side. Same thickness along all the boards is important to establish before cutting the scarph joint to join the boards together. The cyclone dust extractor is essentially a huge vacuum cleaner, which is attached to the Planer with a flexible hose. It is seven feet tall and sucks out all the waste wood chips and dust from the planer. It keeps the shop clean and my lungs safe from dust. 


I could only fit 12’ long boards of cedar into my van and the canoe is 19’ long. So, I will connect (join) the lengths together (lengthwise) in order to get 24’ long boards that I will then straight line rip on my bandsaw into 1” wide strips to bend over the canoe jig’s stations. 


I haven’t fired up these tools since my youngest child was born. She is five now. It is good to hear the roar of these tools again. I missed this work.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Mountolive said:


> Solo work time. This evening was spent planing the western red cedar down for the pufferfish 19. Next step will be squaring the board’s ends in preparation to make the scarph joints. The joint to connect the boards lengthwise is a scarph joint. This joint is often misspelled as a scarf joint. A scarf is a long piece of cloth that people wrap or tie around their necks to keep warm.
> 
> 
> Here, I am using two large three phase woodworking tools: a Laguna planer and a Laguna cyclone dust extractor. The planer gets each board to the same thickness and parallel to the opposite side. Same thickness along all the boards is important to establish before cutting the scarph joint to join the boards together. The cyclone dust extractor is essentially a huge vacuum cleaner, which is attached to the Planer with a flexible hose. It is seven feet tall and sucks out all the waste wood chips and dust from the planer. It keeps the shop clean and my lungs safe from dust.
> ...


I almost never use my planer, but I smile every time I do. Last board I did was a few years ago, my buddy was doing a European mount for a deer that his dad killed, and I had a beautiful pecan board that I gave him a few feet from.

Makes me want to run some more wood through it just for the hell of it, to see it come out of the other end so nice and smooth. Just something about wood grain, when the finish gets nice enough to where you can start to see that subtle iridescence. Certainly makes me want to do some more woodworking when my skiff build is through!

Keep up the good work man, everything is looking amazing.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Mountolive said:


> My family vacationed in Lake Tahoe, CA in the summers a few times while I was in high school. My Dad would talk about how my Grandfather (his Father) had one of these old school wooden boats that he would ride around Lake Tahoe back in the 60's. This is one of the design inspirations for the Pufferfish 19 build. Super sexy lines.


That is a VanDam boat and yes it Super SEXY. 

Welcome to MS and we all look forward to these builds.


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## Battfisher (Jan 18, 2016)

And I greatly appreciate the Talladega Nights quote in your tag line. Shake it - before you bake it!


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## makin moves (Mar 20, 2010)

Man I sure hope this is made into a logo and put on the side. You might get stopped more than the average guy but well worth it.


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## Pole Position (Apr 3, 2016)

makin moves said:


> Man I sure hope this is made into a logo and put on the side. You might get stopped more than the average guy but well worth it.
> View attachment 105722


You need to put some dreadlocks on that puffer ; )


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

bryson said:


> I almost never use my planer, but I smile every time I do. Last board I did was a few years ago, my buddy was doing a European mount for a deer that his dad killed, and I had a beautiful pecan board that I gave him a few feet from.
> 
> Makes me want to run some more wood through it just for the hell of it, to see it come out of the other end so nice and smooth. Just something about wood grain, when the finish gets nice enough to where you can start to see that subtle iridescence. Certainly makes me want to do some more woodworking when my skiff build is through!
> 
> Keep up the good work man, everything is looking amazing.


Thanks Bro. Your Conchfish 17.8 build is killer.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I am making the jig to cut the scarph joints to join the 12’ Cedar boards lengthwise to make 24’ long boards that will be long enough to plank the Pufferfish 19’ canoe. 

I figured on a 1:10 ratio for the scarph joint (1 in thick board gets a diagonal scarph cut that is 10 in long into it.) this works out to an angle between 5 and 6 degrees. I got this 1:10 ratio from reading wooden boat building books. My Incra miter sled has a 5 degree setting on it, so I used it instead of making another sled from scratch with the 1:10 perfect angle. That is one of the ten million cool things about working next to @chrismorejohn. He works way more on feel than I am used to. I’m generally over thinking everything. 

So, 5 degrees to cut the jig’s base. Then I cut out a 4’’ wide piece to register against the chopsaw fence and a back and sides to eventually make the jig into an open box to hold the Cedar at the 5 degree angle while I cut it on my chop saw. 

The side of the jig that will register the cedar is extra long, so I can clamp my Cedar workpiece to the jig and allow the chopsaw to contact the Cedar without obstruction. This will be more clear in my next post. 

I’m doing the glue up on the fiberglass/basalt table @chrismorejohn built. I didn’t want to get any glue on it, so I taped paper to the table top with blue painters tape. The paper is from a large roll of 4’ wide x 50’ long paper I got at Office Depot. Easy clean up tomorrow. Chris built the table to make fiberglass and basalt parts on for the Beryllium 18. It has a rack along the wall that holds the bolts of fabric on it. It is a great idea for a boatbuilding project shop. There are so many things @chrismorejohn does that are such time savers. Obvious after I see them, but never I thought to do any of this stuff for our @conchfish16 build. 

I predrilled holes for screws, then added titebond type I glue to the joints and finally clamped everything together (ensuring the glue didn’t allow the MDF to shift or float out of orientation). Finally I fastened the jig’s bottom, front, and back with 2” stardrive deck screws. 

@chrismorejohn uses drywall screws for everything on his build. I like the stardrive head better than phillips for working in any wood or plywood and the deck screws don’t snap off. Just my preference. Plus, I’m not stealing any of his screws for my Pufferfish and I had boxes of deck screws lying around from a deck I built years ago. 

I will let the glue dry tonight and join the sides and some center supports tomorrow.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Off topic for the #pufferfish19 

Here is the table to cut the H-80 for the #beryllium18. Two el-cheapo premade sawhorses purchased at Lowes with a sheet of MDF laid on top, then a 4’x8’ sheet of styrofoam insulation also purchased at Lowes. I taped the styro to the MDF with frogtape (painter’s tape) so, they won’t slide around. Then I lay the H-80 on top and cut with a tracksaw, or you can strike a line and just use a circular saw. For me, this setup is easier than using a tablesaw to cut sheets of core.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

First photo is the #pufferfish19 canoe scarph joint 5° jig in final glueup this evening. 

I ran a test cut with the jig using my 10 inch chopsaw. I didn’t think this all the way through. The saw blade I’m using is 10”, so I will not go through the 5 1/2” wide board. I need to try my 12” chopsaw. I think that larger blade will cut full plunge. It takes a sec to get everything fine tuned. Patience grasshopper. . .


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## Fishshoot (Oct 26, 2017)

You ain’t messin around! Festool!! One Of best purchases I ever made when I was full time trim carpenter was the festoon rail saw!!


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Looking good! When I saw the jig you were building to cut the shallow angle, I thought it was going to be a sled for your table saw.

I'm sure you've thought about this, but how about ripping the cedar once so that it's narrower, and the blade will reach full depth? It means gluing up twice as many joints, but might be an easy solution, especially since you're going to end up ripping them into thinner strips after the fact anyway.

Also yeah, the 4x8 sheets are a bear to run through a table saw. I used my carpenter buddy's since his is set in a massive table, and it was still a 2 person job.


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## Chris Morejohn (May 12, 2014)

makin moves said:


> Man I sure hope this is made into a logo and put on the side. You might get stopped more than the average guy but well worth it.
> View attachment 105722


Oh it’s going to be legal anywhere it can float, but deadly to fish and fowl. If you build one I will write out a script saying it’s use is to calm your nerves. If you power it with a propane outboard there won’t be any vape...exhaust...Er smoke or fumes to be seen. So a very Ecologically socially conscious vessel to build and be in blasting and casting your way to a calmer you.


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## Chris Morejohn (May 12, 2014)

makin moves said:


> Man I sure hope this is made into a logo and put on the side. You might get stopped more than the average guy but well worth it.
> View attachment 105722


Oh it’s going to be legal anywhere it can float, but deadly to fish and fowl. If you build one I will write out a script saying it’s use is to calm your nerves. If you power it with a propane outboard there won’t be any vape...exhaust...Er smoke or fumes to be seen. So a very Ecologically socially conscious vessel to build and be in blasting and casting your way to a calmer you.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I like the foam table idea.

Excuse my ignorance, but for some reason I've never heard of a tracksaw till now. I've seen jigs for saws, but never something that looked like it worked as nice.


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## Fishshoot (Oct 26, 2017)

look at this link with the festool plunge cut saw and track. https://www.festoolproducts.com/fes...ree-blade.html?SID=mdpp47pic7ak8pvaro6k0qb106

There are other methods including clamping a straight edge(like a trued board or a piece of metal) to a piece of sheet goods and running a regular circular or worm drive saw along it. The festool system is extremely precise and easy to operate solo. It has real advantage for a full time wood worker, but is expensive for a hobbyist.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I've done the straight edge method my whole life, but really like the tracksaw better. I might pick up one just to have.


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2019)

firecat1981 said:


> I've done the straight edge method my whole life, but really like the tracksaw better. I might pick up one just to have.


Makita makes a great alternative for half the price and non of the proprietary clips/fasteners/adapters.
​


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I thought I had a 12” chop saw, but remembered I sold it. So, I’m back to figuring out how to get to full plunge depth with my current setup. Bryson had a great idea, to just rip the boards in half and plunge full depth on the 2 3/4” wide planks (current width is 5 1/2”) . I am all for that, except my sawstop tablesaw is in my old shop and I don’t have 12’ of clearance behind the saw the shop wall behind the saw has lumber racks I installed and it prevents me from ripping boards this long so, back to the drawing board.....

I decided to plunge as deep as possible with the festool kapex 10” chopsaw and then finish with a backsaw, then hand plane the saw marks until the scarph is true. It is slower but more fun.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

Hey Mountolive

Good hands!


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

firecat1981 said:


> I like the foam table idea.
> 
> Excuse my ignorance, but for some reason I've never heard of a tracksaw till now. I've seen jigs for saws, but never something that looked like it worked as nice.


In addition to what Fishshoot said, which is the premium brand of track saws, check out Kreg. They make have a full saw setup as well as tracks that work with your existing saw but takes a small amount of work to dial them in. Dewalt also sells tracks to adapt to your existing saw. Again takes some work to dial in, but its worth it if this is a hobby and not a profession.

The festool saw however is king.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Fishshoot said:


> look at this link with the festool plunge cut saw and track. https://www.festoolproducts.com/fes...ree-blade.html?SID=mdpp47pic7ak8pvaro6k0qb106
> 
> There are other methods including clamping a straight edge(like a trued board or a piece of metal) to a piece of sheet goods and running a regular circular or worm drive saw along it. The festool system is extremely precise and easy to operate solo. It has real advantage for a full time wood worker, but is expensive for a hobbyist.


I am using a Festool TS75 saw and a few different length tracks. The TS75 is a great tool. The link that @Fishshoot provided with the video explains the track saw system better than I can. The festool brand of tools may be a cool thread to start. 

I will post photos of the track saw cutting the H-80 when that happens for the @chrismorejohn #beryllium18. Chris is flying on his build right now and may be ready to start foam core tomorrow. 

For the track saw, I set the depth of cut so that the kerf of the saw blade exits the cut. When doing so, the saw blade will cut into whatever is under your workpiece. That styro 4x8 sheet I got at Lowes is (guessing) 2” thick. It is sacrificial. 

As an aside, If you were cutting sheet goods like plywood, you could do the same thing. If I cut high grade plywood, I use MDF for my sacrificial base (not styro) This way the face of the plywood that is down doesn’t splinter out. This is one of a zillion reasons that I like to use track saw. I have a 5hp table saw and still break down sheet goods with the track saw. The only two tools I think are better than the track saw for this application are a panel saw or a cnc table. Neither are portable. 

Alternatively, you can use a circular saw or jig saw to cut the core. Just strike a line and follow it with the bade. You need to trust your hand and eye. It is a skill set, just like everything else. There are many ways to make the cuts. 

The styro board cost about $23.00 and should last for the whole beryllium build. Lowes also had blue insulation 4x8’ sheets which are 3/4” thick that I have used in the past. I liked this styro board because it was thicker.


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## omegadef (Jul 10, 2011)

Can you not tilt the blade on the saw the other way and cut from the other side?


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Great point. You are correct. That would work. 

I thought it would be easier to work by hand. I have two more 12’ boards to complete. Then I am done by hand. I am just trusting my personal skill set.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Scarphs complete.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Another method I used before and I hope I can explain well enough to visualize

Cut a hole in a piece of plywood that is as long as the scarph you need and the same width of the board. Screw a 1" piece to the underside at one end. Take the board and insert it in the hole from the underside and over the support you screwed on. Then support the board at the angle you want. Then use a planer to cut the top of the board off. The plywood form will support the planer and keep everything level.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

Mountolive said:


> *Just strike* a line and


That is a skill that many "just" don't get it quite right...

Although may not matter all that much if your not making a piano or a wood boat from scratch.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Pictures of my Festool track saw. 
The saw rides on the metal track (rail) that is shown. You just place the edge of the rail on the workpiece you intend to cut, set the depth of cut, and plunge the saw down. Then the saw rides along the track and cuts exactly where the edge of the track is located. 

@chrismorejohn used a jigsaw to cut out all the core for his #Beryllium, so I never got to show the track saw in action cutting H-80 core. Chris makes that old beat-up Hitachi jig saw look like a precision instrument. I paid a fortune for my Festool track saw. I got the Hitachi jig saw at a pawn shop for like $20. It just goes to show that you don’t need all the fancy tools to make a skiff. Additionally, @chrismorejohn bought the cheapest 15 amp table saw that Lowes sells (I think it was like $85.00 on sale last Friday). He used that table saw to make his rip cuts. Watching him work makes me realize how much I overthink this whole boatbuilding process.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Watching videos on YouTube of the tracksaw makes me want to bang my head on the wall a bit. This tool would have solved so many issues for me on various projects. I can't swing the Festool version right now, but I might pick up a cheaper one to beat on for a few years, then upgrade.


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

firecat1981 said:


> Watching videos on YouTube of the tracksaw makes me want to bang my head on the wall a bit. This tool would have solved so many issues for me on various projects. I can't swing the Festool version right now, but I might pick up a cheaper one to beat on for a few years, then upgrade.


The poor man's version is a 6' straightedge, 2 quick clamps and a known offset from the cut line... then your inexpensive skill saw gets pretty close results. Of course the more expensive plunge track saw does it more quickly


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## Pole Position (Apr 3, 2016)

yobata said:


> The poor man's version is a 6' straightedge, 2 quick clamps and a known offset from the cut line... then your inexpensive skill saw gets pretty close results. Of course the more expensive plunge track saw does it more quickly



Yeah...I made this several years ago, and it is serviceable, albeit nowhere near what the Festool can do.





 
be sure to watch the update:


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## WC53 (Dec 2, 2015)

The Makita tracksaw is pretty good, I cannot have anything nicer than that. There is even a Grizzly.

old school for me was a piece of doorskin with a piece of straight 3/8 x 2 molding down the center. I would then run my skillsaw down one side, cutting off the extra and it was set for the saw. I would always take my router with a plywood size bit down the other to make quick dadoos. Cheap to make in different sizes


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## Fishshoot (Oct 26, 2017)

It’s all about what you are cutting and final product. For stain grade finish carpentry a festool is unmatched for efficiency and accuracy. If something is going to be painted or covered up it isn’t really necessary. I haven’t used the makita system but I have a couple of their tools and they are good, I tend to avoid made in China tools, makita stuff made in Japan is excellent! The time saving is efficiency of festool is why I bought it, I got probably better than edges than my portable table saw even when I had Rousseau table for it.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

The DJ mixmaster whipping up some thickened Epoxy.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Gluing the scarph joints with thickened 2:1 epoxy. Lay the epoxy on the scarph cuts like peanut butter on bread. Join the boards together and use screws for your clamping pressure. I laid down wax paper on the mdf table and in-between the boards so the boards do not stick together. repeat. Repeat. Repeat.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I used sheetrock screws that @Chris Morejohn pulled out of his #beryllium jig. I stick my screws in paste wax so they go into the wood smoother. This is a habit from my furniture and cabinet making days. 

I did not predrill. So, I just took it slow with the coreless drill. A few boards split and that made me upset. I don’t like to work carelessly. I was concerned about the epoxy kicking too fast, but it was 50 degrees in the warehouse and kicking was not an issue. lame excuse for splits. Chris said not to worry about it. I need to hit the chill button sometimes. 

I used a small space heater That i stole from my office that my secretary uses to keep her feet warm in the winter. I directed the heat at the joints and that seemed to help a lot, although the warmth did not radiate to the opposite side. 
I went home and made dinner, then returned and moved the heater to the opposite side. 

@Chris Morejohn told me to trace the jig’s forms onto paper. So I got five done before I ran out of paper. Staples run today for more paper and then back to work.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Pole Position (Apr 3, 2016)

Thanks for the thorough documentation--you can't post too many pics. You guys are making it look easy.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

The poetry is the beauty of the lines. 

All 18 stations on one sheet. Just for the joy of looking at them.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I took off the stations so they could be duplicated. @Chris Morejohn was concerned that some of the stations could break when taking them out of the boat after the hull is glassed. Best thing to do is just make a new set of forms now to ensure they are identical.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I made pencil lines on the stations before unscrewing them, so I can make sure everything would line back up when re-assemblying.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

close up of the pencil lines.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I decided to make the duplicate stations out of 3/4” plywood instead of MDF. I can use the plywood to make many more copies of these stations in the future by using a shaper or a router with a pattern routing bit on it. I may want to make another pufferfish later, so I will have the plywood template to use in the future. 

After the plywood templates are made, I will use them to make a new set of stations out of MDF to complete the other half of the pufferfish. 

I just lay the stations on the plywood and trace them out. Then I cut each station into its own plywood rectangle with my track saw. I will take these rectangles to the bandsaw and cut the station shapes out. 

I took a lot of pictures of the track saw because some people asked about it. There are clamps used to hold the track onto the plywood so it will not shift during a cut. It helps make a safe cut as well. Your hands are not near the blade and are just holding the saw’s handles. 



















































































































template.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Screwing the stations back on to







the strong back.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I use a vacuum in conjunction with the tracksaw. It gets almost all the dust from a cut. I wanted to show how must dust I swept up after breaking down two 4x8 sheets of 3/4” plywood into 18 stations.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I am setting my depth of cut so that the full kerf of the blade exits the plywood on the bottom of the cut and plunges into the styrofoam that is below the plywood. The reason for setting the depth of the cut so deep is there is very little to no splintering due to the saw blowing out the back of the cut into the plywood. 

If I set the depth of cut to be shallower, there would have been less dust on the floor. In this application I made the priority to favor a cleaner cut on both sides of the plywood template instead of better dust extraction. 

I only bring this up because some folks were asking about the tool system I am using here.


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## Pole Position (Apr 3, 2016)

If I'm understanding this correctly, if the plywood is going to be templates, could you have used thinner--ie: lighter / cheaper--stock?


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

Mountolive said:


> I use a vacuum in conjunction with the tracksaw. It gets almost all the dust from a cut.


I do like that. 
I think I'll take a look to see if I can "retrofit" a saw or two to work with my garage vac.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Pole Position said:


> If I'm understanding this correctly, if the plywood is going to be templates, could you have used thinner--ie: lighter / cheaper--stock?


Yes. 1/4” would be fine for template routing. 

One of the things that is happening with this canoe build is each of the templates actually has a radius on it. The bends in the canoe from the middle of the boat to the bow are quite severe. I can show this better with a picture. 

I was going to explain it later as I finish the templates.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

This is Chris bending a batten over the stations. The station forms are not square, they have a bevel cut into them to allow the wood to bend over each station. (I mis-spoke in my last post and called the bevel a radius. Sorry.) it is a bevel. I’ll take a close up picture of the stations to show this bevel. 

If the templates are made from 3/4” ply, I can introduce the bevel into each of the template forms and then replicate the exact bevel in future MDF stations. 

If I use 1/4” ply for templates, I can only capture the shape of each form, and not the bevel. 

I will show the bevel, how to cut it, and how to replicate it, with photos as it happens.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Here is the bevel cut into one of the stations. I put a square that is referenced on the stern side of the station to give a photo of the bevel. Each station has a different bevel cut into it. The bevel was established with the wood batten that was used earlier in the build. Just place the batten on the stations with finish nails and see where the batten hangs up on the station, then grind / sand the bevel into the station to allow the batten to make a nice tight curve over the station. 

This takes a while to do, so I want to establish these bevels in the plywood templates so I don’t need to figure out the bevels again in the future. Also, if someone else wants to buy a plan from @Chris Morejohn and use my templates, they can duplicate my Pufferfish with less work. I like to do this work, so it is not a big deal. But sometimes you want to go faster on a build, so the templates will come in handy for speed. 

if I used 1/4” ply for the templates, the bevel angle couldn’t be duplicated. So, that is why the 3/4” ply was chosen.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Meanwhile.....Chris applying basalt with epoxy to his #beryllium 18 skiff project.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I hope you can see the bevel. Just taking more photos to illustrate.


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## derf1865 (Sep 22, 2018)

Mountolive said:


> *This joint is often misspelled as a scarf joint. A scarf is a long piece of cloth that people wrap or tie around their necks to keep warm. *
> 
> 
> View attachment 105634
> View attachment 105636


This almost made me spit dip spit everywhere whilst laughing.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

The templates were cut out of 3/4” plywood this evening. It took 4 1/2 hours to cut out the templates and sand to the line. 

For the cutting process: I used a combo of the bandsaw with a 1/4” blade and a jigsaw (festool jigsaw with a bosch coarse wood jigsaw blade in place). 

My bandsaw has a 13” throat so all the cuts could not be completed with the bandsaw. I can get right up to the line with the bandsaw with no tear out in the veneer of the plywood, so it helped me save time later when sanding to the line. The bandsaw’s blade only travels in one direction, in a circle from top to bottom, so the cut is very smooth and the cut holds the plywood workpiece down to the bandsaw table. It is a pleasure to use this tool. 

The jigsaw was less forgiving. When I was cutting against the grain on the upper veneers of the plywood with the jigsaw, there was quite a lot of tearout and my line was getting blown out with too many splinters. 

I dealt with this by just cutting well away from the line and then sanding the waste away. (More on the sanding process later.) 

The reciprocal nature of the jigsaw cut is prone to tear out in the cheap plywood, that I was using. 

Solutions to mitigate the tear out would be: using a finer toothed blade on the jigsaw, changing to a new sharper blade on the jigsaw, covering the line with clear packing tape, using a larger throated bandsaw, scoring the line with a marking knife or other small-sharp blade. There are probably other methods that I can’t think of at the moment. I chose to just take the get er done method and use the tool I had that was straight forward (jigsaw), cut away from the line, and follow up by sanding more waste until I reached the line. It was already past 8:30




























pm when I started working and sometimes you just have to get work accomplished. 

I don’t understand why my text appears below the pictures. My apologies. The second picture shows the form with black marker to make the pencil line more visible. The marker is a little outside the pencil line I drew, but it gives a sense of the form that was being cut into the template. 

the third photo shows the template cut out before being sanded to the line.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

I used a Ridgid brand oscillating spindle sander I got at a box store years ago with a 24” 80 grit ceramic belt of sandpaper for all 18 forms. I did not clean the sandpaper, like I would normally do, because I didn’t have a cleaner block in the warehouse. It did well for such a small tool, and only one belt used for all the forms, especially considering the amount of waste it needed to remove. 

i just played some music through my ear protection headphones and took my time. This is a job that refuses to be rushed. Think Coletrane. Think Billie Holiday.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Checking each form template against the original stations that @Chris Morejohn shaped to ensure they are duplicated. 

This is very satisfying.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Check, check, then check again. 

When the templates matched the originals, it was time to move on to the next template. 

I did this for the 18 stations of the pufferfish. 

I need to check my inside corners of the templates tomorrow and see if I should take a chisel to refine the places where the width of the sander did not allow access. I didn’t take the time this evening to establish whether or not this mattered. It is on my punch list. 

Why am I always double posting the same pictures? I am not sure how to ameliorate this twice picture posting problem I have.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Mountolive said:


> i just played some music through my ear protection headphones and took my time. This is a job that refuses to be rushed. Think Coletrane. Think Billie Holiday.


I just got a pair of these too -- I wish I had gotten them at the beginning of the build. Mine are the 3M WorkTunes. Actually enjoyed using them so much last night that I snapped a picture.









The build is looking great, and I love that you're taking the time to template the stations. How are you planning to record the angle of the bevel at each location? I assume it won't be uniform throughout the whole station, but maybe it will be close enough?


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## WC53 (Dec 2, 2015)

The worktunes are awesome!

I read some of the builds with all the CnC cut frames. Not fair, smart, not fair.

Was talking a potential build and track saws with my nephew who does jobsite work. He said he bought a Makita adapter that fits his cordless Makita saw and uses their track. He said it was pretty darn good. Not in the league of real track saw with plunge etc, but way better than a straight edge. I’ll give it a look when I see him in a couple weeks.

thank you for the updates and build thought process


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

bryson said:


> I just got a pair of these too -- I wish I had gotten them at the beginning of the build. Mine are the 3M WorkTunes. Actually enjoyed using them so much last night that I snapped a picture.
> 
> View attachment 108876
> 
> ...


It is nice to listen to music or a podcast while doing lots of repetitive work. 

Before I introduce the bevel into the templates, I want to make sure the templates are going to work out how I want them to be used for pattern routing. 

At this point I have the templates cut out and sanded accurately with no bevel. I plan to cut and pattern route the mdf stations next. I think I will see how the mdf stations look before I decide to bevel the templates. I want to make sure everything is working properly how I want it to come together. If all goes well, I can introduce the bevel into the templates. If there is an unforseen problem, I haven’t spent or wasted time with a bevel yet. This is all nee to me, so slow and methodical is my way forward. 

Yes, the bevel is different for each station. Zero in the middle then it gets more beveled as the stations move towards the stern and bow in order to accommodate the sharper bend in the stern and bow.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

WC53 said:


> The worktunes are awesome!
> 
> I read some of the builds with all the CnC cut frames. Not fair, smart, not fair.
> 
> ...


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Conchfish 16 wood build CNC stations. 









Making a list of the drawing measurements to input in the cnc software









Input of the coordinates into the cnc software. 























cnc tool making cuts in the 3/4 baltic birch plywood
















Finished product.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Regarding CNC cut stations: 
The conchfish 16 wood core build I was involved in used stations cut on a cnc tool. This skiff was completed early 2019. It was a team build. These stations were cut out of 3/4” baltic birch plywood. I did the math to get @CHRIS Morejohn’s station drawings into the computer software for the cnc machine. This was before Nate was making Chris’ drawings that can be translated into x,y,z coordinates for a cnc tool. To my knowledge, this Conchfish 16 was the first of Chris’ builds to use cnc stations. To my knowledge all the plans that are available going forward will have cnc information to enter into the machine’s software. This will save the end cnc user hours and hours of work translation the plans into the software and is a serious improvement in the plans. Chris is constantly adding incremental upgrades to his plans in an effort to help the end user. It is cool to see the plans evolve. It is cool to see so many builds going on all over the place. I’m just happy for everyone who is jumping in. Here are some of my thoughts on my CNC experience. 

The CNC:
I wanted to use the cnc machine because I was obsessed with tight tolerances. This comes from my furniture and woodworking background. A sloppy dovetail or mortise and tenon is going to look bad and will probably fail down the road. This is unacceptable for furniture or cabinet making. 

Re: Baltic Birch
I used baltic birch plywood for the cnc cut stations because I wanted the highest structural quality plywood available. I anticipated others on our build team wanting to make their own Conchfish 16 skiffs. The baltic birch will allow for many, many home-made skiffs to be built on these stations. It is very high quality and can handle lots of screws being placed and removed as others on the team start their personal builds. If MDF or OSB or another material was used, it couldn’t predictably tolerate so many boats being built off of it. 
Two build team friends are going to use the jig to make their own skiffs. My other friends are just waiting for the time to make their own. 

Please note. Everyone that builds a Morejohn design needs to pay for the plans. This means if ten people build a Conchfish 16 off the jig I am talking about, Chris gets paid for ten plans worth of $. It is the right thing to do. The plans are very inexpensive relative to the lifetime of information you get and Morejohn puts a lot of work into them. Respect the rules.
Don’t get on the naughty list. 

Re: Thoughts after the CF 16 build. 
I’m happy to have used the cnc tool and the baltic birch. The cuts were within 1/128” of the measurements that were input from the Conchfish plan. The baltic birch will handle enough builds to have everyone on our team to have made several skiffs on that jig. So, for the purposes the jig was created it was perfect. 

The cnc time and baltic birch cost me $1,200.00. At the time, it was hard to find a shop that had open cnc time for rent. Ironically, I have since found two shops close to me that will give me free cnc time. 

If I was going to build another skiff from scratch, and free cnc time wasn’t available, I would mark the measurements out on my station material and connect the dots and cut the stations out with a jigsaw. After making a skiff personally (wood CF16) and watching Chris build his Beryllium right next to me, while I’m working on the pufferfish, the tight tolerances I am used to from woodworking are not needed. In fact, the strictness I’m used to is not helpful. It slows everything down with no added benefit. You can allow for looser tolerances in your jig than a CNC provides. Like, way looser tolerances and still end up with a skiff that is identical to one made on tighter tolerances. The gaps and deviations are covered up with your foam core or wood core, this is sanded and shaped into the skiff’s hull form. You glass, you fair, you sand and shape. 

Think sculpting. Think shaping. Think artsy fartsy. Opposite of a lock and key super precise fit kind of mind set. Believe me, this is all out if my personal comfort zone. This is Mars for me. I’m learning to let go.

Painting and playing guitar are two different arts, just like boat building an furniture building are. You get the idea. It took me two years to chill and let this all sink in. Time. Age. Pain. It is all part of the growth process in building. I have learned that I can go way faster by just relaxing. Drink the Kool-Aid, Son. 

If I was building one skiff or two, there is no way baltic birch would enter the picture. I would use MDF or whatever. There is one aside to the material selection for the jig. I have been offered serious cash for the Conchfish 16 jig. It is well built and the skiff that came off it has been well regarded by heavy hitters, guides, and old guys walking their dogs near the boat ramp. This jig is not for sale. However, you may want to sell your jig to another person who has purchased plans or go 50/50 with a friend who wants to build one after you. Get the money upfront. Dreams need funding. If this is the case, a better quality jig may be something you want to consider. Remember every skiff needs a paid in full plan to go with it. 

Re: Makita track saw. 
catch me up with the intel. I would like to know your impressions on that tool.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Pattern routing.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Great pictures man, keep 'em coming!


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Stacking the recently routed MDF stations and templates next to the originals to make sure everything lines up. It looks good.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Tracksaw cutting the wide Cedar planks into strips. 




























I bought six more pre-made sawhorses at Lowes. I placed MDF on the horses and then another 4x8 sheet of styrofoam on top to cut the Cedar. It works great for a clean cut with no tearout.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

After the first board was cut into three strips, I used a block from the first cut I made as a gauge to set the track saw as shown in the pictures. This way I didn’t need to measure with a tape measure anymore.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

John and Chris are making a template put of cardboard. This was used to cut the okoume (I’m not sure if that is the correct spelling?) plywood out for the chine. 

The last two photos are bending a cedar strip around the jig. it looks good.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Capable hands. 

Cutting out the spray rail.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Once the spray rail was cut and fit, we made another pattern for the port side. Then, we made a third pattern as a template for the next #pufferfish19 sprayrail.


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## 17376 (May 5, 2017)

Sorry Kimes but I haven’t been following along..

I’m looking at the shape of this and I’m not understanding it. Is it going to be a two piece skiff?

sorry I’m advance for my stupidity if I missed it


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

The spray rail is 16’ +/- long. So it took two pieces of the 8’ long okoumie plywood (1/4” thick) to make the sprayrail go the intended length of the #pufferfish19 canoe. We made two identical sprayrails at the same time. Then, the template is cut for posterity’s sake.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Templates cut and marked with black permanent marker.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Marking off the bow flange. The star and port sides will glue together here. Took off the first two stations and made a paper template.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Transfer paper template from bow flange to okoukie ply. Then cut it out with the jigsaw.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Meanwhile @Chris Morejohn is frosting his cake with faring compound.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Sand to the line. Ridgid oscillating spindle sander with 80 grit 24”


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Fit the bow flange.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Templates. Not hard. Just trace paper and cut. Tape paper together. Trace on plywood. Jigsaw.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Stern paper templating.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Marker on outside of paper template. Jigsaw to outer marker line. Then spindle sand to inside marker line. Cut inside of template with a razor sharp knife to create a knifewall. Jigsaw to the knifewall. Why the knife instead of pencil or marker? It helps prevent tearout


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Mark the knifewall with pencil so you can see it better. Old man eyes need help.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Slow and steady. Don’t mess up. Morejohn is watching!


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Travis Smith said:


> Sorry Kimes but I haven’t been following along..
> 
> I’m looking at the shape of this and I’m not understanding it. Is it going to be a two piece skiff?
> 
> sorry I’m advance for my stupidity if I missed it


Hi. Yes. Two halves. The sprayrail, tight curve on bow and transom will not allow a full boat to come off a full jig. Everything would be too tight. 

So, the plan is: build the starboard side first, with a bow and stern flange. Glass with one layer basalt and epoxy. This will pop off the jig. 


Then, stations flip from bow to stern and repeat the process. This will make the port side of the canoe. It will also have bow and stern flanges. Glass with one layer basalt and epoxy. 

The bow and stern flanges will serve as a location to glue the starboard and port sides of the canoe together. This makes one boat. Glue with faring compound. 

Then, two more layers basalt over the whole canoe to make a single unified structure. #pufferfish19


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

This is what the jig would look like if it was made as a full canoe instead of a half canoe. 

The plywood is the port side the MDF is the starboard 

You can see the severe angle of the sprayrails.

If you glassed over the full boat, it would never pop off the jig.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Tape the stations. Screw the spray rail into the stations.


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## salt_fly (Apr 23, 2012)

Mountolive said:


> Tape the stations. Screw the spray rail into the stations.
> View attachment 110250
> View attachment 110252
> View attachment 110254
> ...



And now the matador shall dance with the blind shoemaker.
Very familiar line...What is that from?


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

salt_fly said:


> And now the matador shall dance with the blind shoemaker.
> Very familiar line...What is that from?



Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.


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## Battfisher (Jan 18, 2016)

salt_fly said:


> And now the matador shall dance with the blind shoemaker.
> Very familiar line...What is that from?


Talladega Nights - The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Greatest movie of all time - right ahead of The Highlander.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

The 7/8” thickness planed western red cedar had too much spring tension in the wood for the MDF and 2 1/2” fine threaded sheetrock screws to hold it in place. The wooden strips were pulling the screws out of the MDF. 

@Chris Morejohn made a kerf cut in the Cedar strips along their width. The photos show this cut very well. This relief cut allowed for less spring tension in the strips. It was a great idea and one that I didn’t think of. For me, this is another example of how it helps to always be listening and accepting of guidance. I had different ideas on how this problem could be fixed. All of mine would have taken an extra day of work. 

We got self tapping #10 size 3 1/2” star drive wood screws. $34.00 for five pounds. (I will re-use these on some other project. I like them quite a lot.) 

Two pilot holes are drilled. 
1. Same size as screw shaft as deep as the screw goes. This is to prevent splitting the MDF as the screw penetrates into the MDF. ( MDF does not allow for any flexing. So, a screw driving into the MDF with no pilot hole makes the material split out. This is bad because the MDF looses its ability to keep the screw in and then the cedar will pull the screw out of the MDF. )

2. Drill a larger drill bit size hole in the cedar. This allows the screw to float more freely in the Cedar.


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## Guest (Jan 8, 2020)

salt_fly said:


> And now the matador shall dance with the blind shoemaker.
> Very familiar line...What is that from?


Talladega Nights!


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## BassFlats (Nov 26, 2018)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Glue the kerfs. 

cut additional kerfs. 

screw the cedar planks to the jig.


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## BassFlats (Nov 26, 2018)

What's that? Is it variable speed? I've got about a half dozen hand saws hanging in the garage, haven't used them in years. Nice Disston you've got there. Fun fact: a member of the Disston family was one of the first to attempt to drain south florida.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Hi


BassFlats said:


> What's that? Is it variable speed? I've got about a half dozen hand saws hanging in the garage, haven't used them in years. Nice Disston you've got there. Fun fact: a member of the Disston family was one of the first to attempt to drain south florida.





BassFlats said:


> What's that? Is it variable speed? I've got about a half dozen hand saws hanging in the garage, haven't used them in years. Nice Disston you've got there. Fun fact: a member of the Disston family was one of the first to attempt to drain south florida.


Tthe jigsaw is a festool trion ps 300 eq. 

Bosch wood blade. 

I prefer hand sawing these kerfs. My brother, John likes the power better. He is older, so I let him do what he wants. 

I know nothing about the Disston family. I just like the saws. Garage sale purchase. I have a few. Did you learn about Disston family from a book?

I am interested to know more.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Saws.


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## BassFlats (Nov 26, 2018)

Nice set of saws. I believe it was the book titled The Swamp that had a chapter on one of the Disston family member who blew his fortune on trying to drain and develop the upper glades.


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## makin moves (Mar 20, 2010)

Mountolive said:


> Saws.
> View attachment 110750


I just started a tool thread in the off topic section. Please share some pics of the saws on the thread.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

BassFlats said:


> Nice set of saws. I believe it was the book titled The Swamp that had a chapter on one of the Disston family member who blew his fortune on trying to drain and develop the upper glades.


Ok. I have that book on my shelf. I haven’t read it yet. Thanks for telling me.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

makin moves said:


> I just started a tool thread in the off topic section. Please share some pics of the saws on the thread.


Ok.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Make sure you have some time if you start reading The Swamp by Grunwald... Me - I couldn’t put it down once I got into it.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

@Chris Morejohn showing how thick to make the cheese spread.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Current status.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Current status (more pictures )


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## Jred (Sep 22, 2013)

Mountolive said:


> Current status (more pictures )
> View attachment 111030
> View attachment 111032
> View attachment 111034
> ...


Maybe I’m missing something but will the shape of the bottom of this not make it have a permanent list to one side? I’m sure I’m wrong but it’s been on my mind for a few weeks haha


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## BadKnotGuy (Jul 8, 2012)

I believe you are looking at just one half of the boat. After the first side is built the second side is constructed then joined creating a symmetrical hull.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

BadKnotGuy said:


> I believe you are looking at just one half of the boat. After the first side is built the second side is constructed then joined creating a symmetrical hull.



Yes sir. The boat curves aggressively towards bow and stern. The spray rail is large. This will not allow the canoe to be made in one piece and pop off the jig. 

as in catamaran or trimaran construction, this #pufferfish19 will be made in two parts. Starboard (shown so far in the photos) and then port. 

The wood is Placed on the jig with screws. The wood strips are then epoxied together and then shaped. Then glassed and popped off the jig. 

next, flip the stations the opposite direction (everything facing the bow will be flipped to face the stern) and repeat the process to make the port side of the boat. 

after there are two completed glassed halves of the boat, you glass both sides together and have a full hull. Then you work on the interior of the hull. 

Boat building. One of one. Exciting stuff. I’m stoked.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Starboard.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Screws removed after epoxy cured 

View attachment 111734


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Looking good! Is the stern all closed up too? I feel like shaping that hull with the cedar planks will be so satisfying, especially with the nice hand tools you've got.

One idea -- I used a Stanley Surform that would probably do pretty well knocking off the epoxy peaks to get it ready for a hand plane. Not sure if it would be helpful in your application, but it's cheap enough to where it might be worth a shot if you plan to get after it with a hand plane.


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## Chris Morejohn (May 12, 2014)

Mountolive said:


> Screws removed after epoxy cured
> 
> View attachment 111734


epoxy and wood can be like a long lasting marriage.... having a bunch of screws at the beginning and over time can make things last.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## GaG8tor (Jul 8, 2019)

Nice. I was watching some YouTube videos the other night of a guy building strip plank kayaks. This will be a beautiful piece of art.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2020)

Chris Morejohn said:


> epoxy and wood can be like a long lasting marriage.... having a bunch of screws at the beginning and over time can make things last.


I just spit tea all over my work and myself, thanks... I needed that! Just had my grinder go up in smoke!


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## Pole Position (Apr 3, 2016)

Chris Morejohn said:


> epoxy and wood can be like a long lasting marriage.... having a bunch of screws at the beginning and over time can make things last.


You left out the part about both of them making you go broke when they fail.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Basalt. Two layers 12 oz.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Dreaming.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Every one of those charts shows where we are - most days on the water... 

Two things you can be sure of in the 'glades - no two days will ever be the same... and you could spend your entire life there - and never learn everything there is to know... After many, many years fishing that interior area I still get the occasional surprise - something I'd never seen before....

Just nothing like the 'glades.... it's my favorite place in this world.

What that chart isn't showing is just how much Middle Cape has opened up in recent years... It's really changed the north end of Ingraham... I tell my anglers that most of what we work around in the interior is actually only temporary... All it takes is a bad enough storm and entire islands can simply disappear overnight like they were never there at all...


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)




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## commtrd (Aug 1, 2015)

Another silly question: why are the strips 7/8", could they have been say 3/8" or even 1/4" thick and made it somewhat easier to conform to the curves and also weigh substantially less? Just wondering about logic in plan for utilizing 7/8" strips. In doing these builds, could balsa strips be used in place of core foam or solid wood strips? What will the canoe weigh estimated when complete? Anticipated draft?


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

canoe is going to look like a submarine.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

So much cool stuff going on in that shop! 2 layers of 12 oz and cedar core, that canoe is going to be indestructible!! Absolutely love it, guys. Great work.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Sanded inside. Epoxy Applied. Faring compound. Steaks and beers. Pura vida.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Inspiration


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Mountolive said:


> Inspiration


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## No Bait / Lures Only (Apr 10, 2011)

Mountolive said:


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Prime


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

commtrd said:


> Another silly question: why are the strips 7/8", could they have been say 3/8" or even 1/4" thick and made it somewhat easier to conform to the curves and also weigh substantially less? Just wondering about logic in plan for utilizing 7/8" strips. In doing these builds, could balsa strips be used in place of core foam or solid wood strips? What will the canoe weigh estimated when complete? Anticipated draft?


I think those are all good questions. . . I appreciate and welcome them. I’m also open to ideas. This specific pufferfish boat is more of a creative process than anything else. It would not be my only boat or my first build. This will be boat number 4 for me. 2004 Marquesa, 2017 Lithium, 2019 Conchfish, and now 2020 Pufferfish. It is something to push limits and explore design. I guess the wood thickness decision came down to a matter of personal preference.
The cedar wood could be thinner. I have a thickness planer and could have milled the wood down more. It could have been 1/2” 1/4” or 1/8” thick. The boat could be a lot lighter. I wanted the boat to be heavy and substantial. It is made to hunt from and go on long-distance extended camping trips in the glades. Get on the boat and stay on her for 10 days straight exploring. Going deep deep into the glades. Places that I have never been. Draft and weight were not high on the list as concerns for this build. It will draft shallow enough for what I want it to do. I forgot what Chris calculated the draft would be. I could never lift a 19’ boat with fuel and a motor on it anyways. I’m strong but this boat is pretty big. Too big to carry. I can advise on the final weight after she is built. 

the thickness of this cedar has been challenging to work with. The steep angles at the bow and stern were difficult to bend. The strips needed to have kerf cuts lengthwise (bow to stern direction) in order to bend without breaking. These kerfs were made with a jigsaw and took a lot of work. It took two weeks to strip the starboard half of the boat. My brother, John flew up from S. Florida to help during week one and Chris helped me on week two. 

my plan for the port half is to cut the kerfs into the 12’ boards with my bandsaw prior to gluing them up into 24’ long boards. I think the bandsaw will be much more efficient. Also, cutting the boards when they are 12’ long instead of 24’ will be easier. I’m planning to make a steam box to steam the cedar strips and get them to bend easier. We’ll see if this helps. It is an iterative process. It is fun. 

I have not worked with balsa wood. I’m not sure about how a boat would come out with balsa. I just do not have any experience with it.

I could have made the puffer out of carbon fiber and 1/4’’ h-80, but that wasn’t the direction for this boat. It is really more like a concept boat. I just can’t get those old wooden Lake Tahoe boats out of my mind. Old school. Kodak pictures of my Grandpa Chuck with his captain’s hat on - the kind that is white with a black brim and gold embroidered anchors on it. Smoking a cigarette with a gold chain around his neck and my Grandma Gloria next to him. Perfect hair. Drinking a martini Everyone smiling. 1960’s having a big old time. Just classic memories in my mind. I wasn’t there, but the stories are still told and the photos fill in the blanks. Soul. 

Just pushing a cool looking design into reality. Wow. It is a cool experience to do that. To make something of value to enjoy with your friends and kids. I fell in love with the drawing Chris showed me and wanted to see it made, so that is the motivation. If it doesn’t work, then I got to build a boat next to Chris Morejohn. Apprentice next to the master. I couldn’t miss the chance to work alongside Chris. If that is the only thing that happens, then that is good enough for me. He’s a legend and I’m learning so much from him. He is nice and generous and kind. He wants regular knuckleheads like me to have the ability to build the latest and greatest designs. It is really an amazing experience. I feel very lucky.

I templated the forms for the jig, so many many more of these boats can be made. Maybe I make a lighter build next. I just don’t know. I like that Turbot boat design Chris just put online. It looks super cool and is probably more practical than the pufferfish. 

I’m so wood core focused. I just like the feel of wood core better than foam core. Wood is fun to work with and the boat feels like a more substantial vessel when running. I like how the wood core Conchfish rides, turns, poles. It takes longer to build and costs more money, but it is worth is to me. I haven’t taken anyone on the wood conchfish that has said it should have been core instead of wood.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Bandsaw kerfs cut. I probably don’t even need the steam box anymore


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2020)

Mountolive said:


> I think those are all good questions. . . I appreciate and welcome them. I’m also open to ideas. This specific pufferfish boat is more of a creative process than anything else. It would not be my only boat or my first build. This will be boat number 4 for me. 2004 Marquesa, 2017 Lithium, 2019 Conchfish, and now 2020 Pufferfish. It is something to push limits and explore design. I guess the wood thickness decision came down to a matter of personal preference.
> The cedar wood could be thinner. I have a thickness planer and could have milled the wood down more. It could have been 1/2” 1/4” or 1/8” thick. The boat could be a lot lighter. I wanted the boat to be heavy and substantial. It is made to hunt from and go on long-distance extended camping trips in the glades. Get on the boat and stay on her for 10 days straight exploring. Going deep deep into the glades. Places that I have never been. Draft and weight were not high on the list as concerns for this build. It will draft shallow enough for what I want it to do. I forgot what Chris calculated the draft would be. I could never lift a 19’ boat with fuel and a motor on it anyways. I’m strong but this boat is pretty big. Too big to carry. I can advise on the final weight after she is built.
> 
> the thickness of this cedar has been challenging to work with. The steep angles at the bow and stern were difficult to bend. The strips needed to have kerf cuts lengthwise (bow to stern direction) in order to bend without breaking. These kerfs were made with a jigsaw and took a lot of work. It took two weeks to strip the starboard half of the boat. My brother, John flew up from S. Florida to help during week one and Chris helped me on week two.
> ...


Build it how you want, don’t let us second guess! IMO, you are doin a fine job and have the man there with you. Nothing wrong with a little heavier boat that is more substantial for them deep Glades excursions! Carry on brother!


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## Scott (Aug 24, 2015)

About time for an update. Are you done?


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## makin moves (Mar 20, 2010)

Scott said:


> About time for an update. Are you done?


He isn't working on it. Covid 19 lock down.


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## Chris Morejohn (May 12, 2014)

Eric Kimes owns the shop where I am building the Beryllium skiff. Because of the covid event Eric no longer comes into the shop where the skiffs are. We are self isolating and distancing. If he or his wife needs to do something in the warehouse they let me know and I leave. So the Pufferfish is 1/2 built at this stage. I will be done hopefully this month with the Beryllium skiff and then Eric can start up again on the Puffers other side. 
I am a self employed uninsured worker so I thank the Kimes very much for giving me my space during these times.


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## omegadef (Jul 10, 2011)

Would be cool to get an update on this one, I know better than most about how these things can drag on. 
It's a neat boat design, something that can't really be bought.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

omegadef said:


> Would be cool to get an update on this one, I know better than most about how these things can drag on.
> It's a neat boat design, something that can't really be bought.


Hi. She is all lonely, waiting to be finished. The wife broke her leg last December, then COVID hit and I had to focus 100% on the business and kids being out of school. I'm in the medical trade, so it got real very fast with COVID. I'm just trying to keep my head above water. Good news is I have all the materials ready to get cracking once things get back to normal. We are all healthy and happy, and that is the most important thing. I'll keep the posts flowing once the waters calm down and I can spend time on my personal projects.


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## Littlefish (11 mo ago)

Any update? I have been a finish carpenter/woodworker/cab installer/building contractor, and I had a hard time wrapping my head around parts of this build. Was really wanting to see how it comes together, and cudos on taking this project on.


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## Mountolive (Mar 21, 2016)

Littlefish said:


> Any update? I have been a finish carpenter/woodworker/cab installer/building contractor, and I had a hard time wrapping my head around parts of this build. Was really wanting to see how it comes together, and cudos on taking this project on.


Hi. You can DM me your number and I can go over the build with you. Thanks, Eric


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Hey mount olive, just curious if you knew did Chris over finish the plans for the 21 for offshore skiff. He was naming it the spearfish 21 on his blog. Just didn’t know and with current gas prices I was thinking about building a larger skiff to run the beaches and hit reefs on certain days.


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