Well, since I inadverantly ended lurkerdom by sending a message to the
list which I intended to send to the original poster (hum, haven't I
seen that line before...:-) herewith a brief bio.

I'm an electronic/computer engineer for Motorola, in south Florida
(south Florida is _the_ old tool hell, being absolutely the last part of
the country to be settled - if you doubt it, consider the population of
this county was in the single digits at the turn of the century).

I'm self taught at woodworking, which means I know next to nothing about
it and am good at even less.

I'm drawn to old tools from two perspectives, one being there use as
tools (I'm building a boat, a project which requires handtools - you
have to move the tools to the project, not the project to the
tools); and the other being a long standing interest in the history
of almost anything.

Now back to lurker status....

John

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John McCoy mccoy@p... excp01@e... Motorola Inc Radio Products Group 8000
W Sunrise Blvd Plantation FL 33322

On Aug 22, 15:17, Taylor, William J wrote:
> Subject: RE: very belated bio

> C'mon John. We need details. What kind of boat, how long under
> construction, what tools etc.

Think I covered most of this answering Ed Bell, but not what tools...

#4, #5, and #7 planes - mostly the #4 for planing bevels & trimming
overlaps and general smoothing - I just got a #3 but haven't degunked
and sharpened it.

block planes, including the #160 (is that the right number? - the one
where the side comes off so you can use it as a rabbet plane - a very
useful plane), a #93 rabbet (which is the wrong one, but it's what I got
- lapstrake boats need a beveled, sloped rabbet called a gain cut near
the bows, for which you need a plane narrower than the rabbet, so I
really needed the #92. If I were building a serious seagoing boat I
guess I'd need a #10)(incidently, I can't imagine how to cut a gain with
a power tool).

Drills & screwdrivers (straight, since that seems to be what the makers
of bronze screws like). (still looking for a nice brace, and a long
auger for a couple of long holes yet to come).

A non-descript but old Disston crosscut, a new but dull backsaw, a
coping saw.

Some files and chisels - late model Stanleys :-(

A vast number of clamps.

A bandsaw (I know it's a powertool, but it'd be a lot harder building a
boat without it).

A measuring tape, a steel rule, 3 or 4 squares, a couple of bevel
squares, a framing square.

Seems like I'm forgetting stuff...it seems to take a bunch of tools to
build even a small boat.

> By the way welcome and the customary penalty for posting personal mail
> to the list is you have to shine the spittoons unless Paddy has come
> up with some other more disgusting job lately.

Given what I've read from O'deen, I think I'll happily polish the
spittoons afore he thinks of something worse.

John

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John McCoy mccoy@p... excp01@e... Motorola Inc Radio Products Group 8000
W Sunrise Blvd Plantation FL 33322

Doggone, for some reason the mailer addressed this to Ed, instead of the
listserv (didn't even know it could do that, it sure doesn't when I want
it to). Oh well, try again...

On Aug 22, 14:44, Ed Bell wrote:
> Subject: Re: very belated bio John McCoy wisely wrote:
> >
> > I'm building a boat
>
> Hi. Care to elaborate? What size, style? Are you working from some
> standard plans? Is this the first boat you've built? I'm wondering
> because, long term, this is something that I think about doing.

It's a shellback dingy - 11 1/2 feet, lug rig. I'm building it from
plans & a book I got thru Woodenboat magazine. Mahogany (actually
Okoume) ply lapstrake hull, mostly mahogany for the other bits, held
together with bronze screws and (lots of) West system epoxy. I've been
working on it for around 10 months, between interruptions, and hope to
be out rowing by years end (one advantage to the south Fla location, I
can go rowing in winter time).

This is my first boat. In hindsight, it is a little ambitious for a
first boat, altho someone with better woodworking skills than I might
not think so. It seems to me in boatbuilding there are some dimensions
which are critical, and some where you have some leeway; you need
experience to know which ones you really need to be carefull with, and
to train your eyes (I'm thinking of planking bevels in particular
here). I guess that's not so different from most anything else in
woodworking tho.

If I were starting over I think I'd build one of Dynamite Payson's
boats first - I've been reading his "building the new instant boats". I
think something like that would teach you "what looks right" and give
you something inexpensive to play with before tackling a more
traditional design.

John

(just say  I'd have my eye on the plans for some bigger boats, if I
only had a barn to build them in)

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John McCoy mccoy@p... excp01@e... Motorola Inc Radio Products Group 8000
W Sunrise Blvd Plantation FL 33322

I wrote:
> I've had great luck cutting gains with just a backsaw and a
> chisel.

John replied:
<<>>>>

Because the gains taper away at a constant rate, I begin the
cut at the end of the strake, taking the kerf down about
halfway through the strake, then lower the heel of my
backsaw with each stroke until it just touches the plank at
the start of the gain.  (I cut with the toe of the saw at the end
of the strake with heel toward the middle.)   Making the kerf
too deep at the start of the gain won't hurt much --epoxy will
fill the kerf--but go too deep at the end of the plank and you're
in trouble--it could split.

Paring away the veneers with a sharp chisel is a joy, and you
can use the glue lines as a reference to keep the gain
tapering away at a constant rate.

I cut gains only on the upper-edge, outer side of the strake,
leaving almost a feather edge at the end of the gain.  The
other method is to go only half the thickness of the strake,
and then cut a matching gain on the lower-edge, inside of the
adjoining strake.  This later method, though stronger, is
unnecessary on plywood/lapstrake/epoxy boats, IMHO.

-Gil

Bill Taylor writes of John McCoy's bio:

>
>C'mon John.  We need details. What kind of boat, how long under 
>construction, what tools etc. By the way welcome and the customary 
>penalty for posting personal mail to the list is you have to shine the 
>spittoons unless Paddy has come up with some other more disgusting job 
>lately.
>

C'mon Bill. How long under construction? What an unfair thing to ask a
Galoot. I sometimes get a little embarrassed when I'm asked that of some of
my personal projects. My wife often threatens to notify the media when I
finish something. Oops, did I say often? Well it's not really often, but she
does say that almost every time. 

Near as I can tell, around here ya gotta find just the right tool for each
step. That's only 12 first mondays a year. (Oh, Man I just realized
something! How many "oldtools" shopping days till Christmas? Just four?) I
think one of the Galoot rules is that you have to post when you finish
something. And the subject line has to be capitalized. 8^)

Anyway John, welome. I can tell that boat is going to be beautiful, just
take your time.

Larry Williams