Building an Adirondack Guideboat- Odds and Ends

There are some clean-up details before I can varnish the inside of the hull and truly head for home with this boat.  The rib ends were purposely extended up from the sheer plank and now must be trimmed off to make them flush with that final plank.  I thought I would use a flush cut saw for that task.  The one I have used in the past was a bit flimsy and not suitable for the more demanding work that this require.  I checked out the Japan Woodworker catalog and found a single blade saw (part no. 155648) that should do the trick.

When it arrived I knew right away that it was authentic.

Flush cut saw from Japan Woodworker
Flush cut saw from Japan Woodworker as it arrived.
Flush cut saw
Flush cut saw

It turned out to be a great buy.  It has just the right stiffness for cutting off the rib ends and cuts on the pull stroke which is nice.  So here it is in action.

Cutting off the nub ends of the ribs.
Cutting off the nub ends of the ribs.

As you can see I decided to get a bit fancy and cut the ribs on a slight downward slope.  This turned out to not be such a hot idea.  On several of the ribs I cut into the brass screw fastening the plank to the rib.  Oops!  Well, it reminds me of the fossilized flies I have seen embedded in amber.  I guess it will be a topic of conversation, as they say.

Screw exposed while cutting off end of rib.
Screw exposed while cutting off end of rib.

The final duty in “Odds and Ends” was to plug the holes left when the bottom board was fastened to the builder’s jig beam.  This, of course, is a must do.  Otherwise, launching day would become “foundering day”.

Plugging the holes in the bottom board.
Plugging the holes in the bottom board.

I used a 3/16″ dowel and tapped it into the hole.  It fit tightly enough so that no glue was required.

Now on to the tedium of varnishing the inside of the hull.

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