Cahokia SUP blade

Recently we cast the new shape of the Cahokia blade.  It came out great.
The laminate schedule we are using right now is
6oz
6oz
mat cloth
These layers are set in pigmented Vinyl Ester resin.
Our pigment collection at this point includes deep blue, white and black.
The white arrived today so our next blade will be all white.  It might be a good background for graphics.
Here is the front half of the blade fresh out of the mold and the next shot is the bonded blade.

Varnish day

This morning we masked off the Mississippi River Skiff in preparation for it's varnish.
I decided to use a satin varnish on the sole and gloss everywhere else in the interior.  Around mid afternoon the sun was off the boat so we sprayed the sole and by late afternoon we began on the gloss work.
The oars also got a coat.
The outboard was scratching the woodwork so before the masking we bent and installed a 1/16 inch brass plate on the transom.  It looks sharp and will take the abuse better than varnished cherry.

Summer weather

Memorial day in the midwest is when you can count on hot.  This weekend we are in for three days of 98 degree weather.  Nice.
Perfect for boat work under the tree canopy.  Here are the boats with various projects underway...

Nice to come home to!

The sweet wife of course, but also a new sail kit from Sailrite!
This is their kit for a Footloose sail (item # 2938W )
Here is the link:
Sailrite kits
We are going to demo the sailing canoe for a interested individual and need to get a fresh sail.
It is a sprit sail designed for a 15 foot dingy.  It will provide plenty of power for the canoe.
The canoe is long, narrow and slick.  We flew with a sail that was 2/3s the size of this sail.

New shop

Our new digs is a house and garage built in the thirties in what must have been deep in the country back then.  The owner told us that the family that built the place built the shop first and lived in it while they built the house.

Shop prep: stir sticks

I don't like to buy resin stir sticks when I have a perfectly good table saw.  But at the same time, cutting a hundred little sticks takes too long.  So I have a compromise solution.  I buy pine shims from the box hardware stores.
They are a great shape to work with because they taper to nothing.
They cost $1.86 for 12.
Then I cut them in half.  The price per stick is now in my budget.
But the trick it to run them through the table saw while they are still in their shrink wrap.
I set the blade to cut half way through the package, then run them through on both sides.  This helps keep the package together and keeps the cut under control.

Fine tuning our blades

After some sea trials with Hemel in Seattle, our blades are getting some tweaks.
We have two SUP blades we are working on so to identify them we have given them working names.
The Cahokia blade as designed in blue and with a more rounded tip, in orange:
The sharper edge was a little too biting.
The overall length of this blade is 15.75 inches to the ferrule seat.

The Osage blade performed well as designed but for esthetics we decided to make the side profile a more graceful curve.

The king is dead, long live the king.

Elsah Boat is now an archive of posts form 1/2011 to 4/2012.  It will remain up on blogger but our new name and web home will be:
Sea State Marine
To visit our previous blog, follow this link:
Elsah Boat