Prunus Serotina Beams Consummatum Est

November 15, 2015  Hours spent building to date: 1,692

A short week due to a trip to Miami University of Ohio to see the movie The Martian (and visit John).  The movie was great and so was John.  He took a Field Botany course to knock off a life sciences requirement, got an A and now knows the Latin name, characteristics and uses of every tree in Ohio.  His notebook is a work of art.  I commented that perhaps he should become a botanist, and asked him what a botanist does.  “Teach botany” was the only thing he could come up with, so I guess we will stick with engineering.  But perhaps there is a Wooden Boat guy lurking somewhere deep within.

Spent the remainder of the week smoothing and trueing up the beautiful cherry (prunus serotina) beams.  It has been a struggle, but they are finally looking okay.  I also framed up the foredeck hatch opening, which seems to make the whole area look better.

One big job coming up before the roof goes on:  the carlins (fore and aft pieces that hold up the beams) are a lamination of tough douglas fir (pseudotsuga menziesii) and marine plywood (lignum expensivis) that are close to two inches across and square.  They have to be rounded off to match the roof line, so I will have to break out the planers, saws, grinders and jackhammers to get them down to size.