WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?
By Steve Bosquette
Mt Laurel, NJ
|
I
have been a long time contributor and reader of Duckworks. Over
the years it has been almost a daily ritual to open the site and
see what's new.
Now
that some years have passed I thought it might be a good idea to
revisit some of the original ideas that folks have contributed.
There is a treasure trove of useful “how to's” and
gadgets to put to good use contained in the archives. I ran the
idea by Chuck and he thought it worthy of publishing. Periodically
I will pick out some of the GEMS and share them here. |
#1 |
The
very first “how to” that I remember in Duckworks was
by Dave Beede. I even made a few of these for my boat, worked
quite well. |
|
Quick
and Dirty Cleats
By
David Beede |
David
Beede builds boats and musical instruments in Florida,and
considers himself a wannabe inventor; I'd say he really is one. |
Here
are some cleats I've come up with made from plastic tubing. These
are very "quick and dirty." I made all of the ones
pictured in about an hour. The material cost is negligible. This
ivory colored plastic pipe, (I believe it's called CPVC)
is available in different diameters. The brand name on it is
Coastline.
The ones in the pictures are 5/8" I.D. and about
7/8" O.D. Make sure you sand all edges pretty smooth to
prevent line chafe. These are my first experiments so I don't know
about UV resistance or longevity. I'll keep you posted. |
CLICK
FOR FULL ARTICLE |
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#2 |
Very
early on Dave Gray introduced the boat building world to polytarp
sails. Check out his fine article from his site. |
CONSTRUCTION
GUIDE FOR MAKING
HIGH
PERFORMING POLYTARP SAILS
By Dave Gray
All
Rights Reserved
White
polytarp sails or PolySails are
inexpensive polyethylene sails that are simple to construct and
nearly indistinguishable from traditional sails in looks and
performance. Using one of our White PolySail Kits and the
following simple construction process, even a novice can create a
taped PolySail within
a few hours. Most customers are able to make a sail in the morning
and be on the water by afternoon. Allow additional time for
constructing and rigging multiple sails, large complex sails, and
sewn sails
PolySails
are constructed to take advantage of the materials’s
strength, stretch, and resiliency. Polytarp or polyethylene is all
around us today in everything from those flimsy-looking plastic
grocery bags that still manage to hold a gallon of milk safely to
Waste Management’s Bagster that holds 3300 lbs. of
remodeling trash. And, like most of today’s sails, it is a
light, strong synthetic that can be shaped without paneling into a
high-performing sail. These instructions are based upon over 16
years of experience in constructing hundreds of PolySails. Simply
follow the steps below to become a believer. |
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FOR FULL ARTICLE |
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#3 |
Transporting
a dinghy can be challenging. Dale Ruth has devised a couple of
neat ideas to make this easier. |
A
Boat Design, Cart and Cartop Securing Method
by
Dale Ruth [email protected]
After
successful completion of several built ' Instant Boats ' - the "
Elegant Punt ", four " Pointy Skiffs " and a "
June Bug ", the desire to try my hand at designing my own
boat was a passion that played repeatedly in the back of my mind.
When my last and only boat was sold, that temptation had now
become too overwhelming to resist! With tools and materials in
hand, no actual drawn up plans to follow and armed only with the
experience and knowledge acquired from having built the
aforementioned boats, I came up with a fine craft that met all of
my expectations and more!
I
call her the " Bol-Pay "
- in recognition of Phil Bolger's indisputable boat designing
skill, and for Harold " Dynamite " Payson's well written
books that can teach just about anyone, regardless of woodworking
experience, on just how easy it can be to build your very own boat
and amazingly, in no time at all. |
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TO SEE FULL ARTICLE |
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#4 |
Errol
Flynn gives some easy to follow steps for adding graphics to you
boat. |
Graphics
Made Easy
by Errol
Flynn |
...so you say
you cant even draw flies (your fishing buddies may beg to differ)
no you don't have to be an artist I'm certainly not!...so keep on
reading.
After gettin'
busted by my squeeze sponge painting the name on her flat-rat (I'm
still hearing Martha what's her name jokes) the neighbors even
came over to see what was so #%^$& funny.. I tried to tell her
I was sponge painting in a very manly way!!
Materials for
this design
|
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TO SEE FULL ARTICLE |
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