Within six months, Justin had gained an understanding of the boat building process and found himself in leadership positions. He also brought his brother, Ian, into the work through a work-study program during Ian’s senior year of high school.

By the time Mad River Canoe moved to North Carolina in 2001, Justin and Ian found themselves committed to Vermont-based boat building, and began working for Adirondack Guideboat.

It was there that they built their first wooden boats.  “They gave us a kit and they timed us,” Justin said. “We had to follow the manual and not get a lot of help. It took us 300 hours to build a 15-foot guideboat.”

Since then, he and Ian have probably built about 30 more wooden boats – and they’ve become owners of the company, purchasing it in 2012.

The majority of Adirondack Guideboat’s work is composite boats, rather than wooden, but even in those cases, there is wood involved, on the top of the boat, with pieces like the trim or the seats being made from cherry.

“The majority of our woodworking is making small parts to go on boats,” Justin said. They make things like a fishing rod holder, or motor mounts, and “we build our own oars. That’s pretty much another full-time job.”

Since coming to Adirondack Guideboat, the brothers have increased efficiency, Justin said. “We’re using better jigs and better tools. We’re now purchasing bigger and stronger stuff, that makes our jobs easier.”

Most recently, that was a resaw, which has replaced the use of a table for a lot of milling work. “We’ve saved a lot of material,” Justin said. “We’re doing the job safer and definitely more efficiently.”

They’ve also reduced the weight of one of their boat offerings. A 12-foot ultra-light solo packboat that used to weigh in at 49 pounds has now been reduced to 34 pounds. “Every material you use, you try and get both strength and also a light weight,” Justin said.

For the wooden boats that they build, that means Western red cedar, with the additions of cherry, spruce for the ribs and pine for the bottom board. “Cedar is really porous, which makes it lightweight,” Justin said, and, when the boat is finished, fiberglass is applied to the outside, then epoxy applied over that. “That helps strengthen the cedar as well,” he said.

The Adirondack Guideboat wooden boats are strip-built, Justin said, with their ribs a particular source of pride. Whereas many boat builders will use a form cut out with a CNC router, Justin and Ian use a steambox to create a form for laminating the spruce ribs. “Our ribs are in the boat; that gives you the shape and the function,” he said.

While they can build the hull of a boat in a few days, “there’s a lot of tedious work sanding,” Justin said, “finishing out the build so it’s smooth, using a hand plane. “

But, he added, “Every time you build a boat, the final product makes it worth it. If you’re making something you love, it’s not just a job, it’s something you enjoy. We’ve always been boaters, and owning a boat business in Vermont that’s successful is a dream come true.”

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With the drill press unplugged, you can now use the quill to press the insert down against its pilot hole squarely, while turning the chuck by hand. Once it’s threaded into the wood a few turns, you can unclamp the drill press chuck and finish the job by twisting the nut with a wrench the rest of the way to seat the insert.

-Bill Wells
Olympia, Washington

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-John Cusimano
Lansdale, Pennsylvania

The post Foam Backer Rod Keeps Holes Finish-free appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Portamate’s new PM-1800 Panel Carrier offers a solution: it is designed to do double duty, saving you from back strains and making it safer to cut large sheet goods on your table saw. Made of tubular steel, the Panel Carrier has a hand-truck style handle with a 2-1/4-in.-wide bottom lip that can support two to three sheets at a time. The handle is mounted to a fold-open base that triangulates to form a vertical stand for loading sheet goods, plus of pair of 6-in.-dia. inline rubber wheels that help you roll the material to your saw. Once there, the black handle can be swiveled and locked to horizontal, and telescoping arms enable it to be raised or lowered to between 28 and 40 inches, so you can adjust its height to meet your saw table. Then, you can then use the Panel Carrier as an infeed stand for feeding the sheet through the saw.

When not in use, the PM-1800’s stand folds flat for storage.

“It’s a cumbersome job to cut materials such as plywood and other large, hard-to-carry materials without assistance,” says Todd Gluski, Marketing Brand Manager of Portamate’s parent company Affinity Tool Works. “We designed the Panel Carrier to allow an individual to more easily move, position and cut a full sheet of plywood on a table saw when they don’t have assistance.”

Rated for a 350-lb. load capacity, the Portamate PM-1800 sells for $109. It can be purchased now through select Portamate dealers, and it will be available on Portamate’s online store in March. To find a Portamate dealer in your area, click here, and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Or call 866-588-0395. To watch a video of the PM-1800 Panel Carrier in action, click here.

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Tim Inman: Your question makes me think of my grandfather. When confronted by similar questions he often could be heard to say, “Don’t send a boy to do a man’s job.” I think that’s my best answer for you, too. Planing wood to thickness is a pretty brutal task, and a precision task as well. I’d either use the real thing, or get my wood planed by somebody who had a real thickness planer.

Chris Marshall: Ron, if you want to learn more about handheld power planers, we covered them in our “Shop Test” department in the August 2011 print issue of Woodworker’s Journal (page 50). You can read the article online, for free, as part of our new premium content, provided you’re a paid subscriber. (All of our back issues of the magazine are now online and available to paid subscribers with an account number.) Click here to learn more about that.

But taking a step back, I agree with Tim. The better tool for thicknessing stock is a dedicated benchtop planer (see photo, above). They don’t take up much storage space, even in a small shop, and they work great for reducing boards up to about 12- or 13-in. wide (depending on the planer) down to whatever thickness you need them to be. Once you have a benchtop planer, I bet you’ll never regret the decision – you finally won’t be limited to paying pre-planed lumber prices or using just ¾-in.-thick stock anymore.

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The full bed can be left in place, or moved to another location. There are also full depth storage drawers below the Full Bed and a built-in lighted book case for the Loft Bed.

– Tom Stephan; Toccoa, GA

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“To me, I find that ‘woodworking moment’ most often after I’m done sanding my project.  With most projects, that is always a time-consuming and tedious task, but I love the feel of the wood at that stage. That feeling is often augmented by the relief that all the sanding is complete and the anticipation of what the finish will bring out of wood!” – M. Mathias

“When you run your hand over the project and realize that the last grit of sandpaper did the job. That is a really satisfying moment for me.” – Rich Flynn

“Seemingly each time I build a project, there seems to always be some sort of glitch or complication that I had not figured on. It may be in the hastily drawn plans or a cut that’s wrong. When I find the proper solution, it is always a good feeling, and usually the rest of the project comes together.” – Tim Harrelson

“I have experienced those moments and more. The most rewarding for me, and perhaps others, is the moment prior to turning off the power in my shop and knowing I am leaving the shop clean, organized and ready for the next day’s work. Coming into a clean and organized shop does not mean I will have a better result, but it does encourage me to have the enthusiasm and ambition to finish the task.” – Bob Widder

“I love to make trestle tables and benches. What makes it all come together for me is when I tap the peg on the outside of the leg to tighten everything together and the tone changes and I know it is tight. Throw in some bird’s-eye and a 300 CD player, and life is good.” – Kevin Nee

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