BYYB Forums

We've all hopefully been busy. The jaws look nice. I'm not sure what fastener you're referring, I can't make them out well enough.

Greetings,

Obviously, some assembly is required.

So we will cut out one of Timo's gaff jaws, duplicated it, flip it over, and attach them to a short length of gaff, and we have ...



I think what Timo is asking is ...

What do you call this keyhole slot used to retain the strop that will attach the throat halyard tackle to the gaff?


Cheers,
Tom

Bridle mount holes?

Tom, that was a great picture you fabricated. At first I was was wondering if I did post pictures of the finished jaws after all  ;D ???

But no, I forgot my camera when I assembled them. Here is the pic of the real ones


This is the thingie I was talking about. This one is at the peak to accomodate the peak haliard´s peak end and a strop for flag hoist, topsail sheet and what not.


There is another one down the gaff for the other end of the peak haliard bridle. This one has several holes to allow for fine tuning the balance without moving any fasteners.


Yesterday I made the staves for the bowsprit and it was a lot easier than the wee sticks for the gaffs. It is so much easier to work when there is a reasonable amount of material involved. The gaffs reminded me of some model building I have done in the past.


I decided to use an intermediate version between symmetrical and assymmetrical staves. I found that the smaller edge was too small to keep the staves in right location so I decided to do the extra work in rounding the spar. It is not that much work with a good jointer and planing is a job I enjoy.

Those wooden fair leads/terminations look great, I usually just use a line strop or metal hoop or eye. If you rig the gaff as I drew it, the bridle will self align during hoisting and lowering operations. It appears the multiple hole fair lead is on the bottom side of the gaff, is this correct?

Yes, they are both on the bottom side. The idea is just to keep the strop in place while the actual load is carried by the strop being looped around the spar.

In practice I think you'll find a constricting hitch will keep the strop in place without the need for a specific "place holder". The traditional method would be one of two common choices; the first would be to employ a constricting strop and slide it around until the perfect location was found. Then a few strokes of varnish on the under side of the strop would lightly glue the strop to the gaff, fixing it's location, but permitting easy removal. The second option would be to again use a constricting strop to find the right location, then carve a very shallow groove for the strop and also using varnish or shellac lightly glue the strop into the groove. This groove would be very shallow as to not threaten the spar strength, just enough to contain the strop, the shellac and constricting strop will hold it in place.

Here is a pic of the dry fit of the bowsprit showing the semi symmetrical layout. There is less fairing to do than with a totally symmetric groove but the result is not a perfect octagon either


Two more pictures with the end plugs

Will you leave the inboard end an octagon (per the plans), or round the whole thing?

I plan to keep the inboard end an octagon. Or make it one because of my choice how to make the staves.

This is the state of the affairs right now



In the background you can see my mixer that I fixed from an old wireless Makita drill. Works like a champ mixing amounts up to a full disposable cup.

Paul, how do you spread the goo into the staves? I find myself spending more time than I would prefer. Any good ideas to share?