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Watch this AWESOME timelapse as the contemporary class fit Kaia Mahogany veneer and vacuum bag one of the two hull halves of the UWHPS – University of Washington Human Powered Submarine. Watch now in HD! You won’t be disappointed.
WATCH HERE
Category: VIDEOS/PODCASTS
Bradley Suedekum (Class of 2014) featured in video about the Center for Wooden Boats!
Check out this video about The Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle. It features their Lead Boatwright Bradley Suedekum (Class of 2014)! Bradley was always interested in the history of wooden boats and he had a strong wish to work on boats that were of historical value. He stated at one point that his dream job would be working at the Center for Wooden Boats! We are so proud of your accomplishments, Bradley, and happy that your dream came true!
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The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is everyone’s wooden boat school!
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Hear our instructors on video!
As a team our instructors share a devotion to the highest levels of craftsmanship. They are inspiring professionals with years of wooden boat building experience before becoming teachers. This experience helps them successfully guide students in their personal career goals and aspirations.
You can see and hear our boat building instructors on video by clicking on the following Youtube link!
https://www.youtube.com/user/NWBOATSCHOOL/videos
Our instructors value the art of teaching and supporting the success of all their students. These positive traits are distinguishing features of the School. Each of our instructors has established an international reputation both as a master boat builder and as a master teacher.
Instructor Bios.
Russell Bates takes the Grandy on its sea trials!
Student Russell Bates is shown in this video taking the 2014 Grandy out on its sea trials. Russell said he was pulling as hard as he could to test the oars and the boat’s performance. You can see the energy he was putting into it!
This is a beautiful boat that was completed in Instructor Jeff Hammond’s 2014 Traditional Small Craft Program. Nice work, students!
Planking the Batela!
The Batela is a traditional Venetian boat, that is, developed in the Italian city of Venice. It is a flat-bottomed boat with a slight degree of rocker (meaning, the bottom is curved from bow to stern) to make it easier to row and control. Rowed standing up, it is essentially a cargo carrier or ferry.
The Traditional Small Craft class of 2014 under the direction of Master Instructor Jeff Hammond will build the boat.
The batela is approximately 30 feet long, and will be built largely of western red cedar over sawn frames.
This is an extremely interesting commission in that the boat was developed using design input provided by the owner in the form of sketches and commentary accompanied by video of Venetian batelae. Jeff drew the boat using that data, and refined it based on additional commentary and guidance to meet the owner’s direction.
Scraping after lifting off the mold
Students Jessiah Worley, Chris Lindstam, and Alan Fenwick scrape epoxy off the interior seams of a boat that has recently been lifted off its mold.
The Lake Oswego boat is a wherry developed in Oregon by a Finnish boatbuilder for use on Lake Oswego. Two original boats are known, both maintained by The Center For Wooden Boats in Seattle WA. www.cwb.org
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding will build the boat during the 2014 Contemporary class of cold-molded construction. Instructor Jesse Long will lead students in building the boat using plans developed by CWB in the early 1908’s.
Shadow Rowing at the Port Townsend Rhody Parade!
Student Bradley Suedekum helps propel the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding’s boat during the Port Townsend Rhody Parade. Helping are Executive Director Pete Leenhouts at the wheel, passenger Courtney (last name TBD), student Mark Paxton and Director of Education Pamela Roberts.
Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding at Rhody Parade!
There is nothing more energizing than a high school marching band at Rhody Parade. Shown is the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding’s parade boat and team!
Lake Oswego Boat off the mold
This Lake Oswego boat was built onto a mold constructed of thin “bead and cove” wood strips. The mold looks like an actual hull, but it really is just the form the actual boat is built onto. Strips of wood veneer are carefully measured and placed onto the mold and edge glued to each other to create the hull. The mold is waxed before the veneers are placed so that once the edge glue dries the hull can be easily removed from the mold. Shown are Instructor Jesse Long with students Chris Lindstam, Galen Brake, Jessiah Worley, Drew Larson, Lafayette Duvall. Nice work!
Caulking the seams
Student Noah Sturdy demonstrates how to caulk a boat seam.
Wikipedia: “Traditional caulking (also spelled calking) on wooden vessels uses fibers of cotton and oakum (hemp fiber soaked in pine tar). These fibers are driven into the wedge-shaped seam between planks, with a caulking mallet and a broad chisel-like tool called a caulking iron.The caulking is then covered over with a putty, in the case of hull seams, or else in deck seams with melted pine pitch, in a process referred to as paying.”
Turning the Drascombe Longboat
Instructor Bruce Blatchley’s class turns their Drascombe Longboat. Students are Rw Barrett, Eric Kay, John Sandoval and Chuck Garrett. Nice work guys!
This boat is being built for a youth boating program led by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in Baja, Mexico. They currently have a fiberglass fleet of Drascombes. This wooden one should be lighter, stiffer and more durable.
Cutting the stem rabbet on 36-foot Chamberlin
Construction of the 36-foot motor sailor SEA BEAST under the direction of Instructor Ben Kahn is moving right along.
Here, the stem rabbet is being cut by student Jeff Lydston.
The wood is purple heart – here are excerpts from Wikipedia about the wood:
“Peltogyne, commonly known as purpleheart, amendoim or amaranth, is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical regions of Central and South America, where they occur in tropical rainforests. Purpleheart comes from the rain forests of Brazil, Guyana, and Suriname.
Purpleheart is an extremely dense and water resistant wood. It is ranked one of the hardest and most stiff of the woods in the world. Some people claim it is so durable that it can be used as truck decking.[2] The trees are prized for their beautiful heartwood which, when cut, quickly turns from a light brown to a rich purple color. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light darkens the wood to a brown color with a slight hue of the original purple. The longer the wood is exposed to UV lights (sunlight), the colour of purple slowly changes from a light purple to a substantially chocolate-purple colour.[3] This effect can be minimized with a finish containing a UV inhibitor. The dry wood is very hard and dense with a specific gravity of 0.86 (54 lb/ft^3 or 860 kg/m^3). Carbide blades are recommended when working with purpleheart wood. The wood is also known as amaranth and violet wood.”
Planking a Grandy Skiff!
The Grandy Boat Company was formerly located on Lake Union in Seattle, and made many hundreds of boats both large and small during a long tenure there from the early 1920’s to 1967.
Here’s a good web page about the company and it’s boats: home.comcast.net/~btse1/grandy/grandymainpage.htm
Our students build these boats to lines and documentation taken by former instructor Tim Lee, from an original boat owned by The Center For Wooden Boats www.cwb.org in Seattle WA.
Grandy skiffs built by our students are usually between 9 (like this one) and 14.5 feet long. They’re lapstrake planked in western red cedar, with sapele stems, keels and transoms. Frames are White Oak or Black Locust. We build one to two boats like this each year. These small craft are some of our most popular boats.
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located in Port Hadlock WA and is a private, accredited non-profit vocational school. You can find us on the web at boatschoolstore.com .
Our mission is to teach and preserve the skills and crafts of fine wooden boatbuilding and other traditional maritime crafts.
You can reach us via e-mail at [email protected] or by calling us at 360-385-4948.
Sea Trials for the Light McKenzie River Boat!
The Light McKenzie River Boat, as it is traditionally known, is described in detail in Roger Fletcher’s book “Drift Boats and River Dories”, published by Stackpole Books in 2007. The book’s ISBN is 0-8117-0234-0 . Roger Flectcher’s website is www.riverstouch.com .
The McKenzie river flows west out of the Cascades Mountains in central Oregon and terminates north of Eugene Oregon when it joins the Willamette River.
The Light McKenzie River boat is thought to have been first developed in the 1920’s by Veltie Pruitt for use on the McKenzie River.
This boat was built at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding by students in the Class of 2014 working under the direction of instructor Ben Kahn. It was built largely of Alaska Yellow Cedar. The oars are spruce.
It’s seen here on sea trials March 5th, 2014, demonstrating its manueverability during sea trials.
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located in Port Hadlock WA and is an accredited, non-profit vocational school. You can find us on the web at boatschoolstore.com .
Our mission is to teach and preserve the fine art of wooden boatbuilding and traditional maritime crafts.
We build both commissioned and speculative boats while teaching adult students the traditional wood and wood composite boatbuilding skills they will need to work in the marine trades. We sell our boats to help support the School. Please feel free to give us a call should you like to discuss our building a boat for you.
You can reach us via e-mail at [email protected] or by calling us at 360-385-4948.
Caulking a Davis boat!
Andrew McGilvra caulks a Davis boat.
Davis Boats were developed as inshore fishing boats for use in Southeast Alaska by John Davis, a Tsimshian Indian, in the late 1800’s. He observed the boats used by American and Canadian vessels transiting through the area, and believed he could build better boats more suited to his area. He made his stake working in Seattle as carpenter helping to rebuild the city after a disastrous fire, ran a successful boatshop in Ketchikan, then set up shop on Metlakatla Island and began turning out boats.
His first boats were flat-bottomed skiffs with transoms. Later, he began building double enders, graceful boats that could carry a heavy load of fish or other cargo under sail or oars, the type seen here. Finally, he developed and began building a more rugged, carvel-built transom boat designed to carry the heavy outboard motors of the day.
The Center For Wooden Boats has an excellent information page packed with data and pictures about Davis Boats here: www.cwb.org/south-lake-union/online-museum/boat-catalog/d…
The School has built Davis double enders as well as the transom version. Here’s an article about their construction:
lumberjocks.com/Scotach/blog/5102 (part 1)
lumberjocks.com/Scotach/blog/5141 (part 2)
And more articles, here:
www.duckworksmagazine.com/08/columns/pete/index1.htm
www.duckworksmagazine.com/11/gatherings/union/index.htm
And another picture of a double-ender, here, at The Center for Wooden Boats (www.cwb.org)
Alumni Jason Bledsoe (Traditional Small Craft 2007) discovered the original boat, from which this one is being built, in the weeds in Port Ludlow WA. After several years of trying, he persuaded the owner to let him have the boat so that he could document it for the publically-accessible Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), maintained in the Library of Congress by the National Park Service. He took the lines of the little boat, and donated them to the School so that we could build this boat.
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located in Port Hadlock WA and is a private, accredited non-profit vocational school.
Our mission is to teach and preserve the fine art of wooden boatbuilding and traditional maritime crafts.
We build both commissioned and speculative boats for sale while teaching students boatbuilding the skills they need to work in the marine trades.
If you are interested in us building a boat for you, please feel free to give us a call.
You can find us on the web at boatschoolstore.com .
You can reach us via e-mail at [email protected] or by calling us at 360-385-4948.
Point of View: Planking
Video by Zachary Simonson-Bond.
Lignin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the wood polymer.
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Lignin or lignen is a complex polymer of aromatic alcohols known as monolignols. It is most commonly derived from wood, and is an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants[1] and some algae.[2] The term was introduced in 1819 by de Candolle and is derived from the Latin word lignum,[3] meaning wood. It is one of the most abundant organic polymers on Earth, exceeded only by cellulose. Lignin constitutes 30% of non-fossil organic carbon[4] and a quarter to a third of the dry mass of wood.[citation needed]
As a biopolymer, lignin is unusual because of its heterogeneity and lack of a defined primary structure. Its most commonly noted function is the support through strengthening of wood (xylem cells) in trees.[5][6][7]
Global production of lignin is around 1.1 million metric tons per year and is used in a wide range of low volume, niche applications where the form but not the quality is important. (END)
Note regarding lignin and wooden boatbuilding: When steam heated up to about 200 degrees, lignin releases it hold on wood thus allowing the boat builder greater flexibility to bend the wood until it cools off once again. Boat builders have to move fast when dealing with steamed wood so that it doesn’t freeze up on them during the process of bending.
Working on the BBC Whitehall (Chopping off bungs)
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) asked the Boat School to build three traditionally-built Whitehalls as replicas of the boats used by John Wesley Powell and his group of explorers during their first-ever descent of the Colorado River in 1869. The BBC will film a reenactment of the voyage later in 2013.
The School is building one 16-foot Whitehall, the “Scout Boat”, and two 21-foot Whitehalls. Though Powell launched four Whitehalls onto the river in 1869, one, the 21-foot “No Name”, was lost to the river shortly after the descent began.
The white oak from which the boats are constructed was supplied by Newport Nautical Timbers www.newportnauticaltimbers.com/ . The 16-foot boat will be planked in larch from eastern Washington, which is as close as it is possible to come to the original white pine planking used on that boat.
Whitehalls are the iconic American pulling boat.
They emerged in New York City and, possibly, shortly thereafter in Boston in the 1830’s. It is thought the name derives from Whitehall Street in New York City, though no one is sure. By the mid-19th century, they could be found anywhere there was a sizeable body of water – the East Coast, the Great Lakes, and the Pacific Coast at San Francisco all boasted boatbuilders turning out Whitehalls.
The boats were usually used under oars and occasionally sail as fast harbor ferries and the boat used to take harbor pilots out to meet inbound sailing ships. They have a fine reputation as fast, easy-rowing vessels that are capable of carrying a great deal of weight.
Nearly all Whitehalls were carvel-built with white cedar planking on an oak backbone with oak frames. (Carvel planking means that the planks butted up against each other, edge to edge, which results in a smooth hull). The finer boats were highlighted with a bright sheer plank (the top plank) varnished to catch one’s eye.
There is surprisingly little known about the boats used by the 1869 Powell Expedition, the first to descend the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. We do know that the Powell Expedition boats were built in Chicago IL to Powell’s specifications.
It’s known that the “Scout Boat” as Powell called it was 16 feet long and planked in white pine, that the remaining boats were 21 feet long and planked in white oak with twice the number of frames and doubled stems and stern posts.
There are no complete descriptions of the boats themselves, no pictures, and only a few scattered references made to the boats in the surviving journals and records of the Expedition.
The three boats we are building for the BBC are being constructed to the best information available, using the general scantlings provided by John Gardner’s historical work, extent plans, our significant experience in building Whitehalls over our 32 years, and the historical data available to us.
The boats will be completed by mid-July, 2013.
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located in Port Hadlock WA and is an accredited, non-profit vocational school. You can find us on the web at boatschoolstore.com .
Our mission is to teach and preserve the fine art of wooden boatbuilding and traditional maritime crafts.
We build both commissioned and speculative boats for sale while teaching students boatbuilding the skills they need to work in the marine trades. If you’re interested in our building a boat for you, please feel free to give us a call.
You can reach us via e-mail at [email protected] or by calling us at 360-385-4948.
Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival-WA
Port Townsend’s Wooden Boat Festival is the most education-packed and inspiring wooden boat event in the world. Featuring more than 300 wooden vessels, dozens of indoor and outdoor presentations and demonstrations, a who’s who of wooden boat experts and thousands of wooden boat enthusiasts, there’s something to do, someone to meet, or a boat to board at every turn. Expanded a little each year, the festival honors its traditions while inviting energetic debate and demonstration about the latest innovations in boatbuilding, equipment, skills, and adventure.
Cliff Defying Conventional Laws of Nature
Incredible bending of white oak ribs at Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, Washington. Video by Luane Hanson.
Lignin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the wood polymer.
Lignin or lignen is a complex polymer of aromatic alcohols known as monolignols. It is most commonly derived from wood, and is an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants[1] and some algae.[2] The term was introduced in 1819 by de Candolle and is derived from the Latin word lignum,[3] meaning wood. It is one of the most abundant organic polymers on Earth, exceeded only by cellulose. Lignin constitutes 30% of non-fossil organic carbon[4] and a quarter to a third of the dry mass of wood.[citation needed]
As a biopolymer, lignin is unusual because of its heterogeneity and lack of a defined primary structure. Its most commonly noted function is the support through strengthening of wood (xylem cells) in trees.[5][6][7]
Global production of lignin is around 1.1 million metric tons per year and is used in a wide range of low volume, niche applications where the form but not the quality is important. (END)
Note regarding lignin and wooden boatbuilding: When steam heated up to about 200 degrees, lignin releases it hold on wood thus allowing the boat builder greater flexibility to bend the wood until it cools off once again. Boat builders have to move fast when dealing with steamed wood so that it doesn’t freeze up on them during the process of bending.
Washington’s Olympic Peninsula – a slideshow
The Olympic Peninsula of Washington State is a unique natural biome of the world. Surrounded by water on three sides, the Peninsula is a haven for people interested in marine activities such as boating and fishing. Mossy rain forests create native habitat for a host of wild animals.
Home to the Olympic National Park, the peninsula attracts visitors from around the world. Natural wonders include the Olympic Mountains and the Olympic National Forest.
The Peninsula has some of the most pristine Pacific Ocean beaches in the United States. You can visit Lake Ozette near the coast and take a day hike out to the beaches where you will see sand as well as logs, estuaries and sea stacks.
Tribal communities include Neah Bay, Elwah and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribes, who participate each year in the annual Canoe Journey. The Olympic Culinary Loop and local Wineries provide special events and tours that will satisfy everyone’s taste for fine food and beverages. http://www.olympicpeninsula.org/
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Resource Links on the Olympic Peninsula
Port Townsend School of Woodworking
Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building
Port Townsend Marine Science Center
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Thinking of joining the school?
Click here to access our enrollment forms, catalog and application procedures.
Students of NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding – a slideshow
Enjoy this short slideshow featuring students at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding!
It’s always gratifying to feature the students at the Boat School as they are a lively, positive bunch of people who share an exciting passion for wooden boats.
In this slideshow you will see things that are the common mark of inspiring schools everywhere – smiling faces, inclusive participation, humor, diversity, engagement, teamwork, respect, challenges, complexity, fun and focus.
Thinking of joining us? Contact the School at 360-385-4948 or [email protected] today!
Bringing a plank out of the steambox!
Rogue River Driver – planking in progress – 3 min video
Students in the 2014 Traditional Small Craft Program led by Senior Instructor Jeff Hammond bring a plank from the steambox to lay on a Rogue River Driver boat.
Students featured are Bobby Bowen, Russell Bates, Jacob Simmering, Mark Paxton, Andrew McGilvra and Bradley Suedekum. Nice work students!
Lignin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the wood polymer.
–
Lignin or lignen is a complex polymer of aromatic alcohols known as monolignols. It is most commonly derived from wood, and is an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants[1] and some algae.[2] The term was introduced in 1819 by de Candolle and is derived from the Latin word lignum,[3] meaning wood. It is one of the most abundant organic polymers on Earth, exceeded only by cellulose. Lignin constitutes 30% of non-fossil organic carbon[4] and a quarter to a third of the dry mass of wood.[citation needed]
As a biopolymer, lignin is unusual because of its heterogeneity and lack of a defined primary structure. Its most commonly noted function is the support through strengthening of wood (xylem cells) in trees.[5][6][7]
Global production of lignin is around 1.1 million metric tons per year and is used in a wide range of low volume, niche applications where the form but not the quality is important. (END)
Note regarding lignin and wooden boatbuilding: When steam heated up to about 200 degrees, lignin releases it hold on wood thus allowing the boat builder greater flexibility to bend the wood until it cools off once again. Boat builders have to move fast when dealing with steamed wood so that it doesn’t freeze up on them during the process of bending.
Instructor Peter Bailey – caulking a plank seam
This video shows Instructor Peter Bailey caulking a plank seam. Peter is a master shipwright who is an inspiration to students at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding! He is working on a Hanson-designed Forest Service scaler boat, a vessel historically used to navigate around log jams and shorelines in the Pacific Northwest. This boat has given the Traditional Large Craft Program ample opportunity to practice their skills in planking and caulking! Thanks, Peter, for modeling the caulking process!
Sid Skiff on the water!
This 13′ Sid Skiff was built by the 2011-12 and 2012-13 Traditional Small Craft students. A dream to sail and row, this boat is extremely fun and maneuverable – perfect boat for beginners and expert sailors. Built of cedar on oak frames, she is light and strong. (This particular boat has sold.)
“I’ll Calm the Ocean” by Morgan O’Kane. www.morganokanemusic.com
Operation Grand Canyon with Dan Snow (and Ben Kahn!)
Congratulations to all the students and staff at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding who helped build the 2013 Whitehalls for the replication of John Wesley Powell’s journey down the Colorado River! The BBC will debut the film in England on Sunday, January 5, 2014! It is titled, “Operation Grand Canyon with Dan Snow.”
Ben Kahn, instructor extraordinaire, participated in the journey as the lead boat builder/carpenter. As he writes in his journal, “My adventure started when myself and eight students set out to build the two large Whitehall “Powell Boats” for the BBC, eight months before the expedition. Two boats, with a combined length of 42 feet and combined beam of 10 feet. Double stem and sternpost with double frames and five feet of deck space fore and aft. My translation of that nonsense was they should be Whitehall’s built strong like fish boats. I designed and built them with that mantra in my head. My group executed this task in a way that has spoiled me as a boatbuilding teacher. Wow, it was a truly awesome experience for all of us and I cannot describe how proud I am of them. They killed it! The other mantra was “get shit done” and we really did.” Read more
Congratulations to instructors Ben Kahn, Jeff Hammond and their students – your boats performed well under exceptionally challenging conditions! You should all be proud of your teamwork on this project. Click here for more photos.
