On Monday morning, after letting my bride sleep in a bit (Seriously, it was like 11am, before I hit the road, after prepping one kid for school and prepping the other for a morning nap. I jumped in the jeep, looking for a place called The Mill, in Fallston, MD. It might surprise you, but after ripping out a bunch of old cedar and mahogany, I need to replace it. More interesting is the fact that this wood isn't cheap, but we will get to that.
I start my 22 mile trek to the Mill, and when I arrive, I find exactly that - A saw mill, and three guys working it. There is no shop, but there is lots of wood. It is surprisingly hard to capture the attention of mill workers when there is a saw blade that will mulch you up at 70,000 RPM. I finally surrender, and as I am walking away, the owner walks up (I assume he was the owner, as he was the older white guy - and yes I know how racist that sounds, but the other two guys were not the owner, and in fact of questionable citizenship.)
He wears the wardrobe of a guy who makes his own hours - shorts, t-shirt and a heavy layer of wood chips. He points me toward Frank Thomas Lumber, about 5 miles up the road. When I arrive at Thomas', I am met by Charlie Thomas, a larger man, who has clearly been around lumber longer than I have been on the planet. He ambles around the sawdust piles, and the stacks of lumber, until he finds me the mahogany I am seeking. Of course, I was hoping to find an 18 foot length to replace the outwales, and old Charlie max'es out around 16. When I find out it is 7 bucks a foot, I quickly change my strategy to "patch" instead of replace. Someday when I am rich I will replace, but for now, the canoe will float with "patch". Charlie planes an 8 foot section smooth, on a surface planer that has been in the shop since the 1950s that they bought from the Navy. The Navy used it before them to mill the wooden decks on the aircraft carriers. Yes it was that old, and still ran like a champ. Yes son, our country once made things that last, but go see my other blog - harnessedelectrons. And then we chat - for 20 minutes. I learn that his mill has been in the family for years and he was working at the mill when he was 8. He tells me about "Sewer Lumber" - the stuff they use to reinforce ditches so they don't collapse on the workers, and how that was the kind of stuff the other "Mill" sells. It is interesting, as it never occurred to me that someone makes their living creating lumber for ditch workers. Of course it makes sense, but I suspect if the wood isn't good enough for houses, I am not sure I want it keeping the earth from caving in on me.
On an weird note, Charlie quoted me 7 bucks a board foot on the 8 foot length. And I paid 35 and tax. I don't know what happened, and I still have about 5 feet more than I will ever need, but for now, I feel like I got a deal.
Charlie is a funny guy with a big personality. We sat in his paneled office, which also serves as their records room, and apparently where they keep liquid flammables as there was a wall of lubricants, solvents, and other toxins. Which apparently the stink bugs and carpenter bees didn't mind as there was a small swarm of those too. Surprisingly Charlie seems in good health nonetheless. But Charlie didn't have cedar, and I needed some cedar too. So Charlie called down to the boys at Glen Arm Lumber, about 10 minutes outside of Baltimore, and another 20 minutes southeast of home. They got some, and Charlie gives me directions. These directions seemed straightforward, but I guess my definition of "close" and Charlie's is the difference between millimeters and light years.
I literally went over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house, and then a little farther, but there it was. A little hardware store with a gigantic lumber selection behind it. There the owner was a younger guy, who was really helpful. He helped me find a nice piece of straight grain cedar (which should help me bend it a bit easier and make it fit nicer) and then he cut it from a 16ft. section. Again, 8 feet of 2x6 is way more than I would need, but I am ready for the next canoe already, or to make a nice donation to the School.
And I as I was checking out, there was this tall old guy who heard me talking about the canoe. And so it began again. This guy was a local resident, and orthopeadic surgeon, who happened to have rehabilitated "three or four" wood and canvas canoes in his time. A great guy and another source of knowledge. I learned that the keel on the boat was actually probably Oak, which I didn't have any (and didn't have the measurements either), but the owner tells me I can call back and he will mill it for me. Of course, I will call him, after I figure out if someone closer to me has Oak too. It was a good time - something out of Tool Time with Tim Taylor. Three generations of guys sitting around the hardware store for too long sharing stories and shooting the breeze. I left in search of the WoodCraft store - I asked the guys at Glen Arm Lumber where I could get really good saws - A little awkward to ask the hardware store guy where you can buy good saws, but fortunately he knew what I was looking for, and off I went - another 20 minutes south and east into the fringes of Baltimore. You would think that all great woodworkers orbit around Charm City.
Glen Arm's directions were similar to Charlie - turn right at the stop, follow that around, until you come to another right - him - "it just goes right, but you could also go left, so just don't turn". Me - "Got it"
And off I went, this time passing the Hansel and Gretel and their house of candy, and I think I saw ET. It was just another long windy road, made longer by the 30mph signs and people who pay attention to them.
When I got to Woodcraft, I found a great little woodworkers supply shop, run by an older guy and a younger gal, who seemed to balance each other in knowledge. She was clearly the novice, learning from his mastery. It seems like every one of her responses to every question asked of her was confirmed by his approving look or his interjection. However, it was interesting as her jeans, worn by sawdust and edged tools implied more experience behind her answers than his clean clothes, so I would imagine she knows her way around the dovetail joint and the table saw. I bought my two saws and I was off. After a short trip into Home Depot for paint stripper and epoxy (Yes, I will be using some to fill smaller holes as well.), I was home and off to work.
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| The Outwales, oiled with Linseed Oil, and one coat of varnish |
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| Taking over my dining room to work while it is raining. |
Today's project, and far less interesting to the hours leading up to it is sanding. This will be a common task for this project, but today I sanded the outwales removed over the weekend down to their original wood, removing the peeling varnish and the caked on paint from the overage on the hull. I was planning to use the stripper for this task but the coatings just came off clean, leaving the reddish wood to shine through. Two-ish hours later, the wood was pristine, and ready for a final sanding which I will do later this week. Unfortunately, this is the sad reality of the project for the reader - sometimes the work is just laborious, and there is no way to make it interesting - oh wait, did I forget the police raid? No, because there was nothing interesting. I thought I covered that.
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