Tiny boats
Boats are in my heart, and along with using my ShopBot to cut bits and pieces for full sized boats I occasionally made little boats as tables and cradles for friend’s kids. These tiny boats used a mix of digital and analog skills, which pretty much describes how I work to this day.
Almost all boats no matter the size are made from panels that meet at odd angles, and these tiny boats were no different. The transom at the back of the boat had angled faces that were consistent and could be cut on a table saw with a tilted blade, but the 3/4" bottom panel had faces that were curved and changed along it’s length (called “winding bevels” in boatbuilder’s lingo). I cut these on a band saw and then “finessed” them with a plane or sander to get the changing angle just right.
The side panels however could be cut on my ShopBot and included the overlaps along their edges for both looks and extra strength, similar to the QuickLap canoe. Since many of these little boats were used as cradles for babies though I didn’t want to use any epoxy glue to hold the laps together, or fasteners through the laps that might have sharp edges. My solution was to use the ShopBot to cut dozens of springy clips out of scrap plywood to act as clamps while the wood glue dried. And as with so many things in life, more clamps is almost always better!
One of my favorites was one I did in collaboration with a local artist, Miriam Riggs, to give the appearance of having a glass bottom. It was done for a local charity auction and really turned out great!
