What I spent the last two years building

Tom Hoffman

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Thought some of you guys might get a kick out of seeing my latest woodworking project. Took two years of hours snatched from busy schedule as I could. It was a lot of fun to build. It is a 20' Whitehall row boat (pulling boat). She is very fast even with two over weight old people in it.:D
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This was a nice summer day, about 85 degrees, should have bottled that day. 25 degrees now 3-5" of snow on the way.

Have a good one...:wave:
 
That is an absolute Beauty, Tom. What is the wood she's made from? Looks like a really shallow draft for a boat that size, so she should be pretty fast.
 
It is Western Red Cedar for the Hull, other parts are made of White Oak, Black Walnut, Curly Maple, and Cherry. Oars are made from Hackberry.

It is pretty fast, even with two over weight old people running the oars. It has a somewhat deep keel, approx 4". it track straigh beautifully, takes a while to turn it around, dosen't pivot in place worth a darn.
 
Now that is my kind of project! Always loved the lines of a Whitehall. Never had the opportunity to row one though. Looks really nice!!:thumb:

Now I got to ask, Hackberry for oars?? Thats a first for me. I know hackberry is sort of light weight wood. Maybe your on to something there! Wondering if it would be a good choice for paddles? Of course I couldn't find it around here unless I cut the tree myself. :rolleyes:
 
very nice boat there,, havnt seen yours up close but i have been at a boat launch ore than once and admired others efforts in the fine craftsmanship in a wooden boat,,very pretty indeed and 2:thumb::thumb:..as for the hackberry jeff how much you need????
 
Boat looks unsafe. You should send it to me (25 years boating experience) so that I can enjoy, er, inspect it in open water situations. Also, the solid wood construction looks fantastic, er, suspect. More reason to send it to me...

Great Job!
 
The Oars

Hackberry is what was available here in Iowa in 10' long clear boards, 1 1/8" thick. I used it for a couple of reasons. It is limber, and has some whip to it such as Ash. It is light in weight and also color. The oars are made using a method of very slim thin boards. There are 6 boards that are 1" wide and taper to approx a 1/4" with a birds mouth routed on one edge. There 2 boards that are 1" wide at one end and taper for 38" same as the others and then flare out to 1 1/8" wide they too have a birds mouth routed along on edge.

They are called "Octagonal, hollow core, birdsmouth oars, they are Octagonal or Round at the Handle (loom)end and taper for 36" and then the taper continues except for 2 boards that flare, so the blade end is oval or elliptical in cross section to give a thin cross section to the wind, but stiff because of the 2 wide boards opposite each other, kind of resembles a wing but equal on each edge instead of one side being thick and the other being thin.

I am sure that this explanation had made everything as clear as MUD.:D

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They also have a laminated spoon blade. If any one wants the Plans article and the photos of how to do them, email me direct and I will send them out.
 
The Plan started out being Glen-L marines 17' Whitehall Plan, I modified it to suit my ideas. I change the angle of the stern back more to a more pleasing rake, and I changed the bow to a curve more like a Sloop or the Pulling boat Liz which has beautiful lines, but was too narrow for me. I maintained the plan beam at 54" with the outwales on it is 56" beam. I started researching the idea after I bought the Cosine Wherry book. That looks just the same, but is only 14'6" long. Way too short for me.

I moved each strong back station 3" further apart, that made them 27" OC.
 
Tom that is beautiful...................

I'll get my pole out, you bring the boat and bait.
I'll furnish the sandwishes and coffee................
 
Hi Tom :wave:,
That is a tremendous woodworking project with great results. Congratulations on a lovely job.
The boat as well as the oars!
Question, was there a reason to run two of the birdsmouth joints clockwise and two of the oars counterclockwise? Is there a left and a right side oar?
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Shaz :)
 
Shaz,

Hey good catch. I never noticed that. One pair was made during the construction of the boat, the other was made after the boat was done. Getting the eight boads to lock together at the beginning is the hardest part of the whole thing. I must have just laid the boards up one way one time and the opposite the other time.

No rhyme or reason for it just accidental.
 
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