hughmmunro

Most every year there is a gathering of C-boaters, or boaters who use a single bladed canoe type paddle to navigate rivers. Typically they meet in northeastern West Virginia, western Maryland where the North Branch of the Potomac River forms the border and flows between these two states. There are an increadable number of rivers that flow from the Allegheny Mountains down through canyons and gorges to the Potomac River and eventually to the Chesepeke Bay presenting a dizzying array of potential rivers to boat on.

Along with the broad variety of rivers to boat on, there are a vast number of craft to do the boating with. From C-1 and C-2, decked boats with one or two paddlers respectively to OC-1 and OC-2, open canoes for one or two paddlers. And the types of decked and open boats are quite numerious too. From creek boats to race boats to squirt boats to play boats. There are plenty of examples of just about every type of boating that you could want to do reflected in the boats that are present.

The boats and the boating however are just a part of the weekend long festivities. Two well known makers of paddles and boats live and work in the region and so attendees of this gathering visit these makers and their shops.

Paul Schreiner is the owner and maker of boats at PS Composites in Markleysburg, PA. Kayaking and building boats since the 1970’s he has volumes of photo albums of unique boats that he has created over the years. Using the alternating fiberglass and polyester layup technique, he creates a one of a kind boat that is light, strong and custom sized to the paddler. In the image below Paul is kneeling with a Shaggy Designs, Sith C-1 boat and giving the designers, Martin and Gwyn tips on building custom boats.

Paul Schreiner of PS Composites` — Paul Schreiner of PS Composites talking boat design.

Another great maker in the area is Jim Snyder of River Styx. A boater since the mid 1960’s, Jim has designed many boats over the years and has been a pioneer in the whitewater boating world and one of the originators of the niche of “squirt” boating. But what he is probably most well known for is his Jimistyx paddles. Hand built, custom wooden paddles made for the individual paddler, these are works of art that any paddler would love to possess. In the image below Jim is talking about paddle design and fabrication at his shop in Albright, WV.

Jim Snyder paddles — Jim Snyder talking about paddle design and building.

Makers of one of a kind paddles and boats that will look like a work of art as you float down the river.

Building a three dimensional object from a two dimensional material has always interested me from a engineering as well as a material efficiency perspective. I have build many items including desks, tables, bookshelves and bedframes from plywood and other sheet materials. This is the third desk that I have built using a flat, two dimensional material, plywood, joined together to make a three dimensional object, a desk.

The first of my most recent iterations of my desk building was a desk for my wife Alice from sheets of birch veneer plywood with black walnut accents, connecting blocks and brass screw hardware. The connecting block method of joining the flat two dimensional material together worked ok, but was not ideal and was in need of some improvements. In August of 2004 when I was at the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta, Georgia I visited the show booth of a tool manufacturer Kreg Tool. They make a tool kit called the Kreg Jig that is used for making strong joints in wooden material quickly and easily. After talking to their representatives at length and trying out the tooling on material that they had there I realized some of the potential uses and purchased one of the kits.

After some experimentation I built a small oak veneer plywood desk, using the Kreg Jig to build a skirt frame that under hangs the desktop surface. In addition to increased strength and rigidity, this skirt frame provides a mounting surface for the panels that would make up the legs and back of the desk supports.

Using the lessons learned on the first two desks, I then decided that I was going to build myself a large plywood desk that roughly resembles the Bureau à gradin style but with modern lines and finish and utilizing the manufacturing and fabrication ideas that I learned using the Kreg Jig.

For this desk I used 3/4″ cabinet grade birch veneer plywood throughout. I initially cut the sheets of plywood using a circular saw and straightedge to achive the overall rectangular shapes that I needed. Switching to a jig saw, I cut the corners and straight line transitions to a 1 1/2″ radius and sanded the curves smooth. Then all the edges were rounded over using a router and a 1/4″ radius rounding over bit. At this point I drilled the screw holes in the skirt frame for it’s assembly and to attach it to the desktop surface. Glue and screws were used to assemble the frameworks and then to attach the frame to the bottom of the desktop surface. The shelf is made by attaching five panel legs with glue and screws to the shelf surface. The screw holes are then plugged using birch plugs that are sanded smooth. Stepped sanding of 120 grit and then 220 grit were done to all surfaces to remove any remaining cut marks and surface imperfections before the 4 coats of polyurethane were applied. After a week of drying time the finished pieces were transported to the office where the desk was assembled using sixteen wood screws. Each of the four legs has four screws holding them in place, two at the bottom back side of each leg and two each were the leg slides into its respective slot within the skirt framework.

kreg jig hole drilling — Using a Kreg Jig to drill attachment holes in the plywood for assembling the skirt frame work.

framework corner joint — A corner of the assembled outer framework. Attachment holes are visible for the corner joint and where screws will attach the framework to the bottom of the desktop.

assembled framework — The skirt framework with all pieces of the assembly in place. The slots visible will hold two of the four legs.

finished desk and shelf — The finished and assembled desk and shelf.

C-Boats Armada April 2007

Hughs Plywood Desk