I imagine that when a boat builder whose career extends into the three decade range is about to describe some of his favorite tools that the readers would immediately conjure up visions of a collection of wonderfully sharp hand old hand tools.  The wood handles might be worn and darkened from the aging of the wood and the sweat from his hands.
Well, there are many of those in my collection, and while they are dear to me, the ones in the “favorite” category are the ones that just feel good to use, are indispensable because they work so well, or have been passed on to me by ancestors.

The modern boat builder who works with the combination of wood and fiberglass has a pretty wide range of tools, some dedicated to use on just one of the two mediums and some that overlap. 

If you looked around the shop you would see a vast collection of tools, big tools like table saws, band saws and very small ones as well. Some inhabit draws, some hang on walls and others are stuffed willy nilly into cabinets.  Many are home made and specific to just the Melonseed Skiff.

Some of the tools shown here are definitely NOT in the eclectic category, but are absolutely essential to the production of the Melonseed.  Each has its own home in the shop, a place where we all know it lives, and while that place often seems to defy logic within any organized system you might imagine, it is there for a reason.  Maybe that reason is in the category of “just because”, and damned be he who puts it away in the wrong place!  The larger wrenches and pliers live in a drawer labeled “Grabbers”, and why not call them that?  Some have strange pet names or are just known as “whizz-bangs and thingies”.

What you will see here are descriptions of just a few of my favorite tools, and for the most part I like, or at least get along with, most all of my tools.  There is one electric hand drill with a replacement trigger switch that we wired on backwards 10 years ago and have been too lazy to rewire, so the damned thing still surprises and confounds me by turning the wrong way every time I use it.  I don’t like that tool very much!  It’s powerful though, and like all Makita tools, it seems to want to live forever.  I’m fond of Makita tools, but maybe it’s just the nice color blue that the plastic bodies are made of.  For the record, I love working on the band saw and I never met a skill saw I wasn’t afraid of,

I am sure you all have favorite tools and maybe you’d have a hard time describing these good friends, your best tools, to others without a touch of embarrassing emotion in your voice.  So here, with just a touch of emotion and a bit of folly as well, are a fewof my favorite tools.

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It’s called the “dull” chisel because it is exactly that, and yet it’s one of the most frequently used tools in the shop.  You could almost say we couldn’t build a boat without it as it is the only tool ever used to separate the top edge of the Melonseed hull from the mold when it is ready to be released from the mold.  If it were a sharp chisel and you made a mistake with it you might scratch and damage either the hull, or heaven forbid the mold.  If one needs to hack away at a bit of unwanted fiberglass anywhere in the construction process, this is the tool of choice.  It gets a feeble semi-sharpening about once every few years when it gets to the hopelessly dull stage, and one must announce the event so that others won’t be surprised by the difference.   The Dull Chisel has been around so long that no one can remember when it first arrived, and it’s worn down so much that the metal blade is now probably an inch shorter than when it was new.  

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DAD’S BALL PEEN HAMMER

I found this hammer in the bottom of an old metal tool box that was full of some of my Dad’s tools.  It was a little rusted and sad looking and so I worked it up till it was all dandy again.

As a kid I came to believe that my Dad could build or fix anything, and actually he did just about that. Walter Crawford seemed to have unlimited mechanical talents, and one of them was his vocation for many years; repairing printing presses.  I remember him using this hammer on the job.

This hammer is not big or heavy and maybe only 3/4ths the size of a typical hammer, but the head, shaft and handle are all one piece of beautiful steel.  The wood on the grip is lovely. It’s not like the junky stuff you see for sale these days, and it feels so perfectly balanced that it’s a pleasure just to hold it in your hand.  When you swing it, you know it was designed by someone who really knew his tools.  I would guess it was made in the 1940’s.

Because it is a ball peen hammer, and part of its intended use is to strike a precise blow with the rounded end of the head, the perfect balance and modest weight of the hammer enables a controlled swing and a good clean accurate hit.  I love this hammer! I enjoy using it, but even more so, I just enjoy looking at it hanging on the wall.

I recently told Dad that I adopted his old hammer and he was quite happy about it.  I’m happy that both Dad (at 86) and the hammer are both in my life.

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THE “SQUANGLE” (aka: Grampy’s bevel square)               

OK, so you all know this as a bevel square.  Well, yes it’s a “square” but rather than being used to determining right angles, it is used to measure and transfer the other odd angles.  Years ago someone in the shop couldn’t remember the name of this tool and they said “pass me the…umm….squangle”. Square/angle = squangle. That made sense and plenty of laughter and the name just stuck. 

This wonderful, cherished tool may be one of the oldest in the boat shop.  I believe the wood is rosewood, the end pieces brass and the blade is iron. It was wizzened and worn when I found it in an old wood tool chest, whereupon I refinished it.  To my great delight I found the initials “A D” carved into the handle. It too holds a place of honor in the shop as it belonged to my maternal grandfather Adrian Joseph Dugas who likely brought it to this country when he first came here just after the First World War.  If only this tool could talk!   

Born in Grosses Coques, Nova Scotia in 1891, Adrian Dugas was a master craftsman’s master craftsman and enormously respected by his peers. He built houses, boats and anything else he could to support his family.  He was fussy, and often cranky and impatient with others (me as a kid!) who didn’t take the time to build things right.  For inspiration I have a photo of him hanging right beside my computer monitor in the office.  I know (once he got over the fiberglass issue) he would certainly have approved of the Melonseed, but sadly he died before I started building boats for a living.

I always pay a few seconds of homage to Grampy Dugas when I take his squangle off the wall to use it, and I’m sure it works as well now as it did in the early 1900’s.

SPEAKING OF SQUARES……..

I recently found this quote in a book about life on the Maine coast.  The author was referring to a conventional square that finds right angles.

“If you set out to build a boat, throw away your square.  And if you work on her after she’s launched, throw away your level.”

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This tool is one of the home made specials.  One day many years ago we needed a mallet and didn’t have one, so John made this one out of piece of 4” x 4” oak, and what I guess might have been the end of an old shovel handle or some other piece of flotsam hanging about the shop.

The head is getting a little ragged, having been the survivor of many a confrontation with not only the chisels it’s intended to drive, but plenty of other tasks as well, and some not honorable duty for a tool of this nature.  As the mallet gets battle worn and a little less than it was in its prime, it is used by yours truly, who now in my sixties is in the same condition, and so we understand each other and make adjustments to the rule of simple brute force.

Tapping away on one of the fine chisels in the shop and removing delicate slices of teak with this mallet is a pleasure.

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There are several sets of chisels in the shop, and the everyday ones are in a rack in back of the work bench where you can grab one in an instant if need be. This set however, lives quite regally in a velvet lined case in a cabinet.  Never, NEVER shall these chisels be used in an impatient moment, or to hack away at anything other than wood.  They are kept as sharp as possible and well cared for.

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THE WOOD HANDLED SCREWDRIVERS

I started the business in 1976 with heaps of youthful enthusiasm and optimism, but only a modest $3000 that I borrowed from a local bank.  Once I had (all that!) money in hand I dashed off to Sears and Roebucks and bought a basic set of tools, including some very ordinary plastic handled screwdrivers.  They were good enough, but not what I really lusted for, and THOSE screwdrivers were a set from Woodworkers Supply with beautiful oval shaped wood handles.  My friend and mentor in the boat building trade, and a genius in the craft by any standard, Jon Blanchard, used these and I always yearned for a set for myself.

When the day came that I could afford them I felt that in a way I had achieved some small measure of success as these were about the best screwdrivers one could own.

They have oval handles which give you a wonderful grip and perfect feel for the force of the screwdriver VS. the resistance of the screw.  There are four screwdrivers in the set, one each for #’s 8, 10, 12 and14 slotted screws.  Let me tell you, when you need to drive a #14 slotted flat bronze wood screw, this is the tool of choice!

The handles are all dirty and grimy from three decades of hard use and not at all appealing really, and they deserve to be refinished.  I hope to do that some day so that when my tools get passed along to someone else that hopefully they will at least be appreciated for their beauty.

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HALF INCH DRILL WITH THE SPAR SHAPER

The ½” Milwaukee drill is a fairly recent addition to the collection of power tools in the cabinet, having been acquired to replace an ancient ½” drill that finally died a prolonged and noisy death after three decades of faithful service.  The old drill did get a proper memorial service though as I said a few righteous words about it before heaving it in the dumpster.

The new Milwaukee drill is a beautiful piece of machinery, and very powerful.

Here’s a good 1/2” drill story, and if you’ve ever used one you’ll understand this even better.  When I was in my rookie years of boat building in the early 70’s I had to drill a hole in the cockpit sole (floor to the landlubber) of a new boat.  The sole was ¾” plywood with heavy layers of fiberglass laminated over it.  I had to cut a 4” diameter hole through it and the tool of choice was (another) very powerful ½” drill driving a 4” hole saw.  With great enthusiasm and a “man on a mission” attitude I drove the pilot drill and then the cutting edge of the saw into the floor.  So far, so good.  Then, the saw started to bite on the fiberglass and things were still good.  Then problem #1 occurred; I wasn’t hitting the surface squarely and the saw bit on the wood and bound up tight, which wasn’t half as bad as the result of problem #2.  Problem #2 (well it was a problem for me but hilarious to the other guys in the shop!) was that I had the trigger lock on!  Now remember just how powerful these drills are.  I was now on my knees getting rapidly whipped around and around the drill in circles with the drill’s electrical cord wrapping my hands tightly on the drill handle.  After about three spins around, the plug got tugged loose from the wall, the show ended, I was hog tied to the drill and trying to figure out what hit me, where I was on this planet and how I got there.

I confess that I’ve learned many of life’s most important lessons the hard way, and this is just one example.  One of those lessons it to be very judicious about when it’s OK to lock the trigger on a ½” drill.

So going forward in time, what does this tool do to contribute to the process of building a Melonseed Skiff?  It rounds over and smoothes out the masts, sprits and booms that have been shaped with the table saw and electric hand plane to 16 flat sides, and makes them nice and round and smooth.

If you look at the picture above you will see a 4” belt sanding belt turned inside out, and a drum contraption attached to the drill.  That drum is another home made tool and a very valuable one.   A spar is put on special work stands (see description of those later in this document), and is weighted down with an old boat battery hanging from a strap that wraps around the spar (again, another important home made tool), and that keeps the spar from spinning from the force of the belt.  The inside out sanding belt is slid over the spar, the drum set inside the belt, and the drill turns the belt around the wood spar.  Holding the drill in one hand and the metal handle of the drum sander in the other, I slide the whole rig back and forth (left to right) in about 2’ sweeps.  After a few passes over a section of the spar I rotate the spar about a 1/6th  of a turn (all the while hanging on to the turning drill and drum with the other hand!!) and repeat that until the spar is round and smooth all the way around from one end to the other.

I start out with 60 grit sanding belt, then do it all over again with 80 grit and then finally with 120 grit.

If you are thinking that this all sounds a little tricky, well you are quite correct.  This whole exercise is not for the faint of heart or uncoordinated (remember the power of the drill), but after three decades of practice, the movements of the operator can be almost ballet like or at least like an old fashioned “two step” when done right.  Actually, I’m the only one in the shop who uses it, the others having enough sense to keep their distance from the thing.

I don’t think there’s much I do in the boat building end of things that is as much fun as making spars.  I love free hand shaping and would much rather carve out something with curves in it than make something with right angle joints.  It’s satisfying to plane away at a piece of wood feeling the resistance of wood against plane blade and imagining the effect it will have on the shape of the spar.  Then there’s the fun part when you eyeball the progression of the shape and determine where to go next with further removal of wood.

I am fond of this quote:

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
 Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

THE MILK CRATE

OK go ahead and laugh.  That seems reasonable, but this too is also one of the more important tools in the shop, it gets used constantly and obviously it too is home made. (You can’t buy one of these at Home Depot!)   You see, you can’t build a Melonseed Skiff without being able to reach the sanding belts described above and a whole plethora of tools that are just out of the range of reach on shelves or hanging up high on the walls. You can’t tune the stereo without getting up on the milk crate.  What about a step ladder you say?  Heavens man, do you know what a good step ladder costs?  You can steal, or rather, liberate a good milk crate, and with a proper top on it the thing will last for years.

It’s a versatile tool too. At times it is used as a low work bench, a stand to mix buckets of resins and gelcoats on and so many other uses that the list is almost endless.  If you own a Crawford Melonseed it is a pretty good bet that something from a chemical mix that went into or on your boat got dripped or spilled on this milk crate.

You don’t even have to pick this tool up to move it about the shop, you just give it a good push with your foot and it slides nicely over the old hard maple shop floor.  If it so happens that when you push it just right and it lands perfectly where you wanted it to be, you feel like pumping your fist in the air and yelling “SCORE”!!!!!  OK, so some of us take a longer than others to really grow up.

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4” ANGLE GRINDER

I suppose the winner of the MOST versatile award would be the “small grinder”. 

While I have three grinders/sanders that spin circular pads, one a big 9” Makita, a very useful 5” Porter Cable random orbital sander and this 4” sander, and all three get about equal time when building a Melonseed, the “Small Grinder” is probably the most versatile. It is only about a foot long, well balanced in your grip and handy. This Makita Angle Grinder not only grinds fiberglass like demon, but also allows you to do very detailed work while holding it in one hand and the object you are sanding in the other hand.  

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This cordless 3/8” drill will work just about as well as a conventional drill in most situations, but it shines when you have to work in tight quarters.  It is my overall favorite of the four 3/8” drills I own and the first one I usually reach for. 

One feature of it I like a lot is that the second you take you finger off the trigger the drill stops turning immediately.  This is useful when you are countersinking holes for wood screws as it allows you to more precisely control the depth of the hole.

It is light yet powerful, easily controlled and just plain feels good in your hand.

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These are the best drill bits available to prepare a hole to drive a wood screw into. The drill bit itself is tapered to match the diameter of the wood screw, and there is a countersink on the shaft that matches the “V” shape on the underside of the screw head.  The countersink is adjustable and can be set anywhere up or down the shaft for different screw lengths.  To set the depth perfectly so that the flat part of the top of the screw head is even with the surface of the wood, there is also an adjustable (and removable if not needed) stop collar that prevents the entire bit from driving too deep and will stop the penetration at just the right depth.

I have them in sizes for wood screws ranging in diameters from #6 to # 12, with # 10 being the most commonly used.

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Basically it’s a ratchet wrench, but driven by air rather than by hand.  It’s fun to use because it’s powerful, fast and easy.  Lots of time and elbow grease can be saved with this tool.  We only use it on jobs in the “medium to heavy” category like assembling trailers, and never in the finesse jobs directly on the boat.  The only down side is that the sound it generates makes you think that you are in a muffler repair shop and not a boat shop on the waterfront.

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HAND PLANES

It’s not hard to imagine why one might enjoy using these tools.  A nice sharp hand plane is very gratifying to use.  The sound it makes as a plane iron makes a clean cut through wood is ever so pleasing; one that has been heard in boat building shops for centuries and the pile of curly shavings that gathers around your feet is a nice reward for your efforts.

The wood block plane was a gift given to me by a wonderful man I first came to know when I built him a Swampscott Sailing Dory back in 1978.  The day Ralph took delivery of the dory he presented me with this beautiful piece of beech wood and steel and I was stunned by his generosity.  He was a Mainer, familiar with the traditions of good Down East boat building and a very salty fellow.

Ralph used to come up with great names for “stuff” and some of them are still in use in my shop to this day.  He called anything gooey that glued things together “OOKUM PUCKY”, and that still works for me.  When he got well along in years and knew he had to divest himself of some of his possessions he gave me his collection of Woodenboat Magazines that date way back to issue # 9 in 1976.  I still have them. 

Ralph’s gone now, but the plane still works as well as our friendship did, and I still remember him each time I use the plane.

The small metal plane is a Stanley block plane, handy to use, a one-hander and gets a lot of use on sprits and booms and general rounding over of edges of woodwork when I am not in the mood to set up the electric router for the job.

I own several very old wood planes ranging in lengths up to about 2 feet long, never use them, but like do looking at them one in a while.

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DRAWKNIFE

Another one of the marvelous old tools that I inherited from my grandfather, this drawknife, is some serious thing to use, and one must be very careful with it.  A sharp drawknife is not a tool to lose an argument with!  You could take off a kneecap on one stroke.  If the knife is very sharp and you’ve learned the knack of using it you can remove huge amounts of wood in very short order.  Part of the trick is not just to pull the knife straight toward you, but to add a little angle and “slice” at the same time as you pull. In spite of its power, when handled with finesse and skill you can also take off minute bits of wood.

The teak stem of the Swampscott Dory was cut from a piece of wood that was 2’ long x 2” thick x 2” wide and had lots of curves in its shape.  When making it, the first rough cut was made on the band saw, but after that, Grampy’s very old drawknife had its way with it.

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Home made?  You bet.  Take a milk crate, turn it open side up and pack the perimeter of the crate with bricks for ballast. Make a plywood top with a hole in it just about big enough to receive a length of reject mast stock (an ex 4” x 4”).  Stuff the mast stock into the hole, wedge it tight and fasten the plywood to the crate.  Build a tool shelf (see the stand in the background) and a couple of tool hangers, on the post. Make a U-shaped thingy just a bit larger than a mast and fasten it to the top of the post.  Spend about 30 years re-wrapping the thingy with assorted bits of rag, foam and other forms of padding and then slap duct tape on it about once a year to keep the goofy padding from falling off.   For added character, spill gelcoat, resin, varnish and epoxy all over the stand with regularity.  Do all that and you will have a set of first class mast stands just like the ones you see in the photo above.

All shaping and sanding of masts sprits and booms is done on these stands, and over the years, including the Swampscott Dory and the Melonseed, maybe that’s about 1500 spars.  Anytime a “long thing” needs to be dealt with and the work bench is tied up, the project ends up on the mast stands.   

THE “OLD” SAW HORSES

They are pretty raggedy looking horses and probably should have been put out to pasture years ago, but I just can’t seem to part with them.  I think we built them in 1992 and have half-assed rebuilt them a few times along the way.  They do pedestrian duty in uncountable ways just being ordinary saw horses, but they are padded so that they won’t scratch whatever they support, in particular the Melonseed deck when it is being prepped for installation on the hull.  Every Melonseed deck since about hull # 65 has been sanded out and trimmed on these stands.   They have even been impromptu seats at some of the parties we’ve held in the shop.  I’ll probably never throw them out.

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Handy?  You bet, and a real time saver as it keeps you from getting brain cramps doing the math when you need to find the dead accurate center of any object up to a foot in length.  I can’t imagine not having this ruler in the shop.

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IN CONCLUSION…………..

It might take a couple of days to count all the tools in the boat shop. Some haven’t been used in years, others will never be used again and some get used several times a day. Some are valuable and some just good junk at this stage, but whatever their status they are old friends, my tools, and they have made me a living and about 650 beautiful small boats up to now (12/08). I could have made this list of “favorite tools” considerably longer but we’ll leave at this for now and move on to the most important of all tools.

THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL IN THE SHOP!

When it comes right down to it this is the tool you can always rely on.  It will get you better results, save you more money, build a better boat and keep you safer.

The tool can’t be bought in any store, doesn’t need any maintenance and with constant use won’t get rusty.  A boat built with it will have a look about it that isn’t easily definable in words, but everything about it will seem just right.  In Downeast Maine they simply call it “Finestkind”.

When properly applied to the building process it will do as much for you as any of the rest of your favorite tools.

It’s called COMMON SENSE, and if you don’t have it, well then at least stay away from the sharp tools!