Film Friday – Oak and Maple Pizza Peel Build

My Father-in-Law, The Chatty Buddha,  wanted me to make him a pizza peel and while I have built cutting boards and boat paddles, I hadn’t yet made a peel. I agreed, sourced the lumber from a local salvege store. It used to be flooring, but after some magic with the table saw, jointer, some glue, and a hand plane or three – he has a pizza peel that I gave to him for Christmas.  I hope to be enjoying pizza from it for years to come.

Building a Skin-On-Frame Kayak

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On my very first trip to Seattle in 2003, I had a day off from work and happened to wonder into The Center for Wooden Boats in the South Lake Union area of the city. I loved it immediately and lingered around the boats and workshop for hours with a smile and a happy heart. At some point, a volunteer let me take out a kayak and paddle the lake. It was not like the plastic and fiberglass beasts that I had paddled or owned previously. It was light and flexible in the right spots, sleek, and fast. It was a skin-on-frame boat, called a Baidarka, that was based on a 4,000+ year old Aleut design. No nails, no glue, no screws. Just wood, nylon (modern replacement for walrus or seal skin…), and LOTS of knots.

I was smitten and just as happenstance, there was a baidarka building class going on that was finishing up under a pavilion on site. I talked to the instructor, Corey Friedman, asking all sorts of questions, until I think he wanted to drown me. Six years later as we were planning our move to the Emerald City, I vowed to take the kayak building class. Finances, life, and vacation available conspired against me until this year, thirteen years after seeing them for the first time (though I did read the Dyson book in college), the stars aligned and I was able to sign up for the class and take the time off. It also happened to coincide with my son’s summer visit, so I got to build an item on my bucket list AND spend serious quality time with my son.

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We started on a cold Saturday morning with three ladies also building boats and 8.5 days later, I brought my hand built and custom sized boat home. The interim was spend learning a GREAT deal, tying 2000+ knots, bending frame ribs, listening to way too much zydeco music (instructor’s favorite), sewing, saying dirty words, removing stitches, resewing, loving the time spent with The Ruminator, and enjoying the ambiance of the Center for Wooden boats.

I have included a full photo documentation of my build as a pictures on my notes. I figure that the more people who document the process, the better chance this boat has of living on for future generations. Here is an additional documentation from another former student that was better at it than me.

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Making usable stuff with fire and dirt.

As an update to my original post about the pottery class that Stamps-With-Foot gave me for Christmas, I have made a bunch of little pots and am in the middle of firing and glazing them. Really unhappy with the red glaze that is available, but the milky white one is great, so I am doing the majority of the pots in that color.

I plan to make 8-10 coffee cups, a set of matching puppy water & food bowls, and a number of honey pots before the end of the 10 week course.  I have 4 coffee cups that have handles on them and that are drying now, waiting to be bisque fired. I’ll turn wooden lids and honey dippers for some of the cylinders and give them as Christmas and birthday gifts if they turn out well.

Progress thus far:

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New Bench Chisels

The bottom chisel (originally my grandfather’s) is the only one I have left from my shop getting burgled/cleaned out over a year ago. I have saved my pennies and dimes for a while and two days ago I bought a set of Stanley Sweet Hearts. I mortised the hinges into the kitchen cabinet doors I am building for my wife. Having quality tools makes me happy.

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