23 Jun 22:
We cut up some lumberyard 2x4 spruce for spars today, we picked the best boards we could find with as few knots as possible along the edges. We cut the yard to length first with a small circular saw.
Before we cut to width to make the square blank, from which the round spar will be shaped, we marked where the yard taper from middle to end begins. The small knot will be removed as we round the spar. And if it becomes an issue, we'll select another piece and try again. These spars are very small so it won't take long to shape them. One trick folks try is to buy a 2x6 versus a 2x4 in hopes of finding clearer grain to select from.
We found the maximum width of the yard and used the DeWalt portable table saw to make a 4 sided blank to that measurement. With the yard squared we marked the taper on the end.
There is so little taper that we worked the corners off with a spokeshave, then mostly rounded the yard. On a larger piece with more taper, we could use a batten for draw the taper on the sides and shave the excess off with a bandsaw, the shave the adjoining sides, use a spar gauge to 8 side the spar, sand etc...but that would be some very fine cutting on this small of a spar. Old Timers might even leave the mast or boom square and just go sailing, what's a few ounces of weight between friends?
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