Tuseday Tools of the Week - Work Table and Strongback

 03 Feb 26: 

Tuesday Tools of the Week - Work Table and Strongback - As we look back at BARBASHELA's restoration, we spent a day or so making a work table from the stretcher that we hauled her to Florida on. For the project we built a strongback, a 20+ foot long work table and had a folding table and another rolling work bench as well. Mostly unheralded, these benches, tables and strongbacks provided the foundation for this and many other projects. 

Theater Set/Boat Ship Tip from Skipper: Put the tables and benches together with star drive deck screws, so that when we are done with the project we can take the tables apart, "strike the set" and get ready for the next show to go onto the boards.

Barbashela Log 03 Feb 16

Lots of paint from the 1800s was milk based, mixed with lime and pigment. I played around with mustard but Skipper found my testing site....

Skipper left me a note, how cute. I left her a note back :)

Building another strongback, it will be the measuring and disassembly table. The strongback in the back will be the assembly jig, And yes, that's a blueberry iMac G3 on the shelf...

The frame was what we used to trailer Barbashela home, so we popped the plywood deck off of it and slid it off the trailer. We thought we'd try furniture dollies from Lowes as the base for the strongback. We added a few cross members and put legs on the dollies. I alternated the direction of the legs to minimize the chance of everything leaning off one direction and prying the legs off.

Here is the furniture dolly strongback ready to go, it rolls great. I like how I got some board storage underneath, an unintended consequence.

Checking out the planks and gunwale.

Old repair/replacement, the butt joint didn't fair too well and we think this repair was purely cosmetic

Bow crossmember with a few small chunks of garboard left. There is enough left to use a batten and find the fair curve out to the stem...if it had a stem...I guess we'll make one!

We stabilized the side with tie down straps and noticed thet the boat was twisting to starboard due to the weight. So we piled the other boat bits back on the port side for balance and to let any twist or hog work its way out. Once she is back over on the measuring jig we will put some support under those frame ends. She is used to it though, she rode the sawhorses this way for 11 years while she was in storage.

Video update.

FMI: "Barabshela" a Rowboat of Captain Thomas Leathers' Design for Ms. Winnie Davis