Capn Pete Culler's Shop

 22 Nov 21:

We love photos of other folk's boat shops, they give us ideas for ours. Pete Culler was one of the best designers of small boats.

Seems we need a table and an old Corona typewriter. Capn Pete wrote many articles and published several books about his craft, we appreciate that he shared his passion and his knowledge with so many.

Carriage House and Medicine Wheel Deck 05 Jun 20 Landscaping

05 Jun 20:

Landscaping and hardscaping continues, another trip to Lowes to gather 12 pavers, 12 bags of pea gravel and 4 bags of river rock. Plus more potting soil, plant caddies, and a few pieces of St Augustine sod. Before we went to Lowes though, we needed to shave a yak, in the form of repurposing the old Drascombe Lugger sole from ONKAHYE into a deck that could be laid over the bunks on one of the boat trailers, turning it into a utility trailer. More pictures on that later, but we screwed 1x6 deckboards every few feet underneath the old sole to act as crossplanks and tie it all together, then we lashed the entire thing to the trailer bunks. It worked out great, we loaded about 1000 pounds of stuff onto the deck, all wrapped up in a tarp. Strapped everything down with cargo straps and line, Skipper complimented my excessive use of securing accoutrements.

Fancied up the perimeter of the Medicine Wheel Deck and Carriage House, just in time for Tropical Storm Cristobal. More sod on the way Tuesday, delivered, woo hoo! The plants include citronella and lemongrass, known to shoo off skeeters, or mozzies as our Brit friend Murray calls them, and other bugs. Wisteria on either end with grapes on the middle two posts. Our idea that the wisteria and grapes would provide shade in the Summer has worked out great, and then go dormant over the Winter and open up for more sun. The grapes also feed the salamanders, we even get a few if we are fast enough. Not to give all the shade credit to the wisteria and grapes though, the massive southern yellow pine tree does its part. The location of the Carriage house was developed to incorporate the tree into the aerial footprint of the shed, along with two others on the street side.

We should get a separate address for the Carriage House in case you want to send post cards. In the meantime we store garden tools inside of our signal flag mailbox, and that handrail/doorstop might be a good spot for a garden hose holder...if only we had the DIY skills, we could make one!

Log of The Carriage House

Mystic Seaport John Gardner Boat Shop Stool

I saw a shop stool in the John Gardner Boat Shop at Mystic Seaport and wanted to make one for our shop. It will be helpful to reach some top shelf items, pegboard over the sink and in a pinch could double as a moaning chair.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

I contacted the Museum and one of their staff was kind enough to take measurements from their stool and send them to me.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Ran up to Lowes and picked up a piece of 1"x12"x8' Select Pine. Looks like I have some other pending projects waiting patiently in the back of the Edge....

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Drew the line for the 17 inch wide top first.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Cut the top with a circular saw. This project is small enough that you could use a set of cordless tools.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Traced lines for the legs.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Traced lines for the sides.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Traced lines for the center support and used sides to help draw the correct angle. The plan measurements are a bit off for the center support top width.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

I measured the picture of the stool to get a general idea of how wide and tall the arch is on the legs.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

The hand hold on top is just over 4 1/2 inches in diameter. I used the cap from a 5 inch inspection port to get the approximate size.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

I grabbed my level to draw the hand hold cross bar, but I ended up trimming it later as it was too wide. What I used the second time was a scrap piece of the 1x lumber, that gave me the width to match the center support below.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

I used the cap from a 6 inch port to get the approximate arch for the legs.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Drilled a 1/4 inch starter gole for the jigsaw blade.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Cut out the top handhold and also cut out a section of the center support with a jigsaw.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Cut out the leg arch with a jigsaw and then used leg 1 as a pattern for leg 2.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Dry fitting the pieces to see if the support angles and widths match up. I did not cut any bevels on the legs or supports as the angle formed between the legs and top is negligible.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Drilled pilot holes and counterbor for the screws and then assembled the base.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Used a router bit to round over the edges of the stool. The piece feels better this way, and you get rid of sharp edges that can gouge.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

I centered up the top and traced around the base. Then I set the base upright, flipped the top and used a tape measure to make sure top was centered up again. That way I had a idea of where the edges of the base were when I drilled pilot holes for the screws.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Finished up the assembly with #8 1 1/2 inch brass screws. Here are the tools and materials that I used.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Assembly finished, waiting for paint.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

I need the stool so I can reach the keel of the Penobscot 14 with a plane and bevel the keel.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

The stool could also be used to carry a few tools to the job site.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

First coat of Interlux Fire Red.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Did some operational testing and found out the end arch is just big enough for a toe hold, handy to reposition the stool.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Put the stool back into the shop, rounded the corners and put on the second coat of Interlux Fire Red.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

The project took about 2 hours, not including the trip to Lowes.

Paint splatters next? Nope, we'll let it develop its own patina :)

Fair Winds,
Kent