I have ribs

Rib stock is special as it needs to be air dried, not kiln dried like most wood. The grain also needs to be clear and going a particular way to help the bending process. So we decided to cheat and order rib stock from a guy who runs a qajaq building school out west. Unfortunately the shipment got lost in space. So we have been doing a mad scramble to come up with decent wood for our ribs. Someone finally found someone else who went out and cut down an oak tree for us.

So into the shop came logs that had to be processed by us, or I should say Chuck. I had started bending ribs with some of the stock we had left over and was having a rough time of it and feeling really bad about breaking pieces. Then I got my hands on the green ribs and everything fell into place, it was like night and day. And then it was late at night and time to go home.

I got back to the shop on Saturday to find my qajaq frame had been moved and my rib stick had disappeared. Yes, I had a minor melt down as it had taken me days to figure out how to make that darn thing. So an hour later I had another one made and started bending ribs again.

After getting all the ribs bent, I placed the keel strip on top of them to check them. A few will have to be blocked to meet the strip and a few I took down a little. Next I pegged the ribs into place and planed down the ends of the gunwales for the stem plates.

I taped cardboard to the ends of the gunwales to work up a pattern for the stem plates. I am so excited at my progress, I think this project might actually get finished.

Here is Ken lashing his stem plate to the end of his qajaq.