The grappling hook (also known as a grappling iron or grapnel) that I made a while back from some stainless-steel rod and a few cable ties worked well enough, but it was an awkward and dangerous thing to keep in a small boat. It rested with one claw pointing straight up, like a caltrop, an ancient and wicked device of war that wounded anyone unlucky enough to step on it. Modern grappling hooks aren’t so hazardous. I found two different types, both welcome to stay aboard until there’s a call to retrieve something underwater.
If Harbor Freight would offer wheels with finer grit, there’d be hope for the sharpener, but the 180-grit wheels that are supplied with the machine and available as replacements are brutal on carbide saw teeth. I have two diamond sharpeners from EZE-Lap Diamond Products with four grades of diamonds on aluminum handles about the size of tongue depressors. The grits are rated from 250 to 1200, and the 250 grit is designated as “coarse.” That puts the 180-grit wheel on Harbor Freight’s circular saw sharpener into the proper perspective—coarser than coarse.
Croft makes a pneumatic-wheel kit with dual 10″ wheels. The plated-steel hubs have grease fittings to lubricate the axle and bushings. Between the wheels is a plated-steel caster plate with a 2″ socket. At $90, the kit seemed pricey, but the other option I’d considered, a two-wheeled hand dolly, costs about the same. I often need to move the trailer when I’m away from home, and a hand dolly isn’t easy to carry along.
We do a lot of sanding for our small-boat restorations and builds, and have relied upon a shop vacuum to collect dust. It does the job but leaves us with bags to empty and filters to clean or replace, which is messy and costly. That changed when we bought an Oneida Dust Deputy cyclone separator to collect the dust on its way to the Shop-Vac. The device uses cyclonic airflow to separate dust and heavier particles, drops the debris into a collection bucket, and sends cleaned air to the vacuum.
I often have an awkward and anxious moment when I’ve finished a cut on my table saw or bandsaw and have to reach down to turn the machine off while still hanging on to the workpiece. While I’m groping for the little toggle switch beneath the table, I have to keep my eye on the racing blade, the work piece, and my fingers. Beyond my own safety, some cuts can bind and stop bandsaw and table saw blades and I like to shut the motor off as quickly as I can before something gets damaged. Having switches that are easily and quickly operated add an important element of safety.
The Canon binoculars are very compact and lightweight. They measure 5.9” by 5” by 2.8” and weigh 1.33 lbs. Two AA batteries power the image-stabilization function, and last for up to 9 hours at 77 degrees F. Battery life decreases as temperatures drop; the manufacture’s literature lists an hour of operating at 14 F, but I doubt we’ll ever test that in Florida.
We researched benchtop planers and decided the DeWalt DW734 would meet our requirements. Its 12-½” wide bed could handle the 12”-wide garboard that we needed to replace, and its 6” thickness capacity it would come in handy for shaping some 4” stock for the stem. The 734 weighs a sturdy 80 pounds, a bit heavy for moving around, but solid and stable in use, especially when working with long stock.
The QL15 model has two black, rubber-coated metal S-hooks, one of which is on a 9-1/2” piece of 1” polyester webbing, and the other is at the end is a neatly coiled 1” polyester webbing stored around a spring-loaded core. Fully extended, the Quickloader has a reach of 12’. The strap feeds out and retracts like a tape measure so there’s never any slack to get knotted, tangled, or twisted.
The digital plans for the bandsaw include thorough instructions with over 120 photographs, complete materials and cut lists, PDF print-ready, full-size templates of key parts, and Sketchup 3D digital models. Sketchup is a free CAD program that allows you to see the complete bandsaw and every part from any angle. I highly recommended using it. The plans also refer the reader to Wandel’s website with exhaustive articles and photos about this project, and to 19 bandsaw-related videos on his YouTube channel.
The WS-3000 works quickly and is easy to use. The face of the horizontal sharpening wheel provides more sharpening surface than that of a vertical wheel system. The kit comes with two tempered glass wheels with flat and true surfaces on which to attach various PSA abrasive discs. Different grits of PSA abrasive discs are included; we set our wheels up with 120, 400, 1000, and micro-mesh 3600. Finer grits and a leather strop wheel are also available. A crepe-rubber stick is included to clean the abrasive discs. The glass wheels are changed out with the twist of one knob, which makes it easy to start with a coarse grit to remove nicks in a blade and then put a fine edge on it.
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