Work on our lovely restoration project boat is now flying along. Whilst the flooring is drying we turn our attention to replacing the spars.
We are happy to provide replacement wooden spars for your project, all handmade using skill . . and hours of sanding!
You can see below the original mast which we use to take dimensions from next to a brand new Douglas fir blank which will be worked into the new mast.
Although the lower section of the old mast looks ok you can see the damage in the top section which necessitates the replacement.
To turn the blank into a new mast we use a spar gauge to mark out guide lines that we need to plane down to give the rough mast shape. High spots are then identified by an experienced eye and removed, which slowly produces the final shape of the mast. Then there is just the small matter of several hours of sanding to give the perfect finish!
This is highly labour intensive work however most satisfying as you can see.
This mast has now had further sanding and grey paint added to the top and bottom as befitting a boat of fishing heritage and provide protection from the elements. You can also see the top and bottom of mast have been shaped for mast step and mast collar.
Then the mast will be treated to several coats of varnish before the fittings from the original mast are added.
We will look to tackle the boom and gaff spar next which will be more challenging given the originals have disintegrated!
Thanks for looking, if you are looking for help to fix your project get it touch, we are happy to help where we can.