Post by PG on Oct 22, 2004 20:54:49 GMT -5
Not that I have time, but I'd sure like a new tobaggon this year. My old one, steamed and bent by Papa in the 1960s, is so decrepit it is hardly recognizeable. The neighbors gave me one last summer when they thought they were moving to Arizona and never coming back. Now I think he wants it back, and I suppose I should give it to him. It is a store bought model and only has one fastener per slat anyway. I was thinking I'd have to move all the cross pieces and redrill.
I'd gone over my black ash boards and found a couple that were pretty nice. That is - one was very nice the other - so-so. I was thinking about a new tobaggon - a two board tobaggon. I mentioned it to Papa, last time I was over and he said he had a pile of green ash at my brother's place - feel free to pick though and get enough to make a tobaggon.
I remembered the ash he was talking about. Big around as a white pine - as a tree - we'd had a terrible time getting it out of the woods. Next time I was by my brother's I looked in the shed and unstacked most of the pile. Most of the boards were 16 inches wide. Maybe it is really a stupid move, but I decided to try a one board tobaggon. It is a stupid move as the board is not quarter sawn and will "cup" for sure unless I keep it clamped flat when not in use. I've just never had a one board tobaggon , and I've always wanted to try it.
I built a form to bend the front of the tobbagon. Now I just have to figure out how to turn a one inch thick plank into a 5/16 inch thick plank. I'm thinking I will make cross cuts in the plank down to 3/8 inch thick, chizel, or broad axe between the cuts, and plane down the rest with the hand plane. It will be a lot of work. a slat tobaggon would have been a lot easier.
Once I take the wood down to the desired thickness, I will clamp the end of the board to the end of the form, and wrap the board in an old bath towel. I have a big kettle to boil water and, once the water is boiling, I'll pour it over the towel wrapped board and carefully see how much the board will give. I suspect it will take several applications of boiling water to make the entire bend. I do have a steam box, but the towel and boiling water seems to work just as well and maybe better. The steam box is too narrow for this board anyway.
Once the bend is made, and the board is dry, I'll remove the board from the form and apply a series of cross pieces to try and keep the board from cupping. I'll drill holes through the cross pieces and put rope through the holes, length-wise, to tie down loads, and more importantly, to tie down the bend in the front of the tobaggon. I'll have to split out a couple of one inch square pieces of white cedar to attach to the front of the tobaggon, on one end, and to a belt on the other end, for towing. Roped to the tobbaggon on one end, and to the belt on the other end, they will keep me from being over run on down hill slopes.
Well, better get moving. Winter will be here soon enough.
PG