Boat bookshelf - Glypto's new life

June 12, 2024 by Lukasz Kumanowski

It’s been since a few years that my old Glypto is retired - plank edges are too tired to swell properly and she takes water all the time. To get her back to shape one would need to rebuild her but that is hardly economical today. Besides, I have Louve and Nano so there is no need for yet another boat.

I decided to transform her into bookshelf. I found a convenient spot in our biggest room and placed the boat there to check if she fits. She does.

Took her out again for washing and removing thwarts and fender rope. Back in the room - all this space will be filled with shelves now.

To make her stand on her own I needed to support the stern. It is angled and difference between both edges is 11 cm. I found heavy duty carts of two sorts which have about this height difference. A bit of fiddling and measuring and I found spots where they should be mounted to support the boat in vertically erected position.
I will use frames as shelves supports so they need to be horizontal.

I decided to use standard construction plywood which I have a lot in my shed. It’s lightweight, will not warp and is sturdy enough to support many books.
Each shelf is, of course, of different profile. I took hull shape at each frame with wooden chain.

Transferred that to a plywood panel for drawing the “station mold”. Cat was indifferent to whatever noise I was doing, must be deaf this beast.

In one case I had to use sophisticated CAD method thou.

Not long after all profiles were cut, edges routed and sanded, ready for staining.

I mixed Owatrol oil with mahogany stain to match planks color on the boat. Oiling and staining in my boat shed as this oil stinks for first few hours after application.

After it all cured I mounted them in the hull. Plywood edges are masked with old teak lists which I got from Erik. Their patina is nicely matching the whole object and they blend with shelves and the hull. I glued them and nailed with copper nails as Glypto is also riveted with copper.

And voila! One day of work and we have a unique, antique and whatever -ique object in our house.

Just for fun I stress-loaded the whole thing with a few typewriters. No signs of failure anywhere.

PS The cat finally went somewhere when I started oiling. She could not bear the smell apparently.

Victorinox Spirit mods - to comply with Swedish law

January 08, 2023 by Lukasz Kumanowski

While looking for new multitool, to substitute my well used and bitten Victorinox Spirit, I stumbled upon this video: Knivar - ny lag
It turns out that Sweden has adapted the same draconian law principles for bearing knives as UK or Canada recently.

Two years ago, in 2020, I went to Police station in my town (Norrtälje) to get their opinion on interpretation of Swedish knife law (knivlagen) . After all it will be the Police who will, in the first hand, decide if I commit a crime by having it on my belt. At that time Swedish Police webside contained information that multitools are NOT considered to be knives in law-sense and having them was not considered a crime.

Officers in Norrtälje, at the Police Station, judged without objections that my Victorinox Spirit is no problem at all and that I can bear it with no problem.
I intentionally picked this tool as its knife, contrary to all other on the market, was not pointy and you really could not stub anyone with it. It is purely a tool and this is what I wanted. Not a potential weapon.

Well, we have year 2022 and the law has changed. Police has taken away their interpretation of the Knife Law and do not mention anything about multitools being OK to carry. The law has been sharpened, apparently after a few murders with knives.
I’ve read Swedish Supreme Court (Högsta Dömstolen) sentences and interpretation of the law and got scarred.
To carry a knife one needs to have a REASON.
Like: carpenter, painter, electrician. Reason being understood mostly as work. Or goig for pickninck or picking mushrooms.
Being a person who wants to have tools to be prepared for life challenges is not a good reason. The penalty was increased to be between 6 months - up to 2 years of prison. Just for having it on you OR in the car in public place. Which means everywhere.

I understand the reason for this law. I don’t like the way it is implemented but I have no choice. I need to comply. While I was having multitools with me my entire life - and I find them extremely useful and needed in everyday tasks - I no longer can have a knife on me.

This is fine.
Kind of.
A compromise - as everything is a compromise.
But I want to be able to have other tools on me. To fix small problems encountered everyday. To mend a car while on the way. To free my kid from public toilet when the door-lock got stuck. To open a packet, a can of fish, peel an orange. These tasks.
Multitool as a weapon is a stupid idea and there are better knives for that. I’m OK to not have them with me in the city.

So back to my favorite Victorinox Spirit. There are two blades which could, potentially, be considered “knife” according to the Law: a knife blade itself and a saw.

As my tool is already worn out I felt no regrets in modifying it. Castrating it from sharp edges, to comply with Swedish Law.

First went the saw. I hardly used it anytime during last 20 years so taking it out was no problem (mentally).

I filed away most of saw teeth, leaving just a few at the beginning of the tool. In case I want to start a saw kerf with it. The tool got sanded and rounded (no sharp edges!) and I filed the tip to a fine screwdriver. Never enough of these, especially while working on typewriters or fine screws found on precision machines at work.

I filed it to match the size of Brownells 180-3 tool tip which I used mostly when working with typewriters.

Then came the knife blade itself. It was blunt and damaged after all these years (and I have another, brand new Spirit for outdoors activities) so I bluntly removed serrated edge and grinded it round & smooth. I’ve left a tiny bit of sharp edge at the base of the knife, to be able to peel oranges or cut ropes but that cannot be considered knife anymore!
The tip became yet another precision, flat screwdriver.

It corresponds to Brownells 340-3 bit which is the second one I mostly use.

So there we go: instead of carrying Brownells screwdriver tips I have now my Spirit multitool capable of working with precision screws found on industrial machinery (at work) and on typewriters (hobby). It will be handy when working on-site with my friends (or customers) who have problems with their typewriters.

I took the opportunity to clean and lubricate my tool.
Pliers - the most useful tool for me and the main reason I need to have multitool at the belt - got some grinding to slim them down and remove marks from years of service.

Leather carry case got very ugly, with brown paint flaking away and Velcro strap loose and no longer grippy. I removed the entire paint by soaking the pouch in acetone and scraping away the outer, painted layer. Velcro got removed and substituted with good-old mechanical pin.
The result is a modest, suede pouch still fit for purpose but no longer boasting Victorinox cross on the front.

So there it is: my adjustment to Swedish knife law.
I want to comply and I want to be able to still carry essential tools (without sharp blades) in everyday life. As I have done for the last 30 years. I feel pity for my Spirit but if that was needed to be done then it was necessary.

Sprayed wood

July 26, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

A braindead person sprayed blue paint on our local sign in the woods. With help of neighbors I took the sign to my workshop to renovate it.

Such untreated, rough wood would take many liters of acetone to wash the paint - with doubtful effect.

Sanding or sand-blasting would be a solution but it would change the surface (rough, with cool hand-tool marks) and probably damage the lettering.

Instead I used chlorine, to remove the top layer of wood and paint. Roughly 0.1 mm was removed but most importantly - uniformly over the whole surface so all marks after axe or power sander were preserved.

Letters got cleaned as much as possible with acetone, then masked and re-painted several times.

Day later me and Pelle took it for hanging back in place. A small operation itself as this sign weights a lot and is hanged high above the ground. We started at 2100 and by 0030 were done - happy and half-eaten by mosquitos.

Old-time plotter

June 29, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

I like browsing through junkyards, in search of objects like this one: mahogany box with wooden rollers and small light bulbs to illuminate maps. Old-times plotter, enabling reading big-format maps in confined space. Confined space + mahogany = Meritaten so I acquire this dirty and broken piece of marine equipment.

Apart from being very dirty it lacked light bulbs, mechanism was not working and the glass was gone. Hence the price, almost nothing. Entertaining evening’s project.

Mechanism fix was simple - just add some friction with self-vulcanising rubber tape and adjust timing belt (wire-spring) and life became good again.

Small light bulbs 3,8V came from my secret storage. The unit is battery driven: 4,5V old time flat battery, still available in Tempo Vätö.

Illumination is, by todays standards, rather poor but it adds atmosphere to the whole thing.

Readable enough in low-light.

I fitted 3mm thick Plexi-glass, press-fitted and secured with double-sided tape. The job was complete, unit is now fully operational.

Current course and position can be marked with simple wooden contraption.

Map is driven by 2 wooden knobs on the side.

I’m not yet sure if this indeed will be mounted on Meritaten. I have a plan making proper navigation table - I suspect there was one above pilot berth, there are wooden rails which might have been used for it.

Maybe the “plotter” will find its place on board but for now it became a part of room decoration.

Primus 391, year 1945, for alcohol

January 05, 2021 by Lukasz Kumanowski

This is my newly renovated lantern, burning alcohol instead of kerosene.

It was produced in 1945, stamped AJ8.
As the war was still raging, alcohol was used instead of kerosene due to shortage of fossil fuels.

More details and photos here.