: I go to the Kayak Builders forum DAILY now because I'm in a building mood and
: greatly appreciate the input. I think its a pretty unique forum, with some
: pretty unique people. Many links to exquisite craft-but what of the
: makers?

: Rehd whose building his Auk or George whose horrifyingly technical and always
: getting into trouble....:-)

Actually, I'm building my Walrus first, but, yeh, I'll have the Great Auk ready for next spring. Look out Port Townsend 2001 !!

: Maybe its an impertinent suggestion, but I think we all have a picture in our
: minds eye of the various co-respondents.

In some cases, they're best left in your minds eye, and not your memory.

How, in reality, do they differ
: from our pre-conceptions?

Picture this: 60's highschool radical, longhaired hippie freak, two toured VietNam Gunship vet, longhaired hippie government hating freak, 10 year miserably married/with children, 10 year miserably divorced and still paying like I was married/with children, and the past 16 years a government hating, gun toting, revers-mohawked Postal employee who can't get a date to save his arce. But, a 3 year God fearing, Born again, Baptized believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you sure you want to see THAT PICTURE???? I think your picture of me in your minds eye is just fine, but, I'll see what I can do..........:(

: You sound like wonderful people, can we have a photo gallery of builders
: please.........

There's already one started, check it out.....

: I'm going to get back sawing my paddle blades....any newbie like myself
: considering using a bandsaw for this job, take my advise; if your about to
: go out and buy one, dont do as I did and get the cheapest three wheeler
: money can buy, the blades snap like gunfire every 20 minutes or so, its
: quite shocking!!
: Spend about as much again and get something which allows the blade a greater
: turning radius.

As for the band saw and blades breaking, check where they are breaking. Is it where they are welded together? You can tell by a blue discoloring ( from the weld ), and probably some machining marks. If so, they are just cheap blades. What width blades are you using? Should be 1/4" for general use, and you should get about a 1 1/2" or 1 3/8" radius cut out of them. Remember, when you are cutting an arc, you HAVE to still be pushing forward as well as turning the material. If you are cutting plywood panels, there should be no reason why blades are breaking, except bad blades. Unless the plywood panel is tilting in one direction or the other and torquing the blade. But then, I would suspect the saw would slow down considerably before it snapped the blade. It just sounds like you got some bad blades. If you get the opportunity, go to the local saw/sharpening shop and ask them to make you some blades. You get the deminsion from your book with the saw, or wrap a string around the wheels and give them that measurement. But, first slack off the tension knob a little so you have room to adjust. By the way, did you check the tension on the blade before you started cutting? The book should tell you how to check it for that particular saw. Too much tension and a little too much pressure put on the work piece will also cause the blades to break. Another thought: Do you have extentions on the table? If you are cutting material that hangs over and droops, that will cause undue tension as well. Good luck and don't give up on your saw just yet. The most important rule to follow and most folks are in too big a hurry to do this, is: When all else fails, read the instructions.

Rehd =8^O