It's a long holiday weekend, but we still fit some physics in!

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day, so we will not be at the workshop this week.  Many thanks to all of the veterans who fought and continue to fight to make our country a place where all children have the opportunity to get an education and we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We are forever in debt to these heroes...

Since our focus at the Compass Project is STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) studies, we spent some time this Monday watching Andrew Njaa's AP physics class do some pumpkin chucking using catapults and trebuchets. What a blast (lol)!

Many thanks to Andrew for providing his students such a hands on experience with physics and engineering and for letting us watch them put on a great show.  The longest "chuck" we saw was an impressive 110 feet...

Compass Project Week 7: No pictures this week, but check out Shane's great link!

Both Mrs. Horton and Mrs. Brewer were out this Friday, so no photos to post this week.  Many thanks to Mrs. Duddy and Mrs. Mulhern who took over for us and brought the crew to the workshop.

Shane sent me this link to a post he made on the WoodenBoat Forum: http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?139073-Morbic-12-Sailing-Dinghy-New-Kit-Build-by-Students-in-Portland

Thanks for the great press Shane - we are so lucky to have you and the rest of the Compass Project staff right in our backyard...

Compass Project Week 6: Work on the Morbic 12 continues...

Lots of projects, some new and some ongoing, awaited us in the workshop this week.  Although we made a lot of progress on the beveled edges of the bulkhead and transom last week, because of it's complexity, a lot of work still remained on the stem.  There was still work on the girder that needed to be completed and several CNC parts needed to be fully separated and sanded before they could be attached.  In addition, Shane needed "board stretchers" and a false stem stock crew - so much to do in only about an hour and a half each week!  The crew divided the tasks out and got to work...

First up was our false stem stock crew.  See that curved wooden "trim" piece at the very front of the boat?  Well, that's the false stem....

 We had a great crew working on this detailed project.  Shane, Elena, Mrs. Brewer and our honorary team member, Will (Mrs. Horton's nine year old son), worked out some complicated metric system conversions...

 After a lesson in safety and instructions on how to use the table saw, Elena made some cuts and the false stem began to take shape!

 Undaunted, Marissa continued to work on the beveled edges of the stem...

 Molly looked to Allen for guidance on how to separate those pesky CNC cutouts...

and won the battle as she wielded a sanding block to finish the job!

James and Allen prepared to attach the bulkhead to the girder...

So all of us were wondering what exactly the role of a "board stretcher" would be.  Wendy worked with Andy and Socheta to separate the CNC cut strakes or planks that would then be laminated or joined together at their stepped finger scarf joints...wow!  These long or "stretched" planks would then be used on the side of our boat.

Strakes with stepped finger scarfs...

Andy breaks the number one safety rule (notice the glasses lying on the wood), but does a great job as a board stretcher!

 

Socheta works hard to separate the planks...

Thanks again to the Compass Project crew for another great week in the workshop!

Compass Project Week 5: We meet Clint Chase and start to create beveled edges...

We were honored to have the opportunity to met Clint Chase of Clint Chase Boatbuilders, LLC located right here in Portland, Maine.  Clint is the sole US kit agent and licensed builder for Francois Vivier, the designer of the Morbic 12.  He did the computer numerical control (CNC) cuts for our boat right in his Portland workshop.  He gave the kids a great presentation on how CNC cutting works and we are looking forward to showing off our final product to him.

You really should check out his website: http://www.clintchaseboatbuilder.com/, as well as his blog at: http://clintchaseboatbuilder.blogspot.com/.  They are a great glimpse into the intricate art of boat building.  Thanks again to Clint for coming over to spend time with our group!

After Clint's presentation, it was time to get back to work.  Today's mini lesson focused on the finer details of block planing.   This unassuming tool may look like a breeze to use, but believe me, it takes some practice (and patience) to get this right!

Shane and Allen made it look easy as they showed us how we would be using the block plane to bevel the edges of the parts that we had already laminated...beautiful curliques of wood seemed to effortlessly shave off!  These "beveled edges" will allow for the planking to fit seamlessly against these parts.

It took a bit of practice for the rest of us, but by the end of the demonstration, everyone looked like a pro!

The ever-patient Ahmed...

 Marissa gets those curliques flying!

 Allen helps Elena get just the right angle to her bevel.

Finally it was time to get to work on beveling the edges of the bulkhead, stem and transom that we laminated last week.  Marissa and Greg took some time to get the stem clamped down and discussed the proper angle to bevel this complicated part.

Molly and Elena teamed up to work on the bulkhead and eventually switched out their block plane for a file to make this very detailed job a bit easier.

Andy and Wendy worked on the transom...

Allen guided Ahmed and James through the process of adding supports to the girder.  The measurements and markings that James and Connor had made during our last visit to the workshop made this process a lot easier.

Lastly, take a few minutes to visit Francois Vivier's beautiful website.  There you can see some beautiful images of a completed Morbic 12 and learn a great deal about other vessels designed and built by Vivier.  You can find his website here:  http://www.vivierboats.com/

Compass Project Week 4: Work on the Morbic 12 begins!!!

The parts for the Morbic 12 finally arrived and you could feel the excitement in the workshop when we walked in and saw the girder (or strongback) and molds for the boat set out!  Shane and Wendy led a lesson in the basic boat parts, including the girder, stem, transom and bulkhead, all of which we would be working on today.  We then grouped around the girder to discuss what the goals of this exciting day would be. 

While we look on with amazed expressions, Shane explains that in only 25,746 steps, this wooden endoskeleton will be a beautiful sailboat...

A draft of the Morbic 12 from the instruction manual...

We then learned about the many wood materials that are used in building this boat.  Discussion centered around OSB, marine grade plywood, and laminate materials.  The students divided up into four groups.  One group worked on the girder with Allen, while the other three groups would work as gluers and laminators for the transom, bulkhead and stem.

James, Conner and Allen look over the plans and begin work on the girder...

James and Allen problem solve a difficult mount on the girder...

Molly and Elena work on gluing and laminating the bulkhead pieces with Shane...

Elena uses the band saw to prepare a caul, a wooden clamp tool, to use in clamping the laminated parts of the bulkhead...

Marissa and Mrs. Duddy clean the surface of the stem to prepare for gluing...

Marissa, Hannah and Greg glue the various stem piece together and prepare to clamp them to complete the lamination process...

Wendy discusses registration marks with Andy and Ahmed...these useful marks will help keep the transom parts lined up correctly during the lamination process...

Andy prepares to glue the transom sections...like a true athlete he focuses solely on the task at hand and checks his equipment to ensure that he finishes in first place...

Working hard on applying glue to the transom parts...make sure you cover it thoroughly - Wendy will be checking for "squeeze out" to ensure that there are no "voids" between the layers...

Elena curls a clamp...it's important to keep strong - boat building is hard work!!!

Compass Project Week 3: Learning the tools of the trade

This week in the workshop was spent learning about the tools of the woodworking and boat building trades.  Each of us chose a tool from the tool wall that we were unfamiliar with and we worked together to sort out what each tool did.  Some of them stumped us, but with the combined knowledge of Shane, Wendy, Allen and Greg we were successful! 

Socheta and Molly work with a traditional hand drill....

and use it really well - so well that they drill right through the work table!

Ahmed works with a chisel and wooden mallet...

The students put the finishing touches and measurement markings on their speed squares and tried out a few of the power tools that they hadn't worked with yet.

Andy works on the table saw as Wendy and Mrs. Duddy look on...

Marissa and Shane on the circular saw...Ahmed in the background working with the drill press...

Molly, Molly's great smile and Mrs. Duddy...

James hammers out the final metric measurement marks on his speed square...

Shane told us that the pre-cut parts for the Morbic 12 are scheduled for delivery this week!  We are really looking forward to getting down to business with the construction of the boat. 

Pathways Fall Fest Bake Sale

We had this week off from the Compass Project because of Fall Fest at FHS.  The Pathways students decided to hold a bake sale during the afternoon Fall Fest activities.  All of the proceeds from this sale would be used towards our first Pathways community service project.

After several class discussions and a visit from Holly MacEwan and Dede Bennell, our school Service Learning Coordinators, the kids decided that they would like to hold a children's book drive.  The students plan to send the books they collect to children in Guatemala with the students who are traveling to Safe Passage in the spring.  Using the money raised at the bake sale, we will also be purchasing new copies of books written by Maine authors such as Robert McCloskey, Heather Austin, Maureen Heffernan and Barbara Cooney.  They plan to use these books to create "books on CD" recordings.  They will also be designing covers for these audio book CD's which will include their picture and a personal note to the kids in Guatemala.  They hope that these CD's will encourage literacy and help these students to learn the English language.  Money from the bake sale will also be used to purchase portable CD players to send along with the books and recordings.

We had a great time preparing for the sale and the kids were excited to get started on the project...

 Connor puts in the first batch of cookies

Elena, Molly and Andy hard at work in the kitchen - thanks Mrs. Tartre for loaning us your room!

Elena, Andy, Mrs. Horton and Josh waiting for customers...

At the end of the sale, we were almost completely out of baked goods and had raised $101.50 towards our Books on CD project to benefit Safe Passage! 

Compass Project Week 2: Completing the Speed Squares

They say that time flies when you're having fun (and learning in a hands on way)...this was very true of our first week at Compass Project.  In fact, time passed so quickly during our first week in the workshop that we had to run to catch the bus before we even had a chance to clean up.  This week, I remembered to set my phone to go off 10 minutes before we had to catch the bus back to school so that we would be able to leave the workshop in order!

This week began with Allen, a retired engineer and Compass Project volunteer,  sharing his modified bicycle invention with us.  The kids were fascinated and amazed at how agile this machine was - truly an engineering feat.  After showing us how it worked, Allen even let the kids who wanted to take it for a spin...

 Allen demonstrates how his invention works...

Ahmed makes it look easy!

Andy takes a turn...

Elena after a successful trip around the parking lot!

Week two also had us finishing up our speed squares.  After a workshop safety review, the kids were back to work...

Merry and Wendy work on the speed square base...

Connor and Andy mark out their initial cuts...

Socheta on the band saw and James on the drill press as Shane looks on...

Ahmed uses the drill press to make the center hole in his speed square...

James prepares to make the kerf in his speed square base...

Andy puts the finishing touches on his project...