: First off, coopering would be a great way to stretch my wood working skills.
: I can just imagine making buckets, tubs that float and tubs to float in.

:

: Then came fiberglass. Whereas a man could carry the boat up the beach,
: fiberglass doubled the weight making it impossible to carry. Dry rot,
: which never occurred before became common and the fiberglass did not stand
: up all that well to the UV rays. The bands didn't have to be replaced but
: the boat only lasted 20 years. There was not enough work for the
: craftsmen. They went on to other jobs and/or died off. And of course now
: few people can do that job.

: Don't ask me where this is going, it's up to each person to figure that out.
: I just thought it noteworthy.

: and my own feeble attempt:
: http://picasaweb.google.com/kayakster/HandMade#5171110686483466034

Hey your coopered space ship looks pretty good!

Learning the tricks of the trade is the real magic of the world.

I made a couple quick stave tests for my tub size and it is so cool to just make a circle from them. Coopering a waterproof tub the first or second try may not work. I don't what to spend 5 years learning to make perfect barrel however.

When fiberglass and resin use started there were a lot of applications that didn't work because the wood was not TOTALLY encapsulated.

I want a tub I can fill use a couple times and drain. A wood tub needs to be full of water all the time. I think I can make a wood tube and seal it with glass and resin.

The to-do list gets ever longer. The wife needed an emergency greenhouse last week to keep the chickens from turning into popsicles, I'm finishing up one of my solar hot air panels for the shop, and I need to cut those pines in the back to ready them for hand hewing for the sauna. Then I have boats to build.

No rest for the handy.

Rob