CRAFTSMANSHIP


Boatbuilder’s Notes 1


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Cleats from the tree BY ROBIN GATES


A cleat carved from solid wood is one of the simplest and most useful things you can make for a boat. Besides its inherent strength, a wooden cleat is an object of beauty with flowing symmetry that echoes the movements of the tide. I set out to make some wooden cleats beginning with a slice of tree and using only hand tools from a pre-industrial boatshed. The traditional timber for this purpose is our native common ash, a hard yet resilient species found growing in wood and wayside throughout the UK. Using a steel wedge and sledgehammer, I began by splitting out a suitable piece clear of knots from the seasoned log, aligning grain with the intended length of the cleat. The piece was cleaned up with a carpenter’s axe – an immensely satisfying process; it’s amazing how square and fair a result is obtainable with this most ancient of edge tools.


86 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2011


Already the lustrous grain of the ash was showing well. Allowing for stock to be consumed by saw cuts and finishing, the piece was then planed and dimensioned with a cutting gauge for three cleats that would be 5in long by ¾in wide by 1in high (12.7 x 1.9 x 2.5cm). These would be suitable for lines to around 5/16in (0.8 cm) diameter. With the cleats-to-be marked side by side, the first cuts by tenon saw removed waste from beneath the


Below: The finished cleats, ready to be bolted into place


horns and then the cleats were separated using a panel saw. Now each cleat was shaped by eye towards the form I had in mind. Representing a composite of cleats seen down the years, the form that emerged had a suggestion of concavity along the top, achieved by spokeshave, matched by convexity beneath the horns fashioned with a chisel. The throat on either side was hollowed using a rat-tail file and these hollows were continued around the sides to accommodate the first bends in the belayed line. Corners were radiused and the whole was smoothed using scrapers – no sanding was involved. Instead of finishing with varnish, which wears, flakes and offers no grip, I applied tung oil, which penetrates the wood to create a lovely matt sheen that is easily touched up. By making your own cleats not only will yours be different from everyone else’s but they will be a little different from each other – true individuals.


ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBIN GATES


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