After four years of happily sailing ALEDA, my lug-rigged Northeaster dory, I got the sloop rig as well just to play around with a different sail set up. I love the balance(d) lug for its simplicity, ease of set-up, etc. but I also love that I can try out different rigs on the same hull. Anyway, having now made several spars I thought I would share how I made the boom for the sloop rig. It’s pretty standard stuff except that I drilled the hole for the gooseneck before the spar was roughed out.
(1) I got a clear-ish, close-grained for 12 ft 2 by 6 at the local big-box home improvement store. I went on a Sunday afternoon when I had time to pick through the front of the stack. Out of the 2 by 6, there was a run of knot-free timber out of which to get the spar.
(2) I laid out the spar on the plank.
(3) After using a punch to make a hole to center the drill bit, I used a steel drill guide (mine is a Big Gator Tools V-Drill Guide) to drill the hole for the gooseneck BEFORE cutting out the spar. This gave me an adequate surface for the guide and guaranteed that the hole was in the center of the spar perpendicular to the end.
(4) I used a router to round over two corners of the spar before ripping the spar blank free from the plank. I left a hair of extra wood so that I could plane and sand out the saw marks.
(5) Based on grain, I selected the best side for the top and tapered the bottom with a sharp block plane.
(6) I rounded off the remaining two sides with the router and
(7) sanded the whole to the desired finish level.
