Proper Pre Planning

I got inspired by a blog post by Ralph the accidental woodworker.

This time I hadn't planned my time on board very well regarding woodworking.

OK, a fact is that I had the flu when I joined the ship, so doing the daily job drained most of my
energy - leaving none for exercising or woodworking.
I did manage to make a few small projects, but looking back I think I should have prepared myself better.

So to get ahead of the game I have been doing a bit of thinking the last couple of days. One of my thoughts have been that I just can't continue making small chests and cabinets. I like making them, but I need to challenge myself by making something else once in a while. Plus I'll scare people away from this blog if they only see me doing the same old stuff over and over again.

So here is a short list of my ideas for future projects that could be made on board (in no particular order):

Restoring chisels.
I have a bunch of old chisels that could need a new handle, and either turning a handle or making an octagonal handle would definitely be possible on board as would general cleaning and initial sharpening of the chisel. I would need to bring a bit of suitable wood for the handles and also the chisels, but that is no problem.

Making a back saw.
Leif Hanson of Norsewoodsmith has made an excellent series describing how to make a back saw.
This step by step tutorial is so clearly written and illustrated, that it makes it look easy and possible to make your own back saw.
It could be fun to try, and I could make a saw with a very small handle aimed for my sons to use. I would need to bring a piece of steel for the saw blade, and some wood for a handle. The back could either be made from a short piece of angle bar or I could try to find a small piece of brass plate that I could bring along.

Restoring moulding planes.
A couple of years ago I purchased a bunch of old moulding planes. I have tried one of them since, but frankly they could all do with a little cleaning and a lot of sharpening. This is one of the things; I never manage to convince myself to spend time at while I am home.

Restoring wooden plow planes or moving fillisters.
I have somehow managed to acquire a couple of those as well, and like the case is for the moulding planes, these could use a bit of TLC.

Make a tool roll for some of my extra auger drills or chisels.
This would see a return of me sewing canvas. Something I have never blogged about.
Theoretically I could also sew the roll in leather. This type of project has the advantage of being something similar to the sign carving projects. I.e they can be done in the engine control room.

Make an explanatory working model of an engine.
One of my old dreams have been to make a model that can be used to explain how a steam engine works. This would require some turning and a lot of fiddling, but it could end up being a cool thing. I would probably have to bring some hardwood with me for this project.

Make a small Bombay chest.
OK this is not my idea, it was suggested by Brian Eve, and I can see that there would clearly be some challenges in making one. It would require me to either use a jig saw for the curved parts, or bring a frame saw.
The curved sides would probably benefit from me bringing a compass plane too.

Make a model ship or boat.
This would require me to bring a lot of thin strips of wood and a coping saw. Making the strips at home on the table saw or the band saw would be so much easier than ripping them from a piece of pallet wood and then planing them flat.
I think it could be kind of fun to make a 1:5 model of a rowing boat. This could very well be made from the drawings of a boat that I would like to make in full size.

No matter what project I eventually choose, at least I know that I have done a part of the pre planning. Thus I should theoretically have prevented a "less than adequate performance" (you need to check the actual meaning of the seven P's on Ralph's blog).