This is a home made Spar Gauge used to mark out the lines on the sides of the plank. These lines were then used as a guide for planing the wood to an eight-sided cross-section.

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The Spar Gauge is placed across the plank and rotated sideways so that the two stops at each end are in contact with the plank sides. They must remain in contact as the gauge is moved along the length of the plank, with the two pencils marking the two lines as shown. Repeat for each of the four sides of the plank.

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This sketch is an approximate diagram of what the Spar Gauge lines should look like (represented by blue lines), on the sides of the gaff.

Note that a line has been marked round the gaff at a position of 65 mm from the end. This line marks the extent of the tang to which the stainless-steel jaws are attached. This area MUST be left un-planed during the initial shaping of the gaff.

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Having used the Spar Gauge to mark the wood, this photograph shows the corners of the gaff being removed (down to the Spar Gauge lines), using a Jack Plane. As this requires some careful planing a Jack Plane is preferred rather than an electric planer. This gives an octagonal (eight-sided) cross-section to the plank.

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This is a picture of the bottom end of the gaff. The last 65 mm of the gaff must be left un-shaped at this stage and will be tooled to fit the stainless-steel square tube of the jaws at a later stage.

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This sketch shows the gaff with an octagonal cross-section after the first phase of planing has been completed. As noted above, the last 65 mm of the gaff must be left un-shaped at this stage until the rest of the shaping has been completed and the gaff is ready to be fitted with the stainless-steel jaws.

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The next stage is to get a 16-sided cross-section. This is done by gently planing away the corners of the 8-sided cross-section.

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Getting rid of the 16 corners & achieving a smooth profile. This photograph shows work in process working from the top of the gaff. The sharp edges around the top edge of the gaff have been rounded off and a good profile has been achieved over a distance of about 12 inches from the top. The profile was achieved by rubbing the sanding block along the length of the gaff, with the grain. There was no cross grain sanding.

Note the rubber sanding block on the left side of the picture which was the only shaping tool used with 80 grit aluminium oxide sanding paper.

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Another photograph showing work in progress on the final shaping. The two lacing holes near the top of the gaff are well shown in this photograph. This work can only be undertaken by eye and a 'feel' for the job in hand. Sighting along the spar at frequent intervals will show up any irregularities or imperfections in the profile which can then be sanded out.

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The tang was left untouched after the initial planing and should be square in profile with each side measuring approximately 38 mm across. Approximately 1`mm has to be removed from each side of the tang so that it is 36 mm square. This enables it to fit inside the stainless steel square tube to which the jaws are welded. The tang has to be 65 mm long to match the length of the tube.

The first stage is to carefully draw the profile lines in pencil using a ruler or straight edge. For the tang shoulder, the lines are drawn using a try-square.

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After marking the lines defining the final size of the tang, the shoulders of the tang can be cut. A tenon saw could be used for doing this but a small hacksaw is better as the required cut is very small, about a millimetre (maximum) on each side. The gaff jaws are shown on the left of the photograph ready for fitting.

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This photograph shows the tang at the end of the gaff (bottom of picture), partially shaped by the rasp (mid picture). The rasp is used in the same way as a file. After removing most of the waste with the rasp, a sanding block is used for the final shaping down to the lines.

When approaching the lines, make frequent checks to see if the metal tube will fit over the tang. Use a sanding block to very slightly round off the corners of the tang to match the inside corners of the metal tube. At the end of the process it should be fairly easy to slide the tube over the tang. Two coats of Epoxy resin on the tang will then make a tight & snug fit.

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This photo shows work in progress in shaping the tang. Note the slightly rounded corners of the tang.

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Once the tube fits, check the shoulders of the wood are flush with the metal tube. The red arrow shows where the wooden shoulders protrude above the metal. This is a potential area for damage as the wood is easily knocked and could splinter off. The remedy is to sand the wooden shoulders until they are flush with the metal tube of the jaws.

Before finally screwing the jaws to the tang, the whole gaff should be given two generous coats of Epoxy resin (see below).

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After applying two coats of Epoxy and allowing to cure, the epoxied surfaces of the tang should be sanded smooth and the square tube of the jaws tapped lightly into place (use a hammer on a block of wood across the front of the square tube). Make sure that the jaws are fitted the right way round - the forks should be on the 'fat side' of the gaff whilst the clevis pin plates should be on the 'flat' side.

With the jaws in place, use the screw hole in the stainless tube as a guide to drill a clearance hole and then a pilot hole into the tang. This is vitally important as if the hole is too small there is a real danger of splitting the wood of the tang when the screw is driven home!. Before screwing, apply some catalised Epoxy resin to the screw hole. This will keep water out as well as making a strong bond between the screw and the wood.

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This photo shows what the gaff should look like after the jaws have been secured with the stainless screw. Note also the shoulders of the gaff which have been sanded flush with the metal tube of the stainless-steel jaws.

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This sketch shows the positions & dimensions of the four gaff wedges. The wedges were easily made from the offcut of Sitka Spruce left over from making the gaff yard itself. After fabrication, the exposed corners of each wedge were rounded off using a sanding block. The positions of the wedges were carefully measured and marked in pencil on the gaff sides. They were then glued in position with the narrowest ends aligned to point towards the top of the gaff.

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This picture shows one set of wedges being glued in place. First of all unthickened catalised Epoxy was applied by small brush to the areas of attachment on the gaff and to the bottom of each wedge. The remaining Epoxy was then mixed with West Filler 404 to make a strong adhesive, and applied to each surface to be glued. After positioning on the gaff, the wedges were held in place by elastic bands until the glue had cured.

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