Nigel Gray
Nigel belongs to: The Coble and Keelboat Society
Nigel was born near Hexham. He has always been interested in traditional boats and has operated a variety of wooden boats for commercial and recreational purposes. He has recently built his own boat in his garage using traditional tools and techniques.
Nigel was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 13 November 2005. The interview took place at the Interviewee's living room and lasted 34 minutes and 25 seconds.
The adze and caulking irons
"I’ve got to say I think, I think the adze is a favourite tool"
I’ve got to say I think, I think the adze is a favourite tool because it’s so versatile and once you’re learnt to use it, you, you realise it’s kind of, it can to be a weapon of destruction in the wrong hands but it is such a sensitive, sympathetic tool to the idea of, you know, sort of, traditional wood working and wood boat, and wooden boat building, and I think mastering the adze is kind of one of those benchmark things that anybody who’s a boat builder, you’ve got to learn to do it.
And I think probably the other things are the caulking irons, like I mentioned, because they’re just so, they’re so nice to handle, they’re just quite tactile and yet, you know, they’re sort of something that’s been used for a long, long period of time. And caulking irons-it’s the caulking in most carvel built boats that stops the boat caulking. If the caulking’s driven right, then the boat’s tight and it’s watertight.
Nigel has 22 memories in the memorynet:
Nigel's memories with a The North East theme:
Nigel's other memories:
Process of building a wooden boat- Sourcing traditional boat building tools
- The adze and caulking irons
- Superstitions
- What does the sea mean to you?
- Sound of the adze
- Sound of the augur
- Sound of caulking
- Sound of a jack plane
The adze- Caulking irons
- Cotton
- Hand brace and augurs
- Wooden caulking mallet
- Jack plane
- Half model and plans
- Nigel at work in his workshop
- Maiden voyage of the Trevisky
This memory has these themes:
Equipment | Skills | Traditions
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