Spring is in the air, and with it is a strong desire to finish the canoe mold I’ve been working on all winter.  I was over working on it yesterday, attaching the metal bands to the mold.  The metal bands serve two roles in the canoe building process.  First, they’re the same width as the ribs and show you where the ribs go when you’re bending them and attaching them to the inwhale.  Second, they clinch the ends of the tacks when you’re tacking the planks to the ribs.  I was having a hard time keeping the metal band tight to the mold when I was screwing it in, and Don came up with the system pictured above.  It uses a pair of vise grips and a loop of string and allows you to use your foot to hold the metal band tight to the mold while still having two free hands to hold the screw and drill.

Yesterday was warm and it stayed warm and rained last night.  In the last 24 hours we’ve lost ten inches to a foot of snow, and it’s supposed to be warm and sunny today.