We also made our own caulking tools or irons - six scalpels / chisels of various blade thicknesses and a hammer. The oakum (hemp fiber soaked in pine tar) is sold in a thick rope-like spinned tufts, so we had first to uncoil and split them, set the tufts of smaller thickness and then spin them again. After that the oakum was hammered tightly in the grooves between planks. The caulked planking was subsequently covered with red lead tetroxide and linseed oil, puttied, sanded and finally painted.
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| Home-made tools for caulking. |
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| The oakum ready for hand spinning. |
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| The act of hand spinning. |
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| Correct handling of caulking tools - stage 1: gathering oakum in a bundle. |
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| Correct handling of caulking tools - stage 2: hammering into the groove. |
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| Caulking the floor planking. |
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| Applying a weatherproof polyurethane deck caulking sealant. |
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| Sanding the deck once the polyurethane sealant dried. |
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| Puttying the ship bottom after the caulking phase. |
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| Painting the deck with undercoat (primary coat). |
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| View on the boat painted with final varnish. |
