Revised dimensions for SANFORD GUNNING BOX

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
All~


I finally got around to formally drawing up my plans for the plywood used in my Gunning Boxes; I revised them in 2017.


Compared with my original measurements, the box is just a few inches wider at the bow. This gives a bit more shoulder room AND it makes bending the framing "longitudinals" - the chine logs and outwales - significantly easier. Each box still requires just a single sheet of 1/4-inch plywood.

I recommend AC plywood. I just bought a piece of marine plywood for another project. It is twice the price but still has some interior voids. Marine is supposed to have 2 good faces and NO voids. As you'll see in my note below, I put the A side in and the C side out. Any blemishes in the C side get filled and faired with either thickened epoxy or Bondo before 'glassing.

I will put together a Materials List soon. And, I hope I can find the time to update my website posts with this new information.

Here's how I array the 3 pieces on a full sheet of plywood:

Layout on 4 x 8 Plywood - Floor and 2 Sides with TEXT.jpg

After drawing grid lines across the plywood every 12 inches, I mark the half-breadths for the bottom. I set the blade on my circular saw fairly shallow (half-way) and cut the bottom first. Then I stack the 2 sides before sawing them.

2017 Floor and Side Dimensions - with TEXT.jpg

The forward end of each side is detailed at a larger scale. Grid lines are drawn every 6 inches for the first 30 inches aft of the bow.

2017 Side Dimensions - details - with TEXT.jpg

Otherwise, the instructions for building these boxes remain unchanged - as far as I recall. I will scrutinize the text and revise wherever needed.

https://stevenjaysanford.com/sanford-gunning-box/

All the best,

SJS


 
Thanks for sharing the update. I bet more than a couple have been made and enjoyed by waterfowlers over the years.

Eric
 
Eric~


I guess I'll never know. The plans were first "published" in the pre-interwebs era. First was South Shore Waterfowlers Ass'n on Long Island. So, they been available for over 40 years now....



Coffin Box Plans 1981.jpg



The New Jersey Waterfowlers put the plans in their newsletter a year or so later. I ran across a discussion on this site circa 2007 or '08? (I just know I was still working in Albany and did not join this site 'til 2013, I believe.) I've met numerous gunners who built them from the plans - and one fellow in Jersey who happened to beat me at my own game at Tuckerton. Yes, my box came in second to another built to my plans.....


If you've read the Back Story.....


https://stevenjaysanford.com/sanford-gunning-box-2/





...you'll know I first designed it whilst in the Eighth Grade.




And I still fit all these years and pounds later!


SJS


 
Steve, are you on a first name basis at the lumberyard where you buy your wood for building these amazing boats?
I sure enjoyed reading what you had to say.

When you talked about the first design being done as an 8th grader, I am assuming that you were as precise back then as you are now. Who, in your earlier years, was the person responsible for getting you going on all of the projects that you love so much to do?
Al
Check out this male black-chinned hummingbird's wings. Each wing doing something different for whatever maneuver he was using. In less than two months they will be back here. I can hardly wait for their arrival.
_MG_9709.JPG
 
Good morning, Al~


Oh - that's an easy one!


My Dad was always designing and building something. Although a policeman by trade whilst I was growing up, he always had a second - sometimes even third - job. One of his beliefs was: "You can do anything at all." He mastered many, many skills - but woodworking was probably his longest suit. Whether building custom cabinets, renovating our home, or building a boat, one of my strongest images of him is him sitting at our kitchen counter - which he designed and built - "doping out" his current project. There was always a lined pad and a sharp pencil - and usually a cup of coffee and a cigarette. He would explain his design process to whomever was within earshot, most often my Mom or me. Whatever he was doing, excellence was always the goal.



I learned lots at his elbow in his shop. Mostly I just held (as in human clamp) stuff as he explained what he was doing and why he was doing it. His education built me a foundation for a lifetime. I have many of his machines, cabinets and tools in my shop - but mostly his teaching is with me every day.



1 - Interior of Studio.JPG



He's one of the reasons I consider myself the luckiest fellow I know....


All the best,


SJS









 
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