CALUMET — Over the past month, high school woodworking students got the chance to practice traditional Finnish boat building.

Since the first week of October, Calumet High school students have been aiding master boat builder Alex Comb on the project and got the chance to show off their creation to the community Thursday.

The lapstrake-style boat, built with overlapping planks in the centuries-old tradition, was built from cedar planking, steam bent oak ribs and held together using copper rivets.

Though mostly competed at the time of the showing, the students and shop teacher Rob Bohlsen will need to sand it, add seats and lock sockets as well as paint the outside and varnish the interior, Comb said.

Comb saw the build as a great experience for the kids to try working with their hands and using hand tools. Even though students were not able to do much of the boat assembly themselves, they prepared the materials and were able to experience traditional hand tools.

“Working with your hands really improves who you are, improves your mind, how you think about things and I think it’s really important for kids to get that experience and I think more and more the kids are not,” Comb said.

He was impressed with the equipment and quality of the woodworking class, something he described as rare as more schools move towards CAD (Computer-aided design).

The project was a major shift from typical work in the class, said Bohlsen. Typically students were working with straight cuts, lines and thicker material for furniture building. The whole process ended up being a learning experience for him as well, he said.

“The hand tool operation is something that I had never took to as a woodworker but it’s something that I’ve learned over the past month to potentially admire,” he said, amazed by what Comb was able to create with the hand tools.

He hopes the project may spark an interest in traditional boat building in students.

Two students were on hand to show off their handiwork. Spencer Wiinamaki and Reino Helppi helped sharpen the hand planes used in the process.

“It was just a fun process,” said Wiinamaki.

Both students indicated they might be interested in trying to build another if given the opportunity.

Once completed, the boat will be auctioned off to support the school’s sports booster program sometime in the spring.