My canoe is coming along

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Ward, May 10, 2003.

  1. Ward
    Joined: May 2003
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    Location: Texas

    Ward Junior Member

    Well, I have gotten pretty far on my canoe project in the past 2 days. Alot of yesterday was spent tracking down and buying materials. Today I scarfed the sides together, taped and glassed the end seams on the inside of the bow/stern and have the spreader in place. Right now I'm trying to attach the gunwales but I'm not having much luck. I am trying to build this boat as cheap as possible, but it will hopefully be halfway decent looking. The design is my own, but is basically just a one off from a wacky lassie style canoe. The LOA is about 12' 2", beam is 32" at the gunwale, 22" at the chine. Sides are 14" tall. Wood is 1/4" ply bought from local home improvement store.

    I'm using bondo brand fiberglass resin and cloth, which is the mat type, not the woven. It has worked very well for the scarfs, with just a 4" wide strip of cloth across the ends of the wood on either side. It is just as strong as the wood, and bends with it. I was originally going to use butt blocks, but I decided glass joints are just as easy, but not so ugly.

    I'm not sure if i'm going to paint it yet, I'm now leaning more towards a natural finish. I was wondering if it would be okay to simply coat the entire boat inside and out with a thin layer of the bondo brand fiberglass epoxy. This stuff can be bought for about $23 for a gallon can of it. I coated a piece of scrap ply with it, and it seems very durable, and it can be sanded glass smooth. Would this work?

    Edit: I would attach a pic, but my digital camera is currently at the mfr being repaired; don't buy a canon digital camera... the zoom lenses like to jam.
     
  2. Ward
    Joined: May 2003
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    Location: Texas

    Ward Junior Member

    Ok, I got tired of gluing sections of gunwale on at a time (I only have 4 c-clamps), so I decided to go a different route. I made a trip up to wal-mart and got some 1/2" wood screws. I was afraid to do this from the start because I thought they would split the 1/4" plywood. But now that one whole gunwale is done with them, I realize I should have just done this. There is a screw, going from the inside out into the gunwale about every 8". The gunwales are 3/4" thick, so the screw tips are not poking out. It doesnt look as bad as I thought it would either :p

    I do have another question though... What can I use to get the epoxy off my hands?
     
  3. Ward
    Joined: May 2003
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    Location: Texas

    Ward Junior Member

    Borrowed my friend's digital camera today. I got the bottom cut out and taped to the sides today, and I started to fiberglass the bottom to the sides. But its getting hot outside, and I'm out of resin. Its coming along nicely though, with just the tape holding it together, its already surprisingly stiff. Its very light too, it feels like about 30 lbs. I'm guessing less than 50 when its complete. Total I have spent about 60 dollars, so Its cheap too :p
     

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  4. cco12
    Joined: May 2003
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    Location: alabama

    cco12 New Member

    I think the canoe looks really well. How would i make the sides round out of wood? I always wanted to build a little wooden boat of some sourt but i nam not quit sure how, and also i am only 15 years old. Please stay in touch i will check this forum daily.
     
  5. Ward
    Joined: May 2003
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    Location: Texas

    Ward Junior Member

    What do you mean 'round'? Are you talking about how they curve from end to end? If so, thats actually not hard at all. I'm using 1/4" thick plywood for the sides and bottom, and it bends very well. All I did was cut out the sides, then tape them together at the ends with lots of duct tape. Then, you can pull them apart in the midde, and put a piece of scrap wood inbetween to hold them apart. This is called a spreader, and you can see it in my pic. Then, I put fiberglass at the end seams, to permanently hold the ends together. BTW, I'm only 19, so really anyone can do this.
     
  6. Peter_T
    Joined: May 2003
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    Location: Gulf Coast

    Peter_T Junior Member

    The canoe picture indicated your skill in setting the hull. However, you managed to omit the wooden jig internally. You could have inserted the wooden bulkheads first, then bend the plywood around, so that port and starboard will be the same. It is not too late to insert and balance out before further glue work is dry or set. I suggest at least insert partial midship bulkhead or deep webs, then full depth peak bulkheads to keep the end strong enough to knock on other boats, just in case. For an open deck boat, consider to strengthen the free edge of the gunwale, with round piece to act as a stringer. Think of something handy, you may use a metallic angle to enhance fitting of csk cres (ss) screws

    Before coating the plywood with fiber glass, I suggest you should use waterproof sealant to seal all hole, screw holes, seams etc., to prevent micro bateria, insects and moisture, entering into the cavities and laminations.

    Have fun!!

    Peter
     
  7. Peter_T
    Joined: May 2003
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    Location: Gulf Coast

    Peter_T Junior Member

    There was another posting on watersealing plywood. I had suggested to use waterproof plywood for marine work. In all marine joiner work in the refrigerated chambers, they used a lot of plywood, but are specially ordered that has been treated. This includes all furniture timber, it is important to cure all the interior and seal off using a high pressure system. In the absence of the material, it is recommended to apply a solution to treat the timber and the plywood.

    http://www.protim.ie/other.htm
    http://www.bfafh.de/inst4/43/ppt/2novel.pdf
    http://www.maritime.org/conf/conf-rhude.htm


    Peter
     
  8. icetreader
    Joined: Jan 2003
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    Location: USA

    icetreader Senior Member

  9. Littlebearcanoe
    Joined: Sep 2005
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    Location: Maine

    Littlebearcanoe Junior Member

    Ward, Your canoe looks great.
    Have you ever thought about building a traditional canoe?
     

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  10. Littlebearcanoe
    Joined: Sep 2005
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    Location: Maine

    Littlebearcanoe Junior Member

    This is going to be your lucky day my friend. Iam a master canoe builder of maine and I will show you step by step how to build a canoe model. Iam very busy most of the time But will take a little time out for my self in the evening to post up a few pictures and ways to do things. First off how many tools do you have? You will need a small wood planer, hand drill ,
    A little table saw, little hand saw,hand planer, utility knife. We build canoes out of white cedar most of the time. Do you have white cedar around your area?
    You are going to have to build a wooden canoe form as well.
    Take a look at my website, I have alot of pictures of how we build canoes.
    www.littlebearcanoes.com
     
  11. Littlebearcanoe
    Joined: Sep 2005
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    Location: Maine

    Littlebearcanoe Junior Member

    acetone will remover the epoxy. Get some rubber gloves. After you coat the whole canoe let it dry for a couple of days then take a water bottle with a scratch brite pad and wet the whole canoe down in sections then with your brite pad rub over this area followed with paper towels to remove all the blush. Blush is what comes up after the epoxy is dry. Its like a wax. But has to be removed. before you add more coats of epoxy.Good luck
     
  12. JEM
    Joined: Jan 2004
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    Location: Greensboro, NC

    JEM Senior Member

    Nice looking pirogue (canoe)!

    You'll learn lots from building the first one. Probably will get the urge to build more. ;)

    I'm not sure I follow the meaning of water proofing the wood before applying fiberglass. The epoxy resin should do that for you.
     

  13. Tim B
    Joined: Jan 2003
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    Location: Southern England

    Tim B Senior Member

    both canoes look lovely. anyway, waterproofing plywood... the bondo stuff you're using is, I suspect, Polyester. The only problem with polyester is it tends to look a little yellow (because of the hardener mainly). Also, if it's anything like the Car-Plan stuff over here then it's a pain in the arse for flow-coating. It can be done though, and it can look good. you could choose a pigmented resin either. that could look quite good too. Back to waterproofing... I've tried this method with epoxy, but not polyester (should work though). Go down to your local model shop (Hobby Lobby or wherever) and buy yourself a tin of cellulose dope and cellulose thinners. Try different mixes of dope, thinners and a LITTLE talcum-powder on different scraps, to see a) which penetrates best prob 1 dope 2 thinners. b) which gives the nicest finish. Once you've done one coat, sand it (it will feel rough), then coat it again, then sand. Dope (the cellulose stuff!!) is very good for filling the grain, even of ply, and giving a stable base to paint on.

    You'll probably find there are a few sorts of dope available, don't use "clear dope" it shinks like mad. if you can get it, use "Banana Oil", or failing that "Non-shrinking dope", there is "Sanding sealer" too, but that's just one of the previous too with a little talc. It paints on really nicely and if you use several coats gives a good finish too. It's also very light. I usually give wood two coats of thin dope to seal it, then one or two of sanding sealer, dependant on finish.

    I nice, light weight finish and no paint or epoxy in sight. It's not ultra-cheap though and probably come with a health-warning these days. Much kinder to you than epoxy or polyester though. Ensure the room is well ventilated when you do it, the fumes have been known to cause problems.

    Good luck,

    Tim B.
     
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