Pipe dope for seams?

[BHOFM]

My great grand father built simple jon boats and used pipe dope on
all the joints. I know it was white lead and linseed oil, but how would
the new, non lead work for the same application? Has any one tried it?

I am looking at building an eight foot simple boat using pine, construction
lumber. Buying a bunch of 2X4s and resawing them to 5/8sX3 1/2 for
the planking and thought about using pipe dope on all the joints..

I also thought about using linseed oil and bees wax as the finish.

This boat will get some rough use and I want to be able to touch it
up and go.

I am thinking 7' 10'X43"X14", it needs to fit inside a small utility trailer.
7' oars, trolling motor. Calm water, beachable. Sharp bow, flat bottom
small keel full lengh about 4".

I need to do this boat for about $75?

Your thoughts!

[TeddyDiver]

with 2x4 you propably have the grain wrong way in the middle of your boards so if you might find smth like 2x8 to saw smth like 3x5/8
Thou I don't know how good timber you can get..

[PAR]

Teddy's right, you'll have flat sawn planking if you cut 2x4's that way. You could rip 2x10's or 12's down the centerline, then mill the resulting quarter sawn stock into suitable planking. Another advantage of doing it this way is the larger stock has to come from older trees, which will have fewer defects.

Instead of an oil and bees wax finish, might I recommend a shellac finish. The 3 pound stuff available at hardware stores may work, assuming it doesn't have anything else in it (usually does). You can buy shellac flakes from a number of woodworker supply sources on line. Mix to your preferred consistency.

In the seams, you could use a 9 pound mix of shellac as the sealer. This is a common and very traditional way of doing things.

Of course, none of the traditional methods really are effective, compared to modern sealants and especially next to epoxy. In fact, if you used epoxy, you could eliminate most, if not all of the internal structural elements, within the boat. Yep, no beveling chine logs or stringers, no frames or gussets, etc. This saves a lot of work and the results are waterproof, not water resistant like traditional methods.