steel canoe design help

hi all,

i have a MIG welder and i am trying to build a steel canoe from 1 mm or 1.5 steel plate. is it possible for this steel thickness to hold the shape without too many tubes.


thanks all.

 

whats it with so many recently trying to build small boats out of steel? But you, no offense meant, is the best of them all to try and do a canoe with steel...

Seriously, bigger boats lent themselves to steel fabrication and really, steel only comes into its own above 45ft LOA to get a weight saving over GRP if designed correctly.
That said, many steel boats were built much smaller and myself built a few 24ft LOA ones. And this length is the minimum I would recommend building in steel for many obvious reasons.

The best material for a canoe is GRP. and if you do not want a plastic boat, do your canoe with cold molded strip ply which would be a super light unit with great strength - and you can do it in basically any shape whereas whis steel you will be severely limited in form, more so when you are an amateur and not to mention the weight.

 

I would have to disagree a bit there... the lightest would be SOF at less than 20 lbs /9 kilos for some...but by far the best looking are the cedar strip with accents. Still light if done right...they run around 45 lbs/ 20 kilos or so for the smaller ones. Steel isn't really an option...although aluminum is but at a premium in both cost and effort for a one off construction. Sheet materials are not easy to work with in the canoe venue, even for plywood which can be tortured to an extent.

 

you are quite right Lewis. I should have said a very light and strong unit.

 

some other points, you can as they say weld so thin, but with an undecked boat, the boat will just twist , if it were decked in like an ocean kayak it would not
the Dutch and Germans build a lot of dory types but never to my knowledge under 3mm, of if they do it would be with a wt sole, which would stop the twist as a deck does

 

hi all,

thanks for so much help. i got 2 sheets of galvanized steel one of 0.6mm and one 0.8mm. i succeeded in welding them up together and i used C02 and 0.8mm wire. it seems strange but it likes me. i thing i will go for the 0.8mm steel only as the fumes of the galvanized one are a mess. i am going to put some stations under the deck in order to prevent the twisting. on the deck i will put also framework of 1mm steel tube around the canoe it will serve as a support for the wooden deck. if i succeed i will put some nice photos. any suggestions are very much appreciated as this is the first boat i am making... my brother is good at autocad so he might help to print the parts for it.

thanks again great forum

 

I'm not sure what you mean by a mess, but in case you didn't know the fumes from welding galvanized metal are deadly.

I believe Robb White (?) made his first boat by folding up the ends of a piece of corrugated roofing tin, with a spreader to keep the center open. That sounds like a steel canoe to me.

 

upsssssssssssss i new it but i haven't worked with them previously, and it true.
anyway can the steel canoe be made from 0.8mm steel sheet. ????

 

i got the 0.9mm steel sheet and i think in planning to use wood stations to hold the sheets open. i think the wood should be covered with fiberglass in order to join it with the metal sheet??? is it good.

if someone has suggestions please help

 

Sorry if I sound a bit rude, but sounds like somebody is planning to do illegal immigration to Italy Anyway just having a sheet of steel doesn't mean one have to make a canoe.
Google "skin on frame" instead..

 

TeddyDiver "Sorry if I sound a bit rude, but sounds like somebody is planning to do illegal immigration to Italy".
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Teddy i think that you are a little bit late on news, 1991 is far from now. now almost anyone who is capable to work and likes to go abroad, is in USA or Canada. Canada mostly as they require engineers and doctors. Regarding to the boats to Italy, they are mostly from some categories of Italians that may like some white powder to sell "which is a shame" but its up to the big consumers to stop taking drugs so no boats with ... in sea between Albania and Italy. So for the record if you are likely to go through 87 km of Adriatic sea in a canoe, you are most than welcome, as you will set a Guinness record if you make it in one piece, for there are so many boats of guardia di financa who let only the boats of they bosses to transport white thing across the sea. So now, no honest Albanian needs nowadays to go through the sea. Even at 1991 we Albanian emigrated for economical reasons only, everybody in our shoes would have done the same. even Finland which seems so far but is consuming so much white powder "THIS IS STATISTICS" . any way i am an ELECTRONIC ENGINEER working for the 2-Nd biggest company in the world of telecommunications. this is for pleasure as the sheet of metal here is 16$ for 2Mx1M and i like to build in metallic materials as my uncle is mechanical engineer "here its called like that". if you can help in ideas for building this boat which is 7.4 M. you would have my gratitude.

Even before talking someone with common sense, would prefer come and see and than judge or give opinions.

This forum seemed to be opened to anyone, with the wish to build boats with no restrictions from where they come from, "which i am proud to be Albanian for it is one of the most ancient people in Europe" if this forum is only for Finland and some other country which i may not know. i will be honest and leave.

 

You can screw the sheet metal to the wooden frames and caulk the heads. What do you mean by putting fiberglass on the wood, where?

 

i suppose some water will get in it so i thought it would last longer if i put epoxy resin and maybe some fiberglass clothe around the stations so they don't get wet. also i think that the epoxy resin is strong enough to join the metal and wood together without the need for screws as the metal will tend to get inside the boat. but know that i am thinking again maybe i will do so as this is the first small boat i am making so thanks very much for helping.

One mind no mind, two minds half mind, many minds one mind maybe. i my case and experience. i am approximately 1/8 mind by i got will enough for 12 people
thanks again

 

for my ulua project i plan to build it with metall sheet again but this time a very thin one like 0.4 mm iron corrugate, and weld it with an acetylene torch, as mig can`t do that (till now). do i sound crazy know . i wonder that the joint with acetylene will be strong enough to hold same shaking.

PS i am very very new to boat building just got some new books and the will to do something with them as here they do not allow power boats. only sailboats and canoe.

 

There are some pictures of a steel canoe here:
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/my-one-sheet-steel-boat-project-28485.html
I expect you will struggle with anything less than 1mm thick plate. It will warp even with spot welding.

There is no advantage to using galvanising for regular immersion in water. Best to clean the steel and use a very good paint system.

Steel is roughly 16 times more dense than ply wood. So a 1mm thick steel boat is going to have the weight of 16mm thick ply. That would be a massively strong canoe. It really only needs to be 4mm thick ply. Equivalent weight of steel would produce a boat that could be easily dented in normal handling and very difficult to weld up.

Weight is an important feature of any boat but a small boat is really important. With a canoe you want a boat that can be easily carried up the beach by the crew - one person if it is a one person boat.

Rick W