Small 12' Panga Build

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by gregkuiper, Jan 25, 2015.

  1. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    Location: Irvine, CA

    gregkuiper Junior Member

    Howdy all,
    One of my boys and I are building a small 12' Panga that is about 4' wide for just tooling around the local harbor and some fishing lakes. My goal is to build a much larger Panga or other fishing vessel in the future and I thought it would be fun to start with a small one and get my feet wet. A couple of days ago I bought the Bahia Panga plans from Spira International and started creating the frames today with 1x3 knot free pine. Building the frames involved drawing/lofting out the frame measurements on construction paper and then cutting the 1x3's to size and angles on my mitre saw. I then glued them and screwed them together with 1x1/4 galvanized deck screws. Going to build the strongback jig in a couple of days and put all the frames/keelson and start applying the skin.
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  2. Saqa
    Joined: Oct 2013
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    Location: Hervey Bay

    Saqa Senior Member

    Hey sounds cool, throw up some pics of your progress. How old are your boys?
     
  3. gregkuiper
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    Location: Irvine, CA

    gregkuiper Junior Member

    They are 11 and 14 and love fishing and boats
     
  4. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    Location: Irvine, CA

    gregkuiper Junior Member

    The six frames are done now and am going to add the transom, keelson, chine and sheer clamp this weekend. That isn't the 2x4 that's going to be used for the keelson. Just a placeholder for fitting. I'm also building the trailer you see in the back for camping trips.

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  5. gonzo
    Joined: Aug 2002
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    gonzo Senior Member

    That is a great family project. Good luck.
     
  6. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    gregkuiper Junior Member

    Went to Home Depot today and picked out a nice 2x4x10 for the keelson and then got the 1x2's for the chine, and sheer clamp. Did a little fitting with the 1x2's to see where the best location for a scarf joint will be. Most likely near the stern since there is much less bend there. Going to make and mount the transom tomorrow and then start cutting out the frame for the chine and sheer clamp rails. Also mounted the 2x4 that will be the stem for the bow as well.
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  7. Saqa
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    Location: Hervey Bay

    Saqa Senior Member

    That is just like a lot of our local boats here in Fiji. Which plan or design are you building to? Good to see the progress mate
     
  8. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    Location: Irvine, CA

    gregkuiper Junior Member

    Hi Saqa,
    Glad to hear they are used in Fiji. That style is quite popular down in Mexico as well and I see a lot of fishermen go out through decent waves as they launch from the beach on the larger versions.
    The design I'm using is called the Bahia Mini Panga and its from spirainternational.com. Hope to finish the chine log and clamp rail this weekend and then fair the boat next week in preparation for the plywood.
    http://www.spirainternational.com/hp_bahi.php
     
  9. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    gregkuiper Junior Member

    This weekend I got to build the transom and start getting the chine log and sheer clamps installed. I was a little overly aggressive with bending one of the chine logs and snapped it. I then made another one and wrapped it with a wet towel for a few hours while slowly using a clamp to bend it into place. Much better bend without any breakage :) I also ended up reinforcing the chine/sheer with a 2x2 brace behind each scarf joint that runs the length from frame to frame.

    I'll be finishing the bow chine/sheer in the next few days and then will start fairing the wood in preparation for the 1/4 inch plywood. I found some nice sanded ACX at Lowes that I'm going to use. Since this boat will be stored in my garage dry, I'm not going to use marine plywood and I am going to be glassing everything as well as painting so I'm not worried about moisture getting into the boat.

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  10. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    Location: Irvine, CA

    gregkuiper Junior Member

    In addition, I'll be using the Bondo that is made for wood to fill any screw holes or gaps. Spira International recommends just mixing epoxy with wood flour, but the Bondo is very convenient and only about $10 for a couple of pints which more than I need.
     
  11. gregkuiper
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    gregkuiper Junior Member

    Frame is coming along nicely. Finished all the end joints for the transom attachments to the chine log and sheer clamp and used Bondo any joint that had gaps. Love working with the Bondo. Only had to use a small amount and it sanded nicely after a few hours of drying.

    Replaced the snapped chine log with another today and put a little more effort into bending it slowly into place. Fits great and no breakage this time :)

    Started a little bit of fairing today to get an idea of how much work this will involve and the most efficient way to do it. I suspect I'll use my skill saw on an angle to take down the bulk of the keelson.

    Tonight's goal is to trim up the stem so that the 1x2's fit into it nicely. then some more fairing and ready for 1/4 plywood this weekend. Yay!!!
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  12. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    gregkuiper Junior Member

    Building the boat has been enjoyable up to last night. I had to work on joining the four rails to the stem. That was not easy figuring out a way to notch the stem and keep all the angles and make it look clean. I ended up using a really good belt sander with 60 grit and just ground out the channels with it. Much easier and cleaner than using a saw blade and guessing at the angles. Took almost 1 hour for each channel for a total of four hours.

    The worst part was that at a critical junction in the stem I had a big old knot in the wood. It was super hard and really difficult to grind out.

    The rest should be much more fun :)
     
  13. Saqa
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    Saqa Senior Member

    I am glad that the dust part is way behind me for the one I made! Bet you looking forward to the joys of fairing :

    Good going mate, do the lil ones think its a boat yet? :) My daughter was 6 months old when we started our build and 1yr6mths when we finished. She loved the boat!
     
  14. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    gregkuiper Junior Member

    Yep, started fairing today and it's dusty. I set up a fan to blow out the sawdust as I'm working and it gets the finer particles out.

    I'm using a combination of an electric hand planer, belt sander and orbital sander for the planing, so it's going quickly. One pain has been that I had to relocate almost every screw in the chine log and sheer clamp since they were in the way of the material that I needed to remove to level everything out.

    How big is your boat? I'm hoping to be done around the end of March. My anticipated schedule is:
    Finish Fairing by the weekend
    Get 1/4 plywood on the boat this weekend/following week
    Sand all corners smooth and apply reinforcement fiber glass strips on all corners and in some areas that I think need more strength
    Glass whole boat in two weeks and sand
    Flip on March 1st, epoxy interior and lay down floorboards and seal, add rub rail and bench seats
    March 15, paint interior and exterior
    March 25, mount engine, gas can and test in the water :)
     

  15. gregkuiper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    Location: Irvine, CA

    gregkuiper Junior Member

    Got about 90% the fairing done today using a combination of an electric planer, belt sander with 60 grit and a little orbital sanding.

    Put a few coats of Bondo on the stem where the chine log and sheer clamp meet. The plans don't call for it, but I'm going to glass the stem to keelson for reinforcement before adding the plywood.

    I'll let the Bondo and fiberglass cure overnight and sand on Friday.
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