Wood Fabrication

[trainer]

Here's what I have been doing in my garage all winter.
11' long wide transom canoe designed to be hauled on top of an ATV.

Made of cedar and epoxy with oak trim. Seats are hand caned.
I designed and built this from scratch

 

[c/o say]

Thats truly some great work. You have some mad skills with wood.

 

[blue dog]

Spectacular. well done sir, you are a true craftsman. Love the seats.

 

[Deltarat]

That is some great wood skills! Really nice work.

 

[jtbinvalrico]

Very nicely done....got any pics of how you bend the wood? What steps go into a finish like that?

 

[johno]

Thats real nice. I'm guessing that would be built around a form, or bulkheads which are later removed?
Is epoxy used between strips as you build?

Again very nice, like the mermaid too.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Wow.

 

[jim m]

Thats a master piece sir really well down


Jim

 

[NASTYZEN]

Outstanding workmanship!You should be able to enjoy your new toy for years to come.

 

[trainer]

It's made of 3/4 by 1/4 inch cedar strips with bead and cove edges routed onto them. The strips are edge glued to each other with carpenter's glue and fastened to the forms with staples.

Once the hull is stripped and the glue is set, the staples are removed and everything is planed and sanded smooth.

It then gets a layer of fiberglass cloth, which turns transparent when covered with epoxy resin.

Several layers of resin and sanding form a smooth surface that gets protected by several layers of spar varnish.

The hull then comes off the forms and sanded and 'glassed on the inside.

The epoxy saturates the wood, making a very strong, light composite.
composite. Even though I used Solid Oak for the trim and seats, the final weight if the boat is 62 pounds.

 

[countrytech]

incredible.

 

[Lomotil]

Wow. That's positively amazing. Beautiful work!

 

[GarageEnvy]

Outstanding, but confess.......a "stitch and glue" canoe is probably not your first boat, right? If it is, you've really done well.

 

[MoonRise]

Nice 'stripper'.

But, why is the fore seat back set facing backwards only? Is it because with the square transom you are relying only on an engine steered/controlled by the aft occupant for propulsion and aren't really planning on paddling that canoe? Or for paddling will the fore occupant have to kneel and the aft-facing fore seat is just for fishing purposes or cruising around under power?

 

[johno]

Outstanding, but confess.......a "stitch and glue" canoe is probably not your first boat, right? If it is, you've really done well.

I don't believe thats stitch and glue.
I would think much closer to carvel.

 

[redman43]

Wow. Amazing work.

 

[trainer]

Outstanding, but confess.......a "stitch and glue" canoe is probably not your first boat, right? If it is, you've really done well.

This is my second canoe. Here's my first one http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66668


It's a fairly specific-use boat designed for slow trolling using an electric motor . Since it's short and wide, its not going to be much fun to paddle.
For serious paddling, I have the canoe in the link above though.

The seatbacks fold flat so that the person in the bow can sit facing forward and paddle if needed, and so that the person in the back can straddle the seat to run the motor.
For normal trolling, the motor gets fixed to go straight and i'll use a paddle or oar like a rudder to steer.

 

[johno]

This is my second canoe. Here's my first one http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66668


It's a fairly specific-use boat designed for slow trolling using an electric motor . Since it's short and wide, its not going to be much fun to paddle.
For serious paddling, I have the canoe in the link above though.

The seatbacks fold flat so that the person in the bow can sit facing forward and paddle if needed, and so that the person in the back can straddle the seat to run the motor.
For normal trolling, the motor gets fixed to go straight and i'll use a paddle or oar like a rudder to steer.

Is this stitch and glue? Or?

 

[trainer]

Is this stitch and glue? Or?

No this is woodstrip/ epoxy construction

stitch and glue uses plywood held together with ty-wraps or wires until glue sets, i believe

 

[brianh]

Thats one beautiful job, did you do the caning also? My wife canes chairs, I don't have the patience for it.

 

[Weps]

i wish i had cool people like you to hang out with nearby...

 

[trainer]

Thats one beautiful job, did you do the caning also? My wife canes chairs, I don't have the patience for it.

I caned them myself. I can usually get one seat or back done while watching a hockey game if it goes into overtime. Keeps my hands busy and saves on the beer and chips.

 

[BlindViper]

That looks great. What color are you gonna paint it?

 

[pacmktg]

That is awesome.

 

[HotRodKush]

That's amazing. I've been trying to finish a simple stitch & glue kayak for a year and a half now - trying to accomplish a boat like that would kill me!

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Very nice! Has she been baptized yet? I would love to see her rigged for transport and in the water. Have you sent a picture of your handiwork into the 'Wooden Boat' magazine yet? It's definitely worthy of appearing there!

A few questions for you:

-Did you make the mermaids? If so, how and of what material? They add an elegant touch to your craft.
-Have you any thoughts on the alternative method to stapling? W.B. had a recent (?) article on the use of nylon fish line to hold the strips in place during the cure process.
-What sources did you use to learn about caning and getting materials/tools? I've been wanting to learn that skill for a current project.
-I'm guessing you'll use both oars and paddles with this craft. Are you making those or buying them from somebody like Shaw & Tenney?
http://www.shawandtenney.com/index.php
-What does the whole set-up look like to get you from driveway to lake shore? Truck-trailer-ORV-canoe....pictures please

Once again. WELL DONE!

 

[trainer]

Thanks for the compliments, Omp.
The mermaids were simply clipart from the internet, resized using Microsoft publisher and printed with an inkjet printer on tracing paper. The paper goes fairly clear under epoxy, much like the fiberglass cloth.

Gil Gilpatrick's book "Building a strip canoe" has a chapter on seat caning.
It's available on his site gilgilpatrick.com. He's a retired highschool shop teacher and Maine guide, so he knows his canoes and takes a practical approach. He answers his email and seems like a nice guy. His book is definately worth buying.

I've looked at staple -less methods, but i don't think i would have the patience. Those methods would only allow one or two strips a day to be added. With the staple method, I got into a rythmn and had the hull stripped in a couple of nights.

Matching paddles are under construction as we speak.
She had a brief maiden voyage on Sunday and I'm making a few minor changes to the seating and rowing positions

I'm planing on a few days at the bush camp next weekend to do some exploring and fishing, Hopefully she'll get some fish blood on her!

 

[scoutkid]

That looks great. What color are you gonna paint it?

 

[sscustom]

wow that looks you put alot of blood sweat and tears into that baby
looks sweet

 

[Lomotil]

+1!

 

[theoldwizard1]

First, amazing workmanship !

It's made of 3/4 by 1/4 inch cedar strips with bead and cove edges routed onto them. The strips are edge glued to each other with carpenter's glue and fastened to the forms with staples.

Did you cut the strips yourself by ripping them from 1" (nominal) boards ? Or did you start with 5/4 stock and then plane/sand to get a "perfect" 3/4" ?

Why the bead and cove ? I would like to see a close up of this detail.

 

[PCO6]

... but i don't think i would have the patience.

Oh you have patience alright! Nice work. What part of Canada are you from and what rivers will you be on? Are those Ontario plates I see in one of the pictures?

 

[Hud]

That is awesome! I dont want to think about all the sanding involved.

 

[trainer]

First, amazing workmanship !


Did you cut the strips yourself by ripping them from 1" (nominal) boards ? Or did you start with 5/4 stock and then plane/sand to get a "perfect" 3/4" ?

Why the bead and cove ? I would like to see a close up of this detail.

I started with 2" rough stock, planed all the boards to 1 7/8" with my thickness planer, ripped them to 1/4" on the table saw, then ripped each one in half to get to the final dimension.
After that the bead and cove edges were added on a router table

Next time, I'll make them a little thick and use the thickness planer to clean up the saw cuts and bring them to the final dimension.

It sounds like alot of work, but once the machines are set up its just a matter of running the stock through.

There are places that sell bead and cove planks to the builder, but for the price for one canoe you could probably buy all the machines needed to do the job yourself.

Here's a diagram of the bead and cove detail . It's sort of like a cross between a tongue and groove joint and a ball and socket.

 

[trainer]

Oh you have patience alright! Nice work. What part of Canada are you from and what rivers will you be on? Are those Ontario plates I see in one of the pictures?

Im in Northern ontario, North shore of lake huron area.
theres a ton of little inland lakes around here to choose from . Plans next week are to go North -west of Elliot lake.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Here's a diagram of the bead and cove detail. It's sort of like a cross between a tongue and groove joint and a ball and socket.

You must have to trim a bit off of the inside cove edge (small hand plane ?) to make the curve, correct ?

 

[willy3486]

Great work. I have thought about using epoxy and fiberglass on wood projects but never have. I have heard that the fiberglass does not show before but I was wondering about the fiberglass. Is it the same type of fiberglass and epoxy I can get to use on autos or is it a different kind and where can you get it. I would love to do a wood project with fiberglass but I was not sure of the epoxy materials you use.

 

[PCO6]

Im in Northern ontario, North shore of lake huron area.
theres a ton of little inland lakes around here to choose from . Plans next week are to go North -west of Elliot lake.

Nice It's been a while since I've been up there but that's a great place for what you're doing (Matinenda area?). Send us some pictures of the launch!

 

[theoldwizard1]

Is it the same type of fiberglass and epoxy I can get to use on autos or is it a different kind and where can you get it. I would love to do a wood project with fiberglass but I was not sure of the epoxy materials you use.

Trainer is definitely the expert here, but I have done some research. The 'glass is similar, but not necessarily the same. Actually there are many types of 'glass weights, orientations (cross weave, mat, etc) depending what the application is (light hull, transom, etc).

There are also lots of different types of epoxy. West System is vary popular and they also have lots of info online.

One thing you should not overlook is that "several coats" of spar varnish were applied. This is because most epoxy will yellow and/or lose strength after long term UV exposure.

 

[trainer]

Trainer is definitely the expert here, but I have done some research. The 'glass is similar, but not necessarily the same. Actually there are many types of 'glass weights, orientations (cross weave, mat, etc) depending what the application is (light hull, transom, etc).

There are also lots of different types of epoxy. West System is vary popular and they also have lots of info online.

One thing you should not overlook is that "several coats" of spar varnish were applied. This is because most epoxy will yellow and/or lose strength after long term UV exposure.

Epoxy resin is really amazing stuff. It actually penetrates into wood. It displaces any air in the wood, forcing it to bubble out. The same resin is mixed with a variety of additives to make glue, fillers, or putty. I generally just use sanding dust mixed in to thicken it for gluing.

6 oz plain weave fiberglass cloth is pretty much standard for clear coating canoes. Multiple layers can be used for additional strength or stiffness.
Epoxy -compatible cloth is has some sort of treatment done to it. Just buy the cloth from the same place as the epoxy and you dont need to worry about that. Kevlar and carbon fibre are also laid up with the same kind of epoxy.

Don't use polyester resin. Thats the stuff you get at hardware and automotive stores that stinks and has a little tube of hardener that you measure in drops. It doesnt adhere well to wood, is brittle, and is somewhat porous, allowing water to eventually enter through osmosis.


West system epoxy is the most popular, but i've never used it.
I've used Raka epoxy http://raka.com It seems to be the best price. Larry is the guy who answers the phone and takes orders. He really knows his stuff.

The only downside to epoxy is that it will turn cloudy and eventually disintegrate if it isnt protected from UV rays. Spar varnish provides the UV protection and is convenient for touching up scratches.