Bald Cypress Fleet

[a Bald Cypress]

The current fleet.

The battle wagon

The low profile attack boat

The fast attack boat of the future. [coming soon to a stream near me]
This will be a 14 ft solo canoe

The combined flotilla

 

[oldsparkey]

You couldn't have two better boats then those beauties , one for moonlight nights and one for zipping around.

I noticed you have a grab line on the kayak , I trust it is something that you never use ...... anyway that much. :lol:

Chuck.

 

[islandpiper]

Chuck, he put the grab line on there to catch on low-hanging tree branches and to give the gators some place to snag when coming aboard for a ride.

Piper

 

[bearridge]

Heck Baldy,

It dont matter if ya kin paddle worth a dang 'er not when yer settin' in fine boats like them. [Ya kin show 'em agin in 3 months 'n most of the geezers will love 'em all over agin.] :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

regards
bearridge

I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk? Harry Callahan

 

[a Bald Cypress]

B C f

In a neverending attemp to prove,what I don't know. I will attempt to document the build of my "fast attack boat". I have been sitting on the wood for a while now and figure it is about time to do something with it.

Those with a weak stomach or who are "neat freaks" should not read beyond this post.

For everyone else, let me assure you. I am not a professional. To compare my construction to most of the others you see on this site, would be as , apples to oranges.

Having said that, however it turns out, it will be mine and will get used in rotation with the rest of the fleet.


Once again:


THOSE WITH WEAK STOMACHS or THOSE WHO ARE NEAT FREAKS
STOP HERE

 

[a Bald Cypress]

F

Before startin, a bit of prep work was required. The other boats were getting in the way , so.

There is a perfectly good wall on the shed.

some $ spent. A few 2/4s and some old carpet and

A perfect resting place between trips.

For this boat, I am going to try to keep the weight around 40 - 45 lbs. For a boat that will be 14.5 ft that should be possible.

The boat will be cedar strip with ash gunnels and thwarts. Ash frame with cane seat.

Stems will be an ash/oak lay up.

OK lets get started. Wood present. Saw set up. Two hours later, lots of sawdust and strips all over the shed .

.

Tomorow I will start on router work for the bead and cove.

Many people will say that one feather board is not enough. That may be true for someone who is building a $4000.00 boat to sell and needs "perfect" strips. For me the one works and after all was done, there was at most a 1/32 varaince in thickness in the ramdom strips I checked

To keep weight down, I am going to use 3/16ths strips as opposed to the 1/4 that seams to be standard. The boat will be used on lakes and slow moving water so rock busting will be avoided and the strength should be ok.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

solo

Today was a short day due to other commitments. I did manage to get the "bead" routed on the strips and make a bit of sawdust.

Tomorow the "cove" will be routed.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

bcf

A short couple of days. Actual w##k snuck up on me and not much was accomplished. Have to do more of that unmentionable stuff tonight also.

But, there is more sawdust and the coves have been routed. So, the real loud portion of the build is done with for a while.

I had to put a couple of supports on the top of the strips to keep them from "edging"during the routing work. The scrap worked and the coves came out OK.

 

[hairymick]

Heya Baldy

Go you good thing

Allready, I have learnt a lot from your very excellent posts. Especially in relation to my stuff-ups on my one and only strip build - so far

Please keep up your very informative posts mate.

 

[Kurt Loup]

Can't wait to see what you are building. I hope to be cutting strips in a month or two for my next canoe. Where are you in LA?

Kurt

 

[bearridge]

That iz a one messy shop. Good thing ya warned folks. :wink:

Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person? Francois de la Rochefoucauld

 

[a Bald Cypress]

bcf

Got a bit done today. Not much but, any progress is in fact progress.

I have to stop every 15 min. to let mom and pop wren feed the little one. Then after the feeding is done they have to flit around and check everything out.

Here we see one or the other checking out the vac. while the other one observes from the pole support wire.

Got the strongback up and the forms set.

She will come out at 14 ft. & 30 in wide. !8 inch stems and 11 inches at centerline. Will also have 1.75 in. rocker.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

bcf

I guess an up date is in order. Putting the strips on the forms is not a hard job. It is just time consuming.

I am only getting 4 strips a day on because I am allowing each strip to fully dry before removing the clamps.

The last canoe, I got in a hurry and removed clamps before the glue was completly dry. In so doing, there were strips that seperated a bit and I did not notice it until after glassing. Now there are a couple of spots that you can see light through. That is not going to happen with this build. :roll:
I hope.

I am using tite bond 2 as it worked well on my other two boats.

Here you can see the amount of clamps I need to keep the strips together while drying.

 

[oldsparkey]

OK...

Now you have to get serious on this build , I have only a month left before the trip up north and if you still want me to come by and get that canoe to try it out in the North Woods , the progress will have to be speeded up.

Otherwise I will have to use one of the boats that I made up there in Yankee Land.
I know you told me not to say anything but this slow progress is more then any one can stand.
I trust you have no idea of where I live so I can get out of Dodge before the lynching party arrives.

Nice Job and it is already looking good.

Chuck.

 

[bearridge]

A 12 pack of Mellow Yellow 'n he will be finished in two days. :mrgreen: :roll: :mrgreen:

 

[Kayak Jack]

I've never built a stripper. Cypress, gotta ask. If you have the straps around, whey do you need the clamps? Seems the straps would hold the whole shebang. And, you could then do more than 4 strips per time?

 

[a Bald Cypress]

bcf

If I had to guess, I would say that there are about as many ways of stripping as there are builders. That being said, for my boats, I try not to use any staples. There are a lot of ways different folks hold the strips together and on the forms. Most of them are probably better than what I do but, my method seams to be working for me.

The last build I just used the straps and wound up with the strip seperation. This time using the clamps and doing one strip at a time, I seam, at this point, to have eliminated the seperation problem. I use a couple of straps to ensure the strips conform to the mould.

Hope that es - plains why I do it that way.


Others may chime in and give a much better way of doing it.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Belt and suspenders works for me. Thanks.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

b

Well, it has been quite some time since I last posted progress.

Things happen and delays are part of life. I have however begun again.

The hull of the boat has ben glued up and a belly band of glass applied.

At least it looks as if it will float.

UPS deliverd a package from RAKA today so I may just get a bit more done soon.





P.S. If anyone else is using image station to host pics, what are your plans?

I looks as if in Feb. ALL photos hosted there will be lost so get ready for red Xs.

 

[john the pom]

Mate that looks bloody awful. Just to save you further embarrasment get it finished and send it to me. Anyone asks I'll tell them I made it. I'll give you my address details later