Question for that oldsparkey dude.

[john the pom]

Mr Chuck,Just been reading 'bout your build of the Sasquatch. I looked it up 'cos I specifically wanted to learn about tight fitted panels and an apparent lack of thickened ( with woodflour) epoxy.

Got busy this morning and have all the panels (except for the areas around the temp frames ) spot welded with some epoxy. I'm sure with the heat we have the epoxy will set up in a hurry , it is like an oven out there.

And that's all fine and well but there are no pictures :shock: We can blame Mick for taking micropictures and not learning us all to do it.
Chuck can I take it as fact that you stitch/tack without adding woodflour to your epoxy? You go on to say you delivered the the epoxy by syringe to complete the tacked seam, is that also unthickened epoxy? To my mind it should not be weaker than thickened epoxy, but then again I don't know all that much. 8)
So clever am I at stating a question that I just posted and removed this from the boat bragging forum. So if'n you don't understand me I will understand. But I hope you do because sometimes I'm not sure if I do.
Many cheers John.

 

[oldsparkey]

Mr Chuck,Just been reading 'bout your build of the Sasquatch. I looked it up 'cos I specifically wanted to learn about tight fitted panels and an apparent lack of thickened ( with woodflour) epoxy.

Got busy this morning and have all the panels (except for the areas around the temp frames ) spot welded with some epoxy. I'm sure with the heat we have the epoxy will set up in a hurry , it is like an oven out there.

And that's all fine and well but there are no pictures :shock: We can blame Mick for taking micropictures and not learning us all to do it.
Chuck can I take it as fact that you stitch/tack without adding woodflour to your epoxy? You go on to say you delivered the the epoxy by syringe to complete the tacked seam, is that also unthickened epoxy? To my mind it should not be weaker than thickened epoxy, but then again I don't know all that much. 8)

The epoxy is the normal 2 to 1 mix ( No woodflower ) and is delivered to the seams with a syringe so the epoxy is mostly on the seam and soaks into the area. A bead of the epoxy is run along the seams between the wire ties. This holds the panels together so the stitches can be removed.

I do the inside 1st , then add one of the rails , the outside one to keep the sides from flexing and remove the wire ties. Then flip the boat over and tack the seams on the outside and then flip it back over and do the fillets.
The area of the seams are strengthen with a wood flower and epoxy mix on the inside of the boat with the fillets.

I use the dental syringes from Raka ....... 15 cc one on the left for epoxying the seams and the 60 cc one on the right for the fillets. The 15 has a fine tip which works good on the seams and the 60 has a wider tip which works with the wood flower mix for the fillets.

The syringes when washed out with acetone between batches last forever , mine have made 14 boats. I still have two spare ones that have never been used , I believe in having a spare just in case the epoxy sets to quick.
There aren't any pictures of me epoxying the seams since it takes two hands.

For the short version ( with pictures ) of the build check this link out , it is from Matt's web site.
http://www.jemwatercraft.com/forum/view ... f=8&t=2391

For the long one with a lot of chatter and explaining......and pictures.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5355

 

[john the pom]

Thank you so much for a prompt reply. Have already checked out both topics. Just wasn't sure on the fine detail.
The idea is not to get woodflour/epoxy which is darker, therefore stains on the ply requiring sanding clean up. A dark thin line is acceptable.
Working hard at being lazy here is a nice way of saying benifitting from someone elses experience.
Much appreciated. Cheers John.

 

[oldsparkey]

Thank you so much for a prompt reply. Have already checked out both topics. Just wasn't sure on the fine detail.
The idea is not to get woodflour/epoxy which is darker, therefore stains on the ply requiring sanding clean up. A dark thin line is acceptable.
Working hard at being lazy here is a nice way of saying benifitting from someone elses experience.
Much appreciated. Cheers John.

Being Lazy is my main goal , building a boat should be relaxing and not that nasty 4 lettered word .... Work. :wink:

 

[john the pom]

Couldn't agree more. I spent about fifteen minutes sanding the edges of the panels after trimming. I was foolish enough to do that by hand. According to my mathematics I figure thirty minutes per boat sanding. The other fifteen minutes I will spend sanding on this boat will be done with a 'lectric sander outside on a windy day.
Cheers John.

 

[john the pom]

Yet another question While looking at your canoe build I noticed a rounded decked kayak that you used to illustrate your paint system. Now I've searched high and low but am unable to find a picture or details. Just beginning a kayak with rounded decks which to everyone's knowledge will be the first and only one of its kind. That due to its being discontinued. Any chance of a few pics of your boat and possibly a few words regarding rounded decks?? In particular the transition between deck and side panel. Mine will be rounded, but I have yet to decide on any details or changes I might make to the design.
If there are any pics floating around the site you could point me to I would really appreciate that.
Once again, many thanks. Cheers John.

 

[oldsparkey]

Sorry but no pictures of the build on that kayak , It is a Coho from Pygmy Boats and the 1st kayak I made after retiring. It is also the reason we are here , no one back then had any web site to help folks build wood boats so this one was created.

Fitting the deck to the hull was easy ( well sort of ) , I ran two thin strips along the sides of the hull the same distance down from the edge as the thickness of the wood in the deck. The deck then was set on the top of those strips and bulkheads then epoxied into place. Later it was fiber glassed with the glass running over the seam and down each side about two inches , connecting to the glass on the hull.

Did the same later with the Freedom from JEM Watercraft when I made the prototype of it.

This is not a rounded deck but it shows the idea.

You can see the strip being epoxied into place , look for all the clamps.

Along the top , inside edge , you can see the strip the deck will rest on.

The deck was assembled and then dry fitted to the hull.

After fitting the deck in place , to hold it I used some copper wire ties.

 

[john the pom]

Thanks for that mate, and thank goodness for that kayak
Cheers John.

 

[Kayak Jack]

John, I built a Pygmy Coho, Pygmy Queen Charlotte (a pig), and a Pygmy Osprey (best kayak design I've seen to date). Pygmy does not use a rounded deck; only CLC had those. They are called tortured plywood because of the required stress needed to induce into plywood to get that feature. On a kayak for open water use, Pygmy has a better deck design - it sheds waves that plow up onto it.