Started the Sasquatch 14 x 30 build.

[bearridge]

Fellas,

I dont git it. Wood floats....like a duck. On flat water ya dont turn bottom upwards, but even if ya did, yer homemade wood boat aint gwine ta sink, rite? I gotta have a boat fulla air bags on whitewater cuz a boat fulla water movin' fast will crush itsownself 'er the paddler if it hits a big rock 'er a tree. So why would anyone need foam 'er bags in a flatwater wood boat?

Sorry if I asked that one before. Az Tom sez, I slept......I fergot. :wink:

regards
bearridge

There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. Steven Wright

 

[oldsparkey]

Everyone tells me to drill a small hole so the chamber can vent , I have several chambers on other boats ( sealed air tight) and none of them have ruptured or done anything but sit there and stay in one piece.

Same with the store bought canoes I have had in the past , solid flotation areas ( bow and stern area) and they were OK all the time.

If I was going to ship them by air someplace then a little hole would be needed but in the flat area around here (100 feet will give you a nose bleed and altitude sickness :lol: ) I don't see a problem.

Chuck.

 

[JEM]

I built a canoe with a sealed end chambers. It was one of my first grand experiments in shape that flubbed.

So it sat in the back yard and got used more a toy and outdoor workbench. The sun and rain finally took it because of numerous holes and scratches that got put in it as a cheap lawn accessory rather than a boat.

I finally cut it up to get rid of it and the end chambers were dry as a bone. As a precaution, a little vent hole would be a nice backup. But not required.

 

[oldsparkey]

Had my fun for the day , "O" What fun it was , pure enjoyment .. :roll: ... Out in the heat , dripping sweat but the inside is glassed and I sure wish some salty water mixed in with the epoxy and fiberglass does not hurt anything. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Some more sanding and epoxying tomorrow then the spacers , inside railing and the thwarts , in that order. then the seat but that will be later after the outside is done.

It's getting there , slowly but surely and one of these years it will be a canoe.

Chuck.

 

[Mutinousdoug]

Brer Bear,

I'll have you know my wife and I are perfectly capable of turning my canoe bottom side up on any water deep enough to float it.
I was laboring under the assumption that additional flotation was to encourage a swamped boat to float with the gunnels above water to aid in self-rescue on lakes and such. I agree it probably wouldn't be much of an issue even if your boat sank if you can stand up in the water next to it.

 

[bearridge]

Friend Doug,

That iz a good point. I keep fergittin' bout turnin' over 'n tryin' ta git back inside....instead of ta the bank 'er on a big rock. Seems ta me a tiny bit of flotation caint add much.

regards
bearridge

I can whack that bell if I want to. Bolivar

 

[bearridge]

Mister High Sheriff,

Roadway stopped by here today. Brung me a cracked 34 pounder. They are sendin' a truck ta pick it up 'n anuther truck ta bring me anuther 34 pounder. My credit card melted cuz now they charged me fer two. They wont wipe off the second charge til they git the cracked one back. If I had know it wuz gwine ta be this much truble, I mite az well have bought some glue 'n plywood 'n made my own. I put together a heap a Barbie stuff ever Christmas fer 10 years. I put the screws, bolts 'n little plastic tips on a heap a stuff......long az it had a pichur on the box. I dont know who writes them instructiones, but they jest learnt English.....'n done a damn poor job of it.

regards
bearridge

I am a great mayor; I am an upstanding Christian man; I am an intelligent man; I am a deeply educated man; I am a humble man. Marion Barry

 

[oldsparkey]

One of these days you will come to the conclusion that you can make a canoe for 1/3 rd of what you spent , all it takes is some time , a little thinking and the ability of putting wood pieces together. Lawyers :roll:

34 pounds , why do you want such a ... HEAVY CANOE ... Ya into weight lifting or want one of them hernias from wrestling it around ????????? Bear yu are like me , not a spring chicken anymore , more like an old goat. Snicker , snicker , snicker.

Give me some more time and I'm sure mine will not be over 80 pounds since at the start it was only 17 pounds when the wood was together. Now if I take those cement blocks out I used to keep it in one place , before I epoxy it , it might be less then 80 pounds when done. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Chuck.

 

[bearridge]

You....you.....you...........WOOD BUTCHER! :mrgreen:

 

[oldsparkey]

You....you.....you...........WOOD BUTCHER! :mrgreen:

YES ... SIR .. RE ...BUB.......an darn proud of the sawdust all over me. :lol:

Darn the wood I use would not make a good or regular size book case. I burn more in my Zip Stove heating up some Sweet Sue Chicken an Dumplings , out camping. Roasting Vienna's takes even less wood since they are a more environmental friendly camping food. :roll:

Getting the spacers on the boat today , inside railing tomorrow as we progress onward and upward.
Boss ... Boss ... Look ... It's a Plane , No it's a Train , No it's a wood boat builder with a swarm of termites following him.


only doing the center half of the canoe with the spacers but the inside rail will be full length. I figure to clean the boat after using it , it is on it's side so there is only that wider area that needs to be able to drain. Just trying something new.

I still need to put more coats of epoxy on the inside , this is under construction right now. :roll:

Chuck.

 

[oldsparkey]

At this stage of the game ...I'm sure several of you sharp eyed boat builders will notice the glass on the inside does not cover all the boat.

As Jack would say ... Splan ya self Lucy.

1st let me say , Don't do as I do when building a boat , follow the designers instructions. I have made a few boats and have been in canoes all of my 65 years on this Earth.
They are not new to me , just some good old friends from my youth no matter how new they are , a canoe is a canoe.

1.. I do not abuse my boats , I abuse myself to save the boat for future use.

2.. I built a 15 1/2 canoe out of 1/8th inch Luann , it was glassed outside and only epoxy saturated on the inside..... It has made it down a lot of rivers without any problems , since I baby it.

3. . It wanted to oil can on me so I beefed up the inside with strips of wood where the fillets are in this new one , plus I added some more strips across the old one to look like ribs and to add strength. Something I wanted to get away from on this new one.

4.. That canoe turned out at 40 pounds and I'm trying to make this new one a lot lighter.

5.. For that reason the inside is glassed with 4 oz fiberglass where there might be any flexing ( the 7 feet in the center of it ) and that lets me forget about using more wood to stop the oil canning .... I Hope.

6.. As with the other one , the outside will have 3.25 tight woven glass on it and later three coats of graphite and epoxy for protection.

7.. This build is an experimentation to see how light I can make one and still have a safe , functioning canoe for my use and no one else's use.

8.. Again .. Let me say .. Don't do as I do , use your common sense when you build a boat for your use and make it the way you want it but make it so it is safe to use for you. If you understand that , you are in deep trouble.

9.. As a matter of record , they say a good epoxy saturation will increase the woods strength up to 4 times . That takes a 1/8th piece and makes it a 1/2 inch in strength , no matter what math you use. I figure on half of that when building a boat and hope for 3/8ths.

10. Remember I'm not normal and do screw ball things when building a boat. The way I see it , that is how to learn and then I can help others. One of the benefits of being retired or retarded...... :lol:

Chuck.

Matt... Take a deep breath and relax......... I needed to splain part of what I'm up to since the one picture sort of told a part of the tail. Cheer up .. It will be a good canoe and light to boot.
If not then I will ask for my money back but I get to keep the canoe. :lol: ( Ducking and Covering here folks)

 

[oldsparkey]

Zipping along , like dial up computers or a heard of turtles the canoe is progressing. The inside rail is on the right side and now the left side is curing and will be ready in the morning.

That will be the time for the inside , rails and all of it to be sanded , again , and then a fresh coat of epoxy over everything on the inside and rails.

Due to the shape of the canoe , I had to do some bending and twisting with the inside rails to make them fit nice and flush , that pine stripping will take some punishment and conform to the desired shape.

Chuck.

 

[tx river rat]

Chuck
She is looking awesome, I need to come take lessons
Ron

 

[JEM]

9.. As a matter of record , they say a good epoxy saturation will increase the woods strength up to 4 times . That takes a 1/8th piece and makes it a 1/2 inch in strength , no matter what math you use. I figure on half of that when building a boat and hope for 3/8ths.

Chuck,

I'm not sure it's that much. I'll see if I can link directly to a source (besides the spreadsheet I use) that gives that info.

 

[tx river rat]

Chuck
I like to build , but have a bad problem when I am building a new boat, I get in a zone 100% and thats all I think about when I am working on them, and thinking about changes to the design ,what would make the next boat better, I think they call it tunnel vision.
But it sure is fun
Ron

 

[oldsparkey]

Last night I applied another coat of epoxy to the canoe , this is the 4th coat, this morning when I went out to cut and install the seat in the canoe.
The canoe had a million small pin head bubbles , remember this is the 4th coat of epoxy.

I'm sure it was my fault because after I rolled the epoxy on last night , I went back over it with the roller.

Kicking it around in my head , I'm sure the nap on the roller picked the epoxy up as it was curing and formed the bubbles since that has never happen before and I'm using some different rollers with a really short and stiff nap to them.

"O" Well ,after sanding this morning and putting another coat on to correct the mistake , it is laying down like it should. Only puts me one more day behind in getting the canoe done but the extra epoxy will not hurt anything.

Chuck.

 

[oldsparkey]

After redoing things this morning I decided I did not want to use the wood doweling for the thwarts. So off to Home Depot for some pine lattice strips. I got the 1 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch ones ( 3 of them at 6 feet).
Brought them home and epoxied them together. one coat of epoxy on the top of the bottom one , a coat on each side of the center one and one coat on the backside of the top one , "C" clamped them together and letting them cure.

Later they will be cut at 3 feet and after measuring then cut to fit. Next step is to sand them to the shape I want. Then epoxy saturate them , sand after it's set up then coat them again and when dry , install them in the canoe.

One of the pleasures of building your own boat , you can change you mind about what you want and how to do it. :lol:

Chuck.

 

[oldsparkey]

Cut and installed the seat this morning. The epoxy and wood flour is curing and the one piece of blue tape is maintaining the correct position on the one piece.
When the epoxy is cured then I will do a wood flour and epoxy fillet around each end as an additional support.

The edge of the seat , facing you , it right at the mid line of the canoe , the leading edge of it is matched up with that center seam.

I fit the seat in the canoe , when it was just right , I mixed up a good thick batch of epoxy and wood flour , filled a small syringe with the mix.

Then holding the seat and forcing the side of the canoe away from it , injected the mix between the seat and side of the canoe. When I let the side back in it forced some (not all ) of the epoxy out around the edge of the bar. What was missed , then I ran a bead aaround it and filled in the voids so the whole end of the bar is sitting in epoxy while it cures and attaches itself to the sides of the canoe.
I syringe full per side , about 20 ML , with the excess being wiped off.

Chuck.

 

[tx river rat]

Chuck
When you get that pretty thing finished ,load her up on the jeep hook up the trailer and high tail it to Texzas we will do the Brazos.
Ron

 

[oldsparkey]

Chuck
When you get that pretty thing finished ,load her up on the jeep hook up the trailer and high tail it to Texzas we will do the Brazos.
Ron

Are you kidding , it will be a while , Hoping to get the thwarts in tomorrow , then flipping her over and starting on the outside. When all done .... sand , sand , sand , sand and then varnish.

Then you want me to get her wet , Jezzzzzzzzeeeeeeee some folks , I just don't know about them. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Chuck.