67 replies to this topic

[Hirilonde]

I guess mine makes 3 under construction, at least being documented here in the forum.

I have almost completed the coaming. I have to drill the holes and varnish to complete it. I used maple and glued it with epoxy. I used the hot wet cloth method to make the bend around the forward radius just to make sure I didn't crack the wood.


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I have started drawing the frames from the off sets in Jeff's book.

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Room cleared in the basement for assembly and I will fabricate the strong back some time in the near future.

[P Douglass (WA)]

Looking like a good start. I'm not sure what wood I will use for my coaming. My area does not have a big selection.

[Lombard]

Shrink that pattern down, make a pair, add some webbing with bindings, and you would have some awesome snowshoes.

[jerryg]

Dave,

That looks great. Really nicely done. Any idea of what it weighs?

Thanks for sharing.

[Hirilonde]

Thanks Jerry. I weighed myself, then weighed myself holding it and came up with 1 pound, but I doubt that is accurate. It has to weigh more. I don't think it is over 2 pounds though. I think Jeff is right, the difference in weight between maple or another hardwood and something lighter is not significant enough to risk the strength difference. It is extremely strong. I can not flex it at all with my hands. I can't imagine it need be any stronger than it is.

[woodman]

I weighed my maple ring and it was about a pound and a half... with the old bath scale....

I wonder what the skin and paint is going to weigh....

I know 6 0z. fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin adds up quick..

[Kudzu]

I wonder what the skin and paint is going to weigh....

Paint and skin will add a good bit. More than you would expect. If you come in under 35 lbs your about average. I would guess your boat will weight 33 lbs. Lets see how close I am.

BTW I have never done this but I am keeping track of the weight at the different stages on the boat I am building now.

Also, the light weight boats I have built have a nylon skin and a Varnish finish. I think both the nylon and varnish are lighter than polyester and paint. But I still prefer them;.

[woodman]

I used 3/8'' BB ply. for my frames and 1/2'' BB for the bow and stern pcs.

[Hirilonde]

Finished the frames today. Weights so far are as follows:

cockpit coaming (Maple) - 1.75 lbs
frames (Baltic Birch) - 6.4 lbs.

Tomorrow I pick up some 2x6 for a strong back and some Atlantic White Cedar for stringers. I want to revue the videos again on skinning to decide which material to buy. Then I will place an order for cloth, sinew, back sling, foot pegs and brackets. Maybe I will get a hatch cover too.

Is there any reason not to add some holes in the stern top?

[Kudzu]

Is there any reason not to add some holes in the stern top?

I never have because I am afraid it would show though the the fabric and look funny.

[Hirilonde]

Is there any reason not to add some holes in the stern top?

I never have because I am afraid it would show though the the fabric and look funny.

Good enough reason for me.

Picked up my 2x4s and built the strongback:

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I went to a specialty outdoor wood supplier Liberty Cedar to get material for my stringers. I am fortunate to live 10 minutes away. They did not have the North Atlantic Cedar I had originally intended to use in stock. They had Western Red Cedar which is what Jeff specs in his book and plans, and Alaskan Yellow Cedar. WRC is quite soft, very light (.34 specific gravity) and reasonably strong. ALC is quite hard, heavier (.5 specific gravity) and considerably stronger. While it is not necessary to use the stronger material this is what I bought. They had it in stock as rough material and as finished pieces for decking. This was 5/4 x 6 which is dressed to 1" x 5 1/2". This will prove very economical in cutting as I can rip it once for thickness and end up with finished stringers. Only the gunwales will require ripping in both directions.

I figure that I can make the stringers and gunwales thinner (9/16") to reduce a little of the weight and still be more than strong enough. To make up for them being slightly thinner I coated the inside of the notches in the frame with epoxy. The added thickness of the epoxy reduces the size of the notch and waterproofs the end grain in the process. I then oiled the frames before attaching to the strongback or assembly.
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Now to make the frame brackets and start the assembly process. Since we are looking for the minor continuity issues in Jeff's book I will point out another. On page 55 it reads as follows:

"This shows the overall layout for each of the three brackets that attach to the strongback."

Below the paragraph is a list of the A dimensions for each of the 4 brackets that the directions say you need to make 3 of. It is amazing how good one can be at finding discrepancies in other people's work If only I could do so well finding them in my own work.

[Kudzu]

It is amazing how good one can be at finding discrepancies in other people's work If only I could do so well finding them in my own work.

So true!

[Hirilonde]

Well, it is starting to look like a boat

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I started to get the feeling while cutting out the frames, but it really hit home once I got the pieces on the strongback:

Wow, these things are skinny!

I borrowed woodman's idea for cutting the gunwales at the bow:


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It works really well. I had to do a little tweaking with my block plane, but minimal. Everything is level, tied, clamped and such, next thing is some lashing.

[P Douglass (WA)]

Awesome! Can't wait till mine starts looking like one!

Question, in the picture of your stern assembly, the frame sticks up higher than the stern top piece. Is that how it really sits? Woodman was a little below, mine was level with it. I don't know if it matters, just curious.

[woodman]

It looks like we came up with 3 diff. dimensions somewhere on the stern pcs.

[Hirilonde]

Question, in the picture of your stern assembly, the frame sticks up higher than the stern top piece. Is that how it really sits?

Yeah, not sure which of us got it right.

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I stretched a piece of cloth over the stern to get an idea how it would look and saw no reason to figure out what if anything went wrong. I am guessing that the tops of the gunwales and deck stringer are supposed to end up just about flush with the stern top. But my way allows for lashing them through holes in the stern piece by notching them over it. And I tapered the tops of all 3 to make the transition smoother.

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[Hirilonde]

Well, my order from Jeff came in, cloth, sinew, foot pegs and back sling. I put in several hours lashing today. My fingers know it too. The dowel puller does a great job of cinching things up tight but the gunwale needed a little twisting into place as well. I came up with a clamping jig that does this quite well.

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I have done at least half of the lashings, more over the week end.

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[Hirilonde]

Well, it is all lashed. Got it done just in time to take it outside for some pictures, though a little earlier would have been better light.

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Foot pegs, skin, paint, coaming and back band left to do and it weighs 21.2 lbs.. This means the stringers, cockpit sole and sinew weigh 13 lbs..

[Lombard]

Looking really good Dave. Unable to tell from the photo, are your floor stringers proud of the keel or flush?

[Hirilonde]

Thanks. They are flush with the keel on the inside, so good for sitting, and almost 1/2" inside where the skin will be on the outside so they won't effect the shape of the hull.