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Miranti Stonefly Build Australia


lisian

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Hi, I am new to all this, this is my first ever boat build and I am building the Stonelfy. I fell in love with it's shape while searching the internet for plans and just knew this would be my first build. I am making the whole thing out of Miranti, well I think that's what you guys call it or otherwise in Aus we call it Maple.

 

So far so good, the build is going well. I know my hands are rather sore today after 7 hours of lashing, but well worth it :)

 

Here are some pics so far, it's just hit winter here and I am building it outside so hoping for nice weather over the coming weeks and not torrential rain that can be expected.

 

Cheers,

 

Lisa.

 

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And one of me with my boat :)

 

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Thanks Jeff I am really enjoying building. Hey one thing I have not found anywhere; What is the carrying capacity of the stonefly? I am hoping that I will be able to have myself and a child in it to go for a little paddle (well while they are still little anyways).

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Stonefly is a single person boat. I don't the limits have it in front of me but I designed around a  250 lbs / 113 Kilos assumed load and it will handle more than that. 300 lbs/ 136 Kilos wouldn't be a problem. Balancing the load could be an issue. You don't want the weight to far forward of backwards.  Judging by the photo I think you two will be OK once you find where to sit.

 

PS I was wondering why your daughter(?) was wearing gloves and this it occured to me your in the fall season! We are just about to start out summer. 

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Thanks Jeff, I plan on it just being my canoe, but I know that the kids are going to want to come out in it with me for a paddle as they are excited about it. I just hope we don't end up in the water haha. Weight limit wise we will be fine :) and my son is only 4 so littler again. Yes, my daughter was wearing gloves, not from the cold though. She had been at Nana and Pops so I could do some of the boat and when she came home she saw I had my gloves on while doing the lashing. (my poor hands were getting too many blisters without the gloves) So she ran in to get hers so she could help :)

 

 

Lisa.

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Dark Red Meranti (Shorea Platyclados) is a hardwood from Malaysia.  In the US many lumber yards call is Mahogany, which it is not.  I would think it would make a beautiful Stonefly, though a little on the heavy side.  It takes oil and varnish well.   It is called Maple in Australia?

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It does get called Maple and Miranti here, the lighter the colour more towards pink and very pale, is much lighter than the darker red timber. I fished through and picked out the lightest pieces. Makes a big difference on the density and weight. I did want to use Western Red Cedar but it is very expensive here and harder to source. One quote I got was $440 for the Western Red Cedar, that was cut into the sizes I needed, but still that was very excessive.

 

The timber in the frame/stringers etc comes in at around 10kgs so far, so I should be on track for the right weight range :) The plywood is also a Miranti, marine ply. I did find it splintered an awful lot.

 

http://www.timber.net.au/?option=com_species&name=Light%20Red%20Meranti&Itemid=439

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Yeah, Meranti plywood does spinter a lot.  The lumber, though it saws fairly well is hard to shape.  The family shorea has many genus' and species.  They are all similar, but color can vary a lot.  And the heartwood of any tree can be a lot lighter than the sapwood.  For the price it has a lot of reasonable applications.  And it is available around the world.  It is said that it is being harvested in a sustainable fashion, to ensure long term availability and sound forest management.  I hope so.

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Locally, there was really no other options for me, Western Red Cedar was out of my budget. Otherwise really you just find Pine everywhere. I plan on building a kayak after this one, I may consider a trip to Sydney to purchase Paulownia but I am told it is also hard to source and I am not sure on the prices.

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There has got to be some wood in your hemisphere that is similar to WRC in its physical characteristics that would be more affordable.

I'm only guessing that proximity will make it cheaper.

Someone should warn you about kids in boats.

They always remind you that you forgot how to have real fun, stinky old grownup!

At least mine do...

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A few builders from Australia in the B&B section of the forum have commented about using Paulownia.  They speak well of it for use in light weight boats.  They do say that it can be a nuisance to source.  Even though it is local (in Oceania) it is not a stock item in lumber yards and needs to be sought out in local saw mills.

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Just about to laminate these timbers to make my breasthooks, I know they will be heavy but they will look good. The idea is to have them approx. 1 1/2" thick towards the centres and then taper them out to all the edges giving a nice curve. All of this timber is Meranti, just goes to show the difference in colour that is available and the difference in weight huge.

 

I am a sculptor generally, so to me this is a practical piece of artwork :)

 

Lisa.

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I now have the bow and stern lashed on :)

 

I had my 84 year old grandfather who was a carpenter in his day, call in yesterday to see what I was up to. He couldn't fathom that all the frame was just lashed together. He just kept saying, 'I would want to put some glue and nails in that', 'Get some Stainless Steel nails'. He was very impressed with it, but just couldn't get his head around what would strengthen it up. 

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Unfortunately I can't see the photos in the threads at present but for a paulownia supply to use on your kayak build try www.paulowniatimbersales.com.au

Geoff was very helpful and even with transport to Adelaide it was competitive with WRC on price. You are a lot closer so should pay even less.

I used it on my Curlew and found it good to work with.

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Unfortunately I can't see the photos in the threads at present but for a paulownia supply to use on your kayak build try www.paulowniatimbersales.com.au

Geoff was very helpful and even with transport to Adelaide it was competitive with WRC on price. You are a lot closer so should pay even less.

I used it on my Curlew and found it good to work with.

 

Thanks, I have sent an email to find out about pricing :) How long were the lengths you got? I am assuming I will be doing scarf joints.

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stone.jpg

 

I have been playing with my spacing for the gunwales, and I have decided they won't be even (much to my husbands horror, but hey it is my canoe), I have taken 5/16 of an inch off the top of each thingy on top of the frames and checked out the blocks to hide the plywood. Now I am hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow so I can start to glue the gunwales on :)

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I am amazed at how easy this has all came together so far :) In between family (2 little kids) and a busy household, any stolen few hours I can get I am working on my canoe. I just want to say to anyone wondering if they could possibly make on of these. Of course you can, give it a go.

 

 

Gunwales all glued on, will just wait a day or two before I start planning properly.

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Seat started, I hope this will be strong enough and not too high.

 

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The start of my rear breasthook, I have been having fun laminating timber (never reall done it before), I have laminated my thwarts today and started a laminated Greenland paddle aswell.

 

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