Mike John

Tangerine is finished http://www.flickr.co...N05/7813009914/ I'll launch when the paint has had time to cure. I'll put some pictures in Duckworks' Splash 25th September. I'll put a few photos in there and maybe some video too. Mike John

Currently she weighs 55lbs with the painting finished. Just the alum strip on the keel and the rubbing strip on the gunwhale to go. I imagine it will weight 60lbs. It's the floor that's heavy. Someone suggested, after I finished the floor, 6mm ply floor with a 1/2" strip of 6mm ply stuck underneath at right angles like an I beam. Too late though. I should have a photo next week of the finished boat. Mike John

Seats in, boat oiled and skin on. I just have to do the skin ironing tomorrow because my wife was home today. The staples went in sort of okay. They went part way in with an electric stapler and I just had to tap them home with a peen hammer. I stapled the stems as well and I will cover them with an alum strip. I can smell the salt water now. Mike John

The floor is in and it is 1/2" thick plywood. http://flic.kr/p/cNTDUu The Douglas Fir ended up hopeless because the knots were falling out left, right and centre as we were cutting it. I had too many holes to fill and it would have been ugly so I gave up on it. The plywood while very strong has made a heavy boat and has kind of defeated the purpose of skin on frame. I am not really happy about it but it is the best I could do. It looks okay to me anyway in terms of overall effect. My next boat will have a ply bottom to avoid my floor problems again as I agonised long and hard over this floor. In the US you have better timber so my brother in law in the USA tells me so you would not have had such problems. Just the seats to do and then over she goes after a coat of oil to put the skin on. Mike John

I had a touch of bad luck. The guy I gave the Douglas fir to rip up went to cut it and it rained. He did not want that much dust in his shop. Then he went on holidays for a week. Then he cut two boards and his saw broke down and he has not the money to get another one for a while. Two weeks later and nothing. I am going to a Men's Shed http://www.mensshed.org to get it cut Monday. I got bored so I started another boat. Mike John I have a new website http://www.mikejohnsgreatoutdoors.com

I considered two boards down the middle but her royalnesses little legs would not have reached to that point. I considered laying boards on the frame and following the curve but in the end the boards would rest on the lashings and boards move and flex no matter how well you anchor them. The lashings would wear. The floor is a little higher than the frames but only by the width of the frame. See how it goes I guess but I think it should work. It's all a compromise. Mike John

Floor joists ready for the floor which will be Douglas Fir. http://www.flickr.com/photos/27867753@N05/7525560750/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/27867753@N05/7525560842/ The best solution we could come up with and it took my brother in law Bob the Builder to come up with it. MIke John

I'm still working on it. I am trying to find a floor solution I like. My 1/2" plywood is a bit heavy for a floor but I might have to use it. I am trying to find some Douglas Fir which is harder to find and more expensive in Australia. I think I will have to fix some small cleats to the frame faces and put some floor cross beams on top of the cleats and then put the floorboards on top of the cross beams. Otherwise the floor will sit on the lashings and move about with flexing etc Pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/27867753@N05/7476201168/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/27867753@N05/7476201298/in/photostream Mike John

All blocks are in. Finishing the decks is next. Mike John

I keep posting here so it is all in the same place. A total of seven spacer blocks in. I am putting the spacer blocks at the frame in first. I am cutting notches in them so they slip over and hide the top of the plywood frames and still sit well against the gunnels. A couple of screws will make them plenty strong enough. Mike John

It seems this forum is not dead yet. I'll keep posting here until Jeff has time to think what he wants to do. Mike John

I hear what you are saying. I got a virus on top of a virus but I am mobile again today and I hope to do a bit more. I have two of the spacer blocks in. Fret none, I will continue this over to the new forum http://kudzucraft.com/forum/ I will see if I can move what I have here across. Mike John

Nice, very nice.

An Update. I have been sick with a virus and progress has only been an hour here and there but I have the canoe off the strongback. Everything is lashed, including the keel. I broke a stringer when it got caught while turning the canoe over but I successfully scarfed a new piece in and it looks just fine. The lashing pulled unevenly and cut deeply into that stringer on one frame and weakened it. I now have to put the blocks in between the gunwhales, put seats in, finish the breasthooks, put a floor in, oil it, skin it and put the protective strips on. Mike John

SOF Coffee Table?

Cushion Covers? Mike John

Jeff does have a second boat fee of $25 here http://www.kudzucraft.com/store/viewcategory.php?groupid=3 Mike John

That's great. I hope you do really well with your new venture. I know you'll like building them. Mike John

I built this once. http://duck-trap.com/2003lyt.html You might be able to use it as a base plan. It is designed to work as a coffee table and might be adaptable to SOF? What do you think folks? Mike John

This is how I am going to solve the bow problem I will attach some 3mm ply to a notched area in the inwhale and the side of the outwhale that also screws to the top of the stem. I will then fill the gap level to the top of the outwhale with western red cedar. Should work just fine. Pictures in a day or two. Mike John

Jeff's book is here which is much like the manual he sends but it does not have the latest strongback: http://www.amazon.com/Fuselage-Frame-Boats-building-kayaks/dp/0615495567/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337394047&sr=8-1-fkmr0 There is a kindle edition so you can starting reading today. It is not expensive and I found the online version handy in searching for a particular words like floor etc. MIke John

The outwhale is on. Of all the things I could have done wrong, one of them resulted in this. It's not a major problem. The outwhale still makes contact with the stem and I can run a screw through it was well when all is considered. A little tweaking with the breasthook to make the stem and outwhales make fluid contact and all will be fixed. The little shelf will add a lot of strength to that area but even the two little extra stringers on the inside stiffen it up, if I leave the shelf out. If a better builder than me does the boat there will most likely be no problem. I usually leave a little extra on top of the stem for such occassions but I forgot. I think that is a good idea but a second build will prove it was my fault most likely. Anyway, if you build Tangerine leave extra on the top side of the stem and trim it flush latter. The next build should tell us more. Mike John

I have been beavering away at about 2-3 hours per day. All the stringers are lashed except for the bottom three because the first bracket is in the way. I will remove that bracket when the gunnels are on and do the bottom two stringers and what I can of the keel stringer. I will finish the keel stringer when I remove the boat from the stongback but it was easy to glue it in so I did. I'm stuck. Here's the thing, I just don't know what to do with the outwhale at the bow? Assistance please. The pink sheet hung on the window was done by somebody's wife sometime and I am not responsible. The drawing is a rough sketch by me. Mike John

There's been a discussion on fixed seat, sliding rowing outriggers here http://groups.yahoo....m/message/49881 Brent said There is quite a lot of information to be found on http://slidingrigger.net/ Mike John

I started lashing today although some stringers and gunnels still have to go in. I do wish I had help with the lashing to hurry it along. I must see who I can talk into that. In the plans Jeff has stringer slots inside the frames to take seat stringers to rest the seats on. I cut that slot on all the frames except the middle frame. It did not suit my tastes to have that stinger in the end. It kind of look liked the seat stringer had a reverse sheer which in the end I decided not to opt for because I thought it upset the other curves. So I made the 1st frame and last frame slots into a little shelves under the deck for dry gear like a camera. I ran a short stringer between the 2nd and 3rd frame to rest seats on. When I put the seats in I will put a curve on that seat stringer. I thought of lashing it to the outside stringer but it of course curved the outside stringer in. The middle frame will have seat as a thwart which I will rest on the frame and outside stringers. Unless someone else has a better idea of what to do with the empty slots inside the frames? Mike John