EJ's Floaty Boaty

Going slow on this build. I'm using titebond glue, so I let the glue set for a couple hours between strips. I like the longer open time to set the strips "just right", plus, it gives me time to work on other builds. I get bored quickly with the same project, so I find I get more done when I bounce from one build to another in between daily life for a few hours during the day.

In addition to the Cedar canoe (in progress) there are two more, cherry and pear in, the queue. PLUS, also on the bench, the lightning sailboat being rigged and fitted out, a wood frame DC-3 airplane nearly done, and a 1/350 plastic USS Missouri done up to the superstructure levels. That kit I have a Pontos upgrade set that has more parts than the kit does, some so small I can barely see them let alone use them. I'm guessing 25% of the photo etch stuff I'll not be using.

Then, a 1/35 plastic LCM-3. Two more kits will do this one out as a delivery boat for medics, a kit of a jeep fitted as a first aid transport and a kit of a rag top army ambulance truck, along with a crew of US Navy sailors and some US Army medical corp guys with insignia of the 32nd Red Arrow Infantry Division that my dad fought with on New Guinea. Probably slip this one in along with Canoe #2 or #3.

Anyway, here's where I'm at on Canoe #1.

9 rows of hull planking on, right at the turn of the bilge. I'm fairing in a bevel on each strip so I get a very nice tight fit-up between planks. I want to do this boat with no protruding bottom keel, much like my old prospector canoe and camper canoe were. They had just a slight angled break in the hull at the center point the length of the hull, continuing right up the stem to the gunnel. I'll be doing 7 more planks, up to the point where the stem meets station #7, then sanding the stem ends to a flat. Then I'll apply a stem trim / keel board in one piece from the gunnel of the stem, all the way to the other end and to the gunnel of the other stem. I think I'll use two 1/16" X 3/16" pieces of the redwood, steamed and laminated in place, for contrasting color.

We'll see how it goes.

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EJ
You sound as busy as a cat in the dog kennels!!

Good looking work!
 
That is really nice aligned and tight stripping that your are laying down. Keep up the patient production. Well done. PT-2
Got the first pinned strips in place with a lot of fighting. My unknowing choice to try mahogany (like saying ice cream coming in many flavors) was not a good one. It is quite dark from the species that they said they used; it is very hard (duhhhh!) and difficult to push pins through to the stations (had to try predrilling the pin holes without much success); and brittle enough to snap when pinched at the stem with a clothes pin, or at a pin located at a station bend. Good thing that there are extra strips. I can see that I will be doing some hot water & electric bending iron to minimize additional bends or twists when laying the strips down. Lastly it wants to follow the direction of its own internal grain and stress making the bottom sheves of the stations often ill placed and better modified vertically or around higher set pins. The lines of this 17 incher will definitely be different than what I was anticipating using the stock template stations. Live and learn!!! It will be a slow build in any event. I made a measureHome made transfer device.jpgments transfer device but while it worked the mahogany wanted to follow other lines so I ended up revising the gunwale lines on both sides to match as well as I could and the wood allowed.
 
Got the first pinned strips in place with a lot of fighting. My unknowing choice to try mahogany (like saying ice cream coming in many flavors) was not a good one. It is quite dark from the species that they said they used; it is very hard (duhhhh!) and difficult to push pins through to the stations (had to try predrilling the pin holes without much success); and brittle enough to snap when pinched at the stem with a clothes pin, or at a pin located at a station bend. Good thing that there are extra strips. I can see that I will be doing some hot water & electric bending iron to minimize additional bends or twists when laying the strips down. Lastly it wants to follow the direction of its own internal grain and stress making the bottom sheves of the stations often ill placed and better modified vertically or around higher set pins. The lines of this 17 incher will definitely be different than what I was anticipating using the stock template stations. Live and learn!!! It will be a slow build in any event. I made a measureView attachment 179113ments transfer device but while it worked the mahogany wanted to follow other lines so I ended up revising the gunwale lines on both sides to match as well as I could and the wood allowed.
Bouncing back and forth as glue sets on canoe strips the bulkheads are being faired down on the Bluenose. I don't like to see time go by without a purposeful use! The news here in Eugene, Oregon is captivating with the small communities just East of us burned to the ground, smoke so thick that I could not see two houses down across the street Monday morning, and people that I know who are missing and being elderly very possibly lost their lives not being able to get out of their homes up in the woods where the closest of five fires raged with 50 - 70 mph winds which caused a downed power line to start it off blowing down the highway canyon. A lot of folks were forced to evacuate with only what they were wearing as the emergency evacuation notice came out at 11:30 when a lot of older folks were at sleep with the TV and phones turned off. Our air quality was up at 480 on a max health scale of 450 and was 30% worse than Portland which made national news but smaller cities are not worth mentioning. Our Masonic lodge parking are is a staging area for volunteers receiving donations for the displaced. . . no questions asked so I think that a certain amount is being highjacked for sale elsewhere. The fires will possibly continue until next month but the air quality and smoke should begin to move out the end of this week.
I am staying inside most of the time. . . lucky that I have models to work on to pass the time. PT-2
 
It Came! 8 weeks and 2 days. Aged wood.

The mail carrier was looking it over pretty good when she dropped it off.

Package in good shape.


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When I placed the order I told him I didn't need the building base board or the ply for the station molds, to just leave them out and toss in some exrea sticks.

So, I got 10 extra 3/32" square (planking), 18 extra 1/8" X 1/32" (ribs inside keel), and 4 extra 1/4" X 1/32" (Keel & gunwales).

NICE. Looks very good. Very clean and accurate machining.


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I'll be interested in seeing how this wood "works". Nice color, similar to the cherry.
How was the pear wood ordered, from whom, and what was the cost. I'm definitely looking that way for a third one after the present mahogany (paddle in the dark) is finished and am looking for a lighter toned wood that is more builder friendly. Thanks for the link as I am way behind most of the club with their early on pear orders. PT-2
 
How was the pear wood ordered, from whom, and what was the cost. I'm definitely looking that way for a third one after the present mahogany (paddle in the dark) is finished and am looking for a lighter toned wood that is more builder friendly. Thanks for the link as I am way behind most of the club with their early on pear orders. PT-2

Go to this link and scroll down to Option 1 , and read the information under alternative B.
The pear wood is great to work with: so much so that it will be my "go to" lumber from now on.
G
 
Three more rows of planking done on each side, 12 rows done. This was in the area of the most severe turn of the bilge, so I sanded a bevel on both edges of each plank. From here out, I think a bevel on one side will do. However, there is now a more severe twist to the planks, so I think I might soak them a bit in hot water to relieve the stress.
It's going well, I'm happy.

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Four more rows on each side, I think, then remove the boat from the building base, lay up 3 or 4 pieces to raise the top of the stems, then sand the stems to the shape I want. I did a couple test bends in the redwood I'm using for the one piece stem trim/flush keel, two layers to get it about to 1/8" thick, leaving enough on the ends and edges for fairing in.

I did a couple test bends using heat only and got a pretty nice curve, a bit tighter than I need. I'll be making a bending form for those so I can bend them before laying them down. More on that later. The test pieces are 1/16" thick X 7/32" wide.

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EJ
 
Three more rows of planking done on each side, 12 rows done. This was in the area of the most severe turn of the bilge, so I sanded a bevel on both edges of each plank. From here out, I think a bevel on one side will do. However, there is now a more severe twist to the planks, so I think I might soak them a bit in hot water to relieve the stress.
It's going well, I'm happy.

agN0hEa.jpg


Four more rows on each side, I think, then remove the boat from the building base, lay up 3 or 4 pieces to raise the top of the stems, then sand the stems to the shape I want. I did a couple test bends in the redwood I'm using for the one piece stem trim/flush keel, two layers to get it about to 1/8" thick, leaving enough on the ends and edges for fairing in.

I did a couple test bends using heat only and got a pretty nice curve, a bit tighter than I need. I'll be making a bending form for those so I can bend them before laying them down. More on that later. The test pieces are 1/16" thick X 7/32" wide.

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EJ
Nice work. I took up your beveling of some strips at the tighter radius from side to bottom but left them square for the runout to the stems. Using the heat for a slight twist will make that easier for you. I should have done that but didn't and pay the piper in the sanding/finish prep process. Good work. PT-2
 
Three more rows of planking done on each side, 12 rows done. This was in the area of the most severe turn of the bilge, so I sanded a bevel on both edges of each plank. From here out, I think a bevel on one side will do. However, there is now a more severe twist to the planks, so I think I might soak them a bit in hot water to relieve the stress.
It's going well, I'm happy.

agN0hEa.jpg


Four more rows on each side, I think, then remove the boat from the building base, lay up 3 or 4 pieces to raise the top of the stems, then sand the stems to the shape I want. I did a couple test bends in the redwood I'm using for the one piece stem trim/flush keel, two layers to get it about to 1/8" thick, leaving enough on the ends and edges for fairing in.

I did a couple test bends using heat only and got a pretty nice curve, a bit tighter than I need. I'll be making a bending form for those so I can bend them before laying them down. More on that later. The test pieces are 1/16" thick X 7/32" wide.

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EJ
I would like to see how you handled the transition at the stems from the vertical to the more flat bottom. That is where I have the greatest problem in keeping the edges fully in contact and have some square corners sticking out which will have to be smoothed out in sanding. Possibly a combination of sanding the faces and heat bending to deal with the twist may reduce the problem but those are strips already laid down several back. Now with the easier flat bottom with just patient end sanding to get the best herringbone zipper that I can. Excellent work on you part. PT-2
 
Three more rows done, 15 total each side. One left to go, then sand the stems.

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I sanded only one edge to a bevel on these.

I also did some rough sanding on the hull while waiting for the glue to set on the pinned parts. Nice tight fit-ups and not really much sanding.

The twist at the end by the stems, well, I tried steam. Works but is overkill. Made them like spaghetti and very soft. Then tried just hot water. Also worked, but in order to prevent springback, I had to dry them with the heat gun while holding them to shape or they just seemed to "untwist".

Finally, I just used heat. From the heat gun. Marked a spot about 3 stations from the end, held the strip at the end and just past the mark, gave it a twist about 90 degrees with my fingers and passed it through the heat. I could actually feel the stress in the twist relax in my hands. After a minute or so, evenly getting it hot enough but not so hot as to scorch the wood, I removed it from the heat, holding it in my fingers for about a minuit so it would cool off enough and - Presto, I had a nice twist. After the first one I was able to gauge the placement and amount of twist pretty accurately.

Maybe do the last strip later today and let dry until tomorrow before sanding.

EJ
 
Three more rows done, 15 total each side. One left to go, then sand the stems.

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I sanded only one edge to a bevel on these.

I also did some rough sanding on the hull while waiting for the glue to set on the pinned parts. Nice tight fit-ups and not really much sanding.

The twist at the end by the stems, well, I tried steam. Works but is overkill. Made them like spaghetti and very soft. Then tried just hot water. Also worked, but in order to prevent springback, I had to dry them with the heat gun while holding them to shape or they just seemed to "untwist".

Finally, I just used heat. From the heat gun. Marked a spot about 3 stations from the end, held the strip at the end and just past the mark, gave it a twist about 90 degrees with my fingers and passed it through the heat. I could actually feel the stress in the twist relax in my hands. After a minute or so, evenly getting it hot enough but not so hot as to scorch the wood, I removed it from the heat, holding it in my fingers for about a minuit so it would cool off enough and - Presto, I had a nice twist. After the first one I was able to gauge the placement and amount of twist pretty accurately.

Maybe do the last strip later today and let dry until tomorrow before sanding.

EJ
Nice tight and patient work that you produce. In my bottom closing strips I used an electric bender only with some moisture for the first few but when the final in or so of closing width just used the bender on the dry mahogany itself to get the gentle curve with a more straight runout at the ends. I'll post my closed and first sanding photos in my group log. PT-2
 
Last full strip in place, stems rough sanded to shape. A bit more sanding on the hull.

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Tomorrow, cut the stations loose from the building board, trim down three stations on each end and add the last "short planks" at the stems to complete the hull planking.

EJ
 
Last full strip in place, stems rough sanded to shape. A bit more sanding on the hull.

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Tomorrow, cut the stations loose from the building board, trim down three stations on each end and add the last "short planks" at the stems to complete the hull planking.

EJ
Slow and steady will float the boat. PT-2
 
I cut the stations loose from the building board, did a bit more sanding & shaping on the stems. About half the stations fell out of the boat so I'm glad I had already marked their locations as I have to pin them back in place pretty solid in order to have them to lay up the flush keel and the closing planks. Also worked a small groove in the stem base for the keel strip to fit into for the transition from the keel strip to the stem.

Next, I needed a bending form for the stem/keel piece. I set the canoe up at a 90 degree angle to the table and held it in position with angle plates and 1-2-3 blocks. I used a small square , just touching the boat and making a mark on paper. The square worked well on the drafting table as it has magnets in it and keeps it in place easier. This piece will be a two layer laminate.

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I used spray adhesive to attach the template to a piece of 1 X 6 pine, and cut it to shape on the bandsaw. I sanded it to the line on the disk sander. Actually, I over went the line a bit at the mid to top of the stems an an attempt to overcome any spring back.

I put the first strip in a pan of water heated with a hot plate. About 15 minutes. Then clamped one end to the jig and slowly wrapped the strip around the first stem, heating it as I slowly bent it to the curve with the heat gun. Worked slick. Then, pinned it in the middle a couple places to keep it lined up, grabbed the other end with a needle nose pliers (that heat gun is hot) and slowly bent it to the form and clamped it in place to cool.

The pan

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The heat gun

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The part cooling and drying on the former.

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After that dried a bit, I tested the fit and it was great.

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I did the same thing again with the piece for the second layer of the lamination, laying it right on top of the first strip on the bending jig. Another test fit and it was as good as the first.
This is a bottom view of the flush keel.

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I'll glue this assembly in place tomorrow as I want it to dry out pretty well to prevent shrinkage issues with the install.

EJ
 
Worked on painting the front door this afternoon. That didn't go well at all.

So, went back yo the canoe. Final fitting, glued up at the stems and clamped for the glue to dry.

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Tomorrow morning - do the second layer.

EJ
 
Worked on painting the front door this afternoon. That didn't go well at all.

So, went back yo the canoe. Final fitting, glued up at the stems and clamped for the glue to dry.

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Tomorrow morning - do the second layer.

EJ
Nice work with the preparatory jigs. Your canoe should turn out very well. I was less stringent with my second canoe and only had the stem strips in water for a few minutes and by eye and my electric bender formed them to match the stem station closely and with CV applied them and held them in place for few minutes. After about five minutes I repeated each lamination for a total of four. I had the bottom fully closed before doing the exterior stems so I did not have to set a true full length keel. After trimming the additional short bow and stern strips the outer gunwale was glued in place and when dry the this morning trimmed those down to its top edge and after another short internal sanding applied a coat of sanding sealer inside and out to dry before any more prefinish sanding.

I'm looking forward to seeing your careful continuation. PT-1
 
Was busy for a couple days, working on the thickness sander, but did get the second layer of the flush keel glued in. Two thinner strips bent into place much easier than one thick one. I wish I had waited one more week so I could have made these two strips using the sander. It would have been a breeze compared to hand sanding/planing to size and more accurately sized.

Anyway, flush keel glued on, will finish up the closure planks this week, then sand out the exterior.

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EJ
 
Was busy for a couple days, working on the thickness sander, but did get the second layer of the flush keel glued in. Two thinner strips bent into place much easier than one thick one. I wish I had waited one more week so I could have made these two strips using the sander. It would have been a breeze compared to hand sanding/planing to size and more accurately sized.

Anyway, flush keel glued on, will finish up the closure planks this week, then sand out the exterior.

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EJ
This is looking very good. I like the contrast of your keel with the hull. With your care it will turn out very well. Are you going to try the faux brass fasteners? With you accurate ribs' placement it should be straightforward in the alignment of those fasteners, blind, through the stripping into the consistent ribs placement. I have put the brass along the outer gunwale as a trial which can be held at that point. With my dark and heavy grain I don't think that I will try the full hull. I found that the nature of Mahogany tends to cause the drill bit to drift off of where I want it to be. A never again wood for me. PT-2
 
Working on the closure planks, one each side to go. The opening for the last two planks was a tiny bit bigger than two planks.

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BUT, I found a strip that was oversized in one dimension - two fit perfectly. She's closed up.

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Then sanding. I find sanding quite therapeutic. Got the exterior sanded in with 100 grit.

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The one piece stems/flat keel faired in from stem to stem.

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Tomorrow, install the outer gunnels. I'm gonna make them of the redwood to see what they look like. I might use a white wood though. I'll make up my mind tomorrow. I'm gonna make them a bit thinner than 3/32" though. Then, out come the stations and get to work on scraping and sanding the interior. I'm thinking about making the inner floorboard keel strip out of redwood too. I did the "wet look" thing with alcohol just to see the contrast. I like it.

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Boy, that macro setting sure picks up every little zit doesn't it.

EJ
 
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