a paper ( no joke ) pirogue | SouthernPaddler.com

a paper ( no joke ) pirogue

seedtick

Well-Known Member
Jul 22, 2006
1,161
7
Denham Springs, LA
Interesting, as long as the core stays dry - but one flaw in the coating???

He doesn't mention the thickness of the paper but at 35lb total weight I'd have to assume he used almost three gallons of resin.

believe i'll stick with wood
 

islandpiper

Well-Known Member
Through the years I've seen lots of old-time , 1920-1930, instructions for building paper canoes. They used the same Kraft paper, but many laters and the glue of the day between, then shellac'ed and painted.

This paper pirogue is interesting, probably fun to make one, but along the same line as a banjo made from a canned-ham can or a mandolin made from a dead armadillo.

I'll stick with wood, too.

Piper
 

BEARS BUDDY

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2003
1,492
6
76
BAY CITY MI
Kayak Jack said:
... back to that dead armadillo. What kind of a pirogue did he paddle? Was he eatin' gree-itz when he died? What part of Chuluota was he from?

Probably died from all them cedar shavings :roll:
 

islandpiper

Well-Known Member
Well.........'round these parts they mostly die from not lookikng both ways when they cross Hwy-51.........

They make nice masndolin bodies if you take the time to clean out oss the squashy stuff........

Did I hear correctly, however, that there is a connection between handling armadillos and Luekemia? Man, I'd swear I hade heard thre was a connecion years ago, no joke. So, that's one of the few roadkill critters i don't mess with. Let someone else make the mandos out of them. I'll stick to mahogany and cypress.....and just pick up the possoms for the table. heh heh heh

Had a guy in the shop just Thursday telling me how to dress 'coons for stew...... I'd rather get 'em ready to go at thke Winn-Dixie.

bon appetite

Piper
 

Bullhead

Well-Known Member
Mar 27, 2005
172
0
Indiana
You guys missed the TPG is like plywood and the epoxy, glass and the rest is the same we use to make a plywood canoe. To make fun of this material is no better than making fun of plywood instead of lumber for a boat.
 

islandpiper

Well-Known Member
Bullhead, I understood the process and the material. I don't doubt the strength of it, but would be concerned about the accuracy of trying to layout and fair the shape of the hull. I have made lots of little paper/laminated shapes for projects, but they were inches long, not yards long. The paper and epoxy anchor would be a challenge!

Look at the nice shapes cigars come in and they are made from fermented tobacco leaves!!

Cheers, Piper
 

Bullhead

Well-Known Member
Mar 27, 2005
172
0
Indiana
Ok, Ok... so I have been wrong before.....LOL. But you have to admit.... Taking thin layers of wood with glue to make a great building material was a stretch in the 40's too.
 

islandpiper

Well-Known Member
Yup.......I'm building my next one out of 1/4 cold-rolled steel. Then, if I don't tie it on the roof of my Mazda too well and it blows off, at least it won't get damaged when it hits the road. I thought I might electorplate the whole thing in Chrome just for fun, then it would never need paint either.

In the spring we could use it to get out to the crawfish traps and then use it again to boil the little bugs for dinner. Just set it up on the sawhorses and slide the burners under the middle.

Jack could use one like this to boil maple syrup in April.

Or, hang it up by the back door and use a big mallet to BONG on it to call the kids to dinner from two blocks away......or have a couple of them hung up there and make a really big wind chime......hey, the wives would like that!!

Think of the money you'd save on epoxy, brushes and glass!!

Oh, the possibilities!!

Piper
 

aub77

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2003
193
0
Birmingham, Alabama
Interestingly, I found a note that 95% of the human population is immune to leprosy. It also hits twice as many men than women. It is treatable but takes about 6 months to get rid of it.

from wikipedia:

Armadillos are often used in the study of leprosy, since they, along with mangabey monkeys, rabbits, and mice (on their footpads), are among the few known non-human animal species that can contract the disease systemically. They are particularly susceptible due to their unusually low body temperature, which is hospitable to the leprosy bacterium.
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
We use a large, stainless steel tub at the Lodge to soak stove parts in after a chicken dinner so they clean up better. Someone was even skilled enough to weld it - not me.

I'd also heard that armadillos can transmit leprosy - no joking matter.
 

nobucks

Well-Known Member
Armadillos and leprosy aside, Jacques Mertens, the designer over at bateau.com did write about this version of his cheap canoe on his bbs quite a while ago. I think he did say he didn't recommend doing it this way, but that, done correctly, it can result in a good, lightweight boat.
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
Joel,

When I see boats like this, I'm reminded of the ones made on a stick frame of 1/4" sticks and covered with Mylar. They are a see-through boat, often shown with a guy standing on a clean, sandy beach with the boat held overhead. Text often reads something like, "15 lbs" or some such number.

My first thought is that, if I paddled only easy waters with much easier beaches for launch and recovery operations, and that if I had a thick pad in the bottom of the boat, then it may be useful for fleeing an advancing enemy.

But I'd be really hesitant to toss in a pack or four for a trip into the outback where sharp rocks live and hide. This granite that you and I paddle around in, sometimes punctuated with small bodies of water, would eat these things alive. I suspect that sunken logs with sharp branches sticking up would gut these craft in a similar manner.

As a curiosity item, they rank high. As a useful craft, I don't see them as viable in the least. But then, I never thought that man was intended to fly, either. And, I told that to Orville and Wilbur too. They didn't listen.