New build - first build

[savannahkelly]

After finally getting more than one or two hours of clear weather, I jumped in with both feet and started the build of 2 UJ pirogues, one for myself and one for my 13 year old son. I am a cabinet builder by trade, currently working for a company which builds custom cabinets for luxury jet airplanes. We get to work with many types of exotic woods and veneers and someday soon I plan to use some of those scraps on a new boat. But for the time being, I needed a small easy to handle boat that both my son and i can use for fishing here on the Georgia coast. The trout and redfish have be biting like mad for the past couple of months and being landlocked it was driving me crazy not being able to go catch more than what I have from the public piers.

I have been studying the plans for about 2 weeks and have been reading all of the previous posts here and on other boat building web sites and figured this is something I wish I would have found months earlier. But as the old saying goes, "Better late than never!!" I am using 1/8th inch luan for the plywood and will glass the entire boat.

My first picture shows my material, sides and bottom, cut and scarffed.

Picture #2 show boat #1 sides glued up with both the bow and stern stems in place.

Picture #3 shows the ribs being glued in place. For the ribs i am using some scraps of cherry i had laying around in my wood rack that was needing to be used. Funny how getting the ribs in place really gives you an accurate view of what your boats shape will be once it is completed.

Picture # 4 shows both boats with ribs glued in place.

Picture #5 shows a close up of all the clamps used to attach both outer gunwalls to boat #1. Now things are really taking shape and the graceful lines of the boat are more evident. To make the gunwalls i bought 3 2x6's, 8 ft long and scarffed them together.

So far everything in the build is what everyone here on the forum has said. My only problem is not having a dedicated workshop to work in. Everything is done outside on my driveway. So things have to be pulled out of the garage and then put away at the end of the day and then the boats covered up to keep somewhat dry in case of rain. If everything progress as I plan hopefully by christmas we will be done and ready for our maiden voyage.

 

[Kayak Jack]

NOW we're in trouble, guys! We have professional cabinet builder on board. There goes all my my excuses and I'm sunk. My work, that looks like peanut butter spread all over a banana, will fer sure be relegated to the cellar now.

 

[gator_8_em]

Looks like you got the makings of some nice boats. And, looks like you're a neighbor also. There are several of us that paddle the Ogeechee and would love to have you and your son come along sometime. Do you work for Gulfstream? There are a couple of fellas that either work there or come there for training from time to time on this site.

 

[savannahkelly]

Dont worry, plenty of mistakes are still to be made here. I like learning how everybody else does the same things in building one of these. For as few parts that go into builiding one of these boats, there are many ways to get to the finished product.

 

[Nockatee]

Zap!

Welcome, Kelly.
You aren't messing around, there.
I saw the sort of work you folks do when the cabinet shop was out at the main assembly building some years ago. Most impressive!
No, I don't have a "G". :roll:
Please tell us about your PVC pipe clamps.
Nockatee........used to live on Wilmington Island for about 28yrs.

 

[savannahkelly]

I used a section of 3", schedule 40 pvc pipe cut in 1 1/2 section. First I ripped the pipe lengthwise on the tablesaw. One word of warning if you decide to make these and make your first cut on the tablesaw. As you finish your cut, the pipe will start to squeeze down on the blade so be careful or else you might get a nasty kickback. The best thing might be to only cut 3/4's the lenght of your pipe so you have a part of the pipe still intact to keep from pinching the blade.

At present I am not at Gulfstream, I am at Precision Pattern, which is located in Pooler.

 

[oldyaker]

Welcome Kelly, Nice job on the boat so far. I have one sitting in the rafters right now. I've been going to Savannah for at least 25 years now (Gulfstream customer) once or twice a year and sometimes for a month at a time. I love it there with all the paddling and fishing oppportunities there....
You'll love the pirogues. I have a JEM one almost all cut out just no time to work on it right now.
Welcome again....great job!

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

Welcome aboard! This guy not only does nice work, he does lots of it.

 

[islandpiper]

Good going. Fun to build them in pairs, they nest when you get 'em done. Makes it easy to carry them.

piper

 

[savannahkelly]

Finally got some free time today to get back to work on our boats. Had to dodge some small rain showers this morning, but luckily it didn't rain hard enough to wash me out, stayed cloudy but no rain.

Started out today by glueing on the rub rails to boat #2.

Once those were clamped on, it was on to putting on the bottom, looking from one end....

and looking from the other end.

Of course I didn't have enough clamps long enough to hold it in place so i improvised and used some masking tape to hold it in place while the glue set up and dried.

Once the glue dried, I sanded the edges smooth to the sides and faired the corners with my belt sander. Looking from one end....


[url=http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53/savannahkelly912/SDC10563.jpg]http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53 ... C10563.jpg[/url]
[img]

and looking from the other end.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53 ... C10564.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53 ... C10565.jpg

 

[Mohawk16]

Nice Boats.

 

[gbinga]

I should have made some of those PVC clamps. I used every clamp I had on the chines I just put in, and the rub rails are obviously longer. I'm definitely going to copy that idea before I do my rub rails.

George

 

[Kayak Jack]

Kelly,

Nice progress. You'll enjoy those boats!

 

[savannahkelly]

Finally got another chance to work on the boats yesterday due to the fact of only working 40 hrs a week now. Our company has been tightening the purse strings over the past month so overtime was one of the first to go. Now once we get overtime back........I might need to put a cot under my work table and just spend the night there.

But back to things that are more enjoyable.

I started out by removing the last remains of glue drips and touching up some different spots fairing the bottom and the sides and rounding the rub rails into the bow and stern stems.

Next I taped off the intersection of the sides and rub rails to run my fillets before fiberglassing the outsides.

Once those were taped off, i mixed a batch of resin and hardner and added handfull after handfull of saw dust to make up the fillet material. When i had the right consistancy, i transferred it into a zip lock bag and began to run my fillets. I used a tounge depressor to shape the fillets.

After I completed the 2nd boat, I started to fiberglass the bottom and sides on boat #1. I was able to get it covered by 1 or 2 pm so I still had 3 hours or so of sunshine for the resin to kick off and harden before nightfall. It was too dark to take any pictures, but hopefully i can work on it tomorrow and get it cleaned up and ready for coat #2 of resin and maybe a patch or two of fiberglass that may not have bonded to the hull.

 

[oldsparkey]

http://www.neilbank.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3927

Chuck.

 

[Wannabe]

SK,
That ply your using looks lide it's got some spalting in it. Ought to be stunning with a clear finish.
Bob

 

[savannahkelly]

Alittle more completed this afternoon. Began by sanding the first coat of fiberglass and resin. Of course there were a few areas that didn't adhear so sanded them off and laid in patches for them.

Tomorrow afternoon, hopefully i can sand out the 2nd coat and get a 3rd coat of resin on boat #1 and get things ready to glass boat #2.

 

[savannahkelly]

Finally got some free time to get back to work on the 2 boats this weekend. Boat #1 has the 3 coats of resin applied and Friday I was able to get started on applying the fiberglass to Boat #2. Here is the pics of boat #1 taped off ready for filleting.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53 ... 0586-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53 ... 0587-1.jpg

Glassing #2 went pretty well considering the cooler temperatures we have been having around here. I was able to get done before the sun set too low behind our house and neighbors house. It was still tacky but i covered it with the plastic i have been using to keep them dry. Still tacky today but with alittle sun on it tomorrow it should cure with no problems.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53 ... 0584-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53 ... 0585-1.jpg

I can see some of the things i will do differently when i glass the insides and when i get ready to build my next ones. Main thing I will do differently is the soaking coat of resin before laying out the fiberglass. On the bottom I was able to get a good soak thru the glass but I had to work quickly around the side to paint the sides with resin before laying the glass down. These first two will be painted but the next one I build I want to do a strip pirogue with some of my stash of wood I have collected the past few years. I can hardly wait to get them in the water!!!![/img]

 

[savannahkelly]

Reposting the pics from the above post.

 

[Nockatee]

Reds are running

So, what is the progress on the "twins"?
I was in Savannah this weekend and someone was talking about catching some nice reds.