The Larkspur "stretched"

[swamprat]

First full weekend of work to get to here. Spent about 4 hours lofting yesterday and about 6 hours today cutting and planeing out the panels.

I'm always giving my better half grief about her quilting hobby as it is nothing more than taking big pieces of cloth and cutting them into little pieces just to sew them back together into a big piece She came out today to investigate the clouds of sawdust and smoke and saw these and just rolled her eyes and asked if all of these panles had just a couple of days ago been just 3 whole sheets of plywood :shock:

437 wire ties later its starting to look like a boat!

Will spend some time tommorow making sure everything is square and true and start slinging epoxy tommorow afternoon hopefully

 

[Kayak Jack]

... I'm always giving my better half grief about her quilting hobby as it is nothing more than taking big pieces of cloth and cutting them into little pieces just to sew them back together into a big piece. She came out today to investigate the clouds of sawdust and smoke and saw these and just rolled her eyes and asked if all of these panels had just a couple of days ago been just 3 whole sheets of plywood.

That's how I tell folks we make boats. Start with big pieces of wood, make them little, then put them back together again. But - we use stronger thread than they do in quilts.

 

[swamprat]

coming along slowly

spent most of the weekend squaring things up and getting ready to fillet the seams.
Tried to do the whole seam with ties in place and that didn't work to well so on the last couple I just tabbed them in and will come back tommorow and pull the ties and then build fillets. Will take some sanding to get the first couple of seams right but what the hey! Thats boat building! LOL

 

[Kayak Jack]

It's almost sensuous how a stack of planks - all looking like inverted parentheses - become a graceful canoe or kayak. By God it's MAGIC!

And - if it isn't really magic, it's close enough for guvmint work.

 

[swamprat]

Ha! I have to agree with ya Jack, As I was cutting all those panels last weekend I was thinking theres no way in hell these will go together to make a boat but it sure enough did! Maybe not magic but pretty dang cool none the less!

 

[Kayak Jack]

I especially like the first two panels along the keel. Starting to fasten them together at the center they still look like inverse parentheses.

But nearing the ends, they begin to curl, and form a definite stem end, and then - it IS a stem end!

Geometry is astounding; shape is amazing; Life is great.

 

[hairymick]

Hi swamprat,

looking good mate. Building em is allmost as much fun as paddling em.

 

[swamprat]

Been a busy week with allot of work and not a whole lot of changes to be seen.

Turned her up on her sides and filled cracks in the seams with un thickened epoxy on the designers recommendation

Pulled all the wire ties and sanded everything up to put the full fillets on the inside this week and then flipped her over to clean up some of my drips from the previous sloppy fillets.

Flipped her back over and did the bow and stern fillets.

Super tight in there with just enough room to get a Popsicle stick in there sideways and then smooth the fillet out with a 3/16" dowel but I think they came out OK.
Hope to get the fillets on the inside done and a coat of epoxy on before the end of the week.

 

[hairymick]

Good job mate. Beautiful neat workmanship. I just love the lines of that boat. Long, sleek and elegant. It just exudes class.

 

[nobucks]

437 wire ties? Wow, I commend you on your patience!

Nice lines and nice fillet work. My fillets always seem to ocme out looking a little less magical. :wink:

 

[swamprat]

coming along slowly

Finally finished all the inside fillets. All 9 of them at 18 feet apiece!

Put down a coat of epoxy to seal everything up.

Got the glass laid out this afternoon and waited for it to cool down a little before I started wetting it all out this evening.

Started wetting out the glass at 5 pm and at 7:45 pm I was done! Way to much glass to do all at the same time but I couldn't see any other way to do it without messy looking seams all over the place. :shock: Not the cleanest looking job but nothing that a little sandpaper can't fix.

A little bit of sanding tommorow and one more coat of epoxy on the inside and it'll be time to flip her over and do it all over again on the outside. :wink:

 

[hairymick]

Great job mate. Why wasn't I smart enough to think about using clothes pegs? Well done mate. She is looking beautiful.

 

[JEM]

They never ending debate in my head: Do I try and glass it all at once or do sections?

I finally decided to go with sections. One thing I do like to do it when the glass has cured for about 45 minutes, I run a razor blade to trim edge of the cloth so overlapping the next section is easier and cleaner.

What kind of woodflour did you use? It looks a lot like the mahogany woodflour I used with it being dark. Or is that just the camera doing that?

 

[swamprat]

Yeah Matt, about an hour into the glassing last night I was seriously starting to doubt my decision to go with it all! :shock: I think it'll be ok working on the outside with the boat upside down where gravity can help out but trying to get the epoxy to roll up hill on the sides wasn't fun. I ended up moving everything from the work table to the sawhorses and turning the boat up on its sides to get everything to work. Then switched it around and did the other side.

The wood flour is redwood flour,very generously donated by the fine gentleman who owns this board I knew, with 9 fillets that I didn't want to be trying to hide them under the epoxy so figured I'd just use the contrast as decoration of sorts. Me thinks they look pretty good! :wink:

 

[oldsparkey]

swamprat

I agree the woodflour does make a nice contrast with the plywood you made the canoe from ... Good choice on your decision and as always I (All of us) are here to help anyone who is making a wood boat.

Chuck.
Only one thing that you could add to your boat to make it really a winner....A southernpaddler (oval sticker in full vivid color) and I know where you can get one at a low cost. The Gift Shop (links section) . :lol: :lol: :lol: Tell me I did not say that ...Please.

 

[JEM]

I think it'll look really sharp with the darker woodflour. Brings out the shape.

With glassing, I should have said that I don't mind doing one solid piece of fabric on the hull exterior. No problem there. It's just that dnag interior that makes me groan.

I like to double tape the bow/stern ends so I usually do those with one piece of cloth first, let that cure, then do the rest in 2-3 sections. Trimming the glass with a sharp blade before it fully cures make everything look nice and clean.

 

[hairymick]

Yep,yep. Agree completely with Matt

otherwse, as friend Jack says " YOU ARE NEVER FINISHED SANDING"

 

[swamprat]

Been a while since my last update, Had my dad up here last week and we spent allot of time paddling but very little time working on the boat.
Got floatation bulkheads put in but neglected to take pictures until after I turned the boat back over so hears all ya get on those.

Got the bottom cleaned up so I could see how much filling in I needed to do on the seams from the outside and just how many wire tie holes didn't completely fill from the inside.

Turned out, quite a bit!

Note to self: Use masking tape on the OUTSIDE also! Took a couple of hours of sanding to clean up that mess the next day!
Got the bottom cleaned up again and put down a sealing coat of epoxy before I put the glass down this week.

Had to order another 3 quart kit from Raka before I put down the glass so I spent the rest of the weekend( Saturday at least) working on scarfing the gunnel pieces and attempting to build a seat frame.

Also picked up some western cedar for the bow and stern plates but haven't got them ready for pictures yet. Soon.
With any luck I may get her wet by memorial day weekend!

 

[Kayak Jack]

Lookin' good there, Swamp rat. What'd Dad think of your boat? How long before he wants you to help HIM build one?

You are already learning that several truths exist in the world of building boats:

1. You're never done sanding
2. There's always another modification that will make this boat just a leeetle bit better
3. The next boat will be ...
4. You're never done sanding
5. You become admired
6. You're never done sanding

 

[Kayak Jack]

BTW - I, and I know others too, are really looking forward to some trip reports out of this boat. Looks like a tripping canoe to me.

Lessee here now: tent, sleeping bag, jerky, water filter & bottles, brown rice, ....