The Swamper- new design

[jdupre']

Dang, 10 boats in about 2 years. :shock: I want to say that I, for one , am glad you made most of them using poly resin and cheap ply. Using expensive epoxy and top quality plywood, we might not have had the pleasure of seeing all those boat being built. You are a good example to people who might not build a boat at all because of the expense involved.

Like my buddy who built the pirogue from luan ply and just painted it. He has $50.00 in it, had the fun of building it and the funny thing is, it's a real honest-to-goodness boat - floats and everything. If it lasts two years, so what. I've spent more and got less in my lifetime.

Joey

 

[tx river rat]

Poly is too high now,but it is fast and I can make it do what I want,price wise, my Duck cost me a little over 200 dollars,but I could have used US composite epoxy for about the same price.
Funny the strips are much cheaper than good ply,I love building this way.
Wood in the Duck 83.00 have enough left to do a third of another build
50.00 on resin
30.00 on cloth
Glue and sanding paper made up the rest.
A cheap race boat
Ron

 

[jdupre']

A few things I've learned:

1. If at all possible, build a work table about as long and wide as your boat.
2. Leave the edge exposed all around so the spring clamps can fit around two pieces of your ply and the table edge. Very
handy.
3. An accurate centerline down the length and across the width off your table is handy.
4. Measure twice, think about it for a while, measure twice more and THEN cut. :mrgreen:

5. Use the leftover filleting material on all those cheap spring clamps to keep the plactic grips from coming off.
6. A sharp hand plane followed by a 20" fairing board with coarse grit paper attached smooths out all the dips and bumps
on the ply edges.

 

[jdupre']

A little slow going lately. I've had only one full day off since I started this build. I used up most of that day getting the side profile shape and rocker the way I wanted it. It's been cold and rainy off and on, so I moved into my small shop and set up a heater. A full two inches to spare on each end. :roll: Applied the last fiberglass patch to the bottom panels.

I'm really liking this slow epoxy hardener. Gives me plenty of time to touch up needed spots without feeling rushed.

Joey

 

[tx river rat]

JD
Did you put any rocker in the bottom panels?
Ron

 

[jdupre']

JD
Did you put any rocker in the bottom panels?
Ron

Not yet. Defintely going to be a "field fit". :mrgreen: I'll wire the panels together and see what I have. Uncharted territory ain't for the faint of heart.
:lol:

 

[jdupre']

You would know, the first day off in 2 weeks and it rained all morning. I hustled the bottom panels onto my workbench in between downpours. I drilled and wired the panels together and did a trial fit. A bit oversized but I'll trim to fit.

The shape is starting to come out. I'm a happy builder so far.


I'm sure some of you have discovered this tip but I'll pass it on anyway. You need a lot of wires and this is an easy way to cut them in bulk.

Just so happens the wire was rolled to the right diameter. A couple of snips and then bend them out straight while there still all together. 8)

Joey

 

[oldsparkey]

jdupre'

I use the 18 gauge copper that comes in the 25' roll. I always unroll it one snip at a time. You can bet I will take the plastic package apart and do like you did. Besides being easier to do all of them would be the same length.

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I very carefully measure my wire to the nearest 0.001" with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, and cut it with an axe.

Seriously, I use el-cheapo stove pipe wire. When I bend into a "U" shape for use, I bend it with one end a tad longer than the other. Seems to insert and handle a bit easier for me.

 

[tx river rat]

Great tip Joey
Ron

 

[jdupre']

The Swamper is all wired up. She really looks like a boat now.

I have a couple of low spots to shim up and maybe a couple to sand a little clearance. I have a gap of less than 1/8" between the bottom panels for 3ft. each side of center. Too much?
How do y'all normally align the side/bottom joint- inside corners touching? In other words, do you align them so you can see both edges from the outside?
If so, how do you handle the very end of the panels at the bow?

 

[oldsparkey]

If the edges all along the bottom are on the outside ................. Go with the shape of it. Follow what the boat is telling you.
Epoxy it together then for the spots that need filling it is called wood flour and epoxy with some masking tape to stop the runs and drips.

You can always claim that the epoxy and wood flour is there as a protector and support for the front of the boat encase you run it aground or hit something in the water with the front when paddling.

Chuck.

 

[jdupre']

So is 1/8" + - an acceptable gap between panels? A strip of tape on the backside and fill with fillet material?

Joey

 

[tx river rat]

Joey
1/8 is plenty good ,I have done up to a 1/4.
Like chuck says on the nose tape and epoxy will fill a world of cracks,.
Ron

 

[Oyster]

The shape of the boat is more important than the seam opening which can cause areas along the joints to be open. The key if you need to close some of the larger ones up is to fix any fat areas that throws the pieces off a bit more than what you would prefer filling too. But that said there are these types of builds that actually use popsicle sticks to space an even seam if your panels are cut right and then fill a uniform amount in that area and let dry. Then tape it on both sides.

 

[jdupre']

The gap is pretty consistant in the center third of the seam. I might snip a few stitches in the front 3 or 4 feet and sand both sides to allow some clearance. The main low spot is the area of the fiberglass panel splice. It's stronger so it's harder to reshape it.

Joey

 

[jdupre']

I worked on the bottom panels until I got a nice smooth curve. I mixed some filleting material and applied it to all seams. I just used a popsicle stick to apply it and came back over it with a the squeegee. A little fiddley but not too bad. The cool weather caused the fillets to take a few hours longer to set up. They seem to be OK though. The only downside I've seen to the slow hardener is the longer set up time. Haven't had any epoxy or fillet material kick off on me before I could finish using it.

Tonight I used the very last of the epoxy I had left over from glassing the bottom of the pirogue. Had a couple of packages from Larry at Raka when I got home. Just in time.

Tommorow I'll take out the stitches and fill in the spaces.

Joey

 

[Bellybuster]

nice lookin build.
I once saw some jig saw blades that were actually sanding blades. They had grit on both sides of the blade but no cutting edge, might be the ticket for widening tight gaps

 

[jdupre']

The shape of the boat is more important than the seam opening which can cause areas along the joints to be open. The key if you need to close some of the larger ones up is to fix any fat areas that throws the pieces off a bit more than what you would prefer filling too. But that said there are these types of builds that actually use popsicle sticks to space an even seam if your panels are cut right and then fill a uniform amount in that area and let dry. Then tape it on both sides.

Reminds me of something I read by one of the early stitch and glue builders. His friends would cringe when he told them that a joint mis-fitted over a quarter inch held with epoxy glue is stronger than a well fitted joint of any other kind . Don't know how true that is, but the guy seemed to be speaking from experience.

Joey

 

[JEM]

Reminds me of something I read by one of the early stitch and glue builders. His friends would cringe when he told them that a joint mis-fitted over a quarter inch held with epoxy glue is stronger than a well fitted joint of any other kind . Don't know how true that is, but the guy seemed to be speaking from experience.

Joey

That's a pretty bold statement to make. Epoxy is strong and is very forgiving to errors but is not a cure-all substitute.