Building A Canoe

We finished

2011-02-03T00:28:00.001Z

But it's too cold to test :-)

Winter break is over :o)

2010-08-02T17:17:00.004+01:00

Back to it after a short break...

We've sanded down the hull and given it a couple of coats of exterior paint.

We also completed the thwarts, webbing and all..

..and one paddle...

Back to it

2010-03-26T10:03:00.004Z

After a winter break, we are back to work.

The second thwart was made and then the canoe was flipped over to attach the out bilge runners.

We also started work on a simple paddle.

Take a load off

2010-01-29T12:31:00.012Z

This week we completed one seat frame, and glued and screwed the side supports to the inside of the hull.

I also tried the seat out for size, and realised I might have to drop a few pounds before launch day :)

The frame was glued together and screwed from underneath. It was then taken away to be varnished and black webbing attached.

Next phase will start the second seat, clean up some bits of trim and then start to sand in preparation for paint / varnish.

2010: Year of the Canoe

2010-01-22T10:21:00.005Z

After a break for Christmas, we got back to canoe building.

The first step was to tidy up the decks. We have to fill the gaps between the two gunwales with plywood, and when dry planed and sanded it down to meet the decks.

We then started work on the seats, first making 'seats' for the seats... :o)

Then making the frames that will support webbing.

Christmas Puddings

2009-12-30T19:17:00.007Z

This cold afternoon we finished the second deck piece and attached the remaining outwales. The outwales were epoxied and screwed every 200mm. The screws holes were plugged with teak.

We also attached the center yoke underneath the inwale.

And also measured up..

Decks and Outwales

2009-12-16T00:22:00.008Z

This evening we started with the decks and outwales. The forward tank was sealed (containing the lucky ship's penny) with batons attached to the hull to hold a deck piece. This was epoxied in and once dry, will be worked down level with the hull and gunwale.

The next stage was to attach the outwales. We did this in two halves, first measuring 200mm points along the pine strip and drilling pilot holes. We then drilled larger holes half way through that will accept contrasting teak plugs. These were then epoxied and screwed to the hull. The ends will eventually be tapered off.

More of the same..

2009-12-10T21:54:00.005Z

Tonight we fitted the second (starboard??) inwale. We decided not to bother with steaming this time and just used brute force. It worked out well, and any 'high spots' will all be planed level when the outwales go on.

This is the center yoke that Mr. W wittled one long winter evening..

Gunwales

2009-12-05T18:07:00.008Z

Today we finished the second bulkhead, using the very handy joggle stick

We then fitted the port side inwale. This required a little improvised steaming, a lot of clamps and a moderate sprinkling of swearing.

Fitting out

2009-12-04T11:35:00.007Z

This week we started to prepare for the gunwales. First job was to remove a section of the ply panels we had at the butt joins to allow the inwale to sit flush to the hull.

We then worked on the fore and aft bulkheads. It took a lot of time to shape them correctly. They were pinned in place and will be glued in and taped on the inside.

Taping the outside

2009-11-22T09:10:00.004Z

This week we finished filling in the seams on the outside of the hull (the gaps left after removing the wires). When dry, these seams were sanding down to give a nice curve to accept the tape.

The seams were then taped and wetted out.

The next stage is to make and fit the bulkheads and gunwales.

Laying down and wetting out

2009-11-12T12:09:00.005Z

This week we removed the wires from all the seams before flipping the canoe over to fill all the seams with thickened epoxy from the inside - leaving slight fillets as required.

The next stage was to paint (unthickened) epoxy along the seams and lay out strips of 2inch fibreglass tape. This was then wetted out and left to soak in and cure.

Starting to glue

2009-11-05T09:44:00.004Z

This week we started the gluing process. We used masking tape along the seams on the inside of the hull (just to prevent any leaking).

The canoe was then flipped over and then we applied epoxy, thickened to a peanut butter like paste, to the outside of the seams in the gaps between the stitches. This will hopefully be enough to hold the shape when we remove the wire stitches.

It's a canoe!

2009-10-22T23:16:00.007+01:00

Tonight we finished stitching the rest of the panels, this time only stitching every 6 inches - less at the ends.

With all the wires twisted tight, and the center station mould stitched tight to the floor and the top panel, the whole structure became stiff. Next step is taping the internal seams.

A stitch in time

2009-10-16T10:04:00.007+01:00

This week we started stitching the panels together. A 1.5mm bit was used to drill holes along both sides the floor panels, roughly 5mm from the edge and about 3 inches apart. Once the second panel (lower bilge) was offered up to the floor and shaped as appropriate, we started stitching, twisting the wire just loosely at first.

Once both sides were stitched in and pulled tightish, we added the center station mould and stitched that into the floor panel. This gave us the rough shape. Clamps at the 'bow' and 'stern' also helped to hold the basic shape.

A sticky situation

2009-10-08T23:17:00.010+01:00

This evening we finished off the floor panels and were happy that they all at least looked the same shape. Of course the thickened epoxy resin and glass tape will hide a lot of inexperience. Hopefully.

The panels were laid out on the floor with the butt joins along a piece of scrap ply, with a plastic sheet in between to prevent any embarassing hull additions.

More scrap plywood lengths were placed underneath horizontally to try and keep the panels level at the joins.

At each butt joint, we used a length of 75mm wide plywood (again 6mm gauge) with bevelled edges. Thickened epoxy coated the underside of each one, with anything we could find to weight the joint down (we didn't want to use brass panel pins unless absolutely necessary).

A close shave

2009-09-24T23:45:00.005+01:00

Tonight the dusty business of planing the panels started. We got most of them finished with a combination of blood, sweat and power tools. And of course, a hand plane and spoke shave for the traditionalists.

Most of the work is complete - just a few stubborn edges to finish off.

We also cut out the mould frame for the center station. This will be stitched to the frames to provide the basic shape while the chine joints are glued together.

The first cut

2009-09-19T19:54:00.015+01:00

The four panels were roughly cut out from the first panel, and tidied up with the plane to within a few mm of the plan dimenions.

These templates were then used to mark the shapes onto a second sheet. This sheet was then clamped to two others (or screwed in the 'waste' areas) and then each panel was cut out of the three sheets at once.


	The completed panels. They will be clamped to the original templates and planed to ensure each panel is identical.

Lofting

2009-09-17T22:40:00.009+01:00

The lofting process started tonight.

Each panel was meticulously marked out using the dimenions given with the plans along 8 'vertical' stations.

A length of box conduit was used to join the marks to make a smooth curved shape, with the to-scale drawings of the bow and stern curves used to finish each end.

We will next cut out the four panels from this first plywood sheet and use it as a template for the remaining sections.

In the beginning...

2009-09-10T17:09:00.001+01:00

Day One of the 'Raven' canoe build.

Messrs Burnside and Waddell travel to a local builders merchant where eight sheets of 8 x 4 exterior grade plywood are purchased and transported back to the 'workshop'.

We decided after examining 4 and 6mm gauges, that 6mm is the choice of the more rotund paddler. Price for eight sheets: £78.