Its been awhile since I've blogged but I've been steadly working on the canoe and making good progress. Filling in the bottom gets challenging with exact miters required on each end to the perfect length. I really took my time and each piece went in well. I used straps to clamp them down as well as screwed blocks and clamps.
Here is a picture with the sheet strip cut to the angle of the finish. I clamped a thin strip left from the kayak along the sheer line, traced the line and cut it with a saber saw. Its still a bit rough but is not the final edge yet. Its really starting to look like a canoe now.
Setting the outer stems is also a delacate and exact process. With a very sharp chisel I cut the notch where the outer stem rests on the inner stem. It seemed confusing reading the instructions in
Canoe Craft but as I proceeded it made sense. Once the notch is cut and the stem fits securely I drilled holes in the stem through which #6, 1 1/4 screws would easily slide. Then I drilled a smaller hole where they will grip into the inner stem. The instructions warned against tightening the screws to much to snap off the heads and still I snapped two. Then I set the torque lower on the drill and did fine. When all fit perfect I mixed up a batch of epoxy and brushed it over the inner stem wood 4 times to let it really sink in. Then I thicked the epoxy with silica and sanding dust, gobbed it on and screwed it down. (with waxed screws). The extra epoxy oozed out as it was supposed to and fille all the gaps. WOW - it all really worked. :)
This is now getting planed down to the perfect angle and then sanded. Setting the final strip was a real challenge. The instructions recommended glueing the last two pieces together with the curve matching the curve of the last strip. I figured out a way to do this right over the last strip. They I measured about 10 times, cut once, reglued the cut on and cut again to get the final sliver of a strip that fit just perfect.
Here it is! The finished hull. I'm very pleased how i looks and some of the contast stips should look really good once finished. Next step is planing and sanding the entire hull before fiberglass.
Its been awhile since I've blogged but I've been steadly working on the canoe and making good progress. Filling in the bottom gets challenging with exact miters required on each end to the perfect length. I really took my time and each piece went in well. I used straps to clamp them down as well as screwed blocks and clamps.
Here is a picture with the sheet strip cut to the angle of the finish. I clamped a thin strip left from the kayak along the sheer line, traced the line and cut it with a saber saw. Its still a bit rough but is not the final edge yet. Its really starting to look like a canoe now.
Setting the outer stems is also a delacate and exact process. With a very sharp chisel I cut the notch where the outer stem rests on the inner stem. It seemed confusing reading the instructions in Canoe Craft but as I proceeded it made sense. Once the notch is cut and the stem fits securely I drilled holes in the stem through which #6, 1 1/4 screws would easily slide. Then I drilled a smaller hole where they will grip into the inner stem. The instructions warned against tightening the screws to much to snap off the heads and still I snapped two. Then I set the torque lower on the drill and did fine. When all fit perfect I mixed up a batch of epoxy and brushed it over the inner stem wood 4 times to let it really sink in. Then I thicked the epoxy with silica and sanding dust, gobbed it on and screwed it down. (with waxed screws). The extra epoxy oozed out as it was supposed to and fille all the gaps. WOW - it all really worked. :)
This is now getting planed down to the perfect angle and then sanded. Setting the final strip was a real challenge. The instructions recommended glueing the last two pieces together with the curve matching the curve of the last strip. I figured out a way to do this right over the last strip. They I measured about 10 times, cut once, reglued the cut on and cut again to get the final sliver of a strip that fit just perfect.
Here it is! The finished hull. I'm very pleased how i looks and some of the contast stips should look really good once finished. Next step is planing and sanding the entire hull before fiberglass.
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