Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Dorf's Wooden Drift Boat
I just found this Forum the past week and was pleased to see all the interesting discussions. I have previously (2006) built and launched a 16 ft. Peterborough Stripper from Tom Moore's original Canoecraft. The Bear Mountain Boats Forum was a wealth of information, as I had not built anything from wood that was expected to float, in water. The stripper was a lot of fun to build.
About a year later I discovered/purchased Roger Fletcher's book and decided to make a go of it and build a drift boat. Last April I laid out all the framing on poster board full scale. I am a retired Mfg. Engineer with 41 yrs in the Machine tool and Automotive Industry with lots of hrs. Hanging over a drafting table. After making the decision to build I spent many hours deciding materials, features etc.
I have 210 BF of White Ash from a couple of trees infected with the Emerald Ash Bore (big issue in Mid-Mich). So the framing is Ash (3/4" x 3.00"). I finished the last one in December. I just need to coat them with epoxy (been waiting for 60 degree temps). The frames are constructed using Half-lap joints. I discussed this in 2011 with Jim Watson of Gougeon Brothers and he offered their services in testing the joint strength (they have a MTS Tensile Test Machine w/ 100K Load Cell). I just received the results and test pieces a couple of weeks ago and will post them soon in this discussion. (I need to figure out how to post pictures here.)
The Stem blank is solid Ash. I just finished the transom a couple of weeks ago. It was made from African mahogany. The sides are going to be 1/4 x 7/8" WRC w/bead & cove. I have a couple of planks left over from the canoe. The sides will be encapsulated in 6 oz. glass and West System 105-207 Epoxy prior to being fastened to the frame. The bottom of the boat will be "cold molded" ash at 1/4 x 2 1/4" in two layers one oriented Fore Aft and the other 90 degrees to the first. Planning to add graphite to epoxy on the bottom.
Next work is to build a strong back and begin assembling the framing. Am looking foreword to your comments and assistance.
Thanks for being here.
phil w. (Dorf)
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on
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It's looking good Phil!
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Thanks Rick for the kind words, Me too!
Managed to finish mounting the sheer rails today. Epoxied the Starboard Sheer Rail to the Transom and Stem and sanded the entire frame that I could get to. I am soon going to eliminate several of the frame supports on the strongback. I don't think I'll need them. That will give me a lot more access to the inside of the boat. I am thinking I'll only need one support at each end. From this point on I only have to support the weight of the boat.
I am going to add a tapered trunnel to the first frame from both the Transom and Stem. That joint seems to have the most tension of all the other frames. I left a c-clamp on each as I tweaked the rail into the transom and stem. Was worried the additional tension of tweaking the rail might pop the glued joint. So far so good.
The stripping will start next week, so we'll get a chance to see what she's going to look like, getting anxious.
No new pics, doesn't look much different than yesterday.
phil w.
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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Can't weight to see the stripping,how do you hold them in place while they cure?
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Tungsten, good question!
I have a piece of white wood I'll clamp to the edge of the transom flush with it's edge. An extension of the Transom edge. Another pc. glued or screwed to the opposite side of the stem, extending it's surface too. I'll then staple/nail the first strip (flat one side {Sheer} and bead the other ) to the frames at the sheer and the temp pcs at the transom and stem. Once the first pc is located at the top of the sheer, the additional strips will be held into place with lots of rubberbands and 1" wide cloth straps to hold them to the framing. Each piece is dry fit and clamped in place, them I'll use Titebond II to glue them one-to-another.
The actual frame will be covereed with plastic wrap to avoid the strips sticking to the frame. I'll then fair the outside surface and then glass it. Remove it , fair the inside surface and glass it too. Once all that is complete I'll do the other side and then figure a way to attach the sides permanently to the frame. More than Likely I'll use epoxy, Maybe Six-10. It was really nice to work with attaching the Sheer Rails, easily applied and NOT messy!
Something like this.
http://mob5.photobucket.com/albums/y179/pwstndrf/16%20Peterborough/...
All this is subject to change if it doesn't work out. LOL :-)
phil w.
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Wow! your gonna be busy.i've only seen one stripped drift boat and it was almost too nice to use.lol.
correct me if i'm wrong but if all your bead/cove joints are centered, there shouldn't be much if any fairing,or am i missing something?
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There won't be too much work to fair the outside surface. However, I made the strips a heavy 1/4" thick, almost 9/32" with the bead and cove flush with one side. The strips will be oriented with the additional material on the outside of the boat. This will give me an additional 0.020-0.030 of an inch so there are not any thin spots as I fair that surface. I did this on my canoe and I worked fine. You can put a bright light on the inside of the boat after it's sanded fair and detect thin spots. I didn't want to see any so I made the strips thick to be safe. it worked fine.
As far as not wanting to use it or smuck it up the finish on rocks, logs, etc. I did exactly that when I launched my canoe on it's maiden voyage. I got it over the emotion part quick, as there were people watching and I couldn't get the heck out of there fast enough. I didn't do it on purpose, but what the heck and I know a guy who can fix it.
So you just have to keep things in perspective, it's still just Wood. West System's Epoxy Works Magazine (check it out on-line & free subscriptions too) had an article a year or so ago on how to repair the opps' on glassed surfaces using their G5 Epoxy. It works good, I have some experience doing it.
The stripping goes fairly quick, you can do multiple strips in a day or evening. You only have to wait an hour and half to two hrs between them as the glue (Titebond II) sets up in about 1 3/4 hrs. I estimate it'll take 28-29 strips to make up each side. So your looking at 3-4 days of stripping each side. You find a lot of other things to do/make while the glue is setting; seats, decks, etc. My hope is to have the two sides glassed before it get's too cold (60 degrees) to do the epoxy work in my garage.
Thanks for your interest,
phil w.
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Well it finally happened, I found some time to work on the drift boat. It's frustrating to see it sitting there and to walk by it every day and not be able to work on it.
I managed to scarf a few strips this past week. I use Titebond II and let them set in the glueing jig a mininum overnight. The 16 ft. strips are about eight inches too short, so I sorted through a few to come up with the ones to make what I needed. I'll need scarfed strips until I am half-way up the sides. I clamped a soft wood strip to the Stem and Transom to staple the ends of the strips to anchor them where I wanted them. The first strip is also stapled to the frames to anchor them where they need to be, flush with the Inner and Outer Shear Rail. The Outer Shear Rail will cover the staple holes after it's in position. I don;t want any staple holes visible in the strips. I have the first four strips in place with rubberbands. I'll be addig 1-2 more then the accent stripe. Here's a couple of pics;
The tennis ball is for the wife, to protect my tool box.
Using rubber bands with a 2" long dowel to loop over, two wraps. Will add more bands to increase strength (tension on strips) and daisy chain them to increase length as needed. After I'm about halfway up I'll add 1" nylon straps a hold them to the framing. On an as-needed basis.
The bands are from Office Max, Staples has them also. Which are heavier and colored, see pic above. But I have two bags left over from the canoe. There a few times as you stretch them they break, occasionally getting you on the finger nail, OUCH!
I started the accent stripe tonight. It's 4/4 African Mahogany with Aspen on either side. The Bead side is 3/8" and the Cove Side is 1/4". One-eight inch of the bead is hidden in the cove, so I'll look balanced. Both are form 4' lunber, so there'll be more scarfing required. Here's the first three strips.
The first two's length come to a little over 5 feet, so I'll need six or seven to make the full length required.
After glueing them up, scarfing them I'll bead and cove them before I glue them to the cedar strips. It'll be a little stiffer so I may need to add the nylon straps to hold them in place. I made the straps from material from a hardware store and plastic buckles from a sewing store or wherever I can find them. With all of that ahead of me, I'll be into next week before I get back into it after tomorrow.
However, the Yellow Perch are back in the Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron), they are darn good eating and easy to catch when there. A guy's gotta have his priorities doesn't he. It'll give me some time to contemplate what's coming and maybe kill a few brain cells while I'm at it. Might have one now, this is taking way too long tonight.
More to come,
Dorf.
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I managed to add a couple of more strips yesterday. The strips are getting closer to the 16 ft. length, I've had to scarf as little as 6" to them to get the required length. What is a pain is I have to stagger the scarfs and cut up perfectly good strips to do that. It just takes up more time to do it.
I took the frame clamps and modified them to hold the strips up against the framing. This may work for a few more strips. Soon enough I'll have to add the 1" cloth straps to accomplish this. I added a 6 th strip after the picture, then I'll add the accent strip. I have it in two pieces which I need to bead and cove prior to adding it. Here's a picture of one half of it.
Here is where it'll go.
It'll hopefully go a little quicker after the accent stripe, as I'll not have to add lenght to the subsequent strips.
More to come,
Dorf
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Dave Z. Thanks for the kind words. There's still a lotta work to do, but what the heck, it's Fun, eh!
Here's an update to the work in progress:
Added a few more strips yesterday and today, including the Accent Stripe. Starting to get excited as this thing is starting to become more "Boat Looking", not just a few sticks glued together. I have a lot of evening walkers going by my house almost every time I am working in the garage. A few stop by and their comments have gone from "What you Building? to What kind of boat is that? Kinda validates what I an trying to accomplish.
Here's a pic of the accent stripe after I wet it with water to see what it's going to look like later on. Also shown is a piece of Outer Sheer Rail clamped in place to see what It's going to look like.
Here's a picture of the latest strips I added today. I would have done more but I managed to get 19 holes in at the Golf course this morning.
I added a couple of 1 inch straps to apply pressure to bend the accent stripe enough to make the required contact with the one below it. It's a bit stiffer than the cedar strips.
As the Bow end is a lot taller than the middle and Stern end I'll have to add a few (2-3 maybe) tapered strips from the stem to the first frame to make up some of the difference. If not the strips will look funny because the last few at the Stem end will all be short ones..I have made one that will go on next. I'll then resume with a 16 ft. strip or two and add another tapered strip as necessary. Here's a pic of the tapered strip in the position it'll be glued after the others are cured.
More to come,
Dorf
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