Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Guy's Wooden Drift Boat Project
Hello Everyone,
My name is Guy and this is my first post in this forum. I am here because I want to build a wooden drift boat and, undoubtedly, I will occasionally need advice of the pool of experts and experienced drift boat builders on this forum.
In preparation for this project I have read and studied three books: Drift Boats and River Dories by R. L. Fletcher, Boatbuilding with Plywood by G. L. Witt, and Covering Wooden Boats with Fiberglass by A. H. Vaitses. I have also developed my own set of construction plans based off of the "Original McKenzie Double-Ender with Transom" in Fletcher's book. I used and MS Excel spreadsheet to calculate all of the dimensions, cut angles, compound angles, and bevel angles of all frame components and I used Pilot3D software to calculate the as-cut dimensions of the plywood sides and bottom. At this point I am pretty comfortable with the mechanics of construction and I think that I am just about ready to start purchasing lumber.
Presently, I plan to use Meranti Hydro-Tek plywood; 1/4-in. on the sides and 1/2-in. on the bottom. I found plenty of places to purchase these materials, but they are all far away from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and as a result shipping costs more than the materials. Are any of you aware of a business within a few hundred miles of Idaho Falls that sells this plywood? I have a few requests in to the local lumber companies, but I have yet to talk with someone who has heard of this material before.
I also plan to use Port Orford Cedar (CVG) for the straight frame sections and White Oak (quater sawn) for the bent frame sections (chine logs and sheer rails).
Thank you, Guy
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dave Barnes on
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if you pick up the pace, you can get o
ne of these in it soon (a little motivation)
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Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on
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Very nice Dave.
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This picture shows the underside of the deck plate that surrounds the oarsman's seat. The eight light colored boards (left over Port Orford cedar from the frames) are applied as stiffeners for the corners of the plywood were one can step. The four narrow strips are used to fill the gap between the deck plate and the two frames that are spanned. The deck plate is flat and the frames follow the contour of the boat’s rocker.
The deck plates will be epoxy (encapsulated) coated and painted gray. The top surface will be non-slip.
The picture shows the interior of the boat that is covered by the deck plate shown above.
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The seating and deck plates have turned into no small task. I hope my idea works. These pictures show the bottoms of the four deck plates. The light-colored blocks (made from leftover Port Orford cedar from the frames) are to strengthen the unsupported corners and the dark-colored strips (made from strips of plywood) are to fill the gap between the deck plates and the underlying frames that are spanned. It feels pretty solid when you walk on it.
In these pictures the deck plates have been epoxy coated. They will be sanded and painted with Interlux Primkote. The bottom surfaces will then be painted with Interlux Perfection and the top surfaces with anti-slip Durabak.
In the picture below, I may yet add two blocks on either side of the opening for the seat mount.
In the picture below, the notch you see a few inches from the upper edge are router marks from when I was cutting scarf joints. This particular piece of plywood was the tabletop for my scarf jig.
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The first of the painting supplies arrived; these are for the deck plates. I'm still undecided as to what color to paint the outside of the boat; white, dark blue, or dark green.
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Guy,
A friend has built a 14' Wooden Boat, and the outside is painted a dark blue below the water line, a 1 3/4" wide Red strip at the water line and high gloss white above it. The transom is clear coated mahogany. It looks awsome!
Not too sure if the waterline stripe would work on a drift boat. But I think it would look good.
Just my $ .02 worth, keep up the good work.
phil w.
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All that beautiful wood and you want to cover it up? Just sayin'
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Permalink Reply by Brian King on
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I think there was a person on here who said you could spend all your time keeping your boat looking good or use it for fishing. I will paint mine so I will have more time to fish. Now this is just my way of looking at things and let me tell you nothing looks better looking then a varnished boat floating down the river! Like you said "Just sayin"
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Dave and Brian, These are just the deck plates for walking on. Otherwise, the whole inside of the boat (sides and floor) and the rails will be varnished and showing off the wood. But the outside of the boat will be painted; I decided this early on.
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Permalink Reply by Tom Anderson on
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Guy . . .
If you are soliciting opinions, I would vote with Dark Blue. I know Dark Green is 'classic', but I honestly think it's a little too common, and your beautiful boat is far from common variety.
There's a nice picture of a blue boat on about page 13 of the photos here: BlueBoat
But, I think I'd even go with something more like Interlux's 'Dark Blue' rather than the 'royal' type blue. The clear-finish wood would really look rich against the dark blue.
. . . having said all that, though, I think they would all look great on your boat. Nice work. It's fun keeping updated on someone's project.
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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Have a look at the boats coming out of the river where you plan to fish.On a light colored one they look clean but on a dark one you'll see the hard water mark.This can be quite tough to wash off.On my plain green aluminum i need to use CLR and a brush to remove the river goo.
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Phil, Dave, Brian, Tom, and Tungsten,
Thanks for the advice, it's always welcome. Now it's between white and dark blue. I haven't given much thought to two-tone. But it's still going to be awhile before I'm ready to paint the outside.
Guy
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