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 Guy Fredrickson on
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Greg,
I'll give that roller a try. There was no epoxy work today as it was too cold. I suspect the cool temperature when I did the previous epoxy work may be part of the reason it went down so thick (the epoxy did seem thicker than usual). Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer. I'll sand out the first panel and apply a thin coating with a roller. That should get me back on track.
Guy
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Okay... now it's time to walk away for awhile and let the epoxy cure.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on
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Hey Guy,
Warming the epoxy and hardener really helps keep it thin as well. I built a little box that I put in front of a small space heater that I put the epoxy in.
Mike
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Well... I broke out the 5-in. orbital "woodworker's eraser" and some 60-grit "mistake-be-gone" and went to work for about 4 hours. I smoothed out the excess epoxy on the "over epoxied" side panel (shown earlier) and here are the results. These pictures were taken right after wiping the surface down with a wet rag. I think that it's much improved. I sanded through the fiberglass cloth in several high spots, and I sanded down to the plywood in only one small spot near one of the scarf joints. But overall, these high spots are probably about 5 percent of the area, give or take. Now that the surface is smooth, I'll apply a thin coat of epoxy using a roller, but I will definitely wait until a warmer day.
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This is what the panel looks like clean and dry. You can see the spots where I sanded to (and sometime through) the fiberglass cloth. But visually, all of that disappears when the surface is wet. Therefore, I think it will look good once there is a thin layer of epoxy over it. Nevertheless, that is a very smooth surface you are looking at. It was as if the fiberglass did not lay down perfectly flat. I really do think that part of my problem was I did the epoxy work when it was too cold. Oh well... another lesson learned.
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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Looks like you layed the glass and filled the weave all in one go?Those bubbles look like the glass floated up so too much epoxy,just a guess.i found a rubber spreader to work much better then a roller
This is why i mentioned covering in mylar,saves so much work and time.
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Tungsten,
Never having done this before, I decided to stay with the traditional methods. I did lay the glass and fill the weave in three back to back steps: 1) spread the epoxy with a plastic spreader, 2) even out the epoxy with a bristled pad, 3) apply more epoxy to fill the weave and spread with the bristled pad. I could see that some of the glass was floating up during the work. But next time will be different.
Next time I will:
1) wait for a warmer day
2) saturate the glass, but not worry about filling the weave
3) come back about two hours later and lay down a thin layer with a roller
3) let it dry and sand the surface smooth
4) lay down another thin layer with a roller
What is the sequence for using the plastic sheet? Do you lay the flass down first and let it set up before you apply the epoxy and plastic sheet?
Thanks, Guy
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Well from what i've read you put the mylar down right after the glass ,this holds it down and flattens it out.the thing you'd have to play with is how much epoxy do you put over the glass so it flattens out nice.you wouldnt want to find a dry spot in the middle when your rolling out bubbles .id guess youd have to peel the mylar back but im not sure if that will work.
im a couple of weeks away from doing some tests so sorry im not much help.I was hopeing you'd give it a try and i could learn from you haha.
i only have one boat under my belt,i let the glass cure before i filled the weave but i was painting it so i used fillers in my second and third coat to help fair it out.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on
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Guy, I tryed out the mylar over epoxy system. I used Duralar from local Art Supply houses. Unfortunately I did not buy all the same thickness, I was in a hurry and bought what they had. If and when I try it again I would make sure I had the thickest available which I believe is about .006 It is less flexible and stays flatter than .002 or .003. I spread out my System III epoxy as thin as I could. Then placed the Duralar over the epoxy and used a combination of tools to try to achieve consistent thickness and squeeze out bubbles too. I used yellow body putty applicators, a roller made of foam rubber
(sorry the image program pasted this picture of completed panels here in stead of at the end. ) I also sanded this and will apply three coats of System III Silvertip epoxy prior to sparying the panels with a urethane water borne finish.
and my fingers. After looking at the pictures I remembered that I also used a window washing squeegee. Ambient temperature was about 65 degrees.
In the associated pictures you can see some of the technique I used. https://picasaweb.google.com/116231563753086352376/SelectedDriftBoa...
I have other pictures of the process too. This is a general file of drift boat construction. I also remember that the epoxy was starting to go off be fore I worked out all the bubbles.
Rick Newman
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Rick... Thanks for the posting. It's great to get all of this information.
Today did warm up a bit and I decided to go for it (I'm not very patient when it comes to advancing projects). I lit a propane heater, plugged in an electric heater, and set up a fan to blow house air into the garage. I got it up to 79°F and started applying epoxy. Here is what that side panel looks like now. I used Greg's suggestion of a small foam roller and it worked great. It took a little less than 250 g of 105 and 69 g of 207 to coat the entire side panel (that's more like it). I'm very pleased with the finish. It's not glass smooth like the plastic film technique, but it looks pretty good nonetheless.
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I would have to agree. I does look good. I have spent a lot of time lately on my boat too. Customizing it and changing the originally designed features eats up time. I hope that my next fiberglass work looks that good. How long did it take to "go off"?
Rick
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Rick,
I spent a solid 4 hours sanding this morning to smooth the surface and to get rid of the excess epoxy that I laid down. Applying the thin coat with the foam roller took about 20 minutes or so.
Guy
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