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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Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on April 7, 2012 at 6:39pm

Here are some pictures of the second side panel.  I wetted the fiberglass cloth with epoxy and spread it as thin as possible.  What you see took 810 g of 105 and 219 g of 207, which is much less than my botched attempt on the first panel.  I will let this set up for a few hours and then apply a coat with the foam roller.  The fiberglass cloth is perfectly flat and there appear to be very few imperfections.  The garage was at 76°F.

You can still see the weave of the cloth.  I didn't try to cover it with this first coat.

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by tungsten on April 7, 2012 at 9:21pm

Now that looks good!

 

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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on April 7, 2012 at 7:00pm

Guy,

This is taken from West System User Manual, Page 8, Dry Method" of applying epoxy/cloth to wooden panels.

"Coat the surface to fill the weave before the wet-out becomes tack free(Figure 29). Follow the procedures for final coating in the next section. It will take two or three coats to completely fill the weave of the cloth and provide a thick enough coating to allow for a final sanding that will not affect the cloth."

The key words are 2-3 coats.  if you don't bury the cloth with epoxy the preparation (sanding) for the subsequent coats will "Hit" the cloth.  I wouldn't recommend it, just my humble opinion.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/how-to-publications-2/

Good luck,

phil w.

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on April 7, 2012 at 7:18pm

Thanks Phil.  That is what I will do; 2 to 3 coats to fill the weave.  It will be a very late night...

Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on April 7, 2012 at 7:23pm

Guy,

The good news is you have an hour and a half or more to take a break between coats.  It'll be worth it though.  It took me 13 hrs. to do my canoe from start to finish.  Was along day but worth every minute of it.

Keep up the good work!

phil w.

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on April 9, 2012 at 7:23pm

Update... I have the inside surfaces of both side panels glassed, epoxied, and sanded.  I am going to give each panle one more coat of epoxy and call it done.  After this final coat I will sand the panels with 220-grit to rough up the surfaces for the varnish.  But I will not apply the varnish until after the side panels and bottom panels are mounted to the frames and transom.

I am still early in the learning curve, but this is what I have learned so far.  (These are just my observations.)

1) Adequate temperature is important for epoxy work.  I think that a minimum temperature range for epoxy finish work is the upper 70°F's.  Much cooler than that and the epoxy thickens and does not go down as well.

2) Regarding the initial wet out of the fiberglass cloth.  On my first side panel, I definitely laid down way too much epoxy and did not give adequate time between the wet out coat and the second coat.  And it was much too cold in the garage (in the mid 60°F's).  The result was a sloppy mess and the cloth floated in the epoxy; not necessarily bouyancy floating, but rather thick epoxy getting under the cloth with no way to work its way back up through the cloth to the top.  This resulted in 4 hours of sanding to smooth out the surface once the epoxy cured.

3) On my second side panel, I think that the initial wet out of the cloth went perfectly.  But I think that I failed to apply enough epoxy on the three subsequent coats.  I erred on the side of too thin.  This resulted in a blotchy surface with very tiny "craters" in many locations.  And as it got late into the night, the garage cooled appreciably.  When I applied my fourth and final coat of the night it was 68°F and 5:30 AM.

4) Home Depot sells a bristled roller for epoxy and I am going to use it for the next coating on the side panel.  If it fails, I'll switch back to the foam roller.  My hope is that the bristled roller will do a better job of working the epoxy into the surface contours than the foam roller.

 

Here is a picture of the two side panels.  They are in pretty good shape, and I think that one more coating of epoxy on each is all that is needed.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on April 10, 2012 at 5:58pm

Definitely not a flawless professional quality finish, not even close, but they look pretty good.  When they dry I'll rough the surfaces with 220-grit and they will be ready for assembly onto the stem post and frames.  Now I have to decide whether to coat the frames with epoxy prior to, or after, assembly.

 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on April 10, 2012 at 7:20pm

Guy,

 

I'd recommend you coat the frames with two coats of epoxy prior to assembling the sides.  Your going to get motion , twisting, bending, forces etc. between the sides and the frames and sooner than later water is going to get in there (inside surface of the frame) and all the work will be for naught.  I have been doing this now for the last two weeks, epoxying the frames for my boat.  It's a Long time consuming process, but I think it's necessary for the Long term. 

Your Side panels look pretty darn good.  After you've assembled them are you going to add one more epoxy coat or go directly to the Varnish coats?

Keep up the good work!

phil w.

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on April 11, 2012 at 4:38am

Phil,

You're right.  I'm pretty anxious to have all of this lumber start looking like a boat, but now is not the time to rush ahead.

I am planning to go directly to varnish after assembly.  Especially if the frames are already coated in epoxy.  But I am thinking a adding a few epoxy fillet seems (like those used on S&G construction).  And there will be epoxy between the frames and side panels.  I'm not convinced that I'm going to use 3M 5200 anywhere on the boat seeing how the entire outside will be fiberglassed with epoxy.

Thanks,

Guy

Permalink Reply by tungsten on April 11, 2012 at 5:42am

yes those sides look great ,i cant tell which is the one you had to re do.Somethin tells me this is going to be one good looking boat.

again thanks for taking the time to post.

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on April 11, 2012 at 7:16pm

Thanks Tungsten.  Tonight I finish sanded the side panels with 220-grit and washed them down with water and a rag.  They are finally ready for assembly.  Next I will return to the frames again to apply two coats of epoxy and finish sand them just like the side panels.  That will take about two weeks, but at least I already cut the chine log notches.  Guy

Permalink Reply by tungsten on April 11, 2012 at 7:44pm

did the bristle roller help at all?

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