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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No it didn't. I forgot to comment on that; thanks. That night I gave both side panels their final coat of epoxy; I used the bristled roller for the first panel, but then switched back to the foam roller for the second panel. With regards to the rollers, it's pretty much six-to-one and half-a-dozen to the other. Both worked, but I preferred the foam roller. It seemed to do a slightly better job of spreading the epoxy. The bristled roller tended to drag more, while the foam roller tended to roll more easily.
What definitely helped is after applying a coating of epoxy to the panel, I smoothed it out with that edge trimmer I mentioned earlier, which is basically just like the bristled roller, only in the form of a square flat pad.
I think that is a key. In the first step, apply a coating of epoxy that is thick enough to adequately cover the surface. Then in the second step, use a bristled pad to smooth out the epoxy and make a more uniform coating. I followed these two steps about 3-feet at a time along the length of each side panel. The result looked pretty good when the epoxy hardened, but it looked even better after sanding smooth with the 220-grit.
It's one of those things that you need to learn the feel for. You want to lay down the epoxy, but not too thin (forms tiny craters to the previous layer via some kind of surface tension affect) and not too thick (forms a very uneven surface). And I really think that warm temperatures are better; no cooler than the mid to high 70°F's.
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I'm back working on the frames. Tonight I started cutting the notches in the bottoms of the frames that accomodate the backer-board (3/4-in. by 3.5-in. cedar) for the butt joint down the center of the bottom plywood panels.
These two stops (small plywood pieces screwed into the 2x4 studs) are clamped into place to limit the travel of the router to cut a 3.5-in.-wide channel. For my router and bit, I find center and locate the stops 4.25 in. to either side. I hold the router flush with the bottom bevel of the frame.
Twelve frames takes a lot of time.
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Another series...
I also cut a radius on the exposed edges of the frames. Now I have to decide where to cut the water drainage slots on either side of the backer-board.
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The frames are finaly ready for their epoxy coating. I decided to put four drainage slots in each frame: two near the chine logs and one on either side of the backer-board. I used an oscillating spindle sander to cut the slots. Alternately, I guess I could have widened the slots for the backer board, but I wanted to keep frame wood on all three sides of the board.
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The first coat of epoxy is on the frames. Next it's sand and recoat and sand and recoat and sand.
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I also coated the stem post, chine logs, and backer-board with their first coat of epoxy. I decided to use a simple triangular-shaped stem post; nothing fancy. I plan to build up a pretty stout fiberglass cap over the boat's bow. The two side panels will go right up to the very tip of the stem post and I'll trim a slight radius on the bow after assembly.
This picture shows the inside surface of the stem post. The front angle is 90°, which, for some reason, I did not expect. But that's what I measured after building the 1/8-th-scale wooden model. And Greg Jensen's boat also has a 90° front angle.
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Guy,
The frames are really Looking real good! They are going to make a good looking boat.
When you fasten the side panels to the stem post and make them flush with the end of it you'll have the end grain of the plywood exposed. I don't mean to second guess your plans but if you add a 1/2" wide flat on the leading edge of the stem post you can then add an outer stem piece to provide mechanical and water penetration protection for the end grain of the plywood. The half-inch flat and the width of the two sheets of plywood will allow you to make the outer stem post approx. 1 1/2" wide and make the leading edge either a small flat or round. I'd make the outer piece from the same material as the inner stem post.
I enjoy your post and look forward to more. I wish I had the time to keep pace with you, your making real good progress.
phil w.
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Permalink Reply by Greg Jensen on
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Guy,
Looks fantastic!!! Keep up the good work.
Greg
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Thanks Greg.
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Phil, Your suggestions and advice are more than welcome, they are sought. What you suggest sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Guy
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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Guy everthing looks great,if you don't mind i have a question.your formula for scaling down weight i don't fully understand the math.i built a 1/6 scale model and wondering what 250lbs is in grams?
thanks,
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Tungsten,
You can convert just about anything from Metric to English, Feet to yards, acres to sq. Miles, etc. by typing in the question or formula in "Google". Try it it's neat!
For the record 250 lb = 250 x .4536 kg = 113.4 kg or 113,400 Grams
phil w
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