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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Today I did the final sanding of the chine logs and backer-board, dry fitted the backer-board into the frames, and installed the silicon bronze 1/4-20 carriage bolts. Next I'll go back to work on dry fitting the transom and the chine logs. Here are some pictures of the bolts.
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Here are some pictures of the transom during dry fitting. I drilled the holes for the wood screws, scribed in the inside surfaces of the side panels, and measured a few angles to cut the chine logs and backer-board.
I clamped the chine logs onto the outside of the boat. I'm hoping that after a fews days in this position some of the fight will be out of them. They will bend into position, but it's not easy.
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I am anticipating that it's not going to be easy to place the chine logs into position. I decided to radius the upper inside edge of the chine logs to make it easier to slide them into the space between the side panels and the frames.
Here is a picture before cutting the radius with the router (but prior to this picture I did sand the edge a little).
Here is a picture after cutting the radius with the router.
This shows the cutting in progress. It's not much of a bevel, but I think it will help. I may also apply a little talcum powder to the mating wood surfaces when it's time to make the move. Because of the uncertainty of this operation, I am not going to apply epoxy to the mating surfaces. Instead, I'll try to squeeze some epoxy into the joints after the chine logs are in position. Both mating surface are already coated with at least three layers of epoxy. The talcum powder is simply calcium carbonate and it should not interfere with the epoxy.
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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i always thought the inner chine logs went in before the transom since the angels on each end are longer on the bottom when upsidedown,making it easier to mark and cut to length.
maybe i'm wrong but what your doing looks great.ya the powder won't do anything to the epoxy.people use it for filler anyway.
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Tungsten, You are right. I only dry fit the transom to get it ready. I took it back off the boat to install the chine logs and backer-board. Guy
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Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on
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Hey Guy,
Bending the Chine is a little stressful if you have not done it before. Here are a couple of tips, I assume you test fit all of the notches with a scrap piece of your chine log if they go in easily you should have no problem with the actual chine. Clamp a piece of scrap wood (1x3 or so) on the front edges of the first few ribs at the chine notch to give yourself something to bend around. I will also assume you are confident the angle on the front of the chine is perfect, you really want to try not to 'test fit' the chine as the edge tears very easily when taking it out (although your rounded edge will help that) Rounding the sharp edge of the plywood helps also. Wet epoxy on the chine actually helps the chine slide in. Your boat appears to have a fairly mild bend to it so I think it will go pretty smoothly (try bending around #8 rib on a Don Hill 16' sometime). Hope this helps.
Mike
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Mike, I have checked the fit, and there is some wiggle room in all of the frame notches. The fronts of the chine logs are already cut to fit tight along the side panels and stem post. And I checked this fit by fitting some scrap wood and duplicating the cuts on the chine logs. I see your point about the epoxy. I'll give that some more thought; it may be the right way to go. I just don'e want to get all bound up with the epoxy-clock ticking. I can just see the epoxy setting up with the chine log about 1/3 in and 2/3 out. Guy
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Tungsten and Mike,
To give you some background, I did try to get one of the chine logs in without doing any of the preparations that I have discussed. The operation didn't go very well. I got to a point where it obviously wasn't going in any more than it had, and at that point I had a hell of a time just getting it back out. And I did tear a little of the edge on the chine log in the process; but the radius cut nearly all of that out.
Guy
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Mike,
Regarding the "test fit" that you suggested. That got me thinking. I did test fit the notches with the same wood thickness used to make the chine logs, but my "test piece" was bare of epoxy. The chine logs have three coats of epoxy on each side. In other words, about half of the notches were indeed too tight.
I gauged the actual chine logs and added a few layers of duct tape the to "test piece" to make it slightly thicker than the chine logs. And like I said, I had to slightly enlarge about half of the notches.
Thanks Mike! You saved me from myself!
Guy
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Gotta love Duct tape. By the way I totally hi-jacked your drill guide idea for the gunnels, worked like a charm, thanx for the idea.
Mike
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Here are a couple of more pictures of the situation. I'm feeling better about it now that I rechecked everything. I'll probably take the next step on Tuesday night with some help from a friend.
I climbed on the ladder to get this picture.
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I loosened one of the chine logs to see the relaxed curvature after being clamped into place for awhile. It takes considerably less effort to now bend the board along the side panel then it did the very first time.
Then I decided to give it another try. And it was pretty easy. Pre-bending the lumber for a day or two realy seemed to help. Here you can see the chine log slipping into place (starting from the stem post and working toward the transom). Once the chine log was seated, I hit the end of the board with a rubber mallet to move it forward to seat against the stem post.
Here one chine log is clamped into place.
Here both chine logs are clamped into place.
Here are a couple picturs of the stem post area.
What I may do next is mark and drill the holes for the many wood screws that will anchor the side panels to the chine logs. Then raise the chine logs until they are almost free and apply some epoxy. Then slip them back into place and drive in the wood screws.
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