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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My plan worked. I pre-drilled the chine log, raised it up to apply epoxy, slid it back into position, and drove in the wood screws. Here are some pictures.
Here are some pictures of the finished job. I'll do the other side tomorrow.
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I got the other chine log epoxied and screwed into position today.
And I brought the tansom area into position with some clamping. As you can imagine, there is considerable clamping force needed to bring the two chine logs together, but this force will begin to relax. I'll leave the transom clamped in this position until after I get the backer-board fitted. Then I will be ready to install the transom plate.
I'm beginning to think that when I fit the transom plate, I may have to replace the "boards and ropes" with "bigger boards and 3/8-in. all-thread rod" to pull the side panels into position. That will depend on how much stress remains in the chine logs at that time.
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Guy,
Your drift boat is really looking good. Looks like all your calculations, planning and workmanship is coming together as planned. It's really looking like a boat now.
I have a couple of questions, did you use un-thickened, then thickened epoxy to secure the chine logs. Fast or slow hardener? How did you apply it, inject it or pull the log out far enough to get a small brush in there. I am asking because I hope to have my second Chine Log fitted tomorrow and hope to get at least one of them epoxied in place tomorrow also. Last question, are there any fasteners from the chine logs to the stem & transom or simple butt joints with epoxy?
Your postings are well documented and very timely for me, thanks.
phil w.
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Phil,
These were the steps that I used.
1) I fitted the chine log into its final position and drilled the holes for the wood screws. Then I made a few pencil markings to help relocate its position later on.
2) Then I raised the chine log as far as I could, without it slipping out of the hold of the side panel and frame notches. I raised it far enough to expose both rows of holes for the wood screws.
3) I mixed West System 105 (about 120 g) and 207 (about 32.4 g) with some microfibers. This is the fast setting hardener. I applied the epoxy to only the drilled surface of the chine log with a 2-in. foam brush. I didn't worry about getting epoxy on the inside surface of the side panel or in the frame notches.
4) Then I slid the chine log back into position, checked my pencil marks, and drove in the wood screws.
5) Once all of the wood screws were in, I wiped off the excess epoxy that squeezed out.
Just make sure that everything is reasy to go before you apply the epoxy. Get you drill ready with a phillips bit, get all of your wood screws out, get some rags ready to wipe the excess epoxy, etc.
I also put some wax paper between the chine logs and the side panels, at the location where I have to cut the excess length of the chine logs. I didn't want the excess chine log length to be epoxied to the side panel. I'll cut the excess chine log length when I am ready to mount the transom plate.
Up to now I have only used the 207 hardener. I think I will use the 205 hardener when I fiberglass and epoxy the outside of the boat.
Guy
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I made a mistake above. I meant to say that I will use the 206 hardener when I fiberglass and epoxy the outside of the boat. The 206 hardener is the slow hardener.
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Guy,
Thanks for the info. Sounds simple enuf!
phil w.
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Tonight I used a router to leveled the bottoms of the frames with the surfaces of the chine logs. Four of the frames needed a little trimming (about 1/16 of an inch) to make them true to the chine logs.
And I fit the front of the backer-board to the inside surfaces of the stem post and chine logs.
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Tonight I finished fitting the backer-board. I'll epoxy and fasten it tomorrow. I cut the notches for the backer-board while I was still working on the frames. Now that the boat is coming together, I had to widen some of these notches to accomodate the backer-board without stressing the board. This left about a 1/8-in. to 3/16-in. gap on some of the notches. I'll fill those gaps with thickened epoxy.
Here are some pictures of the transom area. I have a little trim work to do before mounting the transom plate.
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Here are some pictures of the "all-thread" clamping fixture for the transom area. This is just a test fit. I will have to realign things, but it will work to hold everything in place while the epoxy sets-up on the transom plate.
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Today I installed the transom. This was the sequence that I used.
1) Earlier in the process I pulled the side panels into position, took some measurements, and built the transom plate.
2) Then I fit the transom plate and drilled the holes for the wood screws.
3) Then I disassembled the transom region and installed the chine logs and backer-board. After installation, these three boards needed to be trimed to length and beveled to accomodate the transome plate.
4) To do that, I pulled the side panels back into position, took some measurements, and carefully trimed the boards. I started about 1/8-in. long and cut the end of each board about three times to bring it into its final dimension.
5) Then I fit the transom plate one more time just to make sure it all looked good.
6) Then I removed the transom plate (without loosening the all-thread clamp) and applied epoxy to all mating surfaces.
7) Then I spent about 5 minutes figuring out how to get the transom plate back into position (honest to God it was like a puzzle) with epoxy dripping on my hands and arms. But once I solved the puzzle, I drove in all of the wood screws and wiped off the excess epoxy.
I will leaver everyting just like it is for about two days. Here are some pictures.
Final fitting of the transom.
Transom removed to epoxy the mating surfaces.
Transom installed and screwed into place.
Notice that the bottom of the transom is a little low compared to the surfaces of the chine logs and backer-board. I will cut a thin strip (about 1/8-in. thick) of white oak to raise the level of the transom. You see I fit the transom to the inside edges of the side panels and I fit everything else to the outside edges of the side panels.
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Guy,
Looks you have the makings of a drift boat, looking good! I am curious, how much epoxy have you used so far?
G'luck
phil w.
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Phil,
As of today, I've gone through about 3.5 gallons. I have a fresh gallon on hand, and I just ordered two more gallons with slow hardener. I wish I would have purchased the 5 gallon can of resin at the start.
Guy
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