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 Brian King on
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The one thing I have noticed is how does he keep his shop so clean. I try and clean up after every cut of wood and sort of put things back in their place but Guy just puts me to shame! By the way very nice boat and I have been keeping track of your build everyday on here.
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Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on
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Thanks Dave.
Thanks Brian.
Guy
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Not very exciting... but I now have two coats on the bottom surfaces and one coat on the top surfaces. Seeing how the primer is white, and I have to paint the boat with primer anyway, I'm going to wait until I see the boat painted white with primer before I select the final color. If I like what I see, then white it is.
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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Yes the painting,just like epoxy, work for 20 min. wait for 2 days.
Curious what the hardener is like with the prime coat,I've been using an epoxy enamel, the hardener is like syrup very thick and hard to get exact measurements.
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Tungsten,
In fact, I screwed up the first two batches because I used a 3:1 ratio by mass and it's supposed to be a 3:1 ratio by volume. So that means I added more reactor then called for. But it seems to have setup well so I'm just going to move on.
And you are right. It's not easy to get the 3:1 ratio by volume measurements. But the mix seems to be somewhat forgiving.
Guy
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I'll file this under lessons learned.
I am using Interlux "Epoxy Primekote" for priming the deck plates and outside of the boat for paint. This product is a two-part system of "base" and "reactor" which are mixed in a 3:1 ratio by volume; and to this mixture you add 20% by volume of solvent to thin the mixture. I find it easier to mix small amounts of two-part systems by mass rather than volume. So today I carefully measured out 600 mL of "base", 200 mL of "reactor", and 160 mL (20% by total volume) of solvent. These materials weighed 853 g, 185 g, and 164 g, respectively.
Therefore, "base" and "reactor" are mixed in a 4.6:1 ratio by mass; and then you add 15.8% by total mass of solvent.
I will make the same calculations later for the varnish and paint.
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Guy,
That's a good way to do it, determining the weight of proportional volumes. I pefer to weigh all the epoxy and any other stuff for the boat to be mixed. For me it's a whole lot more accurate and If I screw up and add too much hardner I can recalculate and add the appropriate amount of resin (had to do it several times).
Are you going to use a gray coating/paint on the topside of the decks? As I remember you were thinking along that line? A anti skid material like a truck box coating?
Re: The previous color discussion; I visited my buddy who is building the power boat. I was wrong on the color scheme as I stated previously. It's White above the water line, a black stripe at the water line 1 3/4" wide and Red below the waterline. He used a two part Polyurethene, brushed it and hand sanded it then buffed it. You can see yourself in the surface, it's awsome and is a beautiful color combination. I think a green or any complementary color would work. Just my $.02 worth, again.
Can't wait to see the finished boat.
phil w.
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Phil,
You are correct. I am going to use textured Durabak for the top surfaces.
Guy
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The deck plates now have two coats of primer all around and one coat of paint on the bottom surfaces. This picture shows the bottoms painted with Interlux "Perfection" Paint (color platinum). The "paint" and "cure" are mixed in a 2:1 ratio by volume, or a 2.73:1 ratio by weight.
I did not add the solvent this time because the paint appeared "bushable" without it. One coat consumed almost the full quart of paint. And, considering it's the bottom of the deck plates, I don't think it needs a second coat.
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Guy,
I can't wait to see the finished boat, it's going to look awsome!
phil w
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Permalink Reply by Josh Wieschowski on
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I agree with Phil!
Show us some more boat porn!
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Thanks Phil.
Thanks Josh.
Winter is stubborn and it remains cold in Idaho Falls. I moved the deck plates from the garage back into the house (where it's warm) to let the paint cure for a couple of days before I apply the Durabak.
Left out in the cold garage the epoxy paint remained tacky after a day.
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