Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Dorf's Wooden Drift Boat
I just found this Forum the past week and was pleased to see all the interesting discussions. I have previously (2006) built and launched a 16 ft. Peterborough Stripper from Tom Moore's original Canoecraft. The Bear Mountain Boats Forum was a wealth of information, as I had not built anything from wood that was expected to float, in water. The stripper was a lot of fun to build.
About a year later I discovered/purchased Roger Fletcher's book and decided to make a go of it and build a drift boat. Last April I laid out all the framing on poster board full scale. I am a retired Mfg. Engineer with 41 yrs in the Machine tool and Automotive Industry with lots of hrs. Hanging over a drafting table. After making the decision to build I spent many hours deciding materials, features etc.
I have 210 BF of White Ash from a couple of trees infected with the Emerald Ash Bore (big issue in Mid-Mich). So the framing is Ash (3/4" x 3.00"). I finished the last one in December. I just need to coat them with epoxy (been waiting for 60 degree temps). The frames are constructed using Half-lap joints. I discussed this in 2011 with Jim Watson of Gougeon Brothers and he offered their services in testing the joint strength (they have a MTS Tensile Test Machine w/ 100K Load Cell). I just received the results and test pieces a couple of weeks ago and will post them soon in this discussion. (I need to figure out how to post pictures here.)
The Stem blank is solid Ash. I just finished the transom a couple of weeks ago. It was made from African mahogany. The sides are going to be 1/4 x 7/8" WRC w/bead & cove. I have a couple of planks left over from the canoe. The sides will be encapsulated in 6 oz. glass and West System 105-207 Epoxy prior to being fastened to the frame. The bottom of the boat will be "cold molded" ash at 1/4 x 2 1/4" in two layers one oriented Fore Aft and the other 90 degrees to the first. Planning to add graphite to epoxy on the bottom.
Next work is to build a strong back and begin assembling the framing. Am looking foreword to your comments and assistance.
Thanks for being here.
phil w. (Dorf)
Views: 36080
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Question.....
Has anyone out there know of or have seen a hinged Seat frame for the Oarsman. Planning on a traditional rope seat. I am not to thrilled in having to crawl over the seat anytime I want or need to get to the back of the boat. I'd like to be able to lift the seat vertical to walk to the back of the boat.
I am thinking of using a steel pipe for support of the Pivot Side (Port) and a curved slot with a latch of some kind to hold the seat frame to the Starboard Pipe. I see these kind of clamp pieces on the front seat to adjust the forward /aft adjustment. Re: Mike Rosso's recently completed boat seen on this site.
Anyone have an opinion or idea on how it may have been done previously?
Dorf
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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Interesting idea Dorf,don't most row benches end up with stuff on and in them(beer),you'll have to clean it off everytime you lift it.Sounds easier just to step over no?
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Tungsten,
NOPE, A few years ago I had a 15 ft. Alum boat set up for river fishing and the middle bench seat was always in the way when I need to move to the front, so I cut out a 18" slot in the middle of it and then could move freely back and forth. That was a GOOD thing then and I am sure can be made to work in the drift boat too.
The secret to not spilling the beer is to empty the can before you get up to move or put a cup holder or two on the back of the front seat.
An idea I have been playing with is to mount a long rod box on the Port side with a pipe mounted as high as I can get it. this would be the pivot side. The S'board side would have a rod box but somewhat lower and the seat would rest on an edge surface as opposed to a pipe. Just another bump in the road.
We'll see, eh......
Dorf
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on
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Dorf,
Take a look at what Micheal Webb / MLWebb did with his seat. No metal either. It was several years ago and there are pictures on my page from probably the 2011 McKenzie River Wooden Boat Festival.
Rick
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I just finished the first of several coats of varnish to the outside of the hull. It's looking pretty good. Here's a picture taken today.
I'll be adding several more coats of varnish in the next week or so. I am hoping this will offer some protection from the elements as it will be stored outdoors (covered) for the Winter on the trailer so I can move it in the garage as I work on the inside stuff.
Anyone out there have any experience with varnishing the bottom with the Graphite in the Epoxy? My concern is what UV protection if any does the graphite provide.
Dorf
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Permalink Reply by Eric Loudenslager on
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Good question(s). I have no idea what the actual UV protection is from graphite or other pigmented epoxy. Also, I have no experience with varnishing, or otherwise providing additional UV protection coating over graphite epoxy.
What I can relate is that a 7 year old epoxy/graphite drift boat bottom is intact. Just so happens that my boat is in the garage upside down right now for re-painting and chine ding repairs. Since it is S&G the chines take a few hits. I have epoxied and re-glassed a couple of spots that took hard hits that broke the glass and exposed the plywood chine area. There also were a few scrapes along the chine. The bottom has scratches in the epoxy but none that reach glass. I roughed up the entire bottom and will recoat the whole thing, just to make it all glossy black again.
At this time I am very confident in an epoxy/graphite bottom without additional protection.
Keep us posted on your choice of treatment.
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I think I understand your idea of the lifting seat,one side hinged to something that slides for and aft. The lifting side rests on some notches or supports that are attached to the rod locker.I'm sure Dorf you'll come up with something.
I wouldn't worry about UV on your boat bottom if its on a trailer.
Varnish look good,brush or roller?
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Tungsten,
I was planning to use a roller but after I used it on epoxy a few weeks ago I was NFG. When I went to use it the steel rod won't turn in the plastic arbor. So I reverted to a brush, it's a lot slower, but if you take your time it can work out.
So far I found only one drip on the first coat. A light pass with 220 Grit paper took care of it and prepared it for the second coat which went on this afternoon.
Game plan is to put 4 coats on then flip it over and put it on the trailer.
Dorf
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Eric,
Thanks for the information.
Dorf
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I have made some progress these last couple of weeks, here's a rundown on what has been accomplished.
After I put two coats of varnish on both sides and the bottom about a month ago, there was a problem with the varnish reacting (so I thought) with the epoxy on the bottom. There were several random spots where it was sticky and wouldn’t cure/harden. To make things right I decided to strip the varnish from the bottom.
After it was removed I discovered the real problem was with the epoxy. So then I scraped the last coat of epoxy (with graphite) from the bottom. This was a three-day experiment, not any fun either. The epoxy (Dow DER 331) I have been using is real sensitive to blushing and the last coat on the bottom had several places where the blush could not be removed???
After removal of the suspect epoxy the bottom is hard and cured so I sanded it to prepare it for another coat to replace the one I removed, but we’ll wait until I get better weather to do it. Like maybe Spring. Here’s a pic of what it looked like yesterday.
After the bottom was at a point where I couldn’t do any thing else due to the winter weather yesterday I flipped over the boat and put it on the trailer. Now I started working on the inside elements.
I finally decided on a pivoting design for the rowing seat (allowing me access aft without having to crawl over the seat). Today I started to develop it. It will be supported on a pair of ¾ “ galvanized pipes between Sta 3 and Sta. 8. Here is a couple of shots of the drawing I made and the beginning of the pipe support development. Below is the Port Side support. A rod locker is planned/shown above and left of the support pipe. The seat will be a typical rope style seat, as per Rogers Book.
Note: The angled seat support also pivots on the horizontal portion of the seat frame to allow it to move out of the way for my big arse. We'll see how it works, eh.
To lift the seat it will pivot on the Port Side and rest on the Starboard Side with a swing arm to lock it in place. The Pipe in the picture is positioned on the S'board side in the correct position. I have made temporary brackets for now and will make the "Pretty" ones later.
Still a lot of work to do but now it’s just busy work I can do without having the boat in the garage 100% of the time. My wife wants her indoor parking space back. Don’t know why she complains, I bought her a neat windshield cover and a new fancy snow/ice scraper....
There's more to come, so I'll cut this off and start another posting on the Router Lathe I recently built.
Dorf
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Also, In the past week I built a 10 ft. Long Router lathe and started to turn the shaft on one of the Oar Blanks I glued up last summer. It works pretty well. I took about 10 minutes per pass to turn the whole length of the handle. I was only taking about a 1/64 "or more (0.016"- 0.020") per pass.
The force exerted by the router/cutter on the middle section tended to deflect the Oar and left the middle a little thicker when I took heavier cuts. I used a 1/2" dia HHS Two Flute Milling Cutter. It had enough length to reach the Oar and still have enough safe engagement in the collet. My 1/2 carbide router bit was too short and has a 1/4 " dia shank. I wasn't too keen on using it.
There’s still a lot to do to finish the lathe and Oar. I’ll need a 6-inch diameter pulley to mount to the live center on the lathe. Then will be using my table saw motor/pulley to provide the power. With the power to the lathe I can sand the shaft smooth a lot quicker, and maybe turn the handles with a gouge tool??? I need to get the boat out of the garage so I can align the saw and brace it to the lathe so the belt can drive it.
Here’s a couple of pics as it is now.
Overall View:
Head Stock:
Tail Stock:
Router Set-up:
There's a whole bunch of "to do's" one must do to make it work as intended. I won't go through them here but if anyone is interested I can create another blog or posting on the What, and How's of making and using a Router Lathe.
No Duck Tape was harmed or used in the fabrication of the lathe either, how about that, eh.
Dorf
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Let's see and read more. With your engineering background it should be very informative.
Rick N
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