Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
16' Double ender w/ transom
My first glimpse of a drift boat was on the Cal Salmon as a kayaker in the late 70s - i was intrigued by the way the boat rode through the wave trains and could handle the water. I got a better look a bit later on a couple of Rogue trips, watching them through Blossom Bar... I thought I'd like to try that. The idea of building one was cemented a few years ago after a visit to Andy Hutchinson's shop and seeing his build of a decked boat in sapele - what a beautiful boat. So as a start, I got Roger's book and built a model, getting an idea of how things went together and where the challenges might be. This spring, I traveled to Flagstaff to attend Brad Dimock's class, where I met an incredible variety of skilled folks, all interested in building - not to mention a shop to die for. Then it was off to Oregon and the wooden boat festival. I stopped in Bend, where I picked up a trailer and a bunch of great information from Mike Baker - now I had a trailer, and needed a boat. Materials were a bit of a challenge - I originally wanted Port Orford Cedar for the frames - in Bend, there's a reliable supply from Orepac, but in Victor, where I live, no such luck. I ended up with Alaskan Yellow Cedar for about $7/bf. Hydrotek was next on the list. McBeath lists it on their web page, but there was a 2 month wait, so I ended up getting mine from Edensaw. Following Brad's lead, I'm using epoxy from Resin Research. Now for the fun stuff...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Witton on
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That detail is an oversized Federalist banding - I just cut out a whole bunch of diamonds out of walnut, and even more triangles out of maple - all 3/4" thick - and glued them up. At that point, I resawed it to the thickness of the 9 mm Meranti plywood and laminated the whole thing together.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Edmondson on
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Hello-
I am new to this forum and was examining the fine work on this beautiful boat. Looking closely I can see the bottom is a core material. Plascore maybe? In using this material, how is it adhered to the boat? Is is screwed to the frames? Is is wrapped in glass to the sides? Both? Is their a fillet on the inside seam? Thanks,
MikeInBoise
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Mike
The bottom consists of four layers of material - first, 1/4" meranti plywood screwed to the frames, then a layer of 6 oz cloth, then Nidacore (chosen over Plascore due to shipping costs) then 12 oz bi-axial cloth. The install is covered earlier in this post. Next time, I'll use heavier cloth - 10 oz on the inside and 20 oz tri-axial on the outside, per Mike Baker's suggestion.
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I"m at the point where I'm doing a first install of the chine caps - I'll take them off, coat them w/ epoxy and re-install. They were steamed in place, but it still takes quite a bit of force to fit them in place. I'm able to do that 'cause they're longer than needed, and I can lever them into place using the overhang. I had planned to mark the length at this point, take them off and cut to length, sand, etc. - but if I cut them to length, I won't have the extra length to use as purchase.
How do other folks do this? Cut to length after the chine caps are installed?
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on
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Yes. Epoxying them will make them hard to remove after they have been damaged. Remember they are sacrificial. Don't ask my how I know to mark where there any screws you might drill into or try to screw into.
Rick N
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I should have been more clear - I had planned to coat them with epoxy to seal them, let it cure, then re-install. You have a good point - maybe I'd be better off oiling them instead, since they'll probably take a beating.
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Why waste the epoxy? You don't have to sand a repair chipped oil finish. Check out the outstanding products that Daly's has. http://www.dalyswoodfinishes.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&am...
I just found out that they have a very diverse line up. I am going to try out a couple more of them. One for my dining room table and perhaps a couple others on my boat.
It is probably more important to put an appropriate polysulfide product on each screw you put in. Something like Boat Life, Boat caulk. It seals, is flexible and harden up. Protects the interior of the plywood you are screwing into.
Rick N
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Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on
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Hey Dave,
I trim mine after install. I also start at the front when screwing it on not in the middle.
Mike
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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on
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I started at the frt, and left them long at the rear to trim off after, worked out pretty good. I used some bedding compound to glue them on, it will come off if needed. The bottom of my strips will get sealed in with the graphite epoxy on the bottom edge. I`m gonna seal the top and outside of mine with varnish to the point no water could ever get in. That might make it harder to get off, but hoping I wont have to remove them in my lifetime ;)
Very nice on that transom detail, you put some work into that.
Also, the bottom of the chine cap does some funny stuff as it doesnt bend too great at 2 angles so there will be some small gaps on the underside, and the shape on the bottom edge is off some too. I`m gonna even it out a little with the belt sander, before I seal that bottom edge with the graphite/epoxy while I do the bottom. Not saying thats the right way, but thats what I`m gong to do.
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Well, the chine caps are on - it was a bit of a wrestling match. They're 2 1/4" wide, since they need to cover the Nidacore, and I left them 3/4" thick - not sure why, next time I'd go thinner. I made things a bit tougher by putting my indexing mark at frame 5 when I was steaming, and started from there when I did the pre-install.
Thankfully, by the time I did the final install I had some good advice from y'all, and started at the front. Rick Newman brought up something that made sense to me - experience has told me that fasteners create a route for moisture to penetrate a structure, so I used a custom made splinter of white oak and stuck a dab of LifeCalk in each of the screw holes
then I masked the show side of the chine cap and buttered it up
and stuck it in place. I'm not entirely pleased with how tight I could get it to sit, especially at the stem - it's a pretty stiff piece of wood. I can't imagine trying to replace one of these if it's ever needed - how would a guy clamp it in place during the steaming process?
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wow, that is a serious chine cap and looks great. Its so heavy duty it should take a real beating before ever having to replace it, if ever. Looks good on there, I can see how steaming would be very useful. Your moving right along with your build. Reminds me I need to remove my chine cap screws and caulk them up too.
On my boat everything is on the light/size side. My df frame wood was finished 4 sides so not 3/4" thick, chine log is only 1"tall by 3/4", chine caps are only 9/16" thick x 1 1/4" high, plywood sides are very low(but thats to get under some low bridges we have, and no crashing water) etc but I didnt have to steam anything to bend it.
Looking back if I ever build another one I`ll go bigger with everything. Then again, for the rivers here its not much needed, but going heavy duty would hold up to a good beating and it looks really cool too ;)
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Well, in addition to fishing (which I may take up some day) the boat is intended to run mild whitewater and support camping, so I'm adding a 1/8"x1" strip of stainless steel over the chine cap for good measure - that is if I can finally get enough oil soaked into the inside of the boat and move on to some more rewarding work.
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