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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Three more. I wait about four hours for the epoxy to thicken and then I trim the excess fiberglass. Much easier that way. I’m using West 105 resin and 206 hardener.
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Chris Craft. This is the epoxy mixing station. The plungers work very well.
This is a side plank. About half of it is below the waterline. Prior to this I treated the inside surface with Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer. I’m not an expert, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Before I lay the fiberglass, I liberally wet the surface with epoxy. You don’t want to apply the fiberglass to a dry surface or one that is not saturated with epoxy.
A good glossy finish of wet epoxy.
Then I roll on the fiberglass and let it soak up the epoxy.
After a few moments the fiberglass begins to wet out.
Then I apply more epoxy with the foam roller.
This is what I use to trim the fiberglass. But I wait about 3 to 4 hours for it to thicken understand my present conditions.
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My understanding is that before you lay down fiberglass, you want the substrate both saturated with epoxy and wet with epoxy. You don’t want to lay down fiberglass on a dry surface and try to wet out from the top as the substrate soaks in epoxy and drys out the fiberglass. This will starve the fiberglass of epoxy.
I struggled with this when I built my drift boat.
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A few of the bottom planks cupped over the years. Probably the result of swelling while there was hard epoxy between the seams instead of elastic sealer. I’ll clamp these planks so that they lay flat for awhile before I install them. Shouldn’t be much of an issue. Famous last words.
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Now, with the inside surface fiberglassed, I’m filling in the screw holes (those below the waterline) with Smith’s Fill-It Epoxy Filler. More tedious work. When hardened I’ll sand down the high spots. But I won’t do much sanding on these bottom surfaces until after the bottom planks are secured to the frames. Then it will be time for sanding and fairing.
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I’m still working on the starboard planks.
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Chris Craft. I started on the port side planks.
Like I’ve said before, when I started this project I had no idea I’d be this deep into it. I had to make a few decisions about the bottom along the way.
1) First of all, I never expected to be able to take the boat apart the way I have. As it turned out, all the planks and frames were loose enough to be taken apple without much damage. As I progressed, I decided to go all the way.
2) Once I was down to the frames, I saw a way to remove the frames. Then once that was done, I decided to strengthen the frames and completely replaced the one cracked frame.
3) As I began to reassemble the bottom, I had to make a decision about the plywood and planks. The plywood was easy, it needed to be replaced. But the decisions about the planks wasn’t as easy. There is a lot of conflicting information out there regarding sealing, painting, epoxying, and fiberglassing old wooden boats. Originally, this was a “soaker” bottom. It would seal only after the wood soaked up water and swelled. I definitely didn’t want that. So I decided I’d seal the bottom with 3M 5200. The so called “5200 bottom”. But two things impressed me. One, the fiberglass that was applied to the bottom in 1998 was tenacious and difficult to remove. Two, the bottom planks were only in fair condition.
4) That made me decide to epoxy seal the bottom planks, apply fiberglass to the top surfaces, and fill all the screw holes. And when the bottom is completed, I’m going to lay fiberglass to the outside.
In other words, I’m completely sealing the bottom of the boat as best I can. This is contrary to the advice of some who say this will lead to rot when water gets “trapped” in the wood. I don’t know which is best. My intended use is to trailer the boat, not leave it in the water all season. But one thing is for certain, this boat will never come apart again like it did for me.
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Trimming the excess fiberglass with a box-cutter blade. It’s much easier to do after the epoxy starts to harden. But not too hard. No need to trim perfectly. Just get it close. It’s easy to sand the edges smooth once the epoxy is fully cured.
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Chris Craft. These are the four planks that make up the transom. The bottom most plank was badly bowed so I clamped it flat. This caused it to split on the inside surface along the grain. I’ll apply Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer to the inside surfaces. Then after that cures, I’ll apply a layer of fiberglass just as I did to the bottom planks.
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I apply the epoxy sealer with a cheap brush. These red cups dissolved in a few minutes. First time I used them for this application.
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Applied fiberglass to the inside surfaces of the transom planks.
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Chris Craft. I’m trying to decide how to finish the bright side of the boat. I did a test on a piece of spare king plank from the aft deck that came with the boat. I found it behind the ceilings. It must have been from an early repair.
I want to treat all the planks with Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer. And I am going to use gel stain from Lake Oswego Boat Company. But which do I apple first... sealer or gel stain? As always, there are conflicting opinions on the internet.This is the bare plank sanded with 80 grit.
This is the plank soaking in Daly’s Bleach.
This is the dry plank after bleaching.
I drilled some 3/8 inch countersinks and filled them with Smith’s Fill-It.
This is gel stain applied directly. The stain covers well as expected. It even covers the epoxy filler.
Then I applied some penetrating epoxy sealer, let it dry, and applied gel stain on top. Again, the stain covers well.
This is what the whole plank looks like.
This is what I learned. You don’t want to apply the wood bleach until all sanding and fairing are completed. Bleaching is a wet process and after the bleaching process you have to wash the surface of the wood with fresh water. Then everything must dry. Then only a very light sanding to remove only the raised wood fibers.
After that, I decided that I’m going to apply the epoxy sealer first and the gel stain second. My priority is to preserve the wood.
So, for the bright side, it’s...
1) Sanding and Fairing
2) Bleaching, Washing, Light Sanding
3) Penetrating Epoxy Sealer
4) Gel Stain
5) Varnish
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