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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Permalink Reply by Greg Jensen on March 5, 2012 at 7:52am

Guy -

You are doing a fantastic job. I would still like to get together.

send me a note when you get a chance.

greg_jensen@live.com

 

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 5, 2012 at 5:30pm

Thanks Greg.  Perhaps you can stop by this weekend.  I'll probably be working on and off Friday through Sunday.

Permalink Reply by Greg Jensen on March 6, 2012 at 10:58am

I will try on Sat. morning

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 7, 2012 at 5:55pm

I finished the lion's share of the frames.  Here are some pictures.  I think it's interesting to see them lined up next to each other.  The bottom bevels and side bevels are cut.  I still need to do some finish sanding, radius the exposed edges, and cut the notches.  I hope I got this right!!!

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on March 8, 2012 at 7:38am

It looks like you are building a really short boat. I realize you aren't but I like the illusion your dispaly makes. Very nice work by the way!

Rick Newman

Permalink Reply by Dave Barnes on March 8, 2012 at 10:04am

Hmmmm. It looks like the amidships will have much more vertical sides than the stern and the bow - which seems opposite to the way my boat is and the way a 16' sheet of wood wants to bend when you bring in the ends ???  Maybe I'm seeing it wrong?, but if the experienced guys here could weigh in on that, that'd be great.

db

 

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 9, 2012 at 6:36am

Dave,

The frames are evenly spaced (1.063 ft) along the length of the boat.

And here is the picture of the model.

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 8, 2012 at 4:55pm

Here are some more pictures of the frames that may add some clarity.  In this set of pictures the frames are lined up with one end flush.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Kevin C. on March 8, 2012 at 6:39pm

uumm,wondering why there is not a angle bevel on the inside of the frames to accomodate the sheer rail ...what's the plan there.Nice photos anyway..is that what you mean by the exposed radius?

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 8, 2012 at 7:29pm

Kevin,

I decided to cut those bevels into the frames only at the locations of the two inside sheer rails.  Once the sides are on I'll mark and make those cuts.  I thought that this approach would maximize the wood thickness on the side frames.  So your observation is correct, the inside surfaces of the side and bottom frames are square.  And yes, I will radius all of the exposed 90° edges on those inside surfaces.

The cuts on the side frames required to accomodate the two inside sheer rails need to provide surfaces that are parallel to the side panels.

Permalink Reply by Dave Barnes on March 9, 2012 at 7:16am

The fifth photo above really shows the optical illusion. All the pieces have the same angle, but in that picture the left side looks the same, but the right side looks different. Anyway, the bevels look really good. You should have excellent mating of the panels to the braces. You are creating a nice manual to help me on my next build. (My wife did NOT hear that).

 

db

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on March 9, 2012 at 1:29pm

I was intrigued by the "optical Illusion" theory. So this morning I lined my Tatman 16' 6" frames up in a similar fashion as Guy's picture. I have posted the pictures on Picasa with the following link  https://picasaweb.google.com/116231563753086352376/March92012?authu...

I have posted a couple of them here too.So what do you folks think? How do they compare? There certainly are some similarities and some differences.

Rick Newman

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