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 Guy Fredrickson on March 25, 2012 at 5:56pm

It's never fun reworking work, but it had to be done.  This time I cut the scarfs on the router jig, trued up the bevels and edges by hand sanding, dry fit the pieces together and made reference marks, disassembled the pieces, applied epoxy, reassembled the pieces, and clamped it down.

 

I also had the pleasure of meeting Greg Jensen today and seeing his S&G boat under construction.  We live about a mile from each other.  Greg's boat is looking great, it has nice classic drift boat lines.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on March 25, 2012 at 7:42pm

I wish you luck with your scarfs! Nothing like experience. I just got to go to the wood store and buy some more maple for a mantel. I don't have a wood stretcher and no matter how I turned the piece around the angles I cut wouldn't fit! The length was just right however.

Rick Newman

Permalink Reply by tungsten on March 25, 2012 at 8:40pm

Those are some great looking scarphs ,thanks for posting.

 

you did pre wet those scarphs before you applied thickened epoxy right?

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 26, 2012 at 4:24am

Thanks Tungsten. I mixed up about 90 g of clear epoxy and wetted both sides.  Then I added some microfibers to the same batch of epoxy and coated both sides before assembly.  Guy

Permalink Reply by tungsten on March 26, 2012 at 6:56am

Ya i thought so,again nice work and thanks for sharing. 

Permalink Reply by Greg Jensen on March 26, 2012 at 9:57am

Great job Guy,

It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday and don't hesitate to call if you ever need a hand.

by the way, I got my sides, bottom and chine edge fiberglassed yesterday. I will be doing the final layers of glass in a week or so. Then it will be time to roll it and start on the inside.

Greg

 

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 28, 2012 at 6:05pm

Here are some pictures of assembling a scarf joint on the 1/4-in. plywood.  This shows the panels dry fit.  The seem is to the left of the ruler.  Pencil lines are used to mark the relative locations of the sheets for the final assembly.

This shows the dry scarf joint ready for epoxy.

A thin coating of clear epoxy is applied to wet the joint.  I am using West Sytem 105/207.

Then I mixed some West System microfibers into the epoxy.

A second thin coating of this mixture is applied.

The joint is assembled using the marking made drying dry fitting.

Some clamping weight is applied, but the board being used more than straddles the width of the scarf joint.

This weekend I plan to cut and scarf the 1/2-in. plywood panels for the bottom.  Fiberglass cloth is on the way and I will fiberglass the insides of all plywood panels before assembling them onto the frames.

 

Permalink Reply by tungsten on March 30, 2012 at 7:03am

lookin good,have you thought about using some sort of peel ply when you glass the wood?I've been thinking about this lately and since your at that stage i thought I'd bring it up.

I've recently witnessed what a sheet of polyester film over epoxy and glass can do.the surface was so flat and smooth i thought i was looking at a new car.All done in one step this completely eliminates trying to fill the weave and fairing the surface.

This can also be done with polyester cloth leaving behind a little texture for the varnish to cling too.

Any thoughts? 

Permalink Reply by Dave Barnes on March 30, 2012 at 7:11am

Admittedly I am terrible working with paints, varnishes, epoxy etc, but I saw something on that as well, so I tried it. I had a lot of trouble getting air bubbles and creases out of it, (using slightly thicker 'saran wrap') Any application techniques or advice anyone has would be appreciated. Maybe I was using the wrong material.

Permalink Reply by tungsten on March 30, 2012 at 6:26pm

i got this link http://duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/articles/glass/bottom.htm   from Andrew on this forum,

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 30, 2012 at 7:17pm

Tungsten, I've never heard of that technique before.  Thanks for the information.  I would not have thought that the polyester film would peel off that way.  I plan to fiberglass (6 oz.) and epoxy the inside surfaces of the side panels before I attach them to the frames.  That would be a good time to try that technique, while the side panels are laid out flat on the work tables.  Guy

Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on March 30, 2012 at 7:35pm

Here is another article which uses Lexan film.

http://marina.fortunecity.com/breakwater/274/2003/1115/index.htm

 

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