Trapper 15-38

Builder show and discuss their progress.
jem
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by jem »

It shouldn't effect it so long as you flip the panel for a mirrored pattern.

Cut carefully.

I usually like to cut separately and then stack and sand the edges. It helps show and offset the "waves" in each panel.
-Matt. Designer.
LesForgue
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by LesForgue »

Thanks Matt,
Probably I will cut separately too and forget about stacking for the cutting; I think I'll stick to the plans and intructions and to what others on this forum and Sparkey's forum normally do;
I am going to try to stifle my imagination and leave innovation for some othe project :wink:
Les Richard Forgue
LesForgue
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by LesForgue »

No progress on the canoe - but at least I got familiar with the orb sander and jig saw while making a paddle - the paddle is one piece solid cedar, an old fashioned design - longe narrow blade, long throat, (sort of) rounded shaft, extra long (short of ) flattened grip area, end of grip not shaped to fit a hand over it. (grip hand goes not over the end of the paddle but further down finger and thumb draped over the grip). Going to soak it with butcher block oil or boiled linseed oil, but later, after I put some epoxy/fglass on the lower blade edges (the cedar is soft). Instead of oiling the blade, I might treat it with epoxy/graphite instead and just only oil the shaft/grip. Problem with that would be the paddle is already blade heavy, even with the extra long shaft/grip, so a bunch of epoxy and or fglass on the blade would make it even more unbalanced. Maybe I'll try to thin the blade more but with the solid cedar I don't want to keep making it weaker and weaker. I guess I could drill a hole and fit a rock into the end of the grip for balance.

Canoe wise, I have not ordered my epoxy and fglass etc from RAKA yet, I'll be out of town (Houston TX) next week and don't want the package to arrive while I'm gone.

So my next builder log post will probably be in 2 or 3 weeks.
Les Richard Forgue
LesForgue
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by LesForgue »

LesForgue wrote:........So my next builder log post will probably be in 2 or 3 weeks.

weeks? how about years?

Today I ordered epoxy kit, pumps, 6 oz fiberglass from RAKA, and they shipped within about 4 1/2 hours.

When I figured 4 oz cloth would save me less than probably 5 to 7 pounds off the finished product, I went with 6 oz totally, especially after hefting and flexing a cut out 5mm panel while thinking of those sharp rocks in my pathway. To keep weight down, i will just try to be careful not to overapply the epoxy.

If I cannot keep my workplace in the mid to high 60s F in the coming months without spending a fortune on electricity and natural gas, I might just wait until April or May to really get into the epoxy/hardener work.

I chose RAKA's 127 epoxy resin and the 608 medium hardener; did not want fast due to my inexperience, and did not want slow due to possibly working in less than optimum temperatures.

All the friendly and helpful advice on this forum is so much appreciated - I would be lost without it, as so many of the decisions to make are underwhelming.
Les Richard Forgue
jem
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by jem »

You're just "savoring" the build. :lol:
-Matt. Designer.
LesForgue
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by LesForgue »

jem wrote:You're just "savoring" the build. :lol:

Yeah,
(edited on Friday June 5 2015)
Last edited by LesForgue on Fri Jun 05, 2015 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Les Richard Forgue
LesForgue
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by LesForgue »

Well now I've got all the panels cut out and trimmed to 4 sets of clones.

I bought 300 cable ties from Harbor Freight for about six dollars,
also at HF I bought 100 5 mil Nitrile gloves size XL.

My next step will be drilling the stitch holes in the bottom panels.

But before I splice the panels to full length,
I have to rearrange my work space, actually create a 19' by 6' work space. (now its only 10 x 6 with an 8 ft long makeshift bench)

For the full length work area, been considering whether to go with a bench/table or with saw horses.

Pretty much decided on solid top bench/table for the panel splicing, then switching to saw horses for stitching and the rest.

Seems like the saw horses would provide open space for the spacers sticking out of the hull, can't picture how that would work on a bench or table.

Recalling the discouragement experienced by a builder on this forum when his sawhorses tipped over, I plan to connect the saw horses down low and maybe weight them near the bottom too.
Les Richard Forgue
jem
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by jem »

Harbor Freight rocks for the disposable stuff. Has some decent other toys too.

I would be in the "OH S@#% the saw horses tipped" club. Live and learn. :lol:
-Matt. Designer.
LesForgue
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by LesForgue »

Sometimes frustration comes unexpectedly from what should be a simple straightforward what-could-go-wrong type of task. Me I got frustrated yesterday and today with the simple task of drilling holes in the craft (popsicle) sticks I bought from Walmart to use for panel spacing when stitching.
Maybe I got a duff batch of sticks, or maybe I should have chosen the wider tongue depressor size,
but what happened is that every time I go to drill a hole the stick cracks.
I tried different drills, different bits, different speeds, different pressures, different angles, even tried to soften the sticks with a water bath, but the sticks were determined to split when drilled, except with the smallest diameter bits, which would have taken forever to make a big enough (3/16 by 1/2) slot in each spacer.
The only other drill bit that did not crack the sticks was a weird spiral counter sinker, and that also took too much time per spacer.
I was so frustrated I actually spend over half an hour burning holes & making slots in the sticks, but I discarded that approach because it was taking two minutes to make a single spacer.
After the burning experiment, I practice-stitched using some key rings of which I have a few boxes, but the gap was thicker and the key rings too much wider than the intended spacers.

I tried a candle flame shaped Dreml type grinding bit, and made the slots without splitting too, not quite as slowly, but it was evident the grinding material was wearing away very quickly, but at least that tool's performance gave me the idea to buy a similar shaped one but made of enduring steel.
So I walk to the local Mom & Pop hardware store and I spend over seven bucks on a Dreml drill bit that is actually a candle flame shaped stainless steel rasp. That tool it makes the slots at a reasonable speed and with splitting/cracking occurring only one out of six or so sticks, so I will go with that solution.

For the stitching, I have 3/8 inch wide sticks that are about 1/12 inch thick.

Yikes, I hope I get this thing on the water before freeze up!
Meanwhile At least I am having fun making sawdust and wood shavings.
Les Richard Forgue
LesForgue
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Re: Trapper 15-38

Post by LesForgue »

For the stitching spacers, I came across a rubber looking desk mat that is 1/10 inch thick, I made a bucketfull of spacers out of that very quickly and easily. Glad that task is out the way.

well of the 8 pairs of panels spliced into 8 long panels, 2 of them I had to saw in half and re-splice because they miserably failed Matt's QA2 alignment check :oops: I must have moved them unawares after the pre-splicing QA2 check.

While waiting for all the splices to cure I made more plywood clamps for gluing the gunnels, they are more or less giant clothes pins sort of.

I got somewhat derailed by minor basement flooding (less than 4 inches of water, just rain & ground water - no sewerage).
But next steps will be epoxy resin to all plywood edges, sanding panels, marking where the forms go, then stitching, etc etc.

Hopefully I'll be able to get past my photo posting issues soon.
Les Richard Forgue
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