New Design: Iroquois

Builder show and discuss their progress.

Is it possible to build a Canadian canoe in 3 days ?

Yes
3
43%
No
4
57%
 
Total votes: 7

Kayak Jack
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Post by Kayak Jack »

John, I tend to go in the other direction. I can turn a three week project into a six month project with almost no effort at all, or at least as little effort as I can get away with.

Darndest boat I ever saw was at a local boat show. Built with 1/2" plywood and 2X4s. Had saw cut marks and hammer dings all over it. Seats were NAILED in with spikes! Boat had to weigh 100 pounds.

I asked the guy there about it. "My fifth grade shop class made it. And, when we got done, I took each one fishing in it."

I sez, "You sly dog! You hooked EVERY one of those kids, didn't you?"

"Yep" he said with that Chessy Cat grin.
Kayak Jack
Doing what you like is FREEDOM
Liking what you do is HAPPINESS
I spent most of my money on whiskey and women - and I'm afraid I just wasted the rest.
hairymick
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Post by hairymick »

Hi John,

I did not mean to sound critical here, merely point out that the boat is not finished - yet.

That young bloke, to have got that boat to that stage in two days is amazing in itself. You have turned him into a man and created another boat builder. I would bet a months salary that that won't be the last one he builds. :D

I spent over 200 hours to complete my swamp girl (and I am a wood-working instructor :oops: )- not because I am a perfectionist. My girl is far from perfect, but because I wanted to learn how to work ply into a boat - as a practice boat for a more ambitios project.

In the work-shop where I teach, with six or so of my better workers, I reckon we could complete a similar boat every day. Mind you this shop has state of the art machinery and a lot of it. It would be feasable, with patterns and jigging, to set up a production line with a seven day cycle, building 7 boats at a time so that one was completed every day.

Again mate, for what you have done, bloody well done and congratulations.
Regards,
Mick

JEMWATERCRAFT Swampgirl; Wadefish;Touring Pirogue;South Wind; P5 ;
Laker X 2, Sasquatch 16.5 T-V 15 Okwata 15:
Cobia 15 (under construction)
jclohesy
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Post by jclohesy »

I hope to have photographs of the launch on my website later today. The boat got finished ( almost) this morning before I went to work.

John

We don't use nails, but you will certainly see the occasional mark where the planer has gone too deep, or the timber is not quite fitting.

You are right, the 17 year old has ALREADY started his next boat, while his brothers finish off the original. He says at home there is someone who has spent 10 years trying to build a stripper sailing dinghy, and is never happy with it. It has never been in the water..

Thanks for all your encouraging comments, love the forum
John Clohesy, www.birchcanoes.com
Kayak Jack
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Location: South-central Michigan

Post by Kayak Jack »

jclohesy wrote:... the 17 year old has ALREADY started his next boat, while his brothers finish off the original. He says at home there is someone who has spent 10 years trying to build a stripper sailing dinghy, and is never happy with it. It has never been in the water...
The VERY reason I avoid strippers and prefer plywood stitch & glue.
Kayak Jack
Doing what you like is FREEDOM
Liking what you do is HAPPINESS
I spent most of my money on whiskey and women - and I'm afraid I just wasted the rest.
jem
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Post by jem »

Image

Image

Image
-Matt. Designer.
jclohesy
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Post by jclohesy »

Here's the not-so-long awaited launch. As you can see 5 of the Van der Broek children got in, with room for several others. Plenty of freeboard, lovely manoevrability, stable enough for children to change places without adults tutting at them, and none of us could capsize it, we tried quite hard ( but I suppose we could have tried harder if it had been July in a heat wave...)

By the time the family left today, they had 2 Jem Iroquois built, one, seen here, launched, and the other still to be varnished.

There are several design features we've put into these boats which might be unique:

The seats and yoke are supported by 1" thick wooden shapes which connect both chines and the bottom panel, and are resined and screwed to the boat. This leaves the floor completely clear.

The bow and stern are fixed together with 2 pieces of 4mm ply between the main panels to strengthen and widen the prows, which are now 16 mm wide ( 4x4). A mixture of resin and sawdust is painted into the bow and stern on the inside, to fill the odd shaped gaps which form between all these pieces of ply, this looks neat and appears strong.

There is a 1" x 2" strake down the middle of the bottom panel, like a keel, which strengthens the 4mm ply sufficiently, and gives directional stability .

Having another go on Friday, with another family, who are genuinely arriving Friday afternoon and leave on Sunday. We will see if they can meet the challenge..

Thanks so much for the encouraging banter, guys. Much appreciated.
John Clohesy, www.birchcanoes.com
Kayak Jack
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Post by Kayak Jack »

Ten or twelve years ago, Canoe & Kayak Magazine asked readers to write in about "what is the best canoe"? They expected that answers would gravitate around a design, length, and material. No such thing!

To a person, writers reminisced about a "special" canoe. Maybe at the cottage over the summer where they and neighbors swam from it, dove from it, fished from it, and as they got older sparked in it. Maybe an old, beat up aluminum canoe bought for a honeymoon paddle. etc. etc. Performance characteristics were hardly ever mentioned. Always fond memories.

Canoes, it seems, grab us by our hearts. Twenty years from now, when someone asks those boys about the "best canoe", guess what they'll talk about.
Kayak Jack
Doing what you like is FREEDOM
Liking what you do is HAPPINESS
I spent most of my money on whiskey and women - and I'm afraid I just wasted the rest.
jclohesy
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Apr 15, 2006 5:34 pm
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
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Complete in a weekend, including the launch

Post by jclohesy »

Well folks, this is a happy day for me. A family with no canoeing experience and few woodworking skills arrived on Friday afternoon to build a Jem Iroquois with me. We started around 4pm with a paddle on the river in a similar sized boat, then got to work. You can read the summary of their weekend on my website at http://www.birchcanoes.com/a_canoe_in_a_weekend.htm.

We still made a few mistakes, but this was the nicest looking Jem Iroquois to date, and handled beautifully ( of course) despite the river being swollen from a whole weekend of heavy rain. We had some sunshine for the launch, but they did have to pack their tent away wet.

They varnished with a single coat of quick drying floor varnish, which was novel. They will add more later, but I think this is a good option, giving the weekend-builder a chance to try their boat out on the water at the end of the weekend, and besides, we had to show Hairy Mick it could be done !

Thanks again for all your encouragement folks, despite my maverick methods I am keen to learn from you people, you never know I might even start glassing my boats all over, but perhaps not when aiming at completing a 15'6" family canoe in a weekend.

John
John Clohesy, www.birchcanoes.com
jclohesy
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Canoe in a weekend

Post by jclohesy »

Not sure why, but my hyperlink won't work, here it is again:
http://www.birchcanoes.com/a_canoe_in_a_weekend.htm
John Clohesy, www.birchcanoes.com
hairymick
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Post by hairymick »

Hi John, Good Show mate. Well done. :D :D :D I am convinced.
Regards,
Mick

JEMWATERCRAFT Swampgirl; Wadefish;Touring Pirogue;South Wind; P5 ;
Laker X 2, Sasquatch 16.5 T-V 15 Okwata 15:
Cobia 15 (under construction)
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