The Gander River Canoe.

[Tweedie]

I am the Newfie who asked Matt to put together a wine shaped stern canoe called the Gander River canoe. I am a relativly novice builder so I figured starting a string with all my questions wouldn't be a bad idea. I have already been e-mailling Matt with a few of them. I will also try to keep everyone else, including Matt, up to date on how my building is going.

I have cut the panels and plan to buttblock them this weekend. I have been hesitating on starting with any epoxy due to the temperature here ( I don't have the luxury of an indoor work shop ). The tmeperatures durring the day have been in the 50s and sometime the 40s. How well does the Raka Epoxies work in those conditions? I do have access to some indoor working area but the access is limited, so I have been putting off using it.

[jem]

You done yet?

A few things you can do to combat the cold:

-Get the fast cure hardener
-The first couple hours of cure are critical. Try to work during the warmest part of the day.
-Try storing your work near a heated building if you can't store inside one. Brick is the best. You'll benefit from radiant heat.
-Try storing off the ground and covered with plastic
-Try storing in the sun or on an exposure side that gets the most direct sun.
-warm the epoxy (before mixing). Better yet, store inside the house and don't let it get cold.
-warm the wood (not as practical)
-Finally, a simple light bulb underneath a coverer hull will hold a lot of heat. Put your boat up on horses, do your epoxy work, cover it with some plastic (careful not to disturb your epoxy seams...even make a simple tent). Make sure the plastic reaches the ground, and run yourself an extension cord with a 60 watt bulb on the ground. Simple and effective.

[Tweedie]

I have the panels butt blocked together and now I can start stitching.

I noticed that there was a lot of disscussing on the Swamp Girl boat about cutting. I used my run of the mill Black and Decker jig saw but I used a Metal cutting blade on it so I would get a cleanner cut on the 1/8" plywood I am using. The blade would not cut sharp rounded corners as well but it worked great on the curves for the long panels.

The cold didn't seem to effect things at all. the temperature got up to around 55 so everything cured just fine. I did use fast cure epoxy.

I cut hatches in the aft deck and in the forward bulkhead for access to the enclosed areas. have an idea for a cheap do it oyur self hatch that I plan to use. I will post some pictures when I get them finished (weeks from now).

I plan to use a method for stitching that I learned from building my sea Kayak back in Canada. It use wire and not zip ties and maintains about a 1/8" gap depending on how thick the wire is.

[Oldsparkey]

You done yet?

A few things you can do to combat the cold:
-Try storing in the sun or on an exposure side that gets the most direct sun.

Matt

Contrary to belief it does get cold here in Florida and one trick I use to warm up the epoxy is to open the shop up and then set the jugs or epoxy on some wood in the door way (a large garage door) with a black plastic garbage bag over them for about an hour so the sun hits them.

Warms up the epoxy just like it was August when you want to be inside with the AC going.
My shop does not have heat .... Who needs it in Florida?

Chuck

[Tweedie]

Have almost finished Stiching the sideson the canoe. I will tryand get some pictures soon. The stiching went pretty well. I have been making different peices as I go. I have the Hatches made for both Fore and Aft compartements, a template for my 2" high rubrails, a bunch of cleats for different aplications and I started a yoke from your plans over the weekend as well. I made mine an inch wider than the free desing you had posted on your website. I just feel more comfortalbe with a wider yoke. I know we had planed ot make a removable yoke but I have decided to go a little more traditional with this. I used my wire method to do most of the stiching but used the popsicle stick method with the bulkheads and transom.

It looks like it is going to be a nice boat, just what I wanted.

[Tweedie]

When the instructions refer to glue does that mean thickened epoxy or wood glue or crazy glue or gorilla glue or what?? I would imagine that it does not matter since the whole boat will be fiberglassed and epoxied; but does it?
I plan to start welding the boat together this weekend, anyone have any final words of wisdom?

[Mullet_Key]

"Glue" in any stitch and glue boat project is usually thickened epoxy marketed for marine use. In limited projects, the designer may specify 3M 5200 or Resorcinol.

From BoatDesign.net: "A member posted... Resorcinol needs a tight very accurate joint with high pressure during cure. Thickened epoxy is very forgiving and fills gaps. Gorilla glue, because it foams up, will fill gaps too. However it is quite expensive. Its advantage over epoxy is that it comes in a bottle and doesn't need to be mixed and measured precisely. Polyurethanes, like Sika or 3M 5200, come in tubes and will fill gaps. They are expensive and the glued joint is flexible."

Epoxy is they way to go, it is readily available, lot's general purpose & marine experience out there and you can do so much with it. MK

[jem]

Epoxy thickened with woodflour to about a ketchup consistency is what I meant by glue.

I'll reveiw the instructions and make that clearer.


Words of wisdom: Take your time, don't mix a lot of material at one time, enjoy!!

[Tweedie]

I plan on making my own paddles for my Canoe. I was going to laminate the woods together so that I had alternating Redwood and probably oak. I am not sure what type fo glue I should use for this case . Any Ideas?????? I was thinking of epoxying the whole paddle when I was done but I think urethane may be better .

[jem]

Use the same glue you used for the canoe. Very strong.

Seal it with epoxy and varnish over the epoxy. That's the typical way to do it with a boat.