Trapper canoe build journal

[shawnkfl]

ok. here we go! got the plans. Thanks for the fast turn on these Matt! i had a few sheets of okume on hand so i decided to use it up. started this morning with the hopes of getting everything cut and spliced, then stitch tomorrow. well, having my two helpers slowed me down drastically, so i ended up getting everything cut except the temp forms and i only got the bottom panels spliced. tomorrow i will splice the side panels and next weekend i will start stitching. here some progress pics. i will post pics everytime i work on this until she's floating down river.

laying out the lines


nails and batten for the curves


my little helpers keeping the "shop" clean


youngest helper pulling nails



oldest daughter pulling nails too



bottom panels spliced and curing


that's all for today. i had one mishap with one of the side panels. it snapped in half on me. i had it lying across a 2x4 cutting it and i put leaned on it too much. i'll just splice that too. hindsight, i should have went with meranti. this okume is brittle, or so it seems. should be good anyway. i just hate working with okume.

[Bruce36549]

Looks like you've got some great assistants there, Shawn. Those girls will remember this boat coming together for the rest of their lives.

Bruce

[shawnkfl]

well, this okume is junk. it's way too brittle for some reason. i'm going to scrap it and start over with meranti. maybe this stuff has just been around too long but i know i will never buy okume again. i'll start again this weekend and hopefully get back on track.

[jem]

Ok this may sound like a dumb question, but are you sure it's okoume? Okoume usually bends very nicely without splitting. The thinnest that Meranti usually comes in, that I've heard of, is 6mm.

It'll take more to bend that bottom panel but if it's marine grade meranti, it should take it just fine.

I hate to hear you're having trouble right out the gate.

But save those panels and use them for templates.

[shawnkfl]

it should be okume. when i bought it, i asked for okume, marine ply. that's not to say they GAVE me marine grade. maybe it's interior grade. it is very brittle though. even more so than the box stores luan. as for using them as templates. well, i could, but most of the panels broke. the only ones that didn't break are the bottom panels, which is weird because they have the most severe bend in them. i think i'll just start fresh and lay them out again. that part only took a few hours anyway. i'll keep my temp forms though. it will set me back a week, but i should still be ok to beat the summer heat here.

[jem]

That is really weird. Well at least you didn't find out on the water.

[shawnkfl]

lol...finding out on the water with me, would be ok. finding out on the water with my daughter on board, not so much...she'd never go with me again. or trust my craftsmanship!

[jem]

Looking closer at your pictures, I don't think that's Okoume. I think you were given something else.

[shawnkfl]

that could be too. i really don't have any way to tell

[shawnkfl]

i apologize for the slow report here. i did get new ply and have the hull almost stitched up. i did that this past saturday. about dinner time, i started feeling ill and by saturday night, i couldn't stand up i ached so badly. sunday i stayed in bed all day and night. it started raining and my canoe was outside, but i didn't have the strength or energy to go out and move it, so i left it. it looks like it made it ok though. i'm back around today but still not well enough to get to work. seems i've come down with the flu and i can't shake it. the worse part is, today was the first day of my new job, so i had to go. it was killer, but i made it through the day. i don't get sick very often, but when i do....man i get hit hard! i'll be posting soon enough though.