JEM Watercraft

You can blame Chuck for this.

I'm going to build the Sasquatch 14-30 and I want to make it a bit of a showy canoe.

Anyone who followed my DK build will realise I'll have to maintain a lot more patience with this build.

To begin with I'm thinking that I will make templates for each panel out of 9mm material and use a "bearing router cutter" to cut the panels from carefully selected 4mm marine ply. The templates should allow me to be very careful where I take the panels from, this way I should be able to have matching lines of grain running right through the boat.

Other than the chance I may have to use more ply than the plans would normally use can anyone see any other problems with this approach?

Any other bright ideas to add to the wow factor?

Thanks,

Tor

G'day Tor,

Sounds like a good plan mate but I tink you will probably only beable to match up one side of your ply - at best.

I wish you luck in this mate and will be very keen to see the results

Personally, I am just too lazy to be bothered and am happy to just make the best use of my sheets of ply ie get the most out of a sheet that i possibly can. The woodgrain sort of takes care of itself.

Here is the thing though. I have noticed that the uglier the raw ply looks (short of footballs etc) in the surface veneer, the better it comes up with epoxy and a gloss finish.

Now, I just give the outer veneers a very light sand and slap the epoxy on. The beauty of a timber boat for me is in the craftmanship of the timberwork and joinery.

Making some patterns to cut your good ply with is a good idea. You can be more selective on where you nest each piece on the ply and are only limited to your imagination.

Tor...

You might really be cussing me as you build the 14 x 30 and especially when it is done , providing you like your solitude.

Today I was out in the shop and had the main door open. Next thing I know there are some folks on bicycles in the driveway looking at the shop. I need to say at this time ... that the canoe is visible from the road out front when I have the shop (In the back of the backyard ) open.

They had to look at it , touch it , lift it and just fondle it in general, and asked a 1,000 questions which I was happy to answer as soon as I put pups on the back porch , he did not need a free meal.

So let me warn you .... If you like some personal quiet time , look out this canoe will destroy all of that for you when it is with you or you are with it.

It's all Matt's fault , he needs to design ugly boats.

Chuck.
Take your time on the build , do one step and think a few ahead. Main thing is don't rush it. Preperation is the key , putting it together is the fun/easy part.

As you can see there's a little thought in this.

Sounds like a good plan mate but I tink you will probably only beable to match up one side of your ply - at best.

Yeah I was only looking matching the outside, So I'm pretty fixed on that idea.

Next idea nice grainy wood for the gunwhales the DK has hoop pine and it's lovely to work with and does a great job but is there a wood with more contrast in the grain?

Also has anyone tried a top rail? Let me explain: put on an inner and outer as normal but put them lower, say quarter inch then fabricate a piece as wide as the inner and outer but rip a slot up the middle and locate the top of the panel in the slot. From the top there will be a single piece.

your thoughts on this phase?

Tor

Tor,
Your only limit is your imagination!
For me it was toning my imagination down to my building skill.

The next thing that will be tested is your patience with seeing a usable boat sitting in the shop, while your imagination is still running in full gear about how you want the thing to look in front of everyone else.

Have fun, take your time, after all, it's your wife's boat !!!!!!!

TAKE LOT'S OF PICTURES!!

Lee