1st Build - Free Canoe

Discussions about the free plans distributed at bateau.com and BoatPlans-OnLine.com.
sunday84
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1st Build - Free Canoe

Post by sunday84 »

Hey everyone. I'm new here, and to boat building, figured I'd share my progress on the cheap canoe in hopes of some constructive criticisms. I decided to start with the 14' canoe, as a chance to learn my limits before moving onto the FS14-LS (I have the CNC kit sitting on my patio waiting to be started). I originally though I'd start with the NC16, but decided to go a little smaller to start with (and now I have a reason to build another). I figure I'll use this boat to experiment on. I went with exterior ply and the MarinEpoxy. I know I could have gone with better wood, but I dont expect this one to last forever.
Starting this past weekend, I've got her all taped up, rub rail installed, and should have the breasthooks and seat support in by the weekend. At that point I think I'll pause and start on the FS14-LS, and come back to fair, paint while I'm waiting for things to dry.

Here are some shots of my progress so far. Feel free to let me know what I'm doing wrong.
Imgur Album

Stitching with duct tape didnt work out to well for me. I couldnt seem to find good tape, so I ended up using staples. I got most of them out.

Glassing the inside of the bow was a little challenging, and I'm sure I over did the resin. I also realize that I need to trim the loose threads on the tape before I lay it down. I've got quite a bit of clean up to do now.

I thought I was over doing the resin when I did the inside seams, so on the outer edge I tried to watch how much I put down, and give it time to wet. On the inside I put it on thick then brushed it thin, then went back with a squeegee and tried to push out the excess, gently. On the outside I brushed on less in most spots. I think I under did it in a few spots, as it looks like there is some air gaps. The edges could probably use some more rounding. What do you guys think?

it is amazing how it all comes together. I was worried about some miscuts I made at the beginning, but it looks like it all lined up. Sanding wheel on the angle grinder has made cleaning up the edges a breeze.

Fuzz
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Re: 1st Build - Free Canoe

Post by Fuzz »

Welcome to the fun.
Are you using wood glue or fairing compound to glue the parts together? It looks purple like fairing compound to me :doh:
If you are using the 6 oz tape it is looser and those threads seam to happen to most folks. As you already guessed you might need to round the edges a little more before glassing but all in all it does not look too bad from the pictures.
Keep posting and others will chip in.

sunday84
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Re: 1st Build - Free Canoe

Post by sunday84 »

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm gluing the parts with epoxy + wood flour, until it's like a mayonnaise. I think what you're seeing are the fillets. Forgive me if not, with a little color blindness, it all looks brown/caramel to me. I bought the epoxy trial kit along with the materials for this build, which came with a bag of blended filler. I thought I read somewhere that it is good for fillets, and so I used it on the inside (and to fill some of the voids). But that was my attempt at trying to read while building. In hindsight, i realize that's the blend for fairing. Fillets can just be wood flour and epoxy, right? Structurally, I should still be OK?

Fred in Wisc
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Re: 1st Build - Free Canoe

Post by Fred in Wisc »

For a little canoe it should be fine if you taped over the seams. But the wood flour is what you should use, it's a lot stronger mix.

the blended filler is much easier to sand when you are fairing with it.

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