Finished and delivered!

I finished the canoe! I really need to catch up and post the final series of pics, but I'll get to that later.

I put the finishing touches on the canoe last week and was ready to get it out to the water for a test drive before I turned it over to the client. The first thing I noticed was just how much bigger than my Bob's Special that this Prospector 16 is. It is immense! Even though it's only a foot longer and a couple of inches deeper, it really seems huge.

I took it out to Northeast Creek to launch at Camp Brewster aboard Camp Lejeune. When I set the unloaded canoe into the water, the first thing that stuck out to me was the fact that less than 1/3 of the hull was in contact with the water. I performed a wet launch, and when I climed in, the stability of the craft was impressive. Even with me climbing over the gunnels, the canoe was incredibly stable and, at no time did it seem like it was going to capsize.

I then knelt in the center of the canoe and heeled it over and the responsiveness was pleasing. I paddled it sideways, forward, and performed turns with the greatest of ease. This is one amazing craft! It will go any direction you tell it to go, and go with ease. I look forward to building one (or two) for my own use soon. But before I can build my own Prospector, I have a couple of other projects to attack.

I will be building a pair of loft beds with desks and dressers next, as well as a set of book shelves. Those projects will show up here as they progress. I also have to get my workshop in order now that I have cleared out some space. I am also currently engaged in building a small cabinet in cherry for a half-bath in my house to hang above the toilet, and will also get pics of that up here as well. Hopefully, I will be able to begin my canoe around October and be ready for launch in the spring.

Building the Decks

While I was working on the inwales, I was also able to get the material for the decks prepped and assembled. The following pictures show the decks ready for installation and finishing. As it sits right now, I only have the outwales and decks remaining; only four pieces of wood and the canoe is done!

To build the decks, I prepped the joint on the jointer with the angle to create the camber to the deck. Then I taped the joint and applied the thickened epoxy and more tape and a couple of clamps.

Tape and clamps is all it takes.

This is one of the decks right after taping and clamping.

This shot shows the camber of the decks.

Here is one.

This is the other one. I think this one looks better.

48 Clamps

I got the gunnels attached this weekend. They look awesome (if I do say so myself). They are held in place with epoxy thickened with #404 microfibers (I use West System epoxies if you are curious). The epoxy is thickened to the consistency of creamy peanut butter and then spread onto the mating surfaces and the inwales are clamped in (did I mention it took 48 clamps per side). I did the one side on the 4th and the other side on the 5th. I waited 24 hours between because I only have enough clamps for one at a time and because the epoxy takes about 24 hours to be set enough to remove the clamps without worrying about the inwale pulling away from the hull.

48 Clamps!

Another view of the mother of all clamping jobs.

Closeup

This is a view of the inside with the second inwale in clamps showing the congruency of the inwales.

This view shows the initial cleaning up of the hull to the inwale.

The inwales are installed just about 1/8" below the sheer line as I cut it earlier. Once the epoxy sets and the inwales are set, I can cut the hull level with the inwales and ensure a clean joint line. I will do this with a spoke shave and a sanding block.

I'm off to California on the 7th and will be able to do the outwales and decks when I return next week.

Prepping the Inwales

I spent about 2 hours designing and building this jig for cutting the scuppers in the inwales. Once it was complete, cutting the scuppers took only about 30 minutes. The jig is pretty simple. The numbered blocks clamp the inwale into position and guide a 3/4" bearing guided flush trim router bit (bearing on top) and also prevent the grain splitting by supporting the fibers as the bit exits the cut. The scuppers measure 1/4" deep by 3" long with 6" spacing between them.

Once they are cut, I will ease the top and bottom edge with sandpaper before they are installed and also will "paint" on a coat of epoxy as well to prevent water damage. The short sides of the scuppers are end grain, and as such, will be prone to absorbing water much more readily than the long grain, so I feel the epoxy affords more protection and longevity to the inwales.

I have been asked by some folks about the scuppers; what are they for. I will attempt to answer that here. There are some schools of thought that say that scuppers are there to allow water to drain when the hull is overturned. Others say they are for tying gear down in the canoe. Another reason to cut scuppers is to lessen the overall weight of the craft (the gunnels are about 40% of the total weight of the finished canoe). While I don't dispute the facts that the above reasons are the result of the scuppers, I have another theory. The first wooden canoes were either bark canoes, or later, cedar and canvas canoes. Those were built with ribs running the length of the hull and the gunnels were attached over top of them, making the scuppers as a matter of the construction methods. I believe that the scuppers are merely a matter of tradition that has a functional aspect. Beyond that, I believe they look more nautical and really add a lot to the overall look of the canoe.

I don't claim my answer to be the most correct. I have done no real research on the subject. I just look at things and determine what I believe to be true based on my limited knowledge of canoes and their history. I'm sure that someone who has done the work for maritime museums would have much more information than I could provide here.

At any rate, here are the pics from the last few days of work.

Scupper jig

Closeup of cut scupper in the jig

Completed scuppers ready for installing

Dry fitting the inwale. The scuppers look good to me!

One more view

Let the fairing begin!

With the stems shaped roughly, it's time to cut the sheer of the hull. The sheer is the line of the top of the canoe as it sits in the water that gives the canoe it's familiar shape. Cutting the sheer is pretty straightforward:Start by placing a batten along the sheer from the station molds and use that to draw a line to be cut to.

Remove the batten and use a utility knife to cut to the sheer line. Be sure to cut this a little proud, as you will place the inwales a little below there and trim the hull to match and ensure a smooth joint.

This shows the completed cut. Now I just have to do that four more times!

One more view.

Once the sheer is completed, it's finally time to begin fairing the hull. For those not familiar with canoe or boatbuilding, fairing is simply taking the strips from a faceted state from the initial assembly of flat pieces and smoothing the angles to make smooth curves all around no matter where you go.

Here we have begun the initial fairing with the random orbit sander.

A little closer up view.

Note also that I have plugged the screw holes in the outer stems with dowels. This fills the holes first and foremost and it also adds a very subtle design element. The dowels will be visible when the canoe is finished and will be finely placed "dots" that show. I think they will look pretty neat. On my last boat, the only screws I used were on the gunnels at the deck ends. As a result of using the screws there, I had to plug the holes in this manner. Once it was done, I really liked the way it looked and decided that the next canoe would have these screw holes along the entire length for subtle decoration.

You can see the fairing of the outer stem as well as the dowels sticking out of their holes. They will be cut flush once the epoxy sets.

Another view of the dowels and fairing of the outer stem.

Here is one of the dowels cut flush. This gives an idea what it will look like when complete.

Another view of the stem.

The fairing process is fairly involved and takes a bit of time. Steps to be followed from initial fairing to ready for glass are as follows:

1. Initial fairing- Either by hand plane, hand sanding, ROS with 80 grit paper. Whatever you feel comfortable with. The key here is to take the high spots where the planks meet and knock them down to make the hull initially fair.
2. Filling- It's inevitable that there will be a need to fill somewhere on the hull. I did the filling after the initial fairing for a couple of reasons. First, by completing the initial fairing, I can better assess the spots that need filling. Second, I am going to sand the hull at least two more times and will be able to clean up anything that needs it on the next couple of sandings.
3. Second sanding- Again with 80 grit. I know this sounds a bit aggressive, but the filler from step 2. is epoxy mixed with sanding dust (wood flour) and that stuff is hard to sand. I go aggressive to clean that up. However, care needs to be taken in order to not create dips and gouges with the power sander.
4. Wet the hull- This is done to raise the grain of the wood fibers that may have been mushed down during the sanding processes. It also will highlight the spots where you still have glue that needs to be cleaned up. If you don't get all the glue/epoxy off the hull before 'glassing, those areas will show as light or blotchy. The way I see it, if something is avoidable, avoid it.
5. Final sanding- This sanding is accomplished with 120 grit after the hull is completely dried out from the 4th step. This will prepare the hull for the 'glass and also knock off the raised fibers from the wet the hull step above. Once this step is complete, the hull is ready for 'glass and epoxy.

Hopefully, with the posts and pics, and now with the schedule I just laid out, things still make sense. I will be completing the sanding and fairing soon and getting to fiberglassing, so stay tuned.

Better late than never!

I have been socked recently with travel, either through work or for personal reasons. This has significantly affected my ability to work on my canoe. I'm actually on travel right now in Vermont. At any rate, I have some updating to do so here goes....

As you can see from the post from 1 Mar, the stems are attached and square in profile. This will not work for several reasons, the main reason being that it isn't right. In order to fix that the stem needs to be faired into the hull so that it flows all the way to the ends and is both aesthetically and hydrodynamically correct. The next few pics show the beginning of the fairing of the stem that is completed with a spokeshave and block plane. There are some special problems with these tools being used for this as they are both designed for flat, planar work and the stems and the ends of a canoe are very complex shapes. That is why this is only the rough shaping to get them into the ballpark. I will complete the fairing and shaping with my random orbit sander.






In the next episode, I'll begin fairing the hull with the random orbit sander and complete the final shaping of the stems as well as plugging the screw holes in the outer stems with dowels.

How about some pictures???

I don't really have enough pics on here. If you want to see more, check out my pics here!

Fitting and attaching the outer stems.

So, now that I have all of the strips on, I need to trim the ends of them to be flush with the forward edge of the inner stem so that I can attach the outer stem and get a good fit with no gaps. As long as the strips are cut flush and perpendicular to the centerline of the canoe, the outer stem will fit and look really good.

After the strips are cut, I use the outer stem to layout the mortise at the keel. This is so that there is not a hole through the hull and it also helps to give a cleaner look to the canoe where the stem meets the bottom.

Shot of the mortise for the outer stem

Closeup of the mortise

This is the outer stem being dry fit

Another view of the dry-fit of the outer stem. Looks good to me, I'll glue it in

This is the stem after gluing in

You may have noticed the black screws that are holding the stem on. Those are temporary. After the epoxy sets, I will pull the screws and plug the holes with wood pegs. I believe what I am going to do is drill out the holes to 1/4" and insert a dark colored wood dowel. I spaced the screw holes the same on each stem so that will be a design element. Subtle, but very deliberate. I think it'll look good. I just hope that the wax I put on the screws allows me to pull them with no problems.

After I get the holes plugged, I will cut the sheer line and begin fairing. I hope to be able to begin 'glassing by next weekend. We shall see.

Completing the hull

With the bottom completed, I can start to work toward the sheer of the canoe. That's the top edge that the seats and thwart and decks are attached to. I need to install some "filler" strips above the first strip I installed when I started planking. (this is actually working toward the ground in the following pics) Once all the filler strips that I need are in place then I can get to work trimming the ends of the strips in preparation for the outer stem.





Well, that takes care of the sheer line; it just needs to be trimmed to look like a canoe. I will do that later after the outer stems are in place and it's time to begin fairing.

Back from CA. Let's get to work!

Just got back from California (traveling for my day job) and now it's time to get serious about getting this thing ready for 'glass. I really wanted to get the hull complete before the 1st of March, and probably could have met that milestone if I didn't lose four weeks to travel. I really shouldn't complain too much though, at least I have a job.

Any way, when I returned from CA, this is what I was working with. The bottom still needs to be closed up and this is very time consuming due to the amount of twist and bend and the multiple directions that it all goes as well as the clamps and wedges and tape that has to be put on.

Let's get started

A few more strips

Nearing the end. Only two more to go.

This is it with the last strips in place.

Close up of the last strips

Now I need to work on getting the sides of the canoe built up to the sheer line at the ends. That should bo fairly quickly since the strips are pretty much straight with a little bend. Once that gets built up, I can trim the ends of the strips and cut the mortices for the outer stems and get them installed, then it's fairing and fiberglassing time. Check back soon.

Going back to Cali

So, I finally got the strips on the first half of the hull. Now it's time to cut to the centerline and then start fitting the strips on the other side. Let's get started, shall we?

Here is where we begin.

Cutting the centerline with a sharp chisel.

I started cutting the centerline using a very fine saw. That wasn't working so well, so I went back to the book, Canoecraft, for guidance. Mr. Moores discusses using a razor knife and straight edge for the initial cutting to within 1" of the centerline, then following up with a chisel and either block or rabbet plane. I don't have a rabbet plane (maybe I'll build one after this canoe is out of the shop) and I don't have a straight edge as long as the keel line of this boat, so I just used a chisel. I was surprised at how well it did the job. As long as I worked from the center toward the stems, the chisel was cutting across the grain and keeping the bevel of the chisel toward the cut gave me excellent control. I was able to make the entire centerline cut in about 2 hours.

And this is what I finished with.

More planks going on!

The planking went surprisingly fast. I still had to wait for the glue to set pretty well between each strip, but the weather was very nice and the glue was cooperating nicely. I was looking at about an hour between each strip before I could take out the wedges and staple the planks and not worry about them pulling out of place or away from the molds.

Tape is a great clamp.

The picture above shows several strips of tape across the hull. That is to keep the two sides of the hull lined up while the glue dries there. I had hoped to complete the bottom of the hull before taking off for California, but after working all day and getting within 10 strips, I was spent. The following picture shows where I left off. When I get back home, I will hit it hard and get the hull complete and ready for 'glass within a week (maybe a week-and-a-half?) hopefully.

I have to leave it here.