Thread: New canoe project

G'day ramps... we will be setting out from rose cottage in Pemby. I will be there from about eleven tomorrow till monday - come on down.. Fished two weeks ago and got twenty odd fish in a weekend.

Thickas
Thanks for the offer (nice and close too) but I think the family is due a w/e all together ... been away a bit of late and not even 2 w/e's ago I managed to extend a work trip in Tassy to spent a day with my cousin on great lake.
I think a canoodle down the Collie with a picnic lunch ... Sunday could be a day on the estuary (maybe a flattie or two out there too)... hmm

Gunwhale scarf on the Eureka. The other one was much too invisible to photograph!

Looks great midge but who drew the pencil line on your nice timber work

Why do I always think about these things when I'm at the computer of an evening and not in the middle of one of these beautiful days. So I just took the camera out and took a few pics. The attached pic shows my worse scarf joint (inadequate clamping) (white box) and one the more typical joints (blue box).

Don't cheat see if you can pick them both with and without my boxes to show you where they are.

Originally Posted by Ramps

Why do I always think about these things when I'm at the computer of an evening and not in the middle of one of these beautiful days. So I just took the camera out and took a few pics. The attached pic shows my worse scarf joint (inadequate clamping) (white box) and one the more typical joints (blue box).

Don't cheat see if you can pick them both with and without my boxes to show you where they are.

Hi ramps, just got my head out of the milling forums and wandered over here to see what you chaps are up to - I don't care if you think its crummy that's really impressive joinery with that sheoak - have a greenie!

Just for newbies building Eurekas, Midges scarf joint is not up to specification.

The minimum length of scarf that makes sense is a 6:1 - it approaches the strength of the rest of the timber.



On a lightly loaded boat like the canoe Midge may get away with it, but on the other hand a knock at some stage may well break that scarf.

You also have to be careful with gluing the end grain. If you don't use something like the following method there is some chance that the join will end up being dry because the resin (or glue) is sucked up by the absorbent end grain.

Gluing Endgrain
When gluing endgrain with epoxy it is a two stage process.
Mix enough resin and hardener to do the job. Stir well. Brush the mixed epoxy onto the endgrain.
Wait 5 minutes - brush more epoxy on the endgrain. Now add the high strength gluing powder to the epoxy in the container and apply to gluing surfaces.
And hold in place by normal method until the epoxy sets up.

OOPS!

I did mention 6:1 on the other thread... but might have failed to mention that I did err....well I erred on the slope on this one!

I have since fixed my scarfing jig!

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

OOPS!

I did mention 6:1 on the other thread... but might have failed to mention that I did err....well I erred on the slope on this one!

I have since fixed my scarfing jig!

Cheers,

P

Midge

Is your scarfing jig the thing you called 'quick and dirty' that you knocked up while building the PDRs, as detailed here?

If you have an even better scarfing jig, please let us have a look at it....

Jeremy

Yep, that's the one, and the picture actually shows it cutting at the wrong (brain fade) angle. I actually moved it over, and recut all the mast scarves after that shot as I recall!

That may or may not have happened after Mik inspected 'em and had kittens!

Again, note that I have stoppers on the thing to prevent finger-like substances hitting the blade, and (usually) hold the bits on the jig with a clamp as well.

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by BobL

Hi ramps, just got my head out of the milling forums and wandered over here to see what you chaps are up to - I don't care if you think its crummy that's really impressive joinery with that sheoak - have a greenie!

Whoa Bob, I didn't put it up for praise (but I'll accept the greenie with thanks ) I put it up so as thickas could see that the impact of a scarf joint (cut at the correct angle of course Mik ... BTW mine was 1:8 I hope that passses ... just hand planed) and it wasn't worth the many headaches of attempting to find a 6m length of sheoak ... which will be quite a challenge.

Originally Posted by Ramps

k ... BTW mine was 1:8 I hope that passses ... just hand planed) and it wasn't worth the many headaches of attempting to find a 6m length of sheoak ... which will be quite a challenge.

Absolutely fine. Generally people move to longer scarfs when the loads are high or the part critical and that it is required to be self supporting. Sometimes I go longer when I feel the material is a bit dodgy too.

MIK

Well after a very successful fishing weekend, and then a weekend in the garden and then time on the house etc, I managed a bit of time on the old boat... More akin to working on a battleship or a cruiser... If you thought that the frames looked big, you should see the worried looks on SWMBO's face as it started filling out....It is a bit big eh!!!! Say Ramps... did you expect yours to be as big as it was or were you a bit surprised??

When we last spoke, I had not given any thought to paddles, or anything other than my super clamping method, which is still a super clamping method by the way!!

The paddles subject has taken up a large amount of time, and I finally found that the average size of a blade is 24 inches. I had a close look at MIK's plans (thanks MIK) and took what I needed in the way of dimensions. I was after a carved paddle, so I took a trip out to Ranger Camping, and had alook at there paddles, and then got home, and went shopping I have decided on a handle of 10mm tassie oak, laminated on a 30mm piece of Jarrah, and then two nice pink bits of meranti on the sides. I glued them up and used a huge amount of clamps to make sure the glue joints were going to be spot on. I guess if you are carving wood, and it is glued then there can be nothing worse than having a void in the joint...

Once I had the timber glued up, I spent some time establishing what shape I wanted. I was tempted to go for a standard beavertail, but the ottertail looked pretty sweet as well, so I made a hybrid pattern, and traced it onto the blank. I cut the blank and left it aside as per info on the net.

Most of the guys on the net recommend roughly shaping the paddle, then leaving it hanging for a while to ease out all the warps etc. then when you shape it you know what you are working with...

The work on the paddle left me in a good frame of mind to continue the stripping of the hull. I have been able to work on one side of the boat, and then once I have completed the clamping of that side, the opposite side is dry enough to remove the bungy's and start again. This gives me a turnaround of about 35 mins per strip. I reckon it would be about 45 if you take in mucking around and tripping over cr@p on the floor etc..In the beginning I was making scarf joins on a jig I made, however at 45 degrees, these broke more often than not as I was maneuvering the strip into place. As I got more comfortable with the process, I was happy to just cut 45's on the two ends, and join the scarfs as I planked the hull. It takes a bit of prep, and usually I scarfed on a mould, so one of the bungy's was pressing down on the actual join. This ensured good adhesion. This was not a problem toward the middle of the boat as the spring in the wood created enough tension on the joint. One thing to watch out for is the squeeze out of the glue fills the cove, and has to be removed before the next strip is laid down - ask me how I know... I got a clout nail with a 6mm head, and sharpened the head, and used that to scrape out the cove and ensure a good contour for the next one.