Thread: Sassafras canoe

Chris,
this might be a bit late but are you still wanting to build the Sassafras 14. I have built the 12' and 16' and I have the updated plans corrections here somewhere.

I would be very grateful for any corrections you may have. I am staring off to build the 16ft version.

JeremyB

Jeremy,

I am coming to the end of my build for the 16 footer and must say its been a great project. I won't gush with advice except to say "keep the faith Luke" follow the books' directions and you should be pretty right. But if you need to bounce some ideas give me a shout.

Angus S

I am just about to start and have been practicing on a few bits of scrap / cheap ply !
I have not determined the best way to cut the scarfs and am not sure how perfect they need to be in terms of the squareness of the feathered end - how did you get on with this task and what method did you use ?

Jeremy,
I used the method described in "The Canoe Shop". The plane needs to be sharp
and I have found that I get better results when I put an extra scrap piece of ply on top and underneath the good ones. Also, don't feather the ends so much as to make them too thin or you might go too far and end up with an uneven edge. Just plane as far as you can safely go and then finish off with a sanding block. Yes it is wise to do a couple of practice runs until you are comfortable with the process.
Good luck and please post a photo of the finished boat.
Robert

Robert - thanks,
Did that mean you planed the four planks plus the 2 top/bottom pieces in one 6 high stack ? Finishing off with sanding was the conclusion I had come to. I think the cheap ply I have practiced with may be more fragile as it tends to rip away quite easily. I have experimented with a hastily put together router jig which works quite well but I don't trust it when getting close to the finish. Also tried a belt sander but the one I have was too heavy/powerful to be controllable.

Nice picture !

Jeremy

Yes, do the six pieces together. I have tried various jigs and found that after a bit of practice, it is quicker and easier to just use a plane, although I once had success using a belt sander on very hard 3/8" ply, I would not recommend it on 4mm or thinner ply.
Robert

Robert,
Liked the picture with the croc - very applicable for a soon to be North Queensland paddler.

Jeremy,
I would start with scarfing (and gluing ) the shearstrake sections first. I started with the Garboard starkes and have a very slight twist in the keel at bow and stern. Have wondered whether a little more experience with the scarfing and gluing would have left me with a completely true keel.

R
Angus.

Angus, I can see the point as the shearstrakes are narrower. Did you use a handplane cutting a stack of 4 or some other method ?

To be honest I used a range of tools over each set of scarfs getting a better result each time. The electric plane was too vicious and I can't get a hand plane sharp enough. In the end I predominantly used an orbital and belt sanders on a stack of 5 (one xtra at bottom) because they gave me the best result. The orbital to take out the steps and the belt to smooth to the line. The last set of strake scarfs were perfect and I wished they had been the Garboard set because they are the most important ones to be absolutely mirror images of each other. The better the scarf the better the glue joint.

A

Thanks for all the advice. I will probably use my router jig to get most of the wood away (it works pretty well but I still don't trust it for the final finish) and then maybe a bit of hand plane and / or sanding !

Jeremy

I did the 14ft version and I definately remember an "update" sheet that was stapled into my book. From memory it was a pretty basic error, ie; one that wouldn't slip past. I scarfed my ply panels as described in the book and they were the finest scarf joints out - I remember thinking when I had finished that I couldn't wait to try that again.

One thing - if your mate turns up and offers to help you draw it up into shape and twist copper wires for you - check out whether he is left handed or not. I spent most of that night either tensioning or loosening and never getting the same twist twice in a row!!!!

Came in at 15kg and got plenty of positive comments.

I'm finishing up a 16' Sassafras. I used luan plywood because marine ply was too expensive and hard to find. I'm glassing both sides, inside with 3oz cloth and the outside with 6oz cloth. I'm ready to paint and would like suggestions on some paint types. I've also altered the plans a bit by making the decks from two layers of woven roving/matt laminate and I plan to make the seats from foam covered with epoxy/glass. I weight a lot and I'm affraid to trust the gunels with my weight since they're made of luan. I will form the foam to the shape of the sides and then glass the tops and dissolve the foam with Acetone, leaving a light weight strong seat that distributes my weight along the entire bottom of the canoe. Anyone got a strong opinion about that idea, I'd love to hear some feedback before shaping the seats.

I forgot to mention that I used a belt sander for the scarf joints and they worked fine. I also used the plans from the book without changes. When I first started, I didn't believe the mess of strakes on my table would ever come together to form a canoe. But as I began to wire them together, they began to climb up on their own to form a nicely shaped canoe. I did have some trouble bringing the ends together and getting them straight. I finally did what I could and after they dryed, I cut them to my own shape and mirrored the shape on both ends. It turned out to be 3 or 4 inches short of 16 foot, but looks nice. I can't wait to get it wet. Plan to spend hours behind the sander!