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What I spent the last two years building

Tom, she certainly is a fine piece of work, what a classic beauty :clap:

I've always wanted to build a boat, I doubt I'll ever get around to it. Boat builders are certainly a very specialized branch of the woodworking family tree, nice to see you here, welcome to the Family! :wave:
 
Very nice work Tom, it must be a dream on the water and turn lots of heads. Interesting construction style of the oars . Just a couple of questions if you don't mind. I have built a couple of cedar canoes with paddles and am in the process of planning a cedar kayak. What are the weight of the paddles? How does Hackberry compare to weight and durability of cedar. Did you glass the hull? What material did you use for the keel and how deep a keel is it? Do you have any pics of the hull when it is turned over? Did you use a spar varnish or a 2 part clear coat for the finish? How do you find the finish standing up to regular use? what would you different if you had to do it again?
 
Drew, I used 3 exterior layers of 6 oz fiberglass and epoxy, 2 interior layers of the same. 5 Exterior coats of Marine Spar Pohyurethane, 3 interior coats.

Hackberry, is probably a little heavier than WRC, but it was available, and WRD in 8/4 clear was not.

The keel projects down approx. 4". Here is a complete set of the building process on line.

http://community.webshots.com/user/slvrgost

This shows most everything at almost all stages.

Tom....
 
Very farmiliar with Birdsmouth construction. It's funny you mention that right now though. I just this week heard of using it for canoe paddles for the first time. It was one of the DUHH moments! Have seen it on boat masts many times but never would have thought of using it building oars or paddles and it is so obvious!

I am going to be make at least a couple of double paddles and I think think that I will probably use the same idea for the shafts to keep the weight down. I am also going to try my hand at Greenland style paddles but I don't see much of an advantage to it with those. Pretty minimal shafts on those.

Very anxious to see how your hackberry works out in the long run. I like hackberry but as I have ever used it for was turning stock. Never seen it around here. But I have trouble finding much of anything besides oak and popular around here. But I do know some sawers and might have to keep my eyes open for a hackberry being cut down. I have a neighbor that is a tree surgeon or trimmer or cutter downer :eek:. Not sure what he prefers to be called. I need to talk to him and ask him to keep an eye open for me.
 
Thanks for all the info Tom, Wow that is quite the # of layers of glass. What is the weight of it? It is very similar to how I have build my canoes though I was lucky enough to get some yellow cedar for my hulls. You did a very beautiful job on it. What did you use for the layers in the bow? If you store it outside have you had any problems with UV and blisters? I have had to re-finish mine every year as it seems to get scratched a bit when I beach it ( no matter how hard that I try to avoid it). It might be because i have only one layer of 6 mm cloth on the hull. So I am interested in what experience you have had with the multiple layers. Did you use staples for the strips? What system did you use? West or cold cure? How did you like the system that you used? What time of year did you do it in and did you have an insect memorial problem? :rofl:
 
Drew,

Vouaguer is her name.

I have built two other boats, both canoes, and never had any problems with delam of the layers. My boat is stored inside in a dark pole barn, and no, I have no imbedded for posterity insects. I built mostly inside in my basement and finished in my garage of my second house I built while building the boat. Scratches are unavoidable, but just a little epoxy and poly and they disapear. I always launch from a dock off a trailer on this boat down a boat ramp.

The weight was approx 150 lbs before I installed the seats and floor boards, I would guess that it weighs approx 250 - 300 lbs now. In the water, it is very light and easy to handle. Did you check out the link to the other pictures.

I think the epoxy system was MD and it was very easy to use. Only had a couple of flashes in small pots so not too much product was lost due to slow application on my part. I do like it much better than West System.

The in side stem was made of laminated layers of black walnut and white oak. the outer stem was made of laminated layers of white oak. I tried very hard not to use staples, I used spring clamps (see the pics in the link) I did use bronze ring shank nails at the bow and stern ends of each strip, the strips were bead and coved. I used Titebond III for the adhesive to hold all the strips together, got a little liberal in the installation of the first strips and had a heck of a time getting rid of the glue squeeze out. Strips were 3/8" X 3X4".
 
Very nice Tom, thanks for sharing the info. I used the cold cure system myself and had a few insect corpses in my hull due to an unexpected early spring insect hatching and the slow curing time. I rushed a bit and built mine in a 2 week stretch wile I was waiting for the spring thaw. I didn't have the grace to have a dark barn to house mine in for the past few years and have had some delaming of the hull in spots as I had it strapped to the roof of my truck for most of the spring and summer or sitting up on saw horses. Sorry I must have missed your pics with the clamping, I will have to take a look again to see how you have done that. Looking at your pics draws me back to the motivation to wanting to build my kayak. Thanks again for sharing.

Drew
 
The correct spelling for the name of the boat is "Voyageur", pretty bad, can't even spell the name of my own boat.
 
Always liked stories of the discovery of America by water. voyageurs were the french boatmen that set out to go trapping in the north country. There is a Voyageurs National Park in Northern Minnesota which is part of the Historical Voyageurs National Highway established over the bodies of water along the Canadian/North American border, that water route actually defines part of the border. It is a part of our history that has always interested me.
 
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