Canoe reskin

Well I got the cedar canoe down from the ceiling of the shop to have a look at it and found it was in rougher shape than I remember it being in when it was put away 2 yrs ago. Well it started out as a re finish and looks like it is going to be a reskin as the glass had seperated from the cedar. So spent the day stripping the glass off the bottom of the canoe. Too bad I have no use for cedar toned old fiberglass as I have a box of it now. I have to take the gunwales off to get the last chunks and re finish them too. Looks like a complete over haul of the craft. As I have the motivation going I have to take down the cedar that has been sitting up on the ceiling for the past two years and get started on that Kayak I have been talking about. Oh I should say kayak's as Janet needs one too.

Think of all the storage space you're gaining.

I'll be looking forward to see this one and the kayaks get done.

Unfortunately Vaughn Once finished the canoe will go back up on the ceiling. So no space gained and it will occupy some valuable floor space till it is finished.

Although I don't need another boat, I really wish I had a canoe that will look as nice as that one when you git'r'dun....

Going to make a guess here, it was originally covered using polyester resin??

It was a cold cure epoxy resin over 6 once cloth with a 2 part uv inhibiter top coat from Industrial plastics and paint, but it was 1995 when I built this and it spent a good part of it's life on the roof of my truck or out in the yard uncovered. I have not been kind to this though and have used it lots in rivers and the ocean and it has seen its share of abuse. Lots of the glass had a good bond with the yellow cedar but there were sections where it had become seperated and after years of patching it is time to do the job right. I am thinking of trying out the west system this time but I am open to suggestions.

This is what she looked like the day I christened her. I took her out to the lake in Terrace Bc with a can of beer ( poor mans yaught so it seemed fitting ) and was going to call her the Northern Dream. Well just as I was about to do the honors a dark cloud let go a dump of rain and she got called the Wet Dream.

I designed her for doing the bowron lake chain and is a combination laker / freighter canoe with some modifications of my own. 32 inch at the beam with a flat bottom no keal so she side slips over the reeds and plants and rocks quite well so i can get into the grass's for better fishing. She may look wide and awkward, but she is a dream on the water. I tried to tip her the first time out just to see how stable she is and it took lots to get her over as the bottom is slightly flexable and creates a convex curve and this creats a suction to the water. Fully loaded she sits high in the water and that is the once curse she has as she catches more wind and with no keel she can be a challenge to handle in a good wind.

I did build two red cedar paddles for her. One normal for the front paddler and one power paddle for me. Both wide and flat so that they can be used for filleting fish when out camping.

She is a beauty Drew, hope you get her back in shape.

I went to kindergarten in Terrace BC and my youngest sister was born there.

Surprised epoxy came off like that, that is why I was assuming it was polyester resin.

Look at RAKA epoxy. Prices are cheaper than West and never heard of a quality problem. Their resin is thinner than West but for coating glass I like that.

Thanks Jeff I will check that out. I was surprised at how easy it all came off and I can only think that it is the time factor and the heating from the sun that could have caused the seperation. I have had issues with blisters in the past and deep scratches that have penetrated the glass. These could all be factors.

Stuart Ablett said:

She is a beauty Drew, hope you get her back in shape.

I went to kindergarten in Terrace BC and my youngest sister was born there.

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Wow small world Stu. My youngest was born in Terrace and the oldest in Prince Rupert I spent 20 yrs in northern BC and loved it. Have you ever gone back? My sister still lives in Terrace out in Jack pine flats and is planning to move back to the island as soon as she can sell her place. Too bad that work is scarce in that neck of the woods now. Erocan in Kitimat just shut down last year and put 500 out of work.

I had the canoe in the water every chance that I could up there with fly rod in hand. Still some of the best river fishing around in Terrace.

Well it has been awhile since I have posted on this. I returned to work this week so I was able to get some time to pull the decks and gunwalls off the canoe and had a good look at them and will be replacing them as well. I picked up the fiberglass and the resin today and spent the afternoon in the garage/ shop doing the glassing in 24 (75) degree temps. Was a bit of a rush but it is done. Now tomorrow I will work on the new decks and gunwalls and after they are on I will be picking up the 2 part Endura clear coat uv protectant to top it off.

Looking good Drew! So fiberglass instead of epoxy this time?

I'm just jealous. I'd love to have a wooden canoe that looks as good as that!

Thanks Brent. Glass and epoxy is the only way that I know how to do it. You can have one for yourself Brent it only takes about 200+ hrs of your time, but it is worth every minute. I am rushing to get it ready for next weekend and the Victoria Symphony Splash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_Splash
http://www.victorialodging.com/splash_photos

I have been going for years and canoe out in the harbor and Raft with all the other boats, kayaks and canoes and have a night at the symphony in the most unique fashion. I usally bring a bottle of wine and a picnic basket and enjoy the entire experience. The end is always the 1812 overture done in conjunction with fireworks and live cannon fire. lots of fun.

Drew Watson said:

I have been going for years and canoe out in the harbor and Raft with all the other boats, kayaks and canoes and have a night at the symphony in the most unique fashion. I usally bring a bottle of wine and a picnic basket and enjoy the entire experience. The end is always the 1812 overture done in conjunction with fireworks and live cannon fire. lots of fun.

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Sounds like a great time Drew...btw, canoe is looking good, beautiful boat.

Wow Drew glad to see this post somehow i missed it before. You have done a real great job on the re skinning. After seeing the stripped pieces bucket and the filler picks i was wondering how the final coat over would come out, but its come out fantastic. I am pleased to know this is possible.

Glad to hear you back to work.

This is the project that justified my shop so i gotta get moving soon. I have my strongback ready, forms cut, just need to commit to buying the wood.

Still procrastinating on whether to buy slabs and rip or buy ready made strips and just get going. Between myself and a couple of friends we have 3 canoes to do. (way to get helping hands) so with that many cutting our own strips cold be economical, what the heck i got all the tools. Just adds to the time is all.

Well you did a nice job there so i hope you enjoy the paddle and picnic.

The re skinning went better than I expected and still lots of sanding to get it to the finished product. Then the UV coating goes on. Now it is to decide to go with the wood for the finish. I used oak last time but this time I might go with Mahogony.

I went with a local supplier of cedar Rob with dimensional lumber for my kayaks. That way I get 1 inch thick boards and gives me lots of room for machining. I bead and coved the strips for the canoe and plan on the same for my kayaks.

I bought some of the canoes strips pre cut on a band saw but was not happy with the cuts as they were not as consistant as I was able to do on the table saw. Of course the difference is the blade thickness and for every 2 cuts on the table saw in the loss of one board. The band saw is every 4 cuts you loose one board ( more or less).

Well got a little carried away with the sanding of one lump of epoxy that was missed and now I need to do a patch. Oh well it has been 15 yrs since I did this last and I need to re read the part of slow down Guess I was do for at least one Opps. Oh I guess since I didn't get a pic that it just didn't happen.

You not the only one to have a ooops today Drew. So feel happy you in a club with me.

Good point you make on the ripping of the boards in to strips. The people here in To that sell the strips are Noah Marine they have a moulder and do a ton of them. So they all knot less and color matched etc. One thing buying strips will do is cut down on build time. What concerned me more was how long a pair of bead and cove router bits would last. I have no idea. Its not as if the cedar is a really hard wood. Can you remember at all?

Rob Keeble said:

What concerned me more was how long a pair of bead and cove router bits would last. I have no idea. Its not as if the cedar is a really hard wood. Can you remember at all?

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I have not used mine for much more than the canoe 15 years ago and I still have them. I bought the carbide bits and they are just like the day that I bought them. Cedar may not be hard but I have found the stuff I get has sand in it as it is brought up with it as the tree grows. It dulled my planer blades down fast when I did a run of 1x6 cedar through it for a bench that I made.

Oh I just checked and they supply them already done, well isn't that a time saver. Alas I am the kind of person that just wants the experience of doing it all myself. They are right though canoe craft is the bible of canoe building.

I wish that I had the picture of my set up from 15 yrs ago as I had an infeed table and outfeed table for my router 40 ft long with the router in the middle. I have heard of guys setting up two routers and doing both cuts in one pass, but I was in no rush.

Ok what did you do Rob? Come on give it up.

I ended up mixing up the last batch of epoxy resin and did the patch and did the re coat of resin on the section that i had sanded and it looks good. I will be putting a third coat of resin on that section once I get the patch sanded and feathered. It was a stupid mistake and I should have been more careful as I didn't have a random orbital sander last time I did the canoe and it worked just a bit faster than I had expected. Time to bring back out the old orbital palm sander and get some wet and dry paper.