Boat building

[trc65]

You damn Yanks just don't know how to cook. Squirrels make the best Brunswick Stew!

Classic Brunswick Stew with Squirrel

dwr.virginia.gov

Never made Brunswick stew, but as a kid I used to make lots of squirrel stew on the weekends. Nobody else in the house would touch it other than Dad, so the two of us feasted while everybody else got popcorn on Sunday nights.

 

[Mike1950]

You damn Yanks just don't know how to cook. Squirrels make the best Brunswick Stew!

Classic Brunswick Stew with Squirrel

dwr.virginia.gov

Have you ever seen a pine squirrel, about 1/3 the size of the invasive greys here. When I moved here in 88 we had nothing but pine squirrels. Now I probably have not seen one in 10 yrs. Greys killed them all. I have had grey squirrel cooked by others( S. carolina). It was good. Pine squirrels are like chewing on a handfull of pine needles, I guess if you were fond of pine needle diet then they would be great.

 

[SENC]

Have you ever seen a pine squirrel, about 1/3 the size of the invasive greys here. When I moved here in 88 we had nothing but pine squirrels. Now I probably have not seen one in 10 yrs. Greys killed them all. I have had grey squirrel cooked by others( S. carolina). It was good. Pine squirrels are like chewing on a handfull of pine needles, I guess if you were fond of pine needle diet then they would be great.

Why do you think wrong like spice so much down here? A little hot pepper makes everything mo' betta.

 

[Mike1950]

Why do you think wrong like spice so much down here? A little hot pepper makes everything mo' betta.

Why do you think wrong like spice so much down here? A little hot pepper makes everything mo' betta.

I am going to have to see it @Tclem hacked ya or get him to translate. Yikes!!!!

 

[SENC]

Modeling is tougher than I thought. First, tools aren't really scaled to work with 1mm plywood. Second, I really have to shift my normally perfectionist mindset to a good enough mindset - it's only a freakin' model! Anyway, the basic shape is done. A good learning experience in terms of understanding the basics of lofting, stitching and build process - and now I can better visualize size and scale and think through how I'll use it what finishing touches I'll wait for the real build.

 

[sprucegum]

Looks pretty good to me, I admire your patience. I could never get into model building, I've never enjoyed working on small builds. I've been watching every boat building video that I come across, one thing that I've noticed is that many of the pros use exterior fir plywood. I think that I am going to modify the layout of my mini Mac to make it a work better for 2 people. I'm going to incorporate some movable seating to make it easier to distribute the weight depending on the number of passengers. The design calls it a solo boat that will handle 2 adults on flat water, it also suggests adding a couple of inches to the height of the sides.

 

[Mike1950]

Looks pretty good to me, I admire your patience. I could never get into model building, I've never enjoyed working on small builds. I've been watching every boat building video that I come across, one thing that I've noticed is that many of the pros use exterior fir plywood. I think that I am going to modify the layout of my mini Mac to make it a work better for 2 people. I'm going to incorporate some movable seating to make it easier to distribute the weight depending on the number of passengers. The design calls it a solo boat that will handle 2 adults on flat water, it also suggests adding a couple of inches to the height of the sides.

I think if you use Good fir plywood or marine ply and a fiberglass system like West or? the big deal from what I have read is if water gets through anywhere that ply will rot. Sure adds a lot of weight. I bought a8-9 foot hydroplane. took it out for a spin, if you were moving fast it was great but sitting still it leaked bad. I fiberglassed it, outside only, added a ton of weight. By the time I was done it sat low in water but was fun. Sold it to a friend. he had it a few years, The glass delammed because moisture condensed at fiber glass-ply boundary. Had a retired neighbor that repaired wooden boats and he explained to me the pros and cons of glass over wood. He did amazing things with bending mahogany to replace boards on hulls. Lot of handtool work

 

[Mike1950]

Modeling is tougher than I thought. First, tools aren't really scaled to work with 1mm plywood. Second, I really have to shift my normally perfectionist mindset to a good enough mindset - it's only a freakin' model! Anyway, the basic shape is done. A good learning experience in terms of understanding the basics of lofting, stitching and build process - and now I can better visualize size and scale and think through how I'll use it what finishing touches I'll wait for the real build.

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all those little pieces make my hands hurt just thinking about them. Modeling tools like a mini TS make a lot of the work easier. Looks good to me..

 

[SENC]

No doubt fir is fine if well-encapsulated, should work just as well as the imported stuff, depending on your specific needs. Weight will be important in this build - gaining or losing an inch of draft in the shallows and improving odds of being able to move the boat off a sand bar are keys for me. Okoume yields significant weight reduction, 20-25%, relative to Fir (or Meranti). It is also a bit less stiff and brittle, which will aid in building the curves as well as some general resilience. For those benefits, I'm paying a bit more and giving up a touch of natural rot resistance, but with a good epoxy job and ability to keep the boat covered (and often in my shop) when not in use, I shouldn't lose any longevity.

The following is a section from a vendor website that includes number of plys and general weight per 4x8 piece of plywood for the various marine plywood types. May be useful to others.

Okoume A/B BS1088 Lloyds Approved
Minimum 1.2mm face veneer thickness. Equal thickness okoume veneers each layer, Light weight, Strong

Sheet Size	1/16"	1/8"	5/32"	3/16"	1/4"	9/32"	3/8"	1/2"	5/8"	3/4"	1"
4 x 8	70	70	70	95	98	104	114	150	195	210	275
Ply	3Ply	3Ply	3Ply	5Ply	5Ply	5Ply	7Ply	9Ply	9Ply	11Ply	13Ply
Weight 4x8	5Lbs	9Lbs	12Lbs	16Lbs	18Lbs	21Lbs	28Lbs	37Lbs	44Lbs	52Lbs	76Lbs

Sapele A/B BS1088 Lloyds Approved
Sapele is African mahogany, Minimum 1.2mm face veneer thickness, Sapele wood every layer, Equal veneer thickness, Extremely Strong

	1/8"- 5/32"	1/4"	3/8"	1/2"	5/8"	3/4"	1"
4 x 8	115	145	180	220	259	295	450
Ply	3-ply	5-ply	7-ply	9-ply	11-ply	11-ply	15-ply
Weight	20 Lbs	30 Lbs	45 Lbs	60 Lbs	80 Lbs	90 Lbs	120 Lbs

Merranti A/B HYDROTECK BS 1088
Merranti is Philippine mahogany, Minimum 1.2mm face veneer thickness, Merranti wood every layer, Equal veneer thickness, Extremely Strong

Thickness	5/32" - 4mm	1/4" - 6mm	3/8" - 9mm	1/2" - 12mm	5/8" - 15mm	3/4" - 18mm	1" - 25mm
4 x 8	70.00	85.00	114.00	150.00	189.00	210.00	275.00
Ply	3	5	7	9	11	13	17
Weight per 4x8	12	23	33	45	60	70	90

Douglas Fir A/B
Fir wood every layer, Football patches on both faces, This material is used when appearance is not important.

	1/4"	3/8"	1/2"	5/8"	3/4"	1"
4 x 8	135.00	159.00	155.00	197.00	205.00	250.00
Weight per 4 x 8	25 Lbs	33 Lbs	49 Lbs	62 Lbs	71 Lbs	98 Lbs

 

[DLJeffs]

Looks good. I'd think about making a little sharper bow with chines to better cut through chop and carry the spray away better. makes for a drier ride.

 

[Mike Hill]

Modeling is tougher than I thought. First, tools aren't really scaled to work with 1mm plywood. Second, I really have to shift my normally perfectionist mindset to a good enough mindset - it's only a freakin' model! Anyway, the basic shape is done. A good learning experience in terms of understanding the basics of lofting, stitching and build process - and now I can better visualize size and scale and think through how I'll use it what finishing touches I'll wait for the real build.

View attachment 267647

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Tain't bad my NC friend. I bet it would outrun my first boat model build!

 

[Mike1950]

I made a Thriftway II hydro model from a kit. Finished it and install I think .045 engine in it. Took it to local pond that had set up to tether to pipe and have it run in circles till out of gas. Yikes what an anti climax, all that work to run in circles. On ran once....

 

[Mike Hill]

I made a Thriftway II hydro model from a kit. Finished it and install I think .045 engine in it. Took it to local pond that had set up to tether to pipe and have it run in circles till out of gas. Yikes what an anti climax, all that work to run in circles. On ran once....

I think they have something called radio control now that might make it more fun!!

 

[Mike Hill]

My first model boat - rowing dory! With Lil Mikey at the oars - it'll be mighty slow!

 

[SENC]

I deserve some sort of prize for starting a thread that finally yielded a picture of a woodworking project Mikey actually did!

 

[SENC]

Looks good. I'd think about making a little sharper bow with chines to better cut through chop and carry the spray away better. makes for a drier ride.

That picture makes it look at bit wider at the nose tha it really is...

 

[SENC]

@sprucegum and @woodtickgreg, and any others, I placed my order for epoxy resin today. Had a great conversation with the owner and Progressive Epoxy yesterday and was planning to go that way, but then saw Raka's pricing and spoke with one of their folks, too.

There are a bunch of name brands out there, and I didn't check all of them - just the ones that had been most highly or frequently recommended to me. I wanted a no-blush resin/hardener, so that did push the cost a little higher, but here is what I found.

WEST - $216 for 105 Resin and 207 Hardener - makes a little over a gallon

Total Boat - non-blushing/clear resin kit $188/gallon

US Composites - non-blushing kit $97.50/gallon

Progressive - basic non-blushing kit $101/gallon

Raka - thin resin and non-blushing hardener $65/gallon (for 3 gallon kit)

 

[Mike1950]

@sprucegum and @woodtickgreg, and any others, I placed my order for epoxy resin today. Had a great conversation with the owner and Progressive Epoxy yesterday and was planning to go that way, but then saw Raka's pricing and spoke with one of their folks, too.

There are a bunch of name brands out there, and I didn't check all of them - just the ones that had been most highly or frequently recommended to me. I wanted a no-blush resin/hardener, so that did push the cost a little higher, but here is what I found.

WEST - $216 for 105 Resin and 207 Hardener - makes a little over a gallon

Total Boat - non-blushing/clear resin kit $188/gallon

US Composites - non-blushing kit $97.50/gallon

Progressive - basic non-blushing kit $101/gallon

Raka - thin resin and non-blushing hardener $65/gallon (for 3 gallon kit)

Wow=results? Will be interesting. You do realize if it turns out bad that dog will be pissed, and rightfully so..

 

[SENC]

Wow=results? Will be interesting. You do realize if it turns out bad that dog will be pissed, and rightfully so..

You are quite right!

 

[sprucegum]

@sprucegum and @woodtickgreg, and any others, I placed my order for epoxy resin today. Had a great conversation with the owner and Progressive Epoxy yesterday and was planning to go that way, but then saw Raka's pricing and spoke with one of their folks, too.

There are a bunch of name brands out there, and I didn't check all of them - just the ones that had been most highly or frequently recommended to me. I wanted a no-blush resin/hardener, so that did push the cost a little higher, but here is what I found.

WEST - $216 for 105 Resin and 207 Hardener - makes a little over a gallon

Total Boat - non-blushing/clear resin kit $188/gallon

US Composites - non-blushing kit $97.50/gallon

Progressive - basic non-blushing kit $101/gallon

Raka - thin resin and non-blushing hardener $65/gallon (for 3 gallon kit)

I had seen the Raka online, I will be watching to see how you like it. Great price for sure, I'm still thinking MAS because one resin works with 3 hardeners which makes it pretty versatile. The price is kind of middle of the road.