Boat building

Looks great. It looks so warm there, we still have ice on many of the lakes. I wish I had been able to move outside for sanding. I bet you will have it on water well but waterfowl season.
Had a front pass through last night, we're down in the 60s this morning. Brrrr! :cool:
 
Was 80 at home Sunday. Came to teach tracking training this week. Trained in pouring rain yesterday and today it's 50, cool and windy
 
Here's the scarfing jig I ended up with for dimensional lumber (up to about 3"). It is 12:1.

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I can't take credit for it, after messing with ideas yesterday I knew what I wanted to do with my sled and thought I wanted hold-downs, but hadn't figured out my clamping plan. Came across some plans last night on Fine Woodworking that fit the bill perfectly. The fence is screwed to the sled at the desired angle, with bolts running up from its bottom (in my case, the bolts are buried between the fence and the sled). A piece of scrap the same height as the piece being scarfed is set (loosely) along the back of the fence. Hold-down blocks sit on top of that scrap and the piece being scarfed. That pressure holds the piece being cut square to the sled and fence. The only really limitation is height... this works up to the max height if your table saw blade, less the sled thickness.
 
Here's the scarfing jig I ended up with for dimensional lumber (up to about 3"). It is 12:1.

View attachment 271184

I can't take credit for it, after messing with ideas yesterday I knew what I wanted to do with my sled and thought I wanted hold-downs, but hadn't figured out my clamping plan. Came across some plans last night on Fine Woodworking that fit the bill perfectly. The fence is screwed to the sled at the desired angle, with bolts running up from its bottom (in my case, the bolts are buried between the fence and the sled). A piece of scrap the same height as the piece being scarfed is set (loosely) along the back of the fence. Hold-down blocks sit on top of that scrap and the piece being scarfed. That pressure holds the piece being cut square to the sled and fence. The only really limitation is height... this works up to the max height if your table saw blade, less the sled thickness.
So that cuts a slight angle on to the end of the mahogany/cherry board? Could you do that with a miter / chop saw? I can cut up to at least a 6" wide board on my miter saw. Might be faster.
 
So that cuts a slight angle on to the end of the mahogany/cherry board? Could you do that with a miter / chop saw? I can cut up to at least a 6" wide board on my miter saw. Might be faster.
12:1 ratio yields an angle a shade under 5°. So, I'd need a jig anyway.

I may not have said earlier, but the scarf joint's purpose is making short boards longer. The key is repeatability, to ensure that pieces that get mated together fit well. There's enough blade deflection in my miter saw I'd guess it wouldn't be satisfactory.
 
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12:1 ratio yields an angle a shade under 5°. So, I'd need a jig anyway.

I may not have said earlier, but the scarf joint's purpose is making short boards longer. The key is repeatability, to ensure that pieces that get mated together fit well. There's enough blade deflection in my miter saw I'd guess it wouldn't be satisfactory.
Ah, now I see, you'll glue the scarf joint together to make a 16ft long board.
 
I only had 8' stock for my gunnels, I couldn't seem to get my head around a practical jig. Nice design!! I simply used more thinner strips and laminated them with epoxy, I did use a compound miter 45⁰ in the joints. The bend of the gunnel is pretty sharp and bends horizontal as well as vertical so I think multiple layers of thin stock was easier to work with.
 
Had a front pass through last night, we're down in the 60s this morning. Brrrr! :cool:
Lucky you, 2” of fresh snow and 19⁰ this morning. Opening day for trout is Saturday and I only have one oar almost done. I made skip fishing rather than have people saying that I only have one oar in the water. 😂
 
I only had 8' stock for my gunnels, I couldn't seem to get my head around a practical jig. Nice design!! I simply used more thinner strips and laminated them with epoxy, I did use a compound miter 45⁰ in the joints. The bend of the gunnel is pretty sharp and bends horizontal as well as vertical so I think multiple layers of thin stock was easier to work with.
bent laminations. At least as strong as the board was. A little more work than Henry's method. Works on plywood also but you have to make your own plywood. Probably not practical at our level of woodworking.
 
Here's the scarfing jig I ended up with for dimensional lumber (up to about 3"). It is 12:1.

View attachment 271184

I can't take credit for it, after messing with ideas yesterday I knew what I wanted to do with my sled and thought I wanted hold-downs, but hadn't figured out my clamping plan. Came across some plans last night on Fine Woodworking that fit the bill perfectly. The fence is screwed to the sled at the desired angle, with bolts running up from its bottom (in my case, the bolts are buried between the fence and the sled). A piece of scrap the same height as the piece being scarfed is set (loosely) along the back of the fence. Hold-down blocks sit on top of that scrap and the piece being scarfed. That pressure holds the piece being cut square to the sled and fence. The only really limitation is height... this works up to the max height if your table saw blade, less the sled thickness.
Jigs- a lot of work but it sure makes repeatability practical and safe. Back when I was still using plans I built 2 barrister book cases. Everything seemed fined except using table saw to taper 4 sides of 4 6" legs on both sets. I read their method- and tried one cut. Nope I aint doin it, made a jig. Not much different than yours. They turned out perfect. Last set of plans I tried. It scares me now just thinking about that cut.
You did right thing. my 14" miter saw would have difficulty with that shallow of an angle.
Going to be a cool little boat. How do you get dog back in it...
 
Details, details, I put a cheap little anchor lock on the bow, not the best setup for flowing water but it is the correct anchor point for flat water. If it works good I will make a mounting bracket to put one on the transom or perhaps the rear of the gunnel. I want to leave the transom clean enough to mount a trolling motor. I also installed a piece of aluminum bolt track for mounting the seat, this will make balancing the load easy and will make it less critical where I place the oar locks.


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Details, details, I put a cheap little anchor lock on the bow, not the best setup for flowing water but it is the correct anchor point for flat water. If it works good I will make a mounting bracket to put one on the transom or perhaps the rear of the gunnel. I want to leave the transom clean enough to mount a trolling motor. I also installed a piece of aluminum bolt track for mounting the seat, this will make balancing the load easy and will make it less critical where I place the oar locks.


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do you have a running total of $$ and hours. Nice touch on adjustable seat
 
I tried to keep track of the hours but found it nearly impossible. The work comes in such short segments. I'm gonna say 15 hours a week for six weeks. Some days I didn't work on it at all because of other things that need done. Probably close to $700 in money plus I used a lot of lumber that I had on hand, the only purchased lumber was plywood.
 
You can easily spend 10 times that amount on a factory built drifter, even a used one; and you don't get the customization you provided yourself. Good call on the anchor lock location. The boat will weathervane on that point, resulting that if you're sitting in the rowing seat, you'll always be facing into the wind.
 
You can easily spend 10 times that amount on a factory built drifter, even a used one; and you don't get the customization you provided yourself. Good call on the anchor lock location. The boat will weathervane on that point, resulting that if you're sitting in the rowing seat, you'll always be facing into the wind.
My boat probably lies somewhere between a canoe and a proper drift boat. Easier to launch than the real deal and more comfortable and stable than a canoe. It's a mini drift boat.
 
It's a mini drift boat.

A perfect small boat for taking just about anywhere and doing just about anything! The ability to transport it anywhere in the back of the truck and launch it anywhere by yourself - and load it back up yourself when done - is not to be overlooked; that will hopefully mean you get more use out of it.
 
A perfect small boat for taking just about anywhere and doing just about anything! The ability to transport it anywhere in the back of the truck and launch it anywhere by yourself - and load it back up yourself when done - is not to be overlooked; that will hopefully mean you get more use out of it.
but does he get more Fish ??
 
As stated previously in this thread, I am nearly unsurpassed at fishing, it's the catching that I have problems with. Honestly I'm going to try to get back into fishing. When the kids were small I tried to get them out quite often. For the past 15 years I hardly went.
but does he get more Fish ??
I
 
Found a few old scans of pics of boats dad built. Not many pictures of his boats exist - only have pictures of probably a handful of the number of boats he's built. At this point we no longer have any of dad's boats - and he's not able to build any more due to health issues. Someday I hope to take up the reigns and build another one.

The boat that started it. 16', cedar strip. Dad started building this when I was 10 years old. A friend of his had dad build this for him. Based loosely off some plans, this was dad's own design. They did a lot of fishing trips down the river in this boat with 4 guys in it and a small motor on the back.

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One of quite a few drift boats dad built. He sold every one of them he made, and I don't think he ever got much more for them than what he put into them for materials, but he enjoyed building them.

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16' garvey that dad designed and built for him and I.

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And this was dad's own take/design on a baby drift boat. Fits into the back of a truck. Two people can comfortably fish from it. Very stable, can go anywhere, and can spin on a dime. If you were creative enough, one person could load/unload it from the truck fairly easily, but it did generally go easier with a second person to help.

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