Flaw in the Rubrail

Flaw in the Rubrail
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

In a continuation of "back to basics" week, I will discuss this rubrail in a bit more detail.

We purchased 10-foot sections of oak, which is obviously too short for the entire canoe. We compensated for this by angle-cutting the oak sections and joining them together with epoxy. We did the joints at port-bow and starboard-stern, for load balancing. This way if we hit something that would break one joint, they both wouldnt break.

This spring, my boat hit a rock in rapids, and popped the rubrail joint. I tried patching the popped joint with gorilla glue, but that was inadequate for the job, and the joint popped again, (on a much smaller rock, at a much lower speed.)

As you can imagine, I was starting to get a little frustrated over my canoe continually "breaking." I figured it was time to do the job right, so I decided to sand and re-epoxy the joint from scratch.

Unfortunately, my daughter wanted to help, and due to a perfect storm of circumstances, I didnt quite mix the epoxy right, and it never quite set. Growing even more weary of this ongoing problem, I sunk a couple of bronze nails into the seams, figuring that would do it. Thats when I sanded and painted the boat, and when I noticed the flaw in this picture. If you look VERY closely (not the best picture), you can see that theres no epoxy bonding the rubrail to the hull. Once the paint dries, but before I stain the rubrails, I will bond the rubrail to the hull with a thin line of unthickened epoxy.

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Day 3 final panels

I did discover that laying out the panels for the sides involved a more flexible batten than the one I was using, and decided to use a thinner one lying in the back of the garage and redo the curvatures.  All panels are now cut out along with frames and transom. 

My technique is to saw about 1/16" outside the drawn line and then use a block plane and Stanley surform to fair to the line.  I then sand the edges lightly to ease the handling of the panels.  Apart for getting a CNC cutter, there is not much else I can do here. 

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More Flaws in the Plans

Rear Transom Overhang
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

This is a picture of where the hull and rear transom come together. If you look, you can see that the hull extends past the transom. In addition to this, weve discovered that the rear transom was also too wide, and weve had to shave some width from the port and starboard sides of the rear transom.

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bow shed plans are in

The plans for the bow shed came in this past weekend.  It is a very straightforward, cost effective solution; and rather elegant to boot.  The big challenge is in finding 12 long fir strapping. 

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closing in on it

I installed the cross braces at station 3 and 10 today.  Michalak says the one at 3 is probably optional, but I plan on keeping it as it might make a nice place to tie a temporary anchor or help tie it to the roof of the car. 

This is the bottom, zip tied in place.  I was using wire, but gave up after punching a few holes in my hands.  This is much more user friendly. 

The bow twist is a little difficult to get to lie flat.  From here it is nothing some filler (ok, lots of it) and glass wont hide.  This took a lot of patience and some easing the center seam with a hand saw.  I was just glad that I put the halfs together in the correct orientation.  That would have been annoying.  The zip ties work well.  I believe I can sand right over them and leave them inside the putty. 

Another view. 

I got a little too aggresive easing the center seam in the middle of the boat.  Once again, filler and sanding should hide it pretty good.  I am not looking forward to working upside down in here.

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These 1/4" holes allowed me to use a larger size zip tie 8" long.  that really helped a lot with the assembly.  If I were to do it again, I would loosely join the two panels, secure the edges and do the final trimming on the centerline last. 

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In the Bunk House

As I mentioned before, these last couple of sessions havent yielded any progress on the boat itself. We have, however, been laying the ground work for moving forward with the actual project. During our last couple of sessions, weve installed his air compressor, reinforced the supports on the boat trailer, and worked on making sure that the boat is level in relation to the trailer. The latter two pieces of work will allow us to make sure that the boat is built true, with no sagging or unexpected unevenness in the floor.

Our goal is to work on the boat itself next time. We plan to install and secure the cross-member frame pieces.

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Front Transom Overhang

Front Transom Overhang
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

The overhang on the front transom is more pronounced than the rear transom. Again, the hull extends past the front transom.

Though this makes for a bit more work, Id rather have the pieces measure too large than too small. Its a lot easier to cut away the excess than it is to build on a piece thats too short.

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and Then I Went to Help Greg

Front Transom Epoxy Gap
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

... work on his boat.

This week we did a final laying of thickened epoxy, in preparation for taping the seams.

In this photo, you will see a small gap between the transom and the hull, and a screw hole.

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1st steps in building

laying out the plywood involves a few preliminary measurements so that the hull panels can be transferred from the plans to the wood. Measure very carefully, in this case you will see from the photos that a 4X8 sheet is actually a little bigger.  I like using the imperial/metric tape measure as the plans are in feet-eighths-inches, but the math is easier in centimeters.

From vireo

Start by laying out a 12X12 grid, you will discover the real size of your panel

















transfer the lines from the plan to the panel. Work slowly and carefully, measure and remeasure. if it looks wrong, it is!

From vireo

circle the marks clearly where the brads for the bending batten will be placed.

From vireo

1 hour later - this panel was fully laid out and ready to
cut.

Get a plywood cutting blade for the circular saw. From vireo

 

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