The Pigging Canoes & Stupid Idea

[No Idea]

Having got the points marked, they are bending a length of batton along the marks to give them the curve to draw.

The batton ideally is a piece of timber without knots, so it will bend uniformally - without flatspots in the line. You can use metal for this, but not rulers.

 

[No Idea]

Having marked them out, I got the job of cutting all 3 boats out.

Once I had cut out the first, they used it to mark out the other two and the other end of itself.

Didnt help when it started pouring down before we had finished.

 

[No Idea]

The plans call for the side and floor panels to be joined with duct tape before they are fibreglassed.

I put this end together with cable ties through holes drilled through the panels.

 

[No Idea]

Having watched me, they had a go...

Looks like I might have had a little mroe practice than them lol

It really did rain.

 

[No Idea]

They got to sit in the mocked up hull and think about what they would have when they finish...

"As we live in a flat, can we build them in two halves so we can get them in the lift?"

Er.....

"I suppose its possible..."

Oh dear.

 

[No Idea]

Next insallment on this adventure...

er....

when it warms up.

lol

 

[Tengu]

No idea your canoes are looking suspicuisly like kayaks

 

[No Idea]

Hi Tengu

lol Ive No Idea. To me these are canoes, simply because the plans say "Canoe Plans".

According to Mr Fenna, so long as you can kneel in it, its a canoe, even if its still not a propper one.

According to Silvergirl, if these things have flat bottoms, pointy at both ends, open topped, 14ft ish long and 30 ins wide, then they are canoes.

TBH, Im not that worried, as Im positive, Im not going to go anywhere near one when its near the wet stuff.

For the exploring we have in mind this year, they should do fine.

I will stick to Stupid Idea and our sailing dinghy.

 

[Tengu]

Yes, you re safe with a dingy.

You know its a dingy

 

[Peter_t]

hi no idea

im building one of these canoes too, its been a bit of a pain so far lol.
the plans are simple but they are written in a way that presumes you already know about fibreglassing - which i didn't! marking out the shapes and cutting has been strait forward but i have got to the stage when you join either end of the sides an bottom together. i did it per the plans with the butt blocks but being on the cold concrete floor of the barn the resin never set and when i went to pick them up they just fell apart! they had been left overnight and a bit more but weren’t even tacky. the thermometer in the barn said 6 degrees (just warm enough for the resin to set) but it was obviously a different story on the floor.

another problem i had was that i bought the wrong resin. These plans are designed to use epoxy. i have polyester instead, somehow i mixed these up thinking they where the same thing or something... when i saw it on ebay for under half the price of a epoxy resin system and the recommendation on the label for boat building i just went for it. in a small way getting the polyester has been good because this canoe project wouldn't have happened otherwhise because epoxy is way too expensive for me.

for christmas i got a book about building you own canoe (wish i had it beforehand!) and its much more helpful. reading about the resins it turns out that polyester cannot be used as glue or as a protective coating as you can with epoxy. there is also no need to make the woodflour filler as you do with epoxy either so that was more wasted money. i bought 6 litres of resin so i doubt i will use half that just wetting out fibreglass

for gluing the book suggested cascamite, a waterproof glue which isn't too expensive luckily! so i will be using this instead for the failed attempt i had earlier.


... one day

pete

 

[No Idea]

Hi Peter

I havent time to answer you now as my kids are screaching again...

However....

Dont bin the layup resin!

Epoxy is realtively new. We used layup for everything before it arrived. The layup is all that holds the early wooden stitch and glue sailing dinghies together, and is plenty good enough for the job.

I might not be back again today, but if you can, could you put up some pics of what you did, including those of whats fallen apart?

Also of your shed setup?

Has it got power in it?

6 litres is a hell of a lot of resin. You have enough to do several of these canoes with that. You will be able to scrape it off and do it again, but leave it for the mo, as it might be salvagable - so long as you havent pulled it all apart.

Later....

 

[Peter_t]

no no im still using the polyester resin but im having to adapt the plans because the meathods are slightly different. im only using it to do the fiberglass tape but can't use it for the gluing


pete

 

[No Idea]

You can use it for gluing.

 

[Peter_t]

some pictures


me cutting the sides, if you can't see there is actually a small trench, im not cutting through the floor!

coating either side with resin

applying the woodflour glue

blocks weighed down and left to cure overnight (or not)

i have no more pictures at the moment. the barn is not mine, it is at the yard owned by a bloke i work for.

pete

 

[Peter_t]

You can use it for gluing.

you can? with woodflour? in my book it said it was pretty poor for gluing.



pete

 

[No Idea]

Ive gotta go!

Have a look at this...

http://www.edsboat.co.uk

Have a look at the pages on the left hand side..in particular the firbreglassing the chines..

This was all layup resin.

I suppose I aught to nag him into updating it.

Gotta go!

 

[No Idea]

That concrete floor will suck out all your heat.

Try pinning the joints with clamps and pieces of wood.

If you can arrange it so you have an old 60w light bulb under your joint and no drafts, it will cure in a few hours at 5C. Damp is also a major problem...

Sorry Later...

 

[No Idea]

Right...

Im back for a while..

 

[No Idea]

Your build in the shed...

First thing, 5C must be an absolute minimum for curing fibreglass with everything else being ideal.

Fibreglass cures through a thermal process... Which Ive been told means it has to warm itself up to set. In practice, if you leave enough in a pot, it actually smokes as it sets (0.5 litre).

I wouldnt attempt to fibreglass anything, unless it was an emergency, below 10C, and I would really want that temp overnight with more during the day.

Fibreglass doesnt like damp when its curing. This includes humidity because its raining ourside, serious damp, and even damp caused by heating. I didnt know heaters caused problems with curing until after Id messed a batch up. You can tell if the stuff has got damp as it "Blooms" - or goes sort of white on the top.

That said, if your fibreglass on those boards is ok, you may be able to get it to cure by heating it with a hairdryer or an electric paint stripper - not a steam wallpaper one though.

 

[No Idea]

Next...

If you are in any doubt about your fibreglass, and if I bought some cheap off ebay, I would have doubts...

Mix up 1 cc and leave it to see if it sets.

If it doesnt set in the shed, put it in several plastic bags - and carefully tie them off, and put them in the house, to see if its the shed temp thats messing it up. If its sealed inside a pot - tupperware type polythene post dont dissolve, yoghurt ones do, and in enough individually sealed bags, it wont stink out the house.

See if it sets in the house if it didnt in the shed...

Even if it does not set outside in 24hrs, it may well still set if you get it warm enough - room temp.