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Posted

Finally was able to find a reasonable (not cheap) source for the plywood to start building the pirogue Woodman and I are working on. So far, I'm in the laying out stage, not to bad, two evenings so far and I have most of it done. It was a great feeling when I checked the dimensions against the plans and lo and behold right on the money. Will begin cutting out the pieces Saturday when I have some more time and the weather doesn't look good for outside stuff.

FYI, it will be made from okoume plywood for the bulk of the hull with cedar strips for the caps each end. From other pictures I've seen, should be a really pretty boat. Very lightweight, probably 40 lbs max.

Can't weight for Spring river fishing to start in my new boat!

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Posted

Do you mind disclosing your source for the "reasonable" okoume? I have been trying to debate making a quick and dirty canoe just to play on the creeks in my area, I am still leaning on using 1/4 ply and a ton of water seal. (along with plenty of foam)

Money is just ink and paper, worthless until it switches hands, and worthless again until the next transaction. (me)

I am the master of my unspoken words, and the slave to those that should have remained unsaid. (unknown)

Posted

World Panel Inc in North Carolina. They have a website, just google them and you should find it. The okoume plywood, 4 mm, was just under $55 per sheet and $100 buck for shipping. It appears to be high quality (the bs 1088 standard, no voids etc). Very light, I had some other 1/8 inch regular plywood that felt twice as heavy. I'm hoping that this build ends up weighing fourty pounds or less.

Got the panels cut cut today, went pretty smooth. Took me a minute to get used to cutting where I wanted, from there on looked good. Smoothed the edges with a small block plane and very light sanding. Matched the right and left side parts so they are exactly the same size after the block plane/sanding part.

I took some pictures just need to get them put up. Not really much to see yet, but the next part (stitching) should be better.

Jim

Posted

Several have asked for pictures. Not much to see but here you go:

http://s1241.photobucket.com/albums/gg520/jkoeneman1/pirogue%20build/

I used the workmate a lot. Found out that a small block plane is your friend. Much easier to use in the final shaping of the mirror image pieces.

One problem. The stern end of the hull pieces are a half inch short of the plan. Not sure how this happened, when I did the check before cutting thought I had it right on the money. Will have to see if I can patch in a 1/2 inch piece as part of the gluing the butt joints in. Shouldn't show up as we'll be using graphite and epoxy on the bottom, makes it black. Will have to confer with woodman when we get to the next steps.

Posted

You did the hardest part in "starting". Keep it up, it will be a fun project. On the 1/2 inch deal, there are many options, just use your imagination. I think the butt joint with an additional 1/2 in of ply would perform just as well as if it was never short. ( I'm no boat builder, or a carpenter for that matter, but I play one on OAF :-) .

PS thanks for the info on World Panel. I will look them up when I'm ready to do it right.

Money is just ink and paper, worthless until it switches hands, and worthless again until the next transaction. (me)

I am the master of my unspoken words, and the slave to those that should have remained unsaid. (unknown)

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Woodman and I started the assembly process last night. Gluing the panels together using the butt block method. Butt the ends of the sections together, overlay with a piece of plywood to cover the joint and glue it

up using Titebond III. It pays to be careful with dimensions so we took a fair amount of time ensuring that the sections were aligned correctly. Now the waiting game until the joint sets up fully.

This pirogue is being built with the stitch and glue method. Next, we'll be drilling holes to accept the copper wire to stitch the pieces together and forming the hull around temporary bulkheads. For more info on this method go to jem watercraft. While the hull will be plywood, the decks will be strips of wood glued

together to make a more colorful appearance.

http://s1241.photobucket.com/albums/gg520/jkoeneman1/pirogue%20build/

In the picture Steve is making sure that the pieces of the joint are in full contact with each other using sophisticated state of the art tools (five gallon bucket with nails and a 15 lb dumbbell).

Posted

Great! I bought some copper wire, the blue tape and sanding discs at our westlakes too. I'll call you around noon tomorrow to see if the afternoon works out.

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