Boat Builder Central

Matt, With the epoxy kit I think you should be able to get more than one coat if you don't put it on too thick, and I would recommend trying for two or three (depending on location) thin coats over one thick one. I think it will be less messy, and be better on the wood. I built a D4 with the epoxy k...

I built my D4 for about $378 in supplies, meaning wood, epoxy, etc. I didn't count in the cost of a few tools I had to get, since I will use them on a lot of other things.

Andrew

Is this 1 inch excess present even when you have the bottom stitched on? Or is this just from eye-balling it when you lay the bottom pieces on the frame? If the latter, it may simply be that you aren't allowing for the curve. If the former, seems to me you should trim. When I built my D4, there were...

Arizona,

I built a D4 last year, and took about 100-140 digital pictures. If you have questions about what something should look like, odds are I have a picture. When you get to that stage, let me know and I can e-mail you digital photos.

Andrew

Thanks for all the tips. If I get 10 years out of it, I'll be happy (I think it cost me about $380 to build). Had I known this would be a problem, I probably would have searched for better wood, but I didn't know. Live and learn, or build and learn, I suppose. I may consider glassing the bottom, but...

OK, if I can never fix this problem, then what can I expect it to do to my boat?

Andrew

I suspect it was pine. It was relatively cheap wood from Home Depot. I have the receipts somewhere, but can't find them. Anyway, it was your "basic" plywood.

I'll do a search for "checking" if that's what you think it is.

Andrew

Lori, I used one quart of primer (System 3) on my D4, and two quarts of paint (one grey, one white). I used every last drop of primer, and almost all the paint. YOu could buy extra to be safe, but it isn't cheap! I have photos on my web page, and loads more, that show the building and painting proce...

I will be giving a presentation about fly fishing from prams for my fly fishing club and will discuss the building and use of my own D4. However, I would love to be able to show other photos of bateau-made prams (i.e. D4's and PK78's), especially those designed or used under row-power. Any "act...

Thanks, everybody, for the information and leads. I have since grabbed a few library books as well. I am curious, though, why it is that a square bow is easier to build than a pointed bow. It would seem to me it can't be much easier than bringing the two sides together to form a point! But I suppose...