Hey Pee Wee, you are the second person to express concern about the BCX plywood. While the boat isn't meant to be a showpiece, I certainly don't want it to fall apart. You got me questioning my memory. I thought maybe I had imagined the BCX as an option. Went back and looked through the instructions. Turns out it is on the FL14 description on the bateau webpage that says the boat can be made of "inexpensive exterior plywood". So, I'm not losing my mind but I do hear your concerns! If this boat falls apart due to the quality of the plywood I'll be very unhappy. Guess I had better be very liberal with the epoxy when I am coating the exterior of the hull. I have tried to be very diligent to fill any voids in the edge laminations with any excess epoxy paste.
Any other pointers on how to make this boat more durable?
FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
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Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
cover exposed plywood with lightweight fiberglass cloth. It will add weight but make it very durable. It will also reduce checking.
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Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
Some years ago a guy built a very nice little boat. His work was great but he used cheap plywood and did not cover it with glass. After 2-3 years it had checked so badly he cut it up and hauled it to the dump.
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Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
Actually, two different guys.
Plumbertuck and GStanfield.
Tuck cut up his boat with a chainsaw and the other guy hauled his boat to the dump if I remember correctly.
I’d glass every exposed piece of wood on the boat.
Richard
Completed boats...XF20 "Red Alert", Aripeka Angler's Strip Canoe, FS18 “Bare Bones”, GF12
Currently building...PY12 Kayak
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=62146
Completed boats...XF20 "Red Alert", Aripeka Angler's Strip Canoe, FS18 “Bare Bones”, GF12
Currently building...PY12 Kayak
Bare Bones build thread...If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. - Loren Eiseley
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=62146
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Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
Do a few tests on your offcuts of plywood.TedS wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 4:02 pm Hey Pee Wee, you are the second person to express concern about the BCX plywood. While the boat isn't meant to be a showpiece, I certainly don't want it to fall apart. You got me questioning my memory. I thought maybe I had imagined the BCX as an option. Went back and looked through the instructions. Turns out it is on the FL14 description on the bateau webpage that says the boat can be made of "inexpensive exterior plywood". So, I'm not losing my mind but I do hear your concerns! If this boat falls apart due to the quality of the plywood I'll be very unhappy. Guess I had better be very liberal with the epoxy when I am coating the exterior of the hull. I have tried to be very diligent to fill any voids in the edge laminations with any excess epoxy paste.
Any other pointers on how to make this boat more durable?
Put a screw or two into the plywood and see if the screw separates the plies with a cracking noise. If it does, you need to throw it all away. Mertens wasn't assuming absolute garbage quality. The bcx stuff I got from HD was within the last 2 years and I am really hoping yours is not that horrible. Any movement like a boat hitting a wave would cause the junk I got to delam.
If it can't hold a screw without delaminating, it is junk.
Trust me, that stuff I bought was not good enough to build a boat with...
Otherwise, if the screw doesn't tear it apart, build on!
Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
Hey everyone. I really fell down on posting. Last summer got very crazy as it went. Too many projects in too little time. This boat is finished now so if I can remember how to use the forum interface I'm going to post photos from last summer and this summer showing the remainder of the process.
These show the process of epoxy gluing all of the interior joints.
These show the process of epoxy gluing all of the interior joints.
Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
I opted for buoyancy foam so I needed to create some hidden spaces inside of the storage compartments for this. I used rough cardboard templates to figure out the correct shape and size for the walls of these spaces and then cut them out of scrap plywood and glued them in.
Also seen here is the process of cutting the triangular piece of wood for reinforcing the bow joint. I approximated the shape as best I could and cut it out with a hand saw.
Also seen here is the process of cutting the triangular piece of wood for reinforcing the bow joint. I approximated the shape as best I could and cut it out with a hand saw.
Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
We flipped the boat over and fiberglassed the chines. That's as far as we got last summer. We put it on a trailer and pulled it back to Tennessee where it sat until this summer.
Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
Earlier this summer we decided to prioritize finishing the boat so we could enjoy it this summer and fall. With the help of some friends we hauled it up on our back porch and got to work. First glued the breast hook and other corner braces. Then added the rub rails. These were cut out of some scrap plywood and held in place with screws until the epoxy set.
There was a spot on one of the seats that was delaminating so I tore out everything that was loose and filled it with epoxy paste. Turned out not as smooth as I would have liked but it's fine.
Interior was pained with porch paint - textured for the floor deck, high gloss for everything else.
We got a bimini and it was just too tempting not to mount it and check it out.
There was a spot on one of the seats that was delaminating so I tore out everything that was loose and filled it with epoxy paste. Turned out not as smooth as I would have liked but it's fine.
Interior was pained with porch paint - textured for the floor deck, high gloss for everything else.
We got a bimini and it was just too tempting not to mount it and check it out.
Re: FL14 Tennessee/Wisconsin build
With some help from friends we flipped the boat. I couldn't bring myself to put holes in the bottom to align and tighten the skeg as indicated in the instructions. So it was epoxy glued only.
We had a fair amount of additional fiberglass so we covered the bottom and several inches up the sides.
There was an area on the transom that was delaminating. I tried to cut it open, pry it up, and put epoxy underneath to fix it but the result was unsatisfactory. So I ended up again removing everything that was loose and filling the void with epoxy paste. This time I was able to achieve a very smooth finish that was barely noticeable after sanding.
We had a fair amount of additional fiberglass so we covered the bottom and several inches up the sides.
There was an area on the transom that was delaminating. I tried to cut it open, pry it up, and put epoxy underneath to fix it but the result was unsatisfactory. So I ended up again removing everything that was loose and filling the void with epoxy paste. This time I was able to achieve a very smooth finish that was barely noticeable after sanding.
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