Chenoa Canoe CH12

[svonmiller]

Greetings all,

You may have noticed my posts in other forums on this board pertaining to a sailboat rebuild. The fact is, I have A.D.D. when it comes to projects. And I live alone, which makes it worse since I don't have anyone (except a girlfriend) to nag me about doing too many things at once.

So here it is, the start of a Chenoa 12 footer. I wasn't sure if I'd like building or if I would abandon the project in the middle so I chose a cheap plywood and a short canoe. I'm using luaun plywood that I purchased at Lowes. It is of course the lowest quality wood and you can sure tell. If I get serious about this, I'll definitely go to marine plywood, and I'll use that on my bigger boat rebuild projects for sure.

And we're off!!!

Panels are cut out.


I chose to go with butt blocks. Keep in mind that I don't know what I'm doing.


I thought "Hey I could use that nifty foam siding they have at Lowes for my mold pieces, that'd work great!" Meh, not so much.


Ahhhhh... so THIS is what a void is. Note to self: MARINE PLYWOOD next time you dork.

[Jerry-rigged]

Congrats of picking a great little boat! should be great for gunk-holing in town lake.

Yep, that is a void, looks pretty big too. Better fill that one with epoxy before you try to stich the hull together.

I get a bit ADD myself, but the wife keeps me from having too many projects at once. Still, I keep haveing these 2-4 month long distractions from the canoe - when Feb. gets here, I will have been working on it for 2 years

Jerry

[svonmiller]

Time for a new pic. The fillets are in and the outside is almost completely sanded and ready for taping. The inside still needs sanding. After looking at the post by hbparrothd on his nice canoe, I'm half tempted to drag this thing out to the burn pile . Meh, it might still turn out alright.

[svonmiller]

The first bit of taping on the hull. I'm using 6 oz. biaxial tape on the seams. I had a very hard time mixing the batches of epoxy. Either I didn't mix enough, or I'd mix way too much. I was also very unsure about how much epoxy to wet the biax tape with. I know too much is a bad thing, but I also wanted enough to make a good bond. What I ended up with, as you can probably see with the picture, is a thoroughly wet tape, but of course it is very rough to the touch. It's completely wet for sure, but it will take probably two or three more coats of epoxy before it becomes smooth.

I am not painting the canoe, but rather going for a bright finish.

[steve292]

To avoid over saturation of the tape with epoxy I use a 4" foam roller, they are sold over here as mini rollers for gloss paint. cut your tape to length ready, with any slits ect precut,roll it up, then apply a thin coat of epoxy to the wood. Leave it to soak in for about 5-6 mins then roll out the tape onto it,smooth it out.Use the roller to roll more thin coats on until the tape goes transparent.It is then 'wet out' & good to go. Try to avoid using loads of epoxy as it is a pain to sand & you risk the tape 'floating' instead of a nice tight conform to the wood.Have any other parts that need an epoxy coat handy & use whats left on them to minimise wastage. I hope that this is some help to you, if you already know this info, please dont think I am trying to be clever, I am just passing on what I have picked up..
Regards,
Steve

[svonmiller]

Thanks Steve. A roller is a good idea, I didn't think of it. I was using a brush, which tends to get hung up in the cloth. I'll try your approach on the next run.

[Cracker Larry]

I'm using 6 oz. biaxial tape on the seams. I had a very hard time mixing the batches of epoxy. Either I didn't mix enough, or I'd mix way too much

I've learned that for me, I will need 1 oz. of mixed resin for ever foot of 6" biax tape. I never mix more than 12oz. at a time, or 12' of tapes worth. I also use a roller in any area that I can. Your resin is a little thick and wasteful there, as was my first several joints, but it's just a matter of practice.

Hang in there. It will turn out fine

[PaulMcClure]

Steve's tip on the rollers is spot on. I buy mini gloss rollers from DIY shops. These are small foam rollers and you can also get mini paint trays to fit, as well as clear plastic disposable liners.

For wetting out the hull I mix up a batch of laminating resin in a plastic cup and pour it over the hull, then spread it over the job with a plastic spreader to ensure the hull is covered. However the spreader will leave small track marks of raised resin where the edge of the spreader passes. I then use the mini roller to pass over the hull and this evens out the epoxy and removes the raised tracks. It does tend to leave a very marginal dimpled effect, however this is actually very easy to sand out, much easier than sanding out the ridges.

It's also worth pointing out that when you pour the resin on to the hull you get more working time than you would working with a paint brush in the cup, as the epoxy goes off faster the warmer it gets, the cycle feeds itself. On the hull, the heat from the cure process dissipates easier and you get longer to work.

When laying the glass, I coat the hull as described above, then lay the tape over the seam. I then pour mixed epoxy into the disposable paint tray, again to reduce the heat as it cures and use the roller to apply the epoxy. I use the plastic spreader to flatten the tape to the hull, removing any air bubbles. I'll pass the roller over again just to remove the tracks and excess resin left by the spreader.

Also, don't think that more resin = a better job. The reverse is generally true and pros will use way less resin than amateurs will. Leave it to cure with the first coat and put a second on to fill most of the weave. Don't worry if it isn't completely filled as you can catch this at the fairing stage for painted boats or in multiple varnish / clear LPU paint coats later.

Good luck with the build, it's looking great.

[Steve_MA]

FWIW, I never tried the foam rollers, I will next time. I wet the cloth out seperately, then laid it down. I have done 10ft pieces like this. if you have a long clean area to do it, which is a challenge. I mix up the epoxy volume to match the pieces I am going to wet out, pour it over the cloth, then spread it with a plastic spreader. After its transparent, I squeege out the excess. You can fold it onto itself to move then lay it on the seam. Then I use one of those metal laminating tools to flatten it out and press it down. That helps get the bubbles out too.

the problem i had with rollers was when something gets tacky, you start pulling up the tape. That little metal roller/laminator is great for fillets too.