Redbird Ready To Go

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Patricks Dad
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Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Redbird Ready To Go

Post by Patricks Dad »

(Glen, if you think this post ought to be in the Project Directory somewhere, feel free to move it – but it “falls a bit short” of being worthy of the Redbird 17’ 6” category).

Well, our Redbird is pretty much done. It’s time to start putting nicks and scratches in her. Anybody know of a lake with pure water and a shag carpet bottom? :eyebrows She’s going into the water tomorrow (9/17)! :big grin

I’d like to take a few minutes to thank all of you who have been so very helpful over the past 13 months (yeah, it took almost 13 months even though it was a near obsession throughout – mentally at least). I can’t describe the value this project has brought to me personally. It provided a much needed and welcome distraction from a very stressful job. When things were difficult at work, there was always the refuge of the garage and the Bear Mountain Boat website.

But most importantly, it gave me an opportunity to spend quality time with Patrick knowing that it won’t be all that long before he’ll be on his way to college and on to his own life (he can’t want to spend time with the old man too much longer). Maybe that’s why it took so long to finish (why rush something like this?). Sweeping the garage the other night brought tears to my eyes as I realized that the building experience was nearly over (maybe it was just the dust). It’s that experience of which I am the most proud and grateful. The canoe itself is a bonus. Building it was Patrick’s inspiration and influence. He saw a possibility that I wouldn’t have imagined. He provided the “nagging” to get the project started and never lost interest throughout. Our 2003 trip to the Quetico Provincial Park had a deep influence on both of us but he found a meaningful outlet for that influence. Building this canoe has drawn us closer and at the same time helped keep alive our memories of that trip while we plan and look forward to another trip next summer. For that experience, I must thank Patrick first.

I’m also very grateful for all of the great advice and friendship we’ve benefited from on this website. You folks are simply fantastic. Any corporation in the world would give a lot to have a customer support person like Glen Smith on their staff. With over 1200 posts (>14% of all posts on the forum), Glen has dispensed advice to virtually everyone who has a question. Without Glen’s guidance and help over the many months, I’m confident our project would have not been so satisfying. Canoecraft has lots of the answers but Glen did (and continues to do) a great job of helping us interpret the written word with specific advice, pictures and encouragement throughout the process.

I’ve never personally met any of the fine people who have given us advice on the BMB website but I feel as though mtpocket is a close friend. I deeply appreciate his open, genuine encouragement and support, be it posted on the website, a private message or an email. He has taken the time to share his expertise and experiences while building a beautiful, jaw dropping Redbird of his own ahead of us. We have benefited greatly from his work. His quote at the bottom of his posts has certainly been words to live by (in canoe building, at work and in life):

Howard Newton: “People forget how fast you did a job - but they remember how well you did it”.

KARKAUAI has provided much inspiration as well. Having built a fantastic canoe and have it destroyed in shipping has to be a horrible experience. Yet he set about the task of rebuilding a new canoe from scratch (with amazing speed). He demonstrated that no setback is insurmountable. He provided many useful insights throughout our project and was very helpful in sharing his experiences with clear coat among many other topics.

So many others have provided frequent inputs to the website. They are too many to name but you will all readily recognize names like Dean in Eureka, Its Me, Bassbug, Hoz, Bud, Erik in Belgium, Bryan Hansel, Doug, Rick, Juneaudave, Ed Houston, Rod Tait, and Jeff in Pembroke. These and many, many others (e.g., Martin Step and John Michne) make the web a great resource and a true asset for any boat builder.

You have demonstrated on a daily basis that people are good at their very core.

This was also a great opportunity to buy some tools for which I had not previously developed a good enough excuse. I often said that this project is a great example of applying technology to compensate for my lack of skill. Long live technology!

New tools I never thought I needed but now can’t live without:
  1. Spokeshave
  2. Block plane
  3. Michne stick
  4. Japanese hand saw
  5. Cabinet scraper
  6. Router table
  7. Random Orbital Sander
  8. Laser level
  9. Drill press
  10. Surface planer
Well ok, I could live without a few of them but I don’t want to…

Old tools I still love & depend on:
  1. Belt sander
  2. Chisel
  3. Scroll saw
  4. Sabre saw
  5. Power drill
  6. Power miter saw
  7. A block of wood & sandpaper
  8. Strapping tape
  9. Pencil (with eraser of course)
  10. My paycheck…
I look forward to some great experiences paddling this canoe. But some day Patrick will leave home with it. Hopefully he won’t sell it for a tank of gas! We’ll always have the memory of building it together with your help.

With all that said, I offer below several links to many of the pictures we took during the process. I’m not an expert photographer but offer them here for anyone who would like to browse them (God knows that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the photo’s posted on this website of the many beautiful works done by the masters). Perhaps someone will get something out of them.

Warning!, there are a lot there. Almost as many pictures as Glen has posts on this forum! Hopefully they capture many of the details of our experience although I’m sure we missed lots (with quite a bit of repetition in some areas). They can’t however, capture the joy this project has provided. Finally, some detailed info on our Redbird:
  • Length 17’ ½” (shortened ½” per station between station 0 and 7).
  • Hours to build: Who knows, we lost track long ago…. But all enjoyable.
  • Stems (in and out): Laminated Cherry
  • Hull: Western Red Cedar (Bead & Cove – from Great Northern Craft - Vancouver, BC )
  • Glue: Strips - Titebond (1qt I think) - all other: Epoxy with carbosil thickener (Raka).
  • Gunwales: Cherry, scuppered (3½ ” fading to ¾” length scuppers) – epoxy / carbosil install
  • Decks: Walnut & Cherry (Canada Silver Dollar – Bow, US Silver Doller – Stern)
  • Glass: 1 layer 6 oz inside and out (Raka)
  • Epoxy: Outside - West System 105/207 (4 coats – 1 wet, 3 fill)
  • Epoxy: Inside - West System 105/209 (by accident) (2 coats – 1 wet, 1 fill)
  • Hardware: none – seats/yoke attached with Walnut dowels with Cherry wedges & epoxy.
  • Seats: Cherry & natural cane
  • Yoke: Cherry – Nashwaak Gear (too beautiful to pass up)
  • Finish: Hull & yoke - 3 coats autobody clear coat. Seats – 5 coats Epifanes High Gloss Clear.
  • Total cost: As they say in the MasterCard commercials, “Priceless” (I’m afraid to add it up)
  • Final Weight: ~57 pounds - broken down as follows assuming my scale is close:
Image

Sorry for rambling on so long. Here’s a picture of the finished product.

Image

Thank you and Godspeed.
Last edited by Patricks Dad on Sat Sep 17, 2005 7:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Randy Pfeifer
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Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
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Bud
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Post by Bud »

WOW!! Congratulations Randy and Patrick! You've got a great looking canoe. The only thing wrong with it is that upside down maple leaf. :laughing Can't wait to see pics of launching day. Have a ball.
Bud
"Canoes don't tip. People just fall out of them!" Omer Stringer
Rick
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Location: Bancroft, Ontario

Post by Rick »

All I can say is - WOW - that is one beautiful boat! All the work and time spent building it show in the results... absolutely gorgeous lines and it'll be a pleasure to paddle!

Best wishes and many years of enjoyment on the water!
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KARKAUAI
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Location: Hickory, NC / Princeville, Kauai, HI
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Post by KARKAUAI »

Patrick and Randy,
Your canoe is BEAUTIFUL!!! I'm envious of your shared experience, and hope I'll get to sail Huna Kai with my son in HI. By the way, does she have a name???? I know you were kicking a few things around, but never heard if you settled on something. Many happy trips and time together as the years go by.

OK Randy, what're you goin' to do now? Guess you better spend a few months with the Mrs. before you disappear into the garage again...but I know you've got another boat rattling around in your head.
A hui ho,
Kent
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hoz
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Post by hoz »

That's beautiful Great work! :applause :applause :applause :crazy
someday I'll fly, someday I'll soar
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ealger
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Post by ealger »

Randy & Patrick:
What a beautiful piece of art! I totally appreciate the wood work that went into building your craft. Well done! My oldest son and I built our first canoe together in 1972 (he was 12) so I can appreciate the experience you two had together!

I'm interested in the seats you two built: Could you give us the dimensions, hole spacing for the cane and how many yards of cane material required? I had planned to use pre-woven cane sheet but I may give hand weaving a try!
Ed...
Ed Alger
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Patricks Dad
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Post by Patricks Dad »

All, Thanks for the kind words.

Ed, The seats were really easy for me (Patrick caned them both!). Patrick had never done this before but a family friend loaned him a book entitled "The Caner's Handbook" by Bruce W. Miller & Jim Widess.

The seat holes were about 9/16" apart and were 3/16" in diameter. I struggled with aligning the holes so that they surrounded the perimeter of the seat frame while aligning a hole exactly in each corner.

I finally came up with an approach that worked pretty well for us. I put the tape measure away and went to my computer. I counted pixels using mspaint and laid out marks every so many pixels until the string of marks was just the right length overall. I ended up with 47 pixels between each mark (48 on the sides). This resulted in a spacing of 0.58" rather than 0.56" but the series was just the right overall length. I then simply printed out a series of these marks and taped it to the frame and then transfered the marks to the seat frame. I did the same thing with the sides. (It sounds more complicated than it is).

If I had thought ahead further, I could have adjusted the seat frame size itself to better match a 9/16" hole spacing. The seat frames are 10.5" X 15" (outside measurements) and made from 3/4" x 1.5" cherry.

The cane itself is 2-2.5mm. I really don't know how many yards of the cane was used but we bought "1 bundle" and there was a ton left over. A little seems to go a long way (at least Patrick complained about it taking forever).

Hope this helps.


Kent, No name (yet). Patrick is still working on that. Next project? We are full up on boats but our yonger son (Thomas) got interested in sailing this summer so we're pondering building a small sailboat. We'll see.

One thought I had just last week on the upside down maple leaf... If I had had the forethought to put 1 leaf upright (by whatever definition you use) and the other one upside down you could choose which side you liked, stand there and even if the canoe were rolled over you would still be happy with what you see (while your contrary partner stood on the other side, equally happy with his/her view). Why didn't I think of that earlier? It could avoid a nasty international incident... Nex time...
Randy Pfeifer
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Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
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Bud
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Post by Bud »

RANDY!!! How was the launching? :big grin
"Canoes don't tip. People just fall out of them!" Omer Stringer
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ealger
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Post by ealger »

Randy, thanks for the info on your seats.

I like to work with cherry so I that may be my choice as well. In looking around the web, I found that cane comes in various sizes and it's probably just as well to buy a "bundle" (1000 feet!) as to buy a kit for just one seat...
Now, how many pixels does my monitor have? :thinking HeHe!
Ed Alger
David James
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Location: Glenview, Illinois

Post by David James »

Hey Randy and Patrick,
congratulations on one fine looking canoe! :applause :applause Maybe I'll run into you guys paddling down the Desplains river some day! I'll be in the Freedom 17 that's passing you by! (The Freedom 17 is faster than any Redbyrd canoe you know! :wink )
Randy, reading your "thank you" post was a real pleasure, I read every word - you're a classy guy. Hey, what about the next boat?? Gotta get some more use out of all those fancy tools you now have!

Dave in Glenview, Illinois
"If given six hours to chop down a tree, spend the first four sharpening your ax." - Abraham Lincoln
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Patricks Dad
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Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Post by Patricks Dad »

Pixel count on your monitor matters less than the resolution on your priinter....

Bud, The launch went fine. We got over the "first scratch" problem pretty quickly. The lake we took it to near our house has a concrete boat launch with a very shallow slope. As I walked into the water I found it was incredibly slippery and I fell on my ass dropping the bow of the canoe on the concrete from about 6 inches. A bit of a scrape on the stem which we repaired last night. Now that the first scratch is over, we can enjoy her more.

She paddled very well. Tracked great and looks great in the water. Here's one picture with Patrick paddling solo....
Image

Here's a link to several other pictures:
Album 6: (21 pics) Launch Day
Randy Pfeifer
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Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
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Its Me
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Post by Its Me »

OUTSTANDING!

:applause

Great attention to detail. A miror finish on the varnish. Very well done men.
reinbilt
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Location: northern michigan

Post by reinbilt »

Randy and Patrick,
Great looking canoe!!!!! Too bad you had to stick a registration sticker on the bow. Keep in touch with the forum.
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Bud
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Post by Bud »

Obviously your wife wasn't taking the pictures, or there would have been some of you falling on your a**. :laughing Then again, you probably "forgot" to upload those.
Looks really good. Did you make those paddles?
Bud
"Canoes don't tip. People just fall out of them!" Omer Stringer
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Woodchuck
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Canoe Names...

Post by Woodchuck »

Well over a year ago I attached a excel file with hundreds of alphabetical canoe names on the BBS at WCHA. I think the listing was Canoe Names and the file name was Canoe Names.xls. It started as a joke and ended up being a substantial listing of some very clever names. You mignt want to check it out or send me an email and I can forward it to you. I don't see the option to attach a file in this BBS or I would post it for all to read.
Joe "Woodchuck" Gledhill
Garden City, MI
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