Back at it after a Four year break....

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Charley
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue May 18, 2004 11:58 am
Location: Ottumwa, Iowa

Back at it after a Four year break....

Post by Charley »

Yes, I'm afraid you read that right. I am back to building my second Redbird for my second son.

I was a huge fan of and user of the old Bear Mountain Forum back in 2003. I only looked at and used this "new" one looked after by Glen Smith a few times. As I have just told Glen, I had a few quality problems machining the strips for the second canoe and at about that same time, my wife got me interested in geneaolgy and my family history. For about 3 years it was even more fun that building cedar strip canoes and it nearly consumed me.

Enough of that. Now that I'm back I have a few questions. My source for clear 1" cedar has apparently disappeared from Iowa. That is not a huge problem because I think I have enough to finish the second canoe that I am working on and also the third Redbird that I have promised the third son. However, what appeared to be significant color differences in the cedar boards I picked out over several visits turned out to be not very different at all when I got them all machined. First question is, has anyone ever successfully stained any cedar strips before (or after?) gluing them together on the mold? I thought that would be a good idea and easy to do if the fiberglassing process would not make the stain run. Then I realized that the fairing process would cut into the staining and might be a real mess. Has anyone tried it or is anyone familiar with a very penetrating stain that would stain deep enough to not be taken away during the planing and sanding. lso, has anyone used other types of wood to get a nice color contrast? it that a bad idea? Something like mahogny? I know that is much heavier but only a few strips for accent would not add much weight if it wouldn't casue other problems.

Also, I bought 2 gallons of MAS resin and one gallon of hardener in April 2004. They have been stored in my basement, sealed for all that time. I called MAS and the retailer and they both told me it would be okay to used but might have a few white flecks in it but I could get rid of them by warming the stuff to 80 Degrees F before using each time. Does any one have a bad experience with this. I was elated to hear I may not be out the $$$$ for this stuff but these are heirloom boats and I want them to be nice...

I am goin to sign off or at least send this becasue I am a slow typist and I don't want to get timed out. Looking forward to getting back at the redbird and to watching this forum.

Thanks to all,

Charley Montgomery
Ottumwa, Iowa
Charley Montgomery
Ottumwa, Iowa
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Glen Smith
Posts: 3719
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

Welcome back Charley. Two more Redbirds? Is this going to be another Redbird year?

I have made accent strips using mahogany, walnut and ash without any major problems. You just have to be more careful when it comes time to fairing and sanding since the softer cedar will want to wear down faster than the surrounding harder wood. Initial fairing of the hardwood should be done with a cabinet scraper then sanded with a fairing board.

It is possible to stain the hull but you will have to do all the fairing and sanding first. Then stain and light fine sand to cut down the raised grain. If allowed to dry for a few days, the epoxy shouldn't cause and discoloration. West System recommend a few different types of stains and the most popular seems to be aniline dyes. Several builders have been satisfied using Solar-Lux stains.

If you just want to stain a few strips, that is a horse of a different colour. It has been done by some but it can be quite difficult since it is hard to mask off the rest of the strips with the stain or dye bleeding under the tape. But it has been done so it is possible as can be seen on mtpocket's gorgeous kayak deck:
Image

As for the epoxy, I would suggest that you do a test with it before going any further. I have some West epoxy and the hardener turned red after one year but the pumps had stayed in the containers so I guess this allowed air to enter.
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