Keeping weight down

[PaleMorningDun]

Anyone have tips on making an ultra lightweight canoe? I am building Mac MacCarthy's Wee Lassie Two.

So far, I am using 3/16" thick strips (western red and northern white cedar for bottom) with ash gunnels (scuppered and tapered). Northern white cedar inner stem(laminated), ash for outer stem. No decks, just small breasthooks. I am planning on using 4 oz S-glass inside and out. I have read that using epoxy to glue the gunnels on instead of screws can save on weight.

Anyone have any other tips?

Thanks.

[Denis]

If you want light why not consider cedar for inwales outwales and decks. Perhaps spruce which would be tougher would also make a good choice. I have never weighed things but the shell totally glassed doesn't really weight that much and the weight seems to add up with the hardwood trim.

[Moonman]

If looking for ultra light weight, you could consider using cedar for the gunwales as Sherm suggested, but with a thin layer of poplar, pine or cherry or similar on the outside of the outwales. That will take some of the dings and hits from your paddle. You could also use 1/8" strips transitioning from your 3/16 strips, starting from the turn of the bilge, up to the shear line. Only use one wet-out coat with your epoxy on the inside. No reason you shouldn't easily be able to get that boat to 25lbs (or maybe even a bit lighter). Also don't go overboard on your gunwale dimensions. That's a small, sit on the bottom boat, so you can use really thin gunwales.

Moonman.

[sedges]

You should be aware that S-glass does not wet out with the clarity of E-glass. You will see the weave and it will have a translucent green color. Of course this all may have changed with new fabrics and finishes, but it was certainly the case a decade ago. This doesn't matter if you plan to paint your canoe. S-glass is wonderfully tough stuff and I use it whenever a clear finish doesn't matter.

[TC in Twin Lake 1]

Maybe a uniwale? I did this on my ranger and will be doing it on the wee lassie I just started. I basically used a 7/8" x 3/4" piece with a 1/4"x1/2" groove cut in the bottom of it and epoxied over the sheer edge of the planks. Of course, my next one and yours if you go this route would need to be 3/16" wide on the groove.

I wouldn't recommend it again on a ranger with the high ends but on a flatter shear of the wee lassie II I don't think it will be as difficult. I struggled with these on my ranger to get them cut to lenght and fit tightly up against my stems but in the end it didn't turn out too bad. One end is tight and the other is well not soe tight but I was able to fill in the gaps shall we say!

I am using ash for my uniwale, outer stem and seat frame and thwart. I used red cedar for my inner stem and am using 3/16" aspen strips with some red cedar strips for accent.

Good Luck.

Todd

[Jeff in Farmington, MI]

I have not used S-glass, but the lack of clarity is supposed to be because of the tightness of the weave. If there is a green tint to the glass after it has been wet out with epoxy, this is because of the Volan "finish" which was applied to the fiberglass fabric when it was manufactured. Sweet Composites has a good explaination of this http://sweetcomposites.com/Fabric.html.

The finish is a chemical coating which promotes bonding of the resin to the glass. A Volan finish contains chromium and will impart a green tint to either E-glass or S-glass. I once ordered a Volan-finished E-glass fabric by mistake. Fortunately, I used it only on a test panel, which produced a green-tinted glass. A Silane finish will not impart any color to the cured epoxy-fiberglass. There are likely other clear finishes as well (I am no expert).

I suspect that most of the glass fabric you will encounter is not Volan-finished, but this is worth investigating before you purchase or start to glass your boat!
S-glass is supposed to be about 40% higher in tensile and flexural strength than E-glass. So, if you want the extra strength, and can find S-glass with a Silane (or other clear finish), then it may be worth using.

- Jeff

[Rabbit]

i'm not sure how easy it is to get in your neck of the woods, but i'm using primarily paulownia for my strips, with only a few strips of wrc for accents. the weight difference between the cedar and paulownia is noticeable. if you prefer the look of the darker timber i guess you could stain it.