Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

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Cruiser
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Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:21 am
Location: Bowmanville, Ontario

Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Cruiser »

The last strip installed has the cove shaved off ..... this creates an opening that allows a fitted piece to be dropped in place

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The trick is getting that shape duplicated. The curve is taken off the hull and replicated on a shaping jig

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The last strips glued and fixed in the jig. I lucked out and I had a piece of scrap that was the perfect length, so the jig base is the same length as the opening, to get the center line I just laid a straight edge between the last 2 blocks and drew a line, this gets rid of a lot of material and sets the center line.

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Glue up completed. The center line is established by cutting along the line drawn, using a chisel for the bulk, a plane to straighten and finally a sanding stick to finish. This is half the work of fitting the glued up piece to the opening. The curved part is just sand a bit, fit a bit, until it is a close fit all around.

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Fitted in place, I lucked out, the center line was straight and after a few sanding adjustments, the piece dropped in and was a suitably tight fit

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Just as I was fitting this last piece in, the wife came out to see how it was going. She was excited and said she couldn't wait to see the hull sanded up, I didn't have the heart to tell her that I still have to fit couple of strips on the bow and stern for the last bit of the sheer ... the bow strips may need to be steamed, there is quite a bit of torque required to fit those ... but that is tomorrows challenge.

Brian
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Cruiser »

I had a great Christmas and not so much time to work in my shop, but I have made some progress.

There is some preparation required for the outer stems, 1) they have been tapered to 3/8"on the bottom side and 2) the new shape required an "on-the-fly" mod, the angle of the strips on the top side of the boat are wider than the 3/4" allowance, I just added a little width and shaped the inside to fit the inside to the stem shape. The rest will be taken care of during the shaping process.

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It's time to fit the outside stems, here the end strips have been sanded flush and square to the inner stem.

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Actually fitting the stem is a back and forth operation for me, fit a bit, sand a bit, repeat till it's close. Once it's close I trace the outline of the stem shape onto the hull (no... the sanding never ends, there is more sanding and fitting). Once that shape is traced, I carefully chisel and sand it out flush with the inner stem.

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A top view so the idea of the taper is clear.

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The stem (glue in area only) and the prepared stem area on the boat are saturated with epoxy, making sure the strip ends get all they can absorb .... the remaining epoxy (I prepare a double shot) is then thickened to the consistency of peanut butter and spread over the areas already saturated. The stem is then fitted in place and fastened/clamped in place. Run a finger (wear a glove ... epoxy on skin = BAD) along the joint edges to 1) remove excess 2) create a small fillet at the joint ... excess set epoxy is a pita to remove.
I lucked out here, the shape meant it just needed to be pulled in and cinched a bit ... sometimes fastening the stems can get complicated.

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Shaping is done mostly with the spoke shave, but a plane also gets involved at some point.

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Sanding is next, but it is very messy and doesn't translate well to photos ... I used 60 grit in a ROS for initial shaping .... going carefully, 60 grit will take a lot of wood if you aren't careful. I only use it to get the high points off. Then I use a block sander to level the entire surface and move on to 80 grit for the rest of the initial sanding.

This is what she looks like now

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And wetted out

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The just need to rum over the hull with 120 grit, vacuum and it's ready to glass. I need to get a clear day to go get the glassing kit and also figure out how I am going to actually do the glassing in the winter ... it's doable, I just usually wait till spring, but I want this done ... so I will be pondering.

Brian
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

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We finally had a warmer day forecast at 2C ... so I planned the glassing. The shop warmed up to a balmy 24C and this was the picture, out the front door, in the morning ...

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The glassing went well, this is this morning

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I have a few places to cleanup before sanding, my neighbour came over to help glass, he did an amazing job for a first-timer, only messup was one I managed, but that should be rectified with the cleanup.

The stems will be final shaped and 2 layers of glass after the boat is taken off the molds. With the stem recurves, i felt it would be easier to do the shaping and glassing when I could get at the top and bottom of the stern/bow.

On vacation for a few weeks, so the curing will be done when I return and I can get on to sanding and the release from the molds.


Brian
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Jim Dodd
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Jim Dodd »

Hi Brian !

Looks Great !

Did you use a Squeegee, or Foam roller !

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Cruiser »

Jim, did you mean brush where you said squeegee?

I use a roller to apply the epoxy, then squeegee as required ... I started that way and it is working for me, I know some people don't like rollers.



Brian
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Jim Dodd
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Jim Dodd »

No, I meant Squeegee.

Some apply with a squeegee. I always struggled with it.
Always searching for a better method, to reduce the amount of resin during the wet out coat, and still get even penetration, with no vertical lines.

Thanks !

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

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Small update ...

Slight change of plans made on the fly, I was going to sand out the finish and add the additional layers of FG at the bow and stern after the boat was released from the molds. My thinking was that it might be easier to work with the recurve top section more easily with the boat right side up.

After initial (rough 80-100 grit) sanding, there were couple of spots that I felt had gone a little deep, so I decided that I would recoat with a thin epoxy coat before moving on to the final sanding. Since the rough sanding has already been done, you achieve a very smooth epoxy finish, which is ready for final sanding (150 grit). The only additional work this entails is the application of the epoxy, which took about 40 minutes start to finish.

Rather than do the bow/stern FG wear strips after release, it made more sense to do them before the epoxy overcoat, as this would save work later on.

FG strip being cut on the bias

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Two layers of FG applied to the bow, after initial sanding

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FG strips blended and sanded smooth

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Normally, I wouldn't consider doing power epoxy sanding in the shop, simpy because the dust is a pita ... however, when I bought this new ROS, I got a shopvac adapter .... I did the whole boat and there was no dust anywhere

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The strips blended in very well, this is the bow with 2 layers

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And the whole boat is shiny again, waiting to be dull again ..... the sanding never ends

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Brian
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Jim Dodd
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Jim Dodd »

Excellent as always !
Yeah ! I hate to sand the shiny, just to make it shiny again !
RAKA makes a UV-inhibited epoxy, but they still recommend sanding and varnishing ! Just think how much work it would save ! The curse of Strip building ! Sand Sand Sand !

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Cruiser »

That could be the wood workers motto Jim

"If you aren't making sawdust .... you aren't having fun"


Brian
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

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I guess if you look at the previous post and this pic, I am having a riot.

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Brian
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

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The outter glass is complete and dull again ... the boat released from the molds very easily, I was a tad worried that the new end shapes may cause release problems. I removed all the screws holding the molds to the strongback and all the middle molds slipped right out, once inverted the bow/stern mold also slid right out.

I use this set of holders to get the boat on it's side, so that I have better access ...

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I like to get the scraper set working on that tumbleholme region first ...

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And finished sanding .... just a few places to add some filler

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One little detail I added on the inside sheer, was all the station locations, mostly to be able to locate where the spreader bars go and to be able to check station widths. These notations will be eventually covered by the gunnels.

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Cleaned and glass ready for epoxy ... the shape of the bow/stern is a bit of a challenge to get the glass situated. Just before I added the glass, I mixed up some thickened epoxy (with a dash of colour) and went around filling any cracks that needed it, then I wiped each off with a mineral spirit dampened rag. These were still soft when I started to add epoxy.

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And the glassing is done ... those ridges down the middle aren't as bad as they look, that is the angle of the lights, they are there, and I think I have finally figured out what causes them. The supplier rolls the glass and it seems flat ... but they then take the roll and stand it vertically, setting it down with a bit of a thump. I think this shifts some of the inner cloth and creates those deformations.

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I will leave a few days to harden, then move on to gunnels and decks. The spots I filled are invisible and have blended in perfectly...no sanding or wetout worries ... I will remember that trick for the future.

Brian
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Cruiser »

Progress on gunnels and decks

Gunnels are 5/16" x 5/8" cherry outside and 5/16" x 5/8" with a 1/4" 45 degree chamfer on the inside. This is putting on the outer gunnel, inside are already done, can you ever have enough clamps.

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I always like to try something new for decks, sorta my thing. This is a stack of alternating red/white/dark cedar strips. There is a diagonal marked, which gets cut to give 2 halves.

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Each half is resawed and glued up with a slightly wedge shaped piece of cherry to form the deck blanks.

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After a quick planing, the deck blank is sized with lines.

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Sized deck getting final cherry trim cap installed

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The decks are less than 1/2" thick ( deliberate, saving weight), this is a blank getting 1 oz FG on bottom, after wetting out the receiving area is also wet out and thickened epoxy is used to seat the deck in place

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Fiberglass trimmed and initial shaping started on one side.

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1 oz FG for the top as well ... this glass is very light, but makes the thin decks strong.

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First look at the what the decks will look like, was a bit of work to get here, but I really like the view.

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Working on thwarts, seats and yoke ATM .....

Brian
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Jim Dodd
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Jim Dodd »

Darn right cool Brian !
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Cruiser »

I have been a little delinquent with this build, sewing up new gear, a spring trip and general spring chores took up a lot of my time.

This is the instalation of the footbraces, they are from Duckworks and I have used them previously and I like how they look and work .... and for a solo, footbraces of some sort are a required option IMO ... there are quite a few ways of adding them, this is just what I like.

The braces are held to the canoe with these "footed" bolts, I take the finish off with emery cloth, to help the epoxy bond well. The left one is sanded, the right one is bright

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Mark where the post will be located and roughen up the area

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Use the base plate to precisely align the bolts, attach using thickened epoxy and fancy side to side hull clamps

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Cleanup and flatten the area once it is all setup

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Apply a square patch of FG (~4"x4", 6 oz) and a coat of epoxy, level edges and sand out

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Apply 2cd coat of epoxy to finish and match surrounding area (I leave the cloth textured on the inside)

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The footbrace can be installed at this point, it will be removed to finish the interior, then re installed.

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Brian
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Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Post by Cruiser »

The boat is basically finished, glassed inside/out, decks/gunnels attached, so only trim work and final varnishing remains. I like to do 1 coat of epoxy on the gunnels (to harden and seal), then finish sand that before varnishing, it seems to give a better end product ... but it is that bit of extra work.

This build has focused on trying to mind the grams, so the yoke was completely redesigned with this in mind ... so here are the yoke details ....

First up ... a couple of support rails were steam bent to shape (after drying, same molds used to epoxy them together) ... I am making 2 of these yokes to retrofit another solo boat, so you will likely see the extra yoke in the pics

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Next I marked out a shoulder yoke from a piece of 2" x8" NWC ... including carving marks, channel marking for routed channels for the support rails

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I use a Kutz All carver on my Angle grinder, here is one blank marked up and one partially carved

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Assembly of all the wood parts, I used epoxy through out

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After assembly, the rails are shaped, the assembly sanded and given an initial varnishing

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Now on to connecting this to the boat .... I decided to use helicoils, I picked this method up on my first build and think it is a worthwhile tip to have in ones building "bag O tricks". I took a few picks to make it all clear without too many words.

First you need the helicoils (left, look like springs .. these are 1/4"-20), a drill bit for the bolts (1/4"), a drill for the helicoil (17/64") and a 1/4"-20 STI tap bit ... the STI part is important ... you can get these coils in almost any size, this is just what I decided to use

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The yoke is put in place and the 1/4" drill bit used to drill through both the yoke and the support tab on the boat .... drop in a bolt then do the other side, creates perfect alignment

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Drill out the support tab with the 17/64" bit and tap the hole using the STI tap

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And the wood is tapped for the helicoil

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Now we get to use the insertion tool (OMG quit snickering) .... just load the coil on the tool (you usually need to buy a kit that includes the bits and tool for the size you want to us)

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Now put a dab of epoxy so that all the treads on the wood are covered, then just screw the helicoil in so that it is just past the surface of the gunnel

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I used a couple of screw cap hex bolts with a press fit knob, just place the yoke and use the knobs to fasten it in place

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This is a fairly deep and sculpted shoulder rest (full 2" thick), with rockers to tilt it further helping stay secure on the shoulders, while in use. Finished out, the package weighed 600 grams (1.3 pounds) which I think is pretty light for a full, deep dished yoke. I portage on every trip, so I opted out of the idea of making a less comfortable yoke ... I wanted light, but I also wanted it comfy to use. The rails are 3/8" x 3/4" and could be reduced a bit ... you can see the seat in the background, once it is woven, I will post that as well.

Brian
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