15' 0" Hiawatha

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Scottcam
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Location: Madison,NC

Post by Scottcam »

I have found it more difficult to sand the outside epoxy with the canoe off the molds, therefore leave your molds on the strongback.. when it is time to sand the outside put the canoe back on the molds. It will give you a much more stable base. If you have not glassed the inside you may want to put something(cardboard or weatherstripping) on the molds to keep from bruising the cedar at the molds.Someone(Glen) with more experience than me can comment on this situation. I think I would glass the inside and then sand the outside.

It looks great --keep up the good work

Scott
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Patricks Dad
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Post by Patricks Dad »

We had planned to put our canoe back on the molds to sand the outside. We figured adding back just the stem molds and 2 or 3 molds inbetween would provide enough stability to sand the outside. Once we had glassed the inside, we were worried about scratching the relatively fresh finish with the molds and decided to simply sand the outside while it rested on a pair of sawhorses with pads on them. We never got back to putting the molds back on the strongback.
Randy Pfeifer
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Arctic
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Post by Arctic »

Well, this week is progressing at a moderate pace. Lots of sanding is getting done- sanding, with a block sander, a bottle sander, and orbital sander etc.... I am all sanded out!- Oh' yeah and not to mention all the scraping with the paint scraper- I am now gap filling my earlier sins (wich were hidden when the boat was upside down).
Once the epoxy cures for a few days I will complete the sanding and with luck will have time to lay up the glass and complete a second coat this weekend.
I don't know about other builders, but I have personally found the inside signifigantly more challenging to work with- but heck I am still having lots of fun!
:laughing

I find the height of the cradles adequate to work with- but then again I am short.


http://photobucket.com/albums/b265/arctic971/

Mark,
Cantley, Quebec.
"The journey is the reward"- Tao saying
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davidb54321
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Post by davidb54321 »

Mark,

Great progress! Yes the inside is more of a challenge, but it is better than paddling a generic plastic canoe.

Keep up the good work, the finish line is in sight.

Dave
David Bartlett

"I don't fully understand everything I know!"
http://photobucket.com/albums/b81/davidb54321/
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Arctic
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Post by Arctic »

Thanks for the encouragement Dave- I am still plugging away!

Mark
"The journey is the reward"- Tao saying
Geoff in Ballina
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Location: Ballina, NSW, Australia
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Launching

Post by Geoff in Ballina »

Have just completed building my Hiawatha 15. I started last April and had a couple of long breaks but now it is finished and has been launched. I just love the traditional lines of this canoe. Pictures of the construction can be seen at
http://homepage.mac.com/ghorsley1/Menu1.html
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Glen Smith
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Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

Geoff, that is stunning! Beautiful work. :applause
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Patricks Dad
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Post by Patricks Dad »

Wow! Fantastic job! Looks awesome. Enjoy.
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mtpocket
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Post by mtpocket »

That is one beautiful piece of work. You should be very proud. :applause
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Arctic
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Post by Arctic »

Great work- I love seing it in that tropical setting. Hope you have lots of great paddles with her.

:applause
Mark
"The journey is the reward"- Tao saying
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Arctic
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Post by Arctic »

Well, I am afraid to report that I have had a setback in the construction of my boat.
I completed the sanding and laid the glass on the inside of the hull yesterday- It did not go well. I had troubles with the wetout- the cloth moved quite a bit on me as I was brushing the resin on. The ends are also a bit of a mess- but these are all things I am confident I will be able to work through.
The major problem was the bubbles. To be honest, I don't know if I left to many gaps, squeegee'd, laid out the cloth wrong or what- but the bubbles came- I checked back regularly for the first 2-3 hours and punctured the ones I saw- but there was no staying on top of it- this morning when I checked it- I literally had dozens of air bubbles on the hull- oddly mostly just on one side. I also had a pool of epoxy at the bottom of the hull at the ends of the stems. Things went so well with the bottom of the boat- I was very dissapointed with how things went here.
I did a few experiments at filling them with a syringe- this has seemed to work out very well so far for the two test bubbles I did- the biggest problem though is "puncturing" the cloth to get the syringe under it- I do have a rotary tool with some very small and sharp bits so will give that a try. I will work section by section to fill every one there is.
Hull integrity is not a concern for me at this stage- rather it is all cosmetic. While I am not as worried about the areas that will be covered by the decks- I want the visible sections to look good when the boat is complete.
Being my first foray into boat building I am trying to cut myself a little slack- but I would be lying if I said I am not totally dissapointed in my performance. I am putting some new photo's on the photobucket site so you can all see the mess I made of things- any advice on what to do next- or words of encouragement would be appreciated- I think I can get through this stage and still end up with a decent looking boat, but am not nearly as confident as I was before.

http://photobucket.com/albums/b265/arctic971

Mark,
Cantley, Quebec
"The journey is the reward"- Tao saying
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Arctic
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Post by Arctic »

After consulting the Builders Forum, and then a local boat builder near my town- I have decided on the following solution to my air bubbles.
I will be sanding/cutting away the bubbled areas, exposing the wood hull. The entire surface will be given a sanding with 120 grit paper. Then the second coat of epoxy will be applied, filling the areas where the bubbles were removed, and giving the overall second coat to the entire inside hull. It will then of course be sanded and varnished at later stages. I have done one test bubble- and it has worked well. One has to look close to see where the problem was. I even had trouble finding it myself when I went back to check on it.
Given the sanding and varnishing- I am confident I will be able to create a uniform and good looking inside hull. I figure this has added a few weeks of work to my project- and that is fine- I am already further ahead than I though I would be at this point.
I look forward to showing you my completed work once finished. Before I started this project I knew I would run into all sorts of unique challenges, I said to myself then "cutom problems, call for custom solutions" so this will be another one of those for this project.

Mark,
Cantley, Quebec.
"The journey is the reward"- Tao saying
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davidb54321
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Post by davidb54321 »

Mark,

Sorry you're having such a hard time on the inside. I feel your pain. I would hesitate to sand all the way to the wood during your repairs. I would try to just get through the glass and feather it back, then apply a small patch over the larger areas. On the smaller bubbles you may be able to sand them enough to let some fresh epoxy through the cloth without removing it all. Try a sample area to see if it is workable. I am afraid that if you go all the way through to the wood, you will get differences in color which may make it look worse.

Good luck, David

People are still going to be very impressed that you made your own canoe!
David Bartlett

"I don't fully understand everything I know!"
http://photobucket.com/albums/b81/davidb54321/
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Arctic
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Post by Arctic »

David,

Thanks for your reply- it is appreciated. After doing some searches on the forum I have found that many builders have encoutered the same problem I have ( so I am in good company after all) - and some to the same extent as me. I have also found some unique solutions that all appear to have worked well. It seems that after the additional coats of epoxy, sanding and varnish, things can be blended in quite nicely.
The stage I am at now is: I have cut out/sanded away all the blisterted areas. The wood underneath has been coated in epoxy from the first coat and colour matches well. So my next question is to fill with epoxy, or fill with epoxy and cover with glass- I have done two test areas and am trying to make up my mind on how to continue with the rest. If I just fill with epoxy, in the light there is a very clear outline of where the bubble was cut out- I am thinking that subsequent sanding, coat of epoxy and varnishg will cover and blend this in well enough, so that one will have to search to find the blemish- I would be happy with that. The glass covers the lines where the bubble was, but also stands out in its own right.
So, I will think a little more, do some more research on the forum and decide what to ultimatley do. As always continued advice would be appreciated.


Mark,
Cantley, Quebec.
"The journey is the reward"- Tao saying
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davidb54321
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Post by davidb54321 »

Mark,

Glad to hear your moving ahead! If you have cut out the glass over the bad spots, I would put in a small patch and feather it in. I think it woud be less visible. JMHO

David
David Bartlett

"I don't fully understand everything I know!"
http://photobucket.com/albums/b81/davidb54321/
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