15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Use the Project Directories as quick-reference tools to help you find other builders working on similar projects to yours.
Post Reply
User avatar
Glen Smith
Posts: 3719
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by Glen Smith »

Hi Roscoe, welcome aboard and please keep in touch. Enjoy your project.
User avatar
HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

I guess it is time to formally post that I am building a Chestnut Prospector Ranger 15'.

Time line:
1) About the time I launched my Merlin on June 25, 2011, I was thinking of the Ranger. I had found (locally) 7 planks of 5/4 X 6 X 16' clear cedar about a year before and on June 23, I bought the lot...... the Ranger build started :)
2) On 8/1/2011 I tried my hand at lofting the Ranger with good success. Then I ended up buying the Bear Mt. plans to check my work ;) Looked good and I gave myself a pat on the back.
3) About 10/11/2011, I started cutting strips. I surface planed my 5/4 stock and then followed Michne's building suggestions (with some departures) for milling a perfect bead/cove strip. Departures: I used a hand held circular saw to cut strips. That was a good experience and I would do it again. I also fed my strips into the cutter rather than " back routing". Good success with nearly zero "tear-out". I have 68 perfect 16' strips and a total of 1,314 linear feet of material.
4) Today I cut my stem molds. I will use the stem molds off the strong back to first bend and glue my stems. After that is done I will set up the molds.
Last edited by HighPlainsDrifter on Wed Mar 28, 2012 9:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

The Ranger is coming along plank by plank :)
Attachments
ranger glassed.jpg
bottom closed.jpg
bottom 3.jpg
bottom 2.jpg
bottom 1.jpg
Last edited by HighPlainsDrifter on Wed May 23, 2012 9:37 pm, edited 6 times in total.
User avatar
HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

I have started a FaceBook public boat building album and that photo album shows more pictures

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 2128d21467
User avatar
HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

Yesterday was a "watershed moment" for me and the Ranger. I released her from the molds and I finally could step back and look at her lines. I am pleased with what I see.

I sanded the exterior glassing job before taking the canoe off. Getting a good feather job on my bias strips (up to 4 layers of bias cut strips cover the "tender spots" of the hull leading up to the stems) was a bit of a pain. I have a few spots where I sanded into the weave. Those spots will get a dab of epoxy later on. Right now I have had my fill of white, fine, epoxy dust. I think sanding epoxy is about the most distasteful part of building.
Attachments
Off the molds.jpg
Stencil
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:01 am

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by Stencil »

Highplains,
It is looking good. I have to agree that the sanding of epoxy is a pain in the tookus. Have you got dust collection on your sander? Taping the hose of a shop vac to the dust port of the sander is a must and really helps. Oh, and you need a filter in the shop vac as well or it will just blow out the exhaust.
Nice pics of a good-looking boat.
User avatar
HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

It was a good Father's Day boat building weekend. The inside of the Ranger has the glass and has a second (and last) coat. I am looking forward to wood work rather than epoxy work. Epoxy stresses me out. There is no room for error and no time for a beer break :)

I tended to follow Ted Moore's book on the inside glass work. I had my helpers (my son and wife) and that made the going smooth. The glass went down sweet and we were able to get a very uniform mat finish with the wet up (which helped with the uniformity of the 2nd coat).

Today I put on the second coat (I use Systems III Silver Tip Laminating resin with slow hardner). Again I followed Moore's advice on using the squeegee to distribute the resin (rather than using a brush). This method is sweet because I felt in control of the application. I did not need to look where I have been......... I knew by the feel of the squeegee. After excess was squeegeed off I used a dry brush to get rid of the squeegee marks. I only used the brush to apply resin in the tight areas of the bow and stern.

All in all a nice relaxing weekend and nice to have the glass work done. New pictures can be found by following the FaceBook link.
Attachments
inside glassed.jpg
wb9tpg
Posts: 114
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 7:01 pm
Location: Versailles, KY
Contact:

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by wb9tpg »

I'd like to present my completed Ranger 15.

Image

Image

She was built using the Ranger 15 plans from Bear Mountain Boats and the book Canoecraft. It took over a year to build and I've hundreds of hours into the project.

Image

The shell of the canoe is mostly built from Western Red Cedar obtained from Lowes. The football (center bottom section of the hull) is pine. Mahogany was used for the decks and plugs.

Image

The feature strip is made from Mahogany, Spruce and Walnut (diamonds). You'll notice I used the sapwood in the walnut to give and arrow effect.

Image

The mahogany for the decks is quarter sawn and shows different colors depending on the angle you're looking at it.

Image

The gunwales, seats and carrying yolk are made of ash.

Image

Image

The inner gunwale is scuppered (slots cut to let water out when you're done for the day).

Image

A painters hole was turned out of mahogany and provides a place to tie down the canoe.

Image

A closeup of the feature strip. You can see the arrow effect on the diamonds from the sapwood in the walnut.

Image

Loaded up and ready to go on it's maiden voyage.

Image

And here is the proud owner. We paddled it about 5 miles on it's maiden voyage.

You can see more pictures here
User avatar
Patricks Dad
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:11 pm
Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by Patricks Dad »

Looks awesome! You should be very proud indeed!
Randy Pfeifer
(847) 341-0618
Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
User avatar
Glen Smith
Posts: 3719
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by Glen Smith »

Absolutely stunning!
wb9tpg
Posts: 114
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 7:01 pm
Location: Versailles, KY
Contact:

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by wb9tpg »

Here are pictures of the bulkhead. I did it this way so the entire Beckson unit could be replaced if needed.

Image

Image

Image

Image
BearLeeAlive
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:00 pm

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by BearLeeAlive »

Great job, Gary.
-JIM-
User avatar
HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

It has been a while since I posted an update of progress on my Ranger. So, as of today:

** Gunwales are on (glued and screwed)
** Gunwale screw holes will be plugged
** Black walnut used on seats and trim work
** The picture shows a light colored wood for my seat hangers. That wood is scrap plywood and will be replaced with walnut.
** I am not sure if I will cane the seats or use nylon web. I am leaning toward cane because of tradition and I like the look of cane seats.
** I have a lot of detail work remaining..... sharp edges will be rounded over, all trim will receive a couple coats of epoxy before the final assembly (and ultimately varnished)......... BUT the tricky stuff is behind me and now I will move on to mindless finishing.......... nice winter work :)

This is my second cedar strip and I tried my hand at new (for me) woodworking. I found that cutting the mortise and tenon joints for the seats (with chisel) was a challenge. This canoe is not destined for the water this year. She will get wet in 2013.
Attachments
Trim work done but not finished
Trim work done but not finished
User avatar
HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

I completed the finish work on the inside of my Ranger today. She weighs in at 54 pounds....... a little heavier than I wanted, but I'll keep her.

I sanded the exterior epoxy work before I took her off the molds. So, just a bit of touch up and I will be ready to varnish the exterior (and have her gain a pound or 2 in varnish).

My Ranger project is winding down........ in the back of my mind I keep tossing around the idea of another. Regardless, I will have some quality time over winter experimenting with building some paddles.

Cheers
Attachments
Inside finish work completed
Inside finish work completed
Yoke detail
Yoke detail
Seat detail
Seat detail
Deck detail
Deck detail
Alex78
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:23 am
Location: Romania (EU)
Contact:

Re: 15' 0" Prospector Ranger

Post by Alex78 »

Hi

My name is Alex. I'm from Romania (Europe). Last year I bought the plans for the Prospector Ranger from the Bearmountainboats.com and also the book from e-bay. After seeing the amazing projects above, I'm a little ashamed to post about my canoe but I thought I should do it because it is made entirely from spruce and beech because I don't have access to fine wood. I had to build it outside because I have no space to build. Also I did not used bead and cove because we don't have such router bits here.

The ideea is that anyone can make an amazing canoe from cheaper wood (it cost me alot though). Of course it is far from perfect. You can see the light throug some strips and moisture deformed a little the football but I have to live with that. It is much heavier. About 66 pounds (29 kilograms). But I'm a strong guy :-).

Despite all the above it handles like a dream. I just love it! I think it's the best thing I did in my life.
I owned a kayac before but I never enjoyed the water as I enjoy it in my canoe.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

I already put money aside to buy the plans for a Redbird :wink
Post Reply