16' 0" Prospector

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Glen Smith
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Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

Very nice! I love the contrasts.
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Aljo
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Post by Aljo »

Thanks Glen, maybe one day I will get as good as you!
The thing that bothers me is where the fabric (fiberglass) overlaps, I can still see that even after 3 coats. The problem is that the other guy who was helping me glass it (a professional boatbuilder), was not really carefull when cutting the fabric and glassing it, so the cut edge is not straight and smooth, but has some fibers sticking out (they are laminated to the hull, no air inside, just looks messy). He suggested to ert the epoxy dry, and then dand the problematic areas almost down to the fibre, and then apply more coats of epoxy. What do you suggest)

The wood used is spruce amd mahogany, as cedar is not awailable here (or, it costs 4 times as much as the spruce :crazy )
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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

I would use a scraper to remove the offending areas ar, if the epoxy has hardened, ues the sander. It is better to take care of it before adding the fill coats.
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Aljo
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Post by Aljo »

Thanks Glen, that was fast :applause
I will show the final result, wish me luck!
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Aljo
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Post by Aljo »

After some thinking and trying to scrape off the high spots of epoxy where the fabric overlaps, with the scraper, I gave up, as I was making very slow progres. It was time to switch to power tools :twisted evil . I put a sanding disc with 60 grit on my grinder and started to sand the epoxy. I had to be really careful not to cut to deep, down to the fabric itself, but all in all, the job was done fast an good. It took me less than 45 min to sand the entire hull (all the overlaping areas), and then I proceeded to sand the entire bul with 120 & 180 grit on ROS, to achive a fair and smooth surface. After that, I covered the entire hull with one very thin layer of epoxy, and the resoult is excelent, even I have a hard time finding the overlaps. So it didi take a couple of hours of my time, but the end result is one very happy canoe bouilder :smile

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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

A stunning beauty! I look forward to seeing it completed.
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mtpocket
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Location: Indiana

Post by mtpocket »

:applause Wow, very nice :applause
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Aljo
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Re: 16' 0" Prospector

Post by Aljo »

I made the seats, and started to install the inwales, and I also added the bulkeads. I decided to fix the seats to the hull rather then hang them from the inwales. Since the canoe will be used strictly on flat water and sloooooow rivers I suspect that the loss of flexibility should not be a problem. Time will tell :thinking
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More pictures at my blog:http://aljo-canoebuilding.blogspot.com/
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Patricks Dad
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Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Re: 16' 0" Prospector

Post by Patricks Dad »

You can never have too many clamps! Looks good!
Randy Pfeifer
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Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
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Aljo
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Prospector finally finished

Post by Aljo »

Hello friends!
Many thanks to all that contribute to this forum, it would have been much harder without this resource!
After too many hours (according to my wife :laughing ) in the workshop, my first canoe is finished, just in time as the spring is here, so I should be able to launch it this week!
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BearLeeAlive
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Re: 16' 0" Prospector

Post by BearLeeAlive »

She looks fantastic, Aljo. Great job.
:applause
-JIM-
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Patricks Dad
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Re: 16' 0" Prospector

Post by Patricks Dad »

Wonderful! Really Awesome!
Randy Pfeifer
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Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
wb9tpg
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Re: 16' 0" Prospector

Post by wb9tpg »

That is really nice!

I noticed you didn't hang your seats. What is the benefit of doing it the way you've one it?
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Glen Smith
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Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Re: 16' 0" Prospector

Post by Glen Smith »

A true beauty! What is the pale lumber used for the hull? Promise to post a pic after one season of use? I would like to see if there are any signs of darkening.
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Aljo
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Re: 16' 0" Prospector

Post by Aljo »

First of all, thanks for all the kind words, I am really happy to be a part of this community, this forum is a great source of information and inspiration for me!

-Seats: I decided for mounting the seats to the hull brackets instead of hanging them after quite a lot of thinking.The benefit of it is, that the seats in this arrangement add some structural reinfocement to the hull, and the bad part is that hull is not able to twist and bend as much as it would if I hanged the seats, so absorbing of impacts is suffering, as the stress is not beeing absorbed by the whole hull, but rather by the sections that are divided by the seats (and the bulkheads). But since this will be strictly a flat water canoe, that was not a big issue for me. And I like the looks of it, and I just had to try something different :big grin

-Wood for the hull is sitka spruce, and I do expect that it will turn yellowish and darrken a bit after some time. I will post the pictures after this season, so you can see the change.
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