17' 9" Freedom

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Joan and Ted
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17' 9" Freedom

Post by Joan and Ted »

Use this forum to post information specific to your 17' 9" Freedom project. Use POST REPLY when posting information. Please stay on topic. For general boatbuilding discussions, please use the Builders Forum instead.
Last edited by Joan and Ted on Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Joan and Ted
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archive: Freedom 18'4

Post by Joan and Ted »

The following has been unarchived from our previous project directory
Posted by: patrickdoty
Posted on: Thu May 20, 2004 4:12 pm

I finished my Freedom 17'9 finnally!!!! It was a labor of love let me tell you....but now that i am going to be guiding canoe trips for ymca camp menogyn, I thought i should finish her up. Check out my website and also the camps website....they actually build some of thier own strippers now to use on trips.

http://www.campicaghowan.org/menogyn.asp
http://studentweb.uwstout.edu/dotyp/scootywhoopin.htm
ruso
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Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:01 pm
Location: SW Wisconsin

nearing the end

Post by ruso »

I glass this weekend finally (after almost a year of my canoe sitting idle). Although I've heard of people building canoes out of butternut I haven't seen a photo of one yet. Just for sanity sake I laminated a test piece last night and it seemed to go ok. I'll post pics when it gets finished (hopefully sometime in July). Anyway, I'll be praying to the canoe gods that everything goes ok with glassing...more later!

Ruso
ruso
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Location: SW Wisconsin

Update

Post by ruso »

Put a pre-coat on Saturday. Had a friend come over Sunday (he built the Indienne) so it was nice to have someone with experience helping with the glassing. I ended up having quite a few pinhole bubbles which I lightly sanded out. I added another football layer because I went with light glass on Larry's (from Raka) recommendation. I'll do a fill coat tonight and hopefully then it's onto the inside. BTW, the butternut turned out to be pretty dark after the epoxy and I'm liking the look of it.

Ruso
Big Woody
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Post by Big Woody »

Can we see a photo. I've never seen a canoe made of butternut before.
ruso
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Location: SW Wisconsin

check out the blog

Post by ruso »

Big Woody...per your request I have created a blog. I'll eventually get most of the 100 photos I've taken to document the process posted and I'll keep documenting as I go along.

http://butternutcanoe.blogspot.com/
Big Woody
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Post by Big Woody »

Thanks for the link. It looks nice.

What was the cost and availability of butternut compared to cedar? I think I'm slightly allergic to cedar dust, so I may have to try to avoid using any if I make another canoe.
ruso
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Post by ruso »

I just happened to come by the butternut ($2/BF) from a company that trying to dump it and I was using it for other woodworking projects when it occured to me that it's an viable alternative to cedar. It's a dying species because of a disease or worms (can't remember) so I can't really attest to it's availability in mass, but I know places like woodcraft sell it for a reasonable price. It's awesome to work with it has a really warm look to it, but all the pieces are 10' or less so keep that in mind. Also because of the worms it had a lot of holes in it so if you're looking for a canoe with character you might consider it.

Ruso
ruso
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Location: SW Wisconsin

Post by ruso »

Sorry, no pics on the blogspot, but I have been slowly sanding smooth the epoxy. I should finish in the next few days and then I'll post some updates. It's a long row to hoe.

Ruso
Ben
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Post by Ben »

Here are a few pictures of my Freedom 17-9. It is a combination of WRC and EWC, and I am planning on all cherry for the trim. I am currently about 1/4 of the way through the football, but it is closing up fast.


Image
Image
Image
Ben
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Post by Ben »

Here is my Freedom 17-9 getting ready for fiberglass. The picture is from yesterday. The shop is now cleaned up, the floor is covered with cardboard, and the hull is ready to go. I am going to do the fiberglassing solo with US Composites glass and epoxy.

Image
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Patricks Dad
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Post by Patricks Dad »

Looks Awesome! Best of luck!
Randy Pfeifer
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Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
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mtpocket
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Post by mtpocket »

:applause Very nice :applause
Ben
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Post by Ben »

I put the first two coats of epoxy on last night and this morning. I have never read how long it takes to actually APPLY the first coat, either on this forum or in any of my books. I probably shouldn't have started at 9:30 last night. :shocked I figured it would take me about 2 hours, but it was more like 4. Here it is with the first 2 coats on, and 3 layers of glass on the bow and stern.

Image
David_L
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Post by David_L »

Looks fantastic. Did you start the center of your first strip at the sheer line and then parralled the the water line?
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