Freedom 15 moulds

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Steve
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:47 am
Location: Manchester , United Kingdom

Freedom 15 moulds

Post by Steve »

Hi all,
I am about to start my build of a freedom 15, this will be my 1st cedar strip,after allready completing a plywood stitch and tape canoe. I need to know how many 8x4 sheets i will need for the staiton moulds? The plans are on thier way as i type, so any advance information would be great,also if anyone has stretched the 15ft to 16ft?
Many thanks in advance
Best Regards
Steve :smile
I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was !!
Oshan OkaPini
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:57 am
Location: Jackson, Mississippi

Station Molds

Post by Oshan OkaPini »

I used 2 sheets of 4x8 MDF for the station molds for my Freedom 17.

Norman in MS
Right now, there is no cure.
sluggo
Posts: 244
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:17 pm
Location: Vancouver BC

Post by sluggo »

Yeah, I think you need two sheets if I remember correctly. You'll have a bit of ply left over which is useful for making jigs and other things to help clamp strips for bevels, scarf joints, whatever. For the moulds I think it is worth the extra $$ to get decent plywood, at least 1 good side (sanded). I bought 1/2" 2 sides sanded and would do that again.

If you click on the links below you'll see a bit of blog for my Freedom 15 which is being stretched to 16'. The Gallery link has (almost) up to date photos. As far as I can tell so far, there isn't anything special in terms of the build for stretching the canoe to 16'. I didn't modify any of the forms or stems. Steve Killing, the designer of the Freedom series, was the one that suggested that I stretch the canoe. If I recall correctly, somewhere on this forum he recommened that the end moulds may need to be slightly modified to ensure fairness to the stems with the stretched design. I couldn't really see the need for this in the Freedom. Perhaps Steve was referring to stretching designs which have the end moulds closer to the ends of the stems in which case there could be an effect. But hey, I'm not even fiberglassing my canoe yet, so take my advice for what it's worth!

cheers
Steve
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:47 am
Location: Manchester , United Kingdom

16 ft freedom

Post by Steve »

Hi Sluggo,
I was thinking of stretching my 15ft freedom also, how much have you moved each station mould? Did you have to lengthen the stem moulds also? any advice would be great
Regards
Steve :thinking
I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was !!
sluggo
Posts: 244
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:17 pm
Location: Vancouver BC

Post by sluggo »

Hi Steve, I can't quite remember but i probably spaced the moulds at 12-13/16". That'll work out to about 16' with the 15 stations. I just butted the stems up to the end moulds as per usual. As I was saying above, I've read that you may need to adjust your stem distance to ensure fairness but I didn't do that and I don't see any problems.

s.
Steve
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:47 am
Location: Manchester , United Kingdom

Post by Steve »

Many thanks for all the info
Steve :smile
I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was !!
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