Thanks Jim. I'll be wrapping up the final coat of varnish on the outside early next week; I will be finishing the varnishing of the seats at the same time. I webbed the seats as you described (deflection of about an inch with light pressure from a fist) so I'm sure the final product will be fantastic!Jim Dodd wrote: ↑Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:54 pm The pic in the Last post, didn't show.
What I've seen so far is Great Maddog ! How did I miss this ?
Nice match of the strips on the centerline ! You know what you are doing !
Hope you never need those flotation chambers ! But if you do ? You will be glad you installed them !
How do you like the seats ?
Jim
First build; Ranger 15!
Re: First build; Ranger 15!
Re: First build; Ranger 15!
Well the last time I posted I had finished varnishing the inside and trim work. Since then I have completely finished the canoe, and took it out on its first trip!
After the final varnish coat on the inside I buffed the gloss down with 0000 steel wool. I did this in order to cut down on vertical glare from the sun while using the canoe. It turned out very nice, and has a clean matte finish now.
Here it is with the final coat of varnish on the outside. I did four coats with a brush. I am very happy with how this turned out, and the depth that it gives the canoe!
Brought it outside on a bright sunny day to look for any errors in the final coats of varnish. Everything was to my satisfaction.
I varnished the yoke and seats at the same time as the outside of the hull, but didn't take any pictures of that. I used Jim's method of making my seats, and am very pleased with how they turned out! So that left me with having to install the seats and yoke to finish the canoe! I used 1/4" stainless steel bolts and hardware to secure everything in place. I cut the bolts down to size, and capped the sharp edges with cap nuts to prevent them from cutting or tearing anything that may be stored or pushed under the seats. The seats are hung 10" from the floor. It is easy to get my feet out from under at that height when paddling in a kneeled position, and the canoe is still very stable with them at that height.
Here is the finished canoe!
Maiden Voyage on a small lake near home.
I have already had a chance to take it on a trip. We did roughly 35 miles on the Namekagon/St. Croix rivers in northern Wisconsin. The canoe was absolutely amazing to paddle on this winding river. I pack pretty light, but my paddling partner brought a huge load of gear; this 15 footer handled all of that weight with no problem! Unfortunately while running one of the sets of rapids we took a pretty hard blow on a rock which penetrated the outside layer of the fiberglass, so the work on this canoe continues!! The rest of the scrapes and bumps were nothing more than surface scratches; I'll probably re-varnish the entire hull after patching up the one spot.
The damage. It happened in the middle of our last day on the water, but it got us through the rest of the day without any other issues. Only through the exterior layer of glass, and a bit of a gouge in the wood.
After the final varnish coat on the inside I buffed the gloss down with 0000 steel wool. I did this in order to cut down on vertical glare from the sun while using the canoe. It turned out very nice, and has a clean matte finish now.
Here it is with the final coat of varnish on the outside. I did four coats with a brush. I am very happy with how this turned out, and the depth that it gives the canoe!
Brought it outside on a bright sunny day to look for any errors in the final coats of varnish. Everything was to my satisfaction.
I varnished the yoke and seats at the same time as the outside of the hull, but didn't take any pictures of that. I used Jim's method of making my seats, and am very pleased with how they turned out! So that left me with having to install the seats and yoke to finish the canoe! I used 1/4" stainless steel bolts and hardware to secure everything in place. I cut the bolts down to size, and capped the sharp edges with cap nuts to prevent them from cutting or tearing anything that may be stored or pushed under the seats. The seats are hung 10" from the floor. It is easy to get my feet out from under at that height when paddling in a kneeled position, and the canoe is still very stable with them at that height.
Here is the finished canoe!
Maiden Voyage on a small lake near home.
I have already had a chance to take it on a trip. We did roughly 35 miles on the Namekagon/St. Croix rivers in northern Wisconsin. The canoe was absolutely amazing to paddle on this winding river. I pack pretty light, but my paddling partner brought a huge load of gear; this 15 footer handled all of that weight with no problem! Unfortunately while running one of the sets of rapids we took a pretty hard blow on a rock which penetrated the outside layer of the fiberglass, so the work on this canoe continues!! The rest of the scrapes and bumps were nothing more than surface scratches; I'll probably re-varnish the entire hull after patching up the one spot.
The damage. It happened in the middle of our last day on the water, but it got us through the rest of the day without any other issues. Only through the exterior layer of glass, and a bit of a gouge in the wood.
Re: First build; Ranger 15!
Easy fix !
Old saying ! If you build them, you can fix them !
Well the newness just got wore off !
It will likely look good as new !
Jim
Old saying ! If you build them, you can fix them !
Well the newness just got wore off !
It will likely look good as new !
Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
Re: First build; Ranger 15!
Exactly my attitude; I built it, I can fix it. I got the first scratches out of the way early on, so now I'll have no hesitations to get a lot of use out of it!
Re: First build; Ranger 15!
That is the correct attitude ... you built it, you can fix it. I find most people just don't get the idea that something as pretty as a stripper can be a workhorse, I swear they are more worried about seeing the boat marked up some than I am.
Carry on , nice job.
Brian
Carry on , nice job.
Brian