adirondack guide boat

[John Michne]

Hi Rob –

So you want to build an Adirondack guideboat…. You have come to the right place. I have built three – one ribless and two fully ribbed. The boats are reproductions of H.D. Grant’s Virginia. The ribs are laminated spruce; the planking is cedar strips covered in 4 oz. fiberglass. I have also made the brass stem work, carved oars and a paddle, and a portage yoke.

There is currently only one, but soon to be another, book on building guideboats. The Adirondack Guide-Boat by Kenneth and Helen Durant describes the development and history of the boat, and tells how they were originally built from sawn spruce ribs covered with thin pine planks, and includes John Gardner’s detailed drawings. I have co-authored a book on building a guideboat using modern methods and materials, as suggested by Gardner. Our book describes in excruciating detail (over 250 pictures and sketches) just how to take the data presented in the Durant book, a pile of planks, and build a reproduction guideboat. The book is at a publisher, and we expect it to be available later this summer.

There is a complete chapter from the book on my web site, http://michneboat.com. Click on Builder’s Corner and scroll down to Making Strips. There is also an appendix from the book, Working With Short Strips, in the same list.

See http://mywebpage.netscape.com/jmichne/i ... hotos.html for some pictures.

For more info, like a Table of Contents or more pix or just to talk guideboats, email me.

John

[Guest]

DREAMS DO COME TRUE

THANX JOHN TOD GLEN ET AL

NOW THOSE ARE DREAM BOATS JOHN


MORE AFTER IVE DROOLED A BIT

ROB

[adirob]

hi john

thanx for the long reply - i really hope i can get you in my corner for inspiration - plans and advice - your book sounds as inspirational as todds

im really exited about your site and cant wait to get clicking - thanx

in case anyone else is interested - im a special needs boataholic - given my blown out old back - and my lack of woodworking skills or tools

but im a master dreamer - and i got a yawl rigged - sailing - rowing - electric canoe to prove it

the electric part is to get me home when the wind and tide try to blow me away

so its got to be as light as my 60 lb riverdance which i can carry 100yds off the car to the water - please tell me how you lift and carry a guide boat - got pix ?

and id like the simplest form of construction technique i could make a start on

i was only a helper in the sxg riverdance and im hoping strip building can be learned by an amateur would be boat builder

can it be done - sorry for all the questions

rob
.

[Bob/PA]

Also check out Newfound Woodworks (newfound.com). I haven't seen a current edition, but a 5-year-old catalog lists a guideboat package.

When I edited Adirondack Life magazine I had a chance to try a number of historic guideboats at various camps. I think the only one that would have come in under 60# was a modern 12-footer built by traditional (non-strip, no glass) methods.

You might also check out adirondack-guide-boat.com, or Google guideboat.

[adirob]

thanx bob im checking

hey jon

what a beautifull guide boat - your latest masterpiece -

can you explain the interesting seat apperatus in the middle

and how much weight could you save if you build frameless - have you done it

[Guest]

60 lbs. on the nose. Of course that's without the oars or paddle. Rigged up for portaging with the oars and paddle tied in it comes in at 70 lbs even. I don't know that one could be built much lighter. The planking is planed down to 3/16" here and I used
3 3/4 oz glass on the outside. I think building without frames would just require an equal weight of glass and epoxy on the inside to provide the strength. I'm no expert though, this is my best work by far.

Dick

[Glen Smith]

Hi Guest,

That boat is one beautiful piece of work, congratulations :!:

[rmillet]

Thanks Glen. It's my second guideboat (third if you count the 1/3 scale model I built over the winter of 2002). I've built 2 stripper canoes also. To be honest, although building a guideboat is more work what with laminating all the ribs, it's easier to do a really good job with one. The screws allow you to make sure all of the strips are tight to each other and stay that way. In addition the curves are much gentler as regards working around the bilge so things don't pull away. The only real stripping problem is how to handle the garboard as it's wide in the center, tapers to a narrow strip and then flares again at the stems.

John Michne lives just up the road from me and was a tremendous resource when it came to building these guideboats. I can honestly say neither boat would have come out nearly as well as they did without the tips and techniques I picked up from him.

I've got a few more pictures at my website. http://mysite.verizon.net/rmillet/guideboat.html

[Guest]

hi dick

wow -wallpaper for ever

what a beaut - boat and pic - thats what its all about

can see john lives near you

checking your web now

now i gotta build one

rob

[Guest]

hi dick

those are all beauts

but we all cant be craftsmen - how would you feel if i stitched one together sxg style -

more my ability level

someone like selway fisher should be able to generate the panels

not the real thing - but should look quite good

maybe its been done

rob

[rmillet]

Rob;

If you were to get the panels made up such that you had say 6 to 8 per side you'd have a very good approximation of a "real" guideboat. These strip built boats are as distasteful to some as any plywood boat.

Personally, if it looks like a guideboat and rows like a guideboat I've got no problem calling it a guideboat. Kenneth Durant said in his book that the old masters would have likely jumped on things like epoxy and fiberglass if it made the construction easier or faster. I tend to agree. They were building boats for a living, not to make some sort of "art" and if there were a way to make them better or faster to build they would likely have used that method.

Have at it. While I'm sure it'll look somewhat different than a real guideboat or a strip built guideboat you could well wind up with something just as beautiful in it's own right.

Good luck,

Dick

[adirob]

thanx for the encouragement dick

im onto paul fisher about it now and about the panels

can we call on you if we need dimensions and pix maybe

i sent you a pm - how about replying with your e ad

thanx

rob