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Composite Bloodvein build

Alan Gage

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Version 1.0 was a success so V2.0 will be a carbon/kevlar version. Best case scenario is cutting 10 pounds, from 48 to 38. I think 7 or 8 pounds will be more realistic though.

Made a couple very minor changes to the hull. The entry and exit lines were pretty hollow on V1 which made it a little hard to strip; I actually fattened up the first and last forms with a lot of tape to widen them. So this time I widened the water line at the entry enough to keep it a straight line. Had to recut three forms at the bow and stern, the rest I could reuse.

I also took a little material off the bow stem which reduced the waterline length by about an inch. It seems backwards but I'm actually hoping this will loosen the stern a little. I wanted to keep the stern the way it was to aid in tracking across lakes in the wind but I'm hoping with the extra rocker in the bow that, when I want more maneuverability and a lighter stern, I can slide the seat farther forward. The way it was before when I tried to do that the bow would start to pin before the stern loosened up as much as I wanted.

The mold is stripped and I've got it pretty well sanded tonight. Tomorrow I'll probably start adding bondo and sand again. The wood strip mold will be sacrificial. The wood was salvaged from cedar 4x4s I had left over from when I tore down my old house. Full of knots and nail holes but it gave me enough strips to do 90% of the mold. After the composite hull has been laid up I'll take the whole thing off the forms, flip it over, and rip out the wood. This will let me close the stems when I lay the cloth.

20151217_004 by Alan, on Flickr

20151217_005 by Alan, on Flickr

Nail holes:

20151217_006 by Alan, on Flickr

Alan
 
Is the plan to rename the composite Bloodvein the Beren's for next years trip or you going to come up with a totally new design as you conquer each Manitoba River?
 
I'd still hate to see that mold turned into scrap !!
You know me !

Maybe Bell, (North Star) is looking for a great Solo Expedition hull ?

I think you could once again leave the ends open, and easily lift the hull off !

Jim
 
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Is the plan to rename the composite Bloodvein the Beren's for next years trip or you going to come up with a totally new design as you conquer each Manitoba River?

Haha, I don't think so. Especially since the 'Pigeon' isn't a very commanding name for a canoe. It is nice to have boats for specific tasks though. I'd like one with a little more shear height and more symetrical rocker for trips that involve fewer lakes. Maybe next winter.

Put the first coat of epoxy on 'patches' tonight. Hopefully just one more but we'll see.

20151222_001 by Alan, on Flickr

Alan
 
Looks like your hull has Chicken Pox ! You let Peanut Butter get to close, didn't you ! HA !
 
I'll be following along as usual.

Jason

Glad to have you along for the ride again. Haven't seen much of you lately.

Having a little trouble with patches the plug. Put the second coat of epoxy on tonight and it's just not filling the staple holes. Even if I slather it on heavy they open up again.

20151223_002 by Alan, on Flickr

Two thoughts-

A: Use a squeegee for the next coat to force it into the holes
B: Let the epoxy fully cure, rough sand the hull with 40 grit, and coat the hole thing with sheetrocking compound. Then sand and start coating with epoxy again.

In hindsight I should have covered the whole thing with fairing compound to start with, especially considering the large number of defects in the wood that needed to be filled with bondo anyway.

Alan
 
Have you got that squeeze tube wood filler? I've had really good luck with that. Your rough plug looks a lot like my good ones!
 
I've found timing is the real secret in filling staple holes.

When you lay your first seal coat on, and it may work on the next seal coat to, wait until the seal coat is starting to set, with a small brush and a small batch of epoxy, paint over the holes.
I've found this to work very well ! If the first coat is still tacky it will hold on to the second coating, preventing it from running.

It's worked for me !

Jim
 
Bondo won't stick to the epoxy?

I didn't know that. Good point.
Would polyester resin have been a better choice for a plug ?

I think some fillers and epoxy will work though.

Jim
 
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Bondo won't stick to the epoxy?

I'd never stopped to think about it but I bet you're right. I believe at heart that Bondo is just a polyester resin and by all accounts it won't setup properly over epoxy.

A third option came to me when laying it bed this morning and that's to not worry about filling the staples holes with epoxy and let the wax fill them as the mold is being prepped. So long as it doesn't stick the quality of the inside finish doesn't really matter since once it comes off the mold more layers will be added to the inside anyway.

Alan
 
Alan, every time I enter this thread I feel like urging you to make the plug permanent so that you can make copies of the Bloodvein available for sale. Maybe that is something that you don't wish to do and that's fine. There doesn't seem to be a lot of options for a expedition type open solo canoe. The majority of solo canoes seem to be designed around small to medium size paddlers and capacity can be a issue. Your design may fill a void.
 
Alan, every time I enter this thread I feel like urging you to make the plug permanent so that you can make copies of the Bloodvein available for sale. Maybe that is something that you don't wish to do and that's fine. There doesn't seem to be a lot of options for a expedition type open solo canoe. The majority of solo canoes seem to be designed around small to medium size paddlers and capacity can be a issue. Your design may fill a void.

Thanks. Perhaps someday. I've still got a couple more design changes I'd like to try out. At that point I'd build another stripper to use as a plug for a permanent two piece female mold. I think building a female mold would be great fun and a big challenge but can't justify the time and money when I'm just building for myself.

But I am heading to the lawyer this morning to sign paperwork at which point West Fork Canoe, LLC will come into existence Jan 1st. Not that I really plan on doing much with it at this point but mainly because it will let me register with the Coast Guard as a boat builder and that just seems too cool not to do. :rolleyes:

Alan
 
But I am heading to the lawyer this morning to sign paperwork at which point West Fork Canoe, LLC will come into existence Jan 1st. Not that I really plan on doing much with it at this point but mainly because it will let me register with the Coast Guard as a boat builder and that just seems too cool not to do. :

Will you get a Manufacturers Identification Code (first three letter of the Hull Identification Number) that is different than the one assigned to home builders?

WFC is already taken by Waterfowl Works. I wonder if you get a choice among unassigned MIC’s. If you maybe have a look at the current MICs/HIN/s

http://www.uscgboating.org/content/m...tification.php
 
I'm wondering if they will put any extra requirements on you, as far as boat safety, like requiring flotation ?

Jim
 
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