With this quarantine going on, I’ve got a little experiment going on in the basement. I have just enough leftover 9 oz Kevlar to make a 15’4” solo canoe. I want something fast and light I can trip with, but also with a little rocker to play around in my local lake. Northwest Canoe’s Merlin plan seems to fit the bill. I shrunk the plans so it maintains proportional dimensions at the shortened length. Being the first time I’ve ever made forms or a strongback, there was a bit of a learning curve, especially trying to precisely measure the odd form spacings with shrunken plans. Huge thanks to all the people who have posted builds here to show how it’s done in detail. The I-joist strongback works like a charm!
I really just want to make a plug to build a composite canoe, and my woodworking skills are quite novice compared to the professionals I see building beautiful things here. The Moran method calls for a foam stripper with drywall mud, and many folks seem to build a cedar strip canoe then use it as a plug or mold. Both require a whole lot of work or mess, and sanding. Did I mention sanding? There is also Rizetta’s method of a sort of skin-on-frame plug, but the frame telemarks through the finished product. The newest method by Mp214parks goes straight to the divinicell foam which might be what I try if this whole thing flubs.
Anyway, here’s the experiment: See if I can clad the canoe forms using 3mm hardboard (Masonite). It already has a smooth finish, is hopefully sturdy enough for a plug, but bends enough to form. It’s really easy to cut different size strips with a saw and can be trimmed and cut with a utility knife.
I feel a bit like Wile E Coyote in this comedy of errors, except my equipment should be labeled Menards instead of ACME. After a few failed attempts of wrapping the whole sheet around it and then trying to strip it thick like a WC, it appears that I’ll have to strip the sides with 1” strips, but I can get away with much wider strips at the top. I have an electric trim nail gun that works pretty slick to bury the nail heads. I’m Gorilla taping the backs of the strips together since wood glue just soaks into the hardboard. From some tests, it looks like I can plane down the edges and fill in gaps with wood filler but we’ll see how it goes. Hope you get a good chuckle from the fail photos!
I really just want to make a plug to build a composite canoe, and my woodworking skills are quite novice compared to the professionals I see building beautiful things here. The Moran method calls for a foam stripper with drywall mud, and many folks seem to build a cedar strip canoe then use it as a plug or mold. Both require a whole lot of work or mess, and sanding. Did I mention sanding? There is also Rizetta’s method of a sort of skin-on-frame plug, but the frame telemarks through the finished product. The newest method by Mp214parks goes straight to the divinicell foam which might be what I try if this whole thing flubs.
Anyway, here’s the experiment: See if I can clad the canoe forms using 3mm hardboard (Masonite). It already has a smooth finish, is hopefully sturdy enough for a plug, but bends enough to form. It’s really easy to cut different size strips with a saw and can be trimmed and cut with a utility knife.
I feel a bit like Wile E Coyote in this comedy of errors, except my equipment should be labeled Menards instead of ACME. After a few failed attempts of wrapping the whole sheet around it and then trying to strip it thick like a WC, it appears that I’ll have to strip the sides with 1” strips, but I can get away with much wider strips at the top. I have an electric trim nail gun that works pretty slick to bury the nail heads. I’m Gorilla taping the backs of the strips together since wood glue just soaks into the hardboard. From some tests, it looks like I can plane down the edges and fill in gaps with wood filler but we’ll see how it goes. Hope you get a good chuckle from the fail photos!