Recent content by Cruiser

I would worry that the thickening agent might cloud the epoxy, so I guess this would have to be consideration for impact on the final product. Are your seal coats thin enough to be safely ignored or is there an impact? Brian

In the last build, I used a seal coat and actually took several weights and determined that the seal coat resulted in a ~1 pound reduction per side versus what a wet layup would use. That is significant iMO After doing the first 7 boats with a wet layup, I would suggest that using the seal...

Dave, I used 3/8" cherry gunnels on my Freedom 17, which is arguably the same class of boat you are building and those are more than adequate for purpose and less than half the weight of the standard 3/4" ash gunnels that are mainstream. I got a piece of sitka and for a softwood, it is...

Dave, I posted this link from Laughing Loon in my last build. Rob Mack is giving what amounts to a treatise on epoxy use and application for strippers, it was a very enlightening read for me and triggered a deeper understanding of epoxy in general. If you haven't already read it, I think it is...

I didn't check it as thoroughly as I should have Glen, Nick doesn't list the value anywhere and Google initially gave me the 14.5", then when pressed, corrected to 12.5" and then to 12", so I am thinking sending a note to Nick may be the only way to get the correct value.. it is curios that...

The amidships depth of this model is 14.5" and I figured shaving some off of that wouldn't be too impactful overall. I totally agree that given the sheer size of the selected canoe, weight is going to be an issue. That in turn puts emphasis of making careful build decisions, where weight is...

Over the last few canoes I have been building weight models for my canoes, to determine if my weight goals were attainable and what my chosen materials would yield for a final weight .... provided I built carefully. If you use a dry layup (sealcoat), full 3 coats exterior and 1 coat interior...

Dave, this is a first build, don't make it complicated by trying to overthink the whole process. There is a tendency , on the first build, to try and distinguish the build, instead of just enjoying the process and learning. Changing the build to stemless, subbing glasses are IMO just...

You won't regret building your own canoe, it is a vastly illuminating, terrifying, exhilarating and satisfying endeavor ... try to enjoy every step. Building lighter has sort of become "my thing" in the last few builds. IMO a lighter boat is not one decision, it is every decision you make, at...

definitely looking forward to pushing it some of the upcoming trip in August

As requested, first impressions ... sorry to leave you out there Birch. I did a brief wetting 2 weeks ago. Loaded and ready to go ... wife decided to take the second solo, so it is now an outing Unloaded and waiting at the shore and in the water, it is very well balanced One of...

So cool, first time I have seen one of my pics reposted, lol. You don't list your locale, so not really helpful in telling you where to get them, unless it is reasonably local to you .... if you search "Sea-Lect Footbrace Stud Mount Kit" you will get a lot of places including Amazon. Brian

You didn't enter your location in your profile, Noahs and East system may put you in my general area. That really looks like the epoxy is squeezing up through the weave, maybe your sqeegeeing was a bit too aggressive or not aggressive enough. I think I might consider using my flat carbide...

A few thoughts on planing the mating "edges" after stripping. The width of the strips is going to definitely affect how much of a point (and material) you have at the strip joints and the amount of wood to remove will impact the tools which will do the "best" job for "you". To knock the edge...

Both nylon and polyester have good UV tolerance, so that isn't going to be an issue. However, for seats the nylon will have stretch and then stretch more if it gets wet. Stretch is the primary difference between the two, so comfort will be the only main issue between the two IMO. If it...