I bet you could get close to the shape if you: 1) milled a slot between the two foam strips for the fabric fold/hull, and 2) clamped/glued the two foam strips together along the hull to match the curve. Then its just a matter of covering with the sleeve, mashing the sleeve into the slot, and...
I would think that a single layer of 1/4” H80 on both sides would be plenty strong. The Savage River canoes I’ve seen seem to have only a foam gunnel on the inside of the hull only. What is the weight of the sleeving fabric? Have you considered how you are going to clamp or hold or them in...
The question of quick and cheap male molds is an interesting problem to solve. I like the experiments here! When I tried it, I stripped with pine and faired with drywall mud. The unforeseen problem was that the water in the mud made the wood swell and buckle, and it was difficult to get a...
Yes. That's my build. In the spirit of sharing knowledge on this forum, and as others before me have done- I am happy to send station drawings and plans to anyone interested in building the Dragonfly boat. I think I also still have MDF forms out in the garage. In the thread, I explain the...
So there’s more pitchman marketing in the videos than technical discussion. From what I gather, the claims made are mostly in comparing the new polyurethane resin to their traditional vinylester. PUR resins are indeed generally stronger than vinylesters and approach most epoxies. They have low...
These ones have gone through any material I use for composites: glass/carbon/Kevlar/innegra/peel ply/vac bag, etc. They have hardened blades and very small serrations on one side. At $30 it is the most I have ever spent on scissors, but they have performed well and I can recommend as a...
I recognize it as a carbon-innegra fabric wovenin a camo pattern. It could be a neat look for the canoe and it will be fun to see it full-size.
This sounds like a good project. I agree with others that the layup seems too heavy. I’d ballpark that you are looking at a 50# finished boat...
I have the same problems you describe. 2009 and a 2019 Mazda CX-9. Each with a spoiler on top of the rounded gate. I can generally open it enough to pull a pack/bag out, but otherwise I have to loosen the rear canoe strap and lift it up a bit to fully open the gate. It's annoying, but I...
Instant coffee or green tea as hot beverages.
I like the Mio flavor concentrate squirts for water: some can add extra caffeine or electrolytes if wanted.
And maybe about 150ml bourbon/day. Funny, because I don't drink that much in a month when I'm not camping.
Backcountry old fashioned...
Alright: posting about a month after the fact, but I used this boat to set a new solo time for the Border Route in September as part of the Watertribe Kruger Challenge. 84h 11m solo. Winds were mostly light, but also mostly from the Southeast. This is the Route Clint and Verlen did in...
Soric is a bulker/flow media that is placed within (and becomes a permanent part of) the laminate stack. It has small raised hexagons in a pattern that creates flow channels between them. The downside is that the soric (and all the resin trapped in the channels) remains within the final part...
I finished the spray cover and the rest of the trimmings.
The cover is a 2.2oz nylon with a hexagonal ripstop pattern and waterproof polyurethane coating on the backside. It fits over the tent-pole coaming and snaps on to the hull. The snaps came from sailrite and the male sides are riveted to...
Went out tonight after dark (no wind) and kept the average speed above 6mph for an hour. Fastest I’ve ever gone in a canoe. So I bet if I didn’t spend so much time building, and more time paddling- I could really get the pace up there. I’m excited to see how this boat will push personal...