The feature we're talking about is not new. It's been a standard, stabilized feature designed and incorporated into U.S. solo and even tandem canoes for at least 45 years. I've started a thread about the history of this "shoulder" feature HERE.
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Alan's Bloodvein II
- Thread starter Gamma1214
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The feature we're talking about is not new. It's been a standard, stabilized feature designed and incorporated into U.S. solo and even tandem canoes for at least 45 years. I've started a thread about the history of this "shoulder" feature HERE.
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LOL OK, we've got the terminology discussion separated and I'll endeavor to (at least try to) be more accurate.
No pictures today but I stopped by the shop tonight & got 2 more strips on. As both ends need tapered to fit and then spliced in (strips still aren't long enough to go full-length), it's taking about an hour per strip. I'm done with the Poplar now except for that tiny piece in the center so it's almost all Sassafras from here in.
I did pick through the remaining Poplar strips for a couple with vivid purple and I'm gluing them together for the float tank panels.
No pictures today but I stopped by the shop tonight & got 2 more strips on. As both ends need tapered to fit and then spliced in (strips still aren't long enough to go full-length), it's taking about an hour per strip. I'm done with the Poplar now except for that tiny piece in the center so it's almost all Sassafras from here in.
I did pick through the remaining Poplar strips for a couple with vivid purple and I'm gluing them together for the float tank panels.
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Despite my efforts to keep my center line centered, there were a couple of places where it was slightly off (although not nearly as far off as when I built the Freedom Solo [my first]).
Whether the drill or the saw was angled doesn't matter but having the center line slightly off center causes a mismatch if you're using accent strips on the floor (Bilge?). I wasn't far off in the bow but I decided to get it as close as possible so I fitted a small tapered piece of Poplar to help the Sassafras strips align.
This worked out pretty well and I feel that the additional piece will be less visible than a color mismatch. If I'm wrong on that: oops. Too late now, I glued it in, used some discarded ends of strips to hold it for a hour or so until the glue set up and then started in with the Sassafras.
In some cases I marked the start & end points from above and, in others, I held the strip into place with one hand, reached under with a pencil and marked the taper. I, honestly, don't know which is easier.
In either scenario, I then used the pull saw and an OSB discard to cut a little wide of the line and rasped & sanded until I felt that I had a good fit. The fitted strip was then glued into place, forced tightly against the previous strip by whatever means necessary and pulled down tightly with a ratchet strap over the hull
As the hull closes, it becomes impossible to use the jimmy clamps in their usual manner but the narrow areas can be wedged with strip discards and the wider areas can be held with the handles of the clamps. (I find it easiest to put the clamp in sideways, reach under the hull, squeeze to open the clamp and then turn the clamp so the handles push the strip tight)
There were also places where the strips needed to be held or pushed up from the bottom. I find that bar clamps work well for this and I put the tail(?) of the clamp against the hull
and then use the tensioner to force the tail away from the strongback
There's plenty of waiting time at this stage of the build so I finished gluing up the panel that will eventually become the float tanks
trimmed off the overlapping ends of the strips on both the bow and stern and then shaped the "stem" areas with the horse-shoeing rasp
I was thinking that I was ready for the whiskey strip tonight but found more mismatches where I returned to Poplar for the very center. If I had not switched woods, I would not have had to do anything and I feel reasonably certain that nobody would have noticed. However, because the Sassafras should darken a LOT more than the Poplar over time, and I like the results of the first mismatch repair, I decided to do it again toward the stern but switch the method slightly to see if I could hide it even better.
As you can see here, I'm way off...
I put 2 strips together and lined up the cove edge of the innermost strip to the Poplar center strip, then reached under to mark the taper.
Because of the length (and my general lack of patience), I cut this out using the bandsaw (then did it again because I was going too fast and broke off the last 8 inches or so as I cut out the feathered edge).
I rasped and sanded the patch until it fit well, sanding a rounded edge to simulate the bead and then checked my width
(You may be able to tell that the last picture was taken prior to the previous one. I continued to test fit the width as I sanded the edges of the patch but forgot to take a picture during the final fitting)
Once satisfied, I glued the patch into place and used scraps to wedge it. I found that I could vary pressure by getting a reasonably snug fit and then jamming another strip in between two of the longer strips (hopefully this makes sense with a couple of pictures)
And that's where I am tonight. I still have a minor mismatch toward the bow
but I'm thinking that it's minor enough to just fit the Poplar, let it flex left to fill the gap and hope that I can scratch the glass quickly and sufficiently enough that nobody will notice.
Not much going on tomorrow & rain in the forecast so I'd like to get the hull closed up & get sanding this weekend (oh, boy, almost to the fun part)
Whether the drill or the saw was angled doesn't matter but having the center line slightly off center causes a mismatch if you're using accent strips on the floor (Bilge?). I wasn't far off in the bow but I decided to get it as close as possible so I fitted a small tapered piece of Poplar to help the Sassafras strips align.
This worked out pretty well and I feel that the additional piece will be less visible than a color mismatch. If I'm wrong on that: oops. Too late now, I glued it in, used some discarded ends of strips to hold it for a hour or so until the glue set up and then started in with the Sassafras.
In some cases I marked the start & end points from above and, in others, I held the strip into place with one hand, reached under with a pencil and marked the taper. I, honestly, don't know which is easier.
In either scenario, I then used the pull saw and an OSB discard to cut a little wide of the line and rasped & sanded until I felt that I had a good fit. The fitted strip was then glued into place, forced tightly against the previous strip by whatever means necessary and pulled down tightly with a ratchet strap over the hull
As the hull closes, it becomes impossible to use the jimmy clamps in their usual manner but the narrow areas can be wedged with strip discards and the wider areas can be held with the handles of the clamps. (I find it easiest to put the clamp in sideways, reach under the hull, squeeze to open the clamp and then turn the clamp so the handles push the strip tight)
There were also places where the strips needed to be held or pushed up from the bottom. I find that bar clamps work well for this and I put the tail(?) of the clamp against the hull
and then use the tensioner to force the tail away from the strongback
There's plenty of waiting time at this stage of the build so I finished gluing up the panel that will eventually become the float tanks
trimmed off the overlapping ends of the strips on both the bow and stern and then shaped the "stem" areas with the horse-shoeing rasp
I was thinking that I was ready for the whiskey strip tonight but found more mismatches where I returned to Poplar for the very center. If I had not switched woods, I would not have had to do anything and I feel reasonably certain that nobody would have noticed. However, because the Sassafras should darken a LOT more than the Poplar over time, and I like the results of the first mismatch repair, I decided to do it again toward the stern but switch the method slightly to see if I could hide it even better.
As you can see here, I'm way off...
I put 2 strips together and lined up the cove edge of the innermost strip to the Poplar center strip, then reached under to mark the taper.
Because of the length (and my general lack of patience), I cut this out using the bandsaw (then did it again because I was going too fast and broke off the last 8 inches or so as I cut out the feathered edge).
I rasped and sanded the patch until it fit well, sanding a rounded edge to simulate the bead and then checked my width
(You may be able to tell that the last picture was taken prior to the previous one. I continued to test fit the width as I sanded the edges of the patch but forgot to take a picture during the final fitting)
Once satisfied, I glued the patch into place and used scraps to wedge it. I found that I could vary pressure by getting a reasonably snug fit and then jamming another strip in between two of the longer strips (hopefully this makes sense with a couple of pictures)
And that's where I am tonight. I still have a minor mismatch toward the bow
but I'm thinking that it's minor enough to just fit the Poplar, let it flex left to fill the gap and hope that I can scratch the glass quickly and sufficiently enough that nobody will notice.
Not much going on tomorrow & rain in the forecast so I'd like to get the hull closed up & get sanding this weekend (oh, boy, almost to the fun part)
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Note: This morning, it occurs to me that the center line was off because I hadn't accounted for the kerf of the pull saw (it's not very wide but it's not paper-thin either), and it's kind of surprising how little error is required to cause the strips to be that far out of alignment.
I really like the fact that I can cheat after screwing up and the repair may not be visible except upon close inspection (TOO close IMO unless the inspector is planning on paying stupid money to take the boat home) but it's certainly more efficient if I don't have to fit those cheater patches.
I think I'll drill wide of the center line next time (probably at the outside edge of the line on the forms) and sneak up on it more as it would probably be faster to shave the line than to fit the repair strips and I could still shave some to fine-tune it even as I continue to close the football.
Live and learn (FAFO isn't always a bad thing)
I really like the fact that I can cheat after screwing up and the repair may not be visible except upon close inspection (TOO close IMO unless the inspector is planning on paying stupid money to take the boat home) but it's certainly more efficient if I don't have to fit those cheater patches.
I think I'll drill wide of the center line next time (probably at the outside edge of the line on the forms) and sneak up on it more as it would probably be faster to shave the line than to fit the repair strips and I could still shave some to fine-tune it even as I continue to close the football.
Live and learn (FAFO isn't always a bad thing)
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