First time boat build ever, Freedom 17

[offshore]

Ok this will be my first build ever of any sort of boat with the exception of building two RC model wood boats.
My original plan was to build two stitch and glue kayaks, However after seeing all the strip build canoes online I have changed my mind and ordered the plans for the Freedom 17 from Bear Mountain boats.
A little about myself, I live up here in Gold Bar, WA. in a RV resort, needless to say I do not have a garage to build it in, and the weather up here is going to be getting colder and the rainy season is coming soon.
My plan is to build a temporary 8ft by 24ft wood frame a cover with [FONT=&quot]rolled clear 6 mil Plastic Sheeting and heat it with a propane heater, hopefully this will work for me.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Right now I am just getting every thing set up for the build, I have picked up my Western Red cedar and the sheeting for the forms and the strong back, the strong back sheeting is going to double as in feed and out feed tables for cutting the strip. I have a 14” Grizzly Polar Bear band saw and a 10” table saw, not sure witch one I am going to use yet.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ok so bare with me, it is going to take me a while to get every thing set up so that I can get started on the build.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thank you for looking.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Harold[/FONT]
Oh by the way, The cedar in the photos is westurn red cedar.
One 3/4” X 12” X 20 feet
One 3/4” X 10” X 20 feet
One 3/4” X 4” X 20 feet

 

[Jim Dodd]

I really don't want to rain on your parade ! But you will find things a whole lot better if you wait until Spring. Spend the Winter gathering supplies, and increasing your knowledge base, a making strongback and forms.. That first boat, always takes the longest !

Dealing with epoxy in the cold is a real challenge. You need to heat your work area to 60+. Or better yet 70 degrees, and keep it that way for a week or more, until the epoxy cures properly.
Gluing the strips, requires 50 degrees.

If you use the skillsaw method of cutting your strips, the strongback will be a big aid ! I highly recommend using the skilsaw to cut your strips. Do some research.

Cutting strips, making the forms and strongback is quite feasible, during the Winter.

Here in Iowa, I always waited until April to start stripping. I worked out of an unheated garage.

I am envious of your location ! You live in Western Red Cedar Heaven ! Nice planks ! I've often thought of hauling a truck load, of hand sorted Rough cut Western Red Cedar back here to Iowa ! You just couldn't wipe the smile off my face !

Also, look around for other cedar strip builders in your area. They can be a BIG help ! Maybe even offer building space ? If you CAN'T find another stripper, We'll bend over backwards to help you here !

The best of luck !

Jim

 

[offshore]

Thank you Jim Dodd for your comments, You are 100 percent right on the time of year to start the build, I am going to take your advise and start it in the spring. however I will be doing all the prep work this winter.
I took your advise and did some research on cutting the strips with a skill saw, I really like that idea and I also found some plans for building the jig for the skill saw.
Ones again Jim, thank you for your feed back. I think you may have saved me from a total disaster.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Here's a couple of picks of my Skilsaw set up.
I now use a small vise grip as the front clamp. It gives me something to hold onto.
The aluminum angle 3/4"x3/4", is trimmed on the bottom edge. That's because I often cut thinner boards.

Hope that helps !

Jim

 

[stripperguy]

Harold,
I, too would wait until you have reliable temperatures for gluing and glassing.
But, there's plenty of prep work to do before you staple (are you stapling?) your first strip.
I still prefer a band saw for strip cutting...I've every method you can think of, and the band saw has the least waste, is the fastest, and has little binding. If properly set up, your strips will be very consistent in thickness.
I usually limit my cedar planks to 14 ft, only because of my somewhat limited infeed and outfeed space. Also, I've found that planks wider than 6 inches tend to develop more wiggly successive cuts. Even though the individual strips are pretty uniform, the remaining plank can end up with a crooked cut edge, making each next strip a little trickier to keep uniform.
But that's just me!! Everyone needs to find what method works best for their individual skill set and temperament.

Do you plan to bead and cove your strips? I was a staunch opponent for many years, until I used the right radius cutters for a given strip thickness. I don't think I could build again with square edge strips, the bead and coves add so much to the overall fairness of the hull.

I suppose you have plenty of time to decide on trim materials, whether to add bulkheads and decks, use of composites, type of seat frames, etc.

Enjoy the process, I know I'll enjoy the ride.

 

[Alan Gage]

In the interests of making your choice has difficult as possible I'll put in a plug for cutting your strips on a table saw.

Using a 7 1/4" circular saw blade in your table saw gives you a narrow blade so you're not wasting so much wood. You'll need in and outfeed tables to safely and accurately cut strips but that's easy. A sawhorse on either end of the saw will provide support. Clamp or screw 1x or 2x material to the top to raise it to the desired level.

On the outfeed side it's nice to have an extension running from the sawhorse to the table saw. That way if a board or strip is drooping when it comes off the saw table it will be forced to slide over your outfeed support instead of bumping into it. Again, quick and simple solution. Use a wide board or piece of plywood. Screw it to the top of your outfeed sawhorse and clamp it to the bottom of the saw table. This gives you a gentle ramp for any pieces that want to dip down and keeps everything flowing smoothly over your outfeed support.

With a table saw it only takes a minute to get the fence set up for the correct strip thickness. Then you have the stack of boards on your left and you never have to move once you start ripping. Put the strips to the right of the saw as they come off.

I use a block of wood in my left hand to apply pressure to the board (to keep it tight against the fence) just ahead of the blade. I also find a scrap piece of wood to use for the final push through the blade.

I've tried the band saw on a couple builds and while I don't doubt that Stripperguy gets good results I never got consistency I was happy with. He's a pro though. For me setup took longer, ripping took longer, and too many wasted strips due to variable thickness. With the table saw I get very consistent strips.

Jims strongback and circular saw method looks good,especially if you don't have a tablesaw or the room to run long strips through it, but I'm quite happy with my tablesaw.

Alan

 

[Canotrouge]

One other option to ripping your strips, is to use a Japanese rip saw, Ryoba would work great. It would be a bit slower, but the blade on these saw are so thin that you wouldn't have any waste to talk about and you have all winter right?? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA

 

[BWCA66]

I can never get one of those Japanese rip saws to work, must be I'm left handed and they are all made for righties. I do agree with Alan, a table saw is my preferred method, I think my bandsaw is right handed too.

 

[Canotrouge]

dang right hand specific tools...

 

[Mihun09]

I use a table saw as well with a 7 1/4" blade. I use feather boards, 2 on the deck and one holding the boards down and run them a tad fat then through the thickness planer. Run a strips from all your boards, adjust the feather boards and run, etc. A tad more time consuming but easier for me when going single handed.

Nice even strips should take the bead and cove consistently better, but that could just be me. Table saws can be used by southpaws too, just swap the fence to the other side of the blade.

 

[memaquay]

Table saw here too.....tried the bandsaw once, too much set up and fiddling around.

 

[BWCA66]

I'm going to have to try a 7 1/4" blade on the table saw. Does the size difference affect performance of the saw? Smaller circumfrance but same rpms?

 

[Canotrouge]

Most importantly, zero clearance plate!!

 

[latremorej]

Most importantly, zero clearance plate!!

Yes definitely make a zero clearance plate for any small or thin stock on a table saw!

And good call on glassing in the spring, a propane heater will not keep your Temps up in that setup, as I recall the winters are pretty mild over there (stationed at Ft Lewis for a year and a half) but when the temp falls under 50 or so outside, the propane heater wont keep up a consistant temp of 65 and you will not be able to use your resin. (And if it was big enough to work, it would cost a fortune to run it for 10hrs a day while the epoxy was curing)

 

[offshore]

No Title

I've been working on the forms and stems the last two days. I got half of the forms done and both the stem molds. I cut them on the band saw, I cut them just outside of the line, then I made a sanding block with a fence on it so that I could get square edges, it worked out good.

 

[Canotrouge]

Nice work!!

 

[offshore]

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I finished the other half of the forms this morning, I think they all turned out okay. I will respond to all your privies posts as soon as I get to my laptop computer, as I am using my iPhone out side to make this post, I will say now that you all are giving me a lot of great information.

 

[offshore]

I have a question about cutting the cedar strips? If I cut my strips 3/16th inch will the 1/4 inch bead and cove bits work? Since I am 71 years old, the lighter the better.

 

[Canotrouge]

I finished the other half of the forms this morning, I think they all turned out okay. I will respond to all your privies posts as soon as I get to my laptop computer, as I am using my iPhone out side to make this post, I will say now that you all are giving me a lot of great information.

Hey we need the info to

 

[offshore]

No Title

I just finished up making a jig for the skilsaw for cutting my strips, I am going to use the strong back for cutting them on when I get it built.