How much glue?

[MacCamper]

I am very impressed with the quality of craftsmanship I have witnessed on this board after spending a wee bit too much time lurking this cold Minnesota afternoon. The discourse has been inspirational and pictures very telling. Comparing many of your builds to my first attempt, I am humbled to be participating in a forum of such masters. Thank you all for sharing.

In review I also notice that my glue plunger pressure is a tad too strong and perhaps I'm laying it on too thick. How much is enough? If the wood is just for beauty and the resin/glass for strength, then I believe I am overboard on my adhesive?
Thoughts?
Also, as I plan to build more canoes (too much fun), I assume that most any knot free lumber would work...of course taking into account workability and weight. Pine, basswood, polar, aspen etc. Correct?

More questions to come, and thanks,

Mac

 

[memaquay]

I have built a few canoes out of white pine, it works well, but does add extra weight. Glue is not a big deal, if I put too much on, I just wipe the extra off with a damp cloth. Hope you posts some shots of your build!

 

[Mihun09]

You will likely get many different answers on that one. I'm building a 15 footer, I have used about 600 ml (20oz) or roughly a bottle and a half. I'm not frugal but I don't want too much squeeze out either and like Mem, I do wipe off excess and even on the inside where I can reach as it is easier to remove wet than when sanding. I use syringes to put my glue in, just works for me.

Karin

 

[Iskweo]

We tried some aspen this time and it was not what we had expected...very hard to sand. Cedar works really good for so many reasons so that is why we use mostly that. You cant beat it for weight. Spruce would be ok if you could find any without knots. The big issue we end up with is the wood is all kiln dried and often has NO moisture left if it has sat in a store for any time.

I have so many boats on my wish list that I may need two lifetimes to get to them all.

Christine

 

[Jim Dodd]

Excess glue on my first canoe, was a curse. Scraping the outside, wasn't bad compared to the inside. Back then I didn't have the tools I have now.
Bead and cove requires less glue, usually.
For the Merlin, 16 oz should be overkill.
Being stingy on strip glue saves sanding, and scraping . Anything that saves sanding is good in my book !
Small voids, or gaps are filled with epoxy either with a seal coat, or during wet out. Epoxy is better than wood glue in my opinion.

As far as wood choices? WRC is the top choice. In use, and normally in price. I throw in a little Aspen for accent. Red wood is quite usable, again price is the issue.
We use what we gotta use sometimes !

Great progress on your Merlin ! Filling in those last few strips, will cause for a little celebration, as they are the toughest (sometimes) !

Jim

 

[stripperguy]

You see, everybody has a different perspective. I use a fair amount of glue, and do not wipe off the excess. I have found that wiping the excess forces some glue into the grain, ultimately requiring more sanding. Any drips are easily popped off with a scraper and/or small plane.

For materials, it's tough to beat WRC, cuts easy, sands easy, nice color and grain, and it smells great! Aspen is actually a close second WRT density, but doesn't have the same color and grain. One of the guys that I virtually mentored built 2 boats so far from some spalted aspen that he cut and dried himself. It looked pretty good, but the odds of finding that sort of wood at a lumber yard is pretty slim.

 

[Mihun09]

The Aspen I had was hard as granite, did not want to sand at all and even planing came off in chunks. Makes you wonder how many years it sat in the lumber store. Only used it to soften the costs with 2x6 WRC going for $8.79 a linear foot here.

 

[Alan Gage]

I try to keep my glue leakage to a minimum but, like Stripperguy, I don't worry about it too much. I like to have just enough glue so that when I press the strips together I see a thing bead of glue squeeze out so I know they made good contact. Drips and runs happen but they shave/sand off easy enough.

Alan