Sam Buchanan's Strip Canoe Project
Sam's Construction Log, page five
9/3/00
We are ready to fiberglass the hull. The areas of the stems that were reinforced were sanded to smooth the edges of the cloth, then cloth was draped over the hull.
You can see the additional layer of cloth that is added to strengthen the bottom. Both layers of cloth are wetted at the same time. The smaller layer is underneath the large layer.
It is amazing how much weight is added to the canoe by the cloth. The roll of cloth in the box on the floor weighs several pounds. This is why we only use as much cloth as necessary to insure adequate strength.
Laying up the cloth is a messy job. We put paper on the floor to catch some of the runoff that is inevitable. The resin was mixed in 16 oz (10 pump strokes) batches so it wouldn't thicken before we could get it spread. We were working in very warm conditions and a slower hardener would have been handy. The first couple of batches are poured onto the bottom of the hull and pushed around with squeegees.
As we worked our way down the sides, we used a combination of squeegees and foam brushes to transfer the resin to the cloth. The cloth had to be cut at the stems to allow it to fit the profile of the stems.
By working together, we only needed 2.5 hrs to lay-up the entire hull. The time consuming part will be the filler coats and finish sanding.
Two additional coats of resin were applied after the layup. These coats filled the weave of the cloth fairly well but there were a lot of uneven areas on the hull. I sanded the entire hull with a palm sander and 60 grit paper, and added another thin coat of resin. This resulted in the removal of most of the surface imperfections.
At some point you have to decide when smooth is smooth enough. If you wanted to really get carried away with the sanding, filling, sanding routine, a mirror-like finish would be possible. Since this canoe is destined for river use instead of decorating a living room, I decided that pretty smooth was smooth enough.
9/12/00
Z-Spar is a heavy duty marine varnish that includes UV inhibitors. After sanding the final coat of resin, the Z-Spar was applied with a high quality brush.
I was a little surprised at how some of the sanding marks showed through the varnish. A second coat will be applied and this canoe is going to be "purty enough" for my use.
Actually, it does look quite nice!
9/14/00
The second coat of varnish is dry and we removed the canoe from the strongback.
Cradles were fabricated and padded with foam pipe insulation; the cradles were attached to the strongback so the hull could be secured while the inside is fiberglassed.
The inside of the hull is a mess. There are hundreds of epoxy "stalagmites" which will have to be removed. The inside of the canoe will be harder to smooth due to the concave surfaces.
This is a wide canoe!
Here is the pneumatic orbital sander I used on the inside of the hull. A disk with 60-grit paper made quick work of the epoxy drips and did a great job of leveling the strips.
Lots of dust, however!
But the outside surface of the canoe gives us inspiration to press on! The various shades of cedar are truly wonderful to see.
9/23/00
Time to fliberglass the inside of the hull.
The cloth is draped in the hull and secured with clothespins. I elected to trim the cloth
so an overlap would occur in the stems. Note the masking paper protecting the outside of
the hull from resin drips and scratches.
The resin was poured in the hull and spread with a plastic squeegee. It is difficult to control the resin on the vertical surfaces; sags and runs were sanded down after the resin cured.
A total of three coats of resin was applied with sanding following the second and third coats. The hull is now ready for varnish.
Next step is the fabrication of gunwales, thwarts, yoke and decks.
Forward to Sam's construction log, page six