Kool Tools.....

So many tools, so little money and time. Lots of tools are neat to own, even if you never use them you can appreciate their inventiveness, manufacture, and utility. These days we tend to limit purchases to those we need, and this one is utility all the way. Lee Valley have a great blend of both new, and remanufactured older tools and so many times you can find a solution for a particular problem there.  Banding the building form will require the 20ga galvanized straps to be bent to around 90degrees before they fold over the last strips, before the gunwale backers. How to achieve a nice, clean bend? Cant hammer it over the pine, and beating it over in a vice with a hammer wont be clean. Enter another Lee Valley solution..

Cheaper than a metal brake, and takes up no space. This is a one off application, and will allow for any angle bend up to 90degrees. Magnets hold the pieces to the jaws and turn the vice into a press brake. Its useful as well for general forming, crimping, and clamping just like the box says. 

Hell, its even made in Canada. That Leonard Lee is one smart guy, no wonder he left the post office to manufacture and sell tools.....

Jaws in place

20ga steel straps

Turning in

Any angle up to 90

Almost done

Perfect 90

Fitted to form, just needs to be drilled and lightly countersunk

Nice and clean. 

NOW do it 50 more times, one on each end....

The fishing machine - or currently, about 80lbs of shit fiberglass...

Always interesting to see peoples interpretations of how work, whether making repairs or completely reworking existing boats. This is the second fiberglass that likely had aluminum gunwales but for some reason has had them remove in favour of wood. Albeit poorly done, the basic hull is just what we were looking for in a motor canoe. Double ended (somewhat) below and at the water line, it could technically be moved by paddle, but at 40" wide, but with a huge flat run and three keels and at 14" deep who would want to?

Missing the 16' Tremblay and 4hp merc combo i had years ago, its time again to get an engine and let it take us greater distances quicker, to where the fish are. With a cart, it wont be terrible to portage either, as it wont top 100 pounds. 

16' Tremblay V stern w/ 1971 red band Mercury 4hp. Pickup truck for the water.

The van snags another one. 

V stern, not a true flat stern. Technically a wineglass transom.

Enough rocker to be manouverable. 

With 2 piece gunwales and not even joined, the piece of metal was used. Cant keep the shape with these.

Temp thwarts to make it rigid enough for 70mph on the roof

2 thwarts to be replaced

Nice amount of flotation bow and stern

Stern seat 2' and a bit in front of stern, for proper trimming

3-5 hp will fit, 4 should be optimum.

More bad work, all to be stripped off. 

Next: sanding, interior paint, 2 part epoxy exterior paint, kevlar skids on bow, stern and bottom keels, ash gunwales in and out, cherry seats, thwarts, deck and transom.  Gotta be gloss black out/grey inside.

Oh, and an engine. Cant forget the engine.....

New rails temp'd in place

Nice fair curves

Glass on this brute is thicker, need to do a heavier back cut than usual for glass or kevlar

The fun pack - 2 part urethane gloss black outside, a super tough and durable coating, and oyster mono urethane for the interior. Lots of kevlar felt for skid plates, and black pigment for the epoxy to saturate them so the yellow disappears.

Work forges ahead as the ice heads towards break up...

Wineglass, motor pads off

Canoe profile at waterline

Rough fit rails

Glass cleaned up and rails fitted

Deck on, sanded ready for paint

Thwarts located and fit

Clamps, clamps, clamps

Paint is next, and skid plates

Boat is railed

She'll get carry thwarts bow and stern for moving to and from water

Next is filling in the keels so the inside is smooth, flat and easy to keep dry

More Form Progress

One step close to a spring build, today the form top was closed in , holes drilled for strongback bolts and sanding  begun. Galvanized steel is sheared and ready to go on, and stems continue to dry on the form, soon to be split, beveled and mounted. After final sanding the bands go on, and a bending form needs to be built to steam bend the upturn in the gunwales. 

Top  closed in, final board on

Final fitting

Galvanized sheet metal sheared to 2.5"

4' abrasive belt, 6" wide and cut open

Final sanding begun

Handles fastened to belt for sanding

Form off of rolling stand and up higher for sanding

Smoothing out edges of strips

Rolled over to look at shape an trim station edges

Nice and fair

Backbone and doublers