Project Information
Hello Everyone, Well it's been a while since I have posted in here. I have been kinda busy for the past almost 4 months. My new project started Feb. the 5th of this year, My wife bought me a book Titled " Building an Adirondack Guide Boat" by John Michne & Micheal Oivette in 09 at a book signing up in the Adirondacks while we were vacationing. She told me to build the boat to keep me busy through the winter. Well the money wasn't available till this year so I started it then. The first part of the project was to build forms to mold the ribs to. Then came the making of the ribs. This was done by cutting over 300 strips 1/8" thick x 33" long and 1 3/4" wide out of Spruce. These were to be pre-bent with dry heat (from a heat gun) and then laminated with glue and clamped up to form the rib blanks. After all the rib blanks were made they were then shaped to the patterns of the ribs,cut into 4 ribs per blank, sanded and ready to be placed onto the bottom board (keel). I then made the bottom board out of select Pine. After the bottom board was all set to receive the ribs I placed it onto the stock plank (stand to hold the boat as it is being built) and laid all the ribs. Then came the fun part of the project. Making the strips that would cover the ribs and form the hull. I bought more select pine that was 3/4" x 10" x 16' and mounted 2) 7- 1/4" blades onto my table saw. The purpose for the 2 blades was to speed up the making of the strips After cutting all the board,(3 of them), into 80 strips 3/4" x 3/16" x 16'. I was then ready for the next phase for the strips. Each strip needed a Cove & Bead routed on the opposit edge of them. That's 160 router cuts. With the strips all made I was ready to start stripping the hull. Working almost everyday for the next 5 weeks installing 5 strips per day I finally got it all stripped. Then came the sanding the excess glue off the hull on the outside. Man it took allot of paper and elbow grease but I was able to scrap,sand and shave the hull fair. Next up was to install the 2 outer stems made from Cherry. They went on pretty easily. Reaching a major step in the project I finally was able to take it off the stock plank , turn it upside right and get a look at the inside. To my horror there was more scrapping needed to the inside. It took me a week to clean the excess glue from the inside. With the hull cleaned up I then made the gunwales out of Hard Maple, ( I wanted Cherry but could not find any good 16' boards at the lumber mill). Those were a challenge as well. Having 2 compound angles cut the length of them was very time consuming. The making and installing of the decks was next, Cherry,Mahogany & Maple were chosen for these. I liked the contrast that those woods would give to the decks. After the decks were done it was time to Varnish the Hull. I chose a French made marine varnish called Le Tonkenois Classic Varnish & Le Tonkenois Bio Varnish for the first coat. The latter is a more watery type Varnish that would, (I was told), penetrate almost through the hull. As it turns out they were Right. It did go right through the wood and started to show on the inside of the hull. No sanding is required with this product and you can coat it again in 24 hours. I then applied 3 coats of the classic waiting 24 hours in between and it came out like glass. I am very, I Mean VERY pleased with the end result. Having never caned a chair before that was to be my next new venture to learn and accomplish. Taking 7 hours per piece I was able to get them done. The boat needed floor grates to protect the ribs from boot shoes etc. I made those out of Cherry and varnished them with the same varnish as the hull. Bringing you all up to date. With in the next 2 weeks I'll be making the 2 oars & 1 Paddle, installing Oar locks and the finish Brass. I hope to launch it on Memorial Day Weekend. I'll keep you posted.