My new Wanigan, unfinished yet!!

[Canotrouge]

So I made a wanigan! Not quite finished yet, but close. It is 24x14x14ish(14 3/4 outside hight and 13 inches inside). 1/4 inch Baltic birch ply, red cedar scraps for the trims(handles, lid frame, and under carriage) total weight so far 12lbs. it will be 15lbs by the time I'm done I'm sure, so it is not light weight per say but for the size, it is sure better than a ActionPacker.... I will finish it and try it on our next canoe/hunting trip in october. I'll keep you posted!
cheers

 

[Robin]

Looks good. nice workmanship too. Bet it would look nice in a w/c canoe out there in October. I use mine as a table to eat off of when I take it in October with the wall tent.
I like your tie down system. I use my canoe straps which are easy and make it water tight but they look out of place with the rest of my gear. I'm looking for leather straps or rope to keep the lid tight, maybe a tump line is the answer.

 

[redoleary]

Very nice!! I've got a wannigan on my short list, I'm just tooling for woodworking as a new hobby, and figured that'd be a good project to do some skill building on. How sturdy is it without any sort of interior framework? Is it epoxied together?

 

[Canotrouge]

Robin, a w/c canoe is on my list, I know what I want, I know where to get it, I just don't know how I'm gonna pay for it....
A tumpline is also some thing I want to add to the wanigan.

redoleary, I'm not sure of how sturdy it will be, every thing is glued with wood glue, but I will add a sickened epoxy filet in all corners and where the bottom tweet with the side inside the box.

Eventually I would like to build one out of "real" wood, but ply is easy and quick!!

Cheers

 

[southcove]

Looks nice. Good for both your summer soft water travels and your winter hard water travels...

For my own recent build, I made a second larger top that doubles as a table...two pieces of the same 1/4" ply. They fit inside the box and then held down by the two straps I use to hold the regular top down while travelling. Very useful but a little clumsy and I am going to rethink the whole deal and make another one.
I put round stock in each corner for reinforcement, (eats too much space) but next build will have fibreglass tape and a small fillet on all those joints (for strength and more inside space). Also used 1/4" birch ply.

 

[sweeper]

Nice, +1 on the workmanship. How do you plan to finish it?

 

[Canotrouge]

Sweeper, I will probably do my regular spar varnish schedule, first coat tinned at 50% second coat at 25% and all the other coats at 10%. For a total of maybe 4 or five coats!!

 

[Odyssey]

Nice work Canot. I'm looking forward to photos of it in action. How do you organize the interior?

 

[sweeper]

What no waniganrouge?

 

[Canotrouge]

Odyssey, I'm not sure yet, I will probably put a trim in the upper part of the inside of the box, and build a shallow tray to house small items. But mainly this is for kitchen, pots and pan, fire box, fire gloves, water filter, fire starter, etc etc....

 

[Odyssey]

I've never seen a wannigan on a trip, and there's probably no wannigan in my future, but I like seeing wannigan projects.
I think it's time someone made a dream wish list thread of "what the perfect wannigan ought to have".
Let me start things off: A hanging leather satchel for a whiskey-rum-bourbon bottle. A counting board for cribbage built into the inside of the lid. (Flip it over for a table top) A handy wooden drawer for decks of cards, and packs of cigars. A spice shelf. (My wife's idea) A fixed utensil organizer (Her again)
Any ideas?

 

[Canotrouge]

I'm more of the type Keep it simple...

 

[Odyssey]

Simple is good.

 

[redoleary]

Odyssey with some modification you could turn ONE OF THESE into a simple wannigan but still have the end pieces slide out to make the coveted spice rack and utensil storage.

 

[Murat V]

Wanigan looking great. Hoping to see some pics of it in action too.

 

[latremorej]

Very nice!

I used cheap 1/4" underlayment with pine interior frame on mine with the lid and sides pine and cherry, glued and screwed and varnished. I am 230lbs and can stand on it. Mine is heavy though, about 19-20lbs. Of course that includes the ruck sack straps and legs!

 

[Canotrouge]

That look great Latremorej... But not simple lol!

 

[sweeper]

My question about how you were going to finish it was to see if you were going to fiberglass the box to water proof it

 

[Canotrouge]

I'm not planning on glassing it, and to be honest, a good varnishing schedule will be as good regarding waterproofness the glassing would add a lot of weight, labor, and cost. I try to keep all f those factors down.

 

[ThreeScoutDad]

Very nice!

I used cheap 1/4" underlayment with pine interior frame on mine with the lid and sides pine and cherry, glued and screwed and varnished. I am 230lbs and can stand on it. Mine is heavy though, about 19-20lbs. Of course that includes the ruck sack straps and legs!

I like the looks of this one. How big did you make it? Any chance of a few more photos, particulary of the leg and strap connections?