• Happy Fibonacci Day! 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34. . .🐚

20 foot freighter canoe

How do you plan to staple those monsters to the forms? Finishing nails perhaps...

Might be good to scarf them as well.
 
Ooooh to have a shop like that! Complete with safety taping on the floor.

Looking forward to seeing this boat come to life.
 
Alan, I think the planer is around 18". I'm lucky to be able to use the shop, it's got full suction on all the machines, so very little dust. We are currently playing with air nailers/staplers to get the right combo if pressure. Took it down to 50 psi and the staple wasn't too bad. If I can't get it right, I might just bang them in by hand. There was a guy in Thunder Bay many years ago that built strippers full time, he just used dry wall screws and filled the holes afterward. Anyway, probably won't be there for a few more days.
 
Did you try pulling the staples back out? I was going to use narrow gauge staples to hold sheer strips once but after doing some test pieces realized I couldn't pull them back out.

I have a pneumatic stapler that shoots the standard staples we normally use with hand staplers but I believe the max staple length is 3/8". I suppose they make ones that can handle longer staples.

Maybe the school wants to invest in one of those guns that shoots composite brad nails? No need to pull them out, just beat on the forms with a hammer and they sheer off. The bonus is no holes to fill since the composite nail stays in the wood. I tried the staples and didn't like them but the nails sound like a better option.

Alan
 
Well, -46 this morning, -52 with the windchill, so the kids were told not to come to school. Make hay while the sun shines! Managed to get all my strips cut this morning, will startbeading them this afternoon.
HkMSud4.jpg
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Making hay isn't what immediately springs to mind at your -46C.
Playing shop Pick-up Sticks.
I'm waiting and wondering how you prevent them from splitting when stapled.
 
Yes, we tried pulling the narrow staples out, they were tough. We'll get there, may end up just hand bombing nails in.

Maybe this is your big chance to do a stapleless build. Should be done in a few years.

Alan
 
Great start !
Glad to see you are not anal about strip sorting ! I don't see a knot anywhere !

I considered buying into those Plastic staples. Seemed like they might do a lot of damage, if not to the forms, but at least the hull, breaking them out !

Al Gustafson, the Original North West Canoe owner, used nails, with a small piece of scrap wood, as a buffer, when he drove his nails in. That made it easier to grab the nail head, without denting the hull up. I never saw him pull nails, so I can't verify. how well it worked !

Seems like there is a trend towards Hot melt glue these days, I can see problems there also.

Yep Stapleless ! That will surely speed up the build.
 
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Just thinking again ! ( I know Dangerous !)
An air nailer pressure would only need to be set, to drive the nail, through the strip, and just into the form, it could be finished off with a hammer blow. if needed.

Maybe a longer nail would be appropriate ? Regulating consistant air pressure the key.

I may play with this at the wood shop, as we have several nail sizes, and nailers.

Good Luck !

Jim
 
Yes, that is what we were doing yesterday Jim, playing with the pressure, but then the compressor had to be moved to the other side of the school, so we are without air for a week, lol. That's ok though, cause beading and coving these strips is proving to be a long process. I should finish the bead today, which will have been a full 8 hours simply beading.
 
Started around 7:45, finished at 2:45, half hour break, then half hour clean up, so only 7 hours. Tomorrow the cove, which will probably go slower. Have to go fairly slow with the pine to prevent rip out, think it must be due to the amount of wood being peeled off the half inch strip. Had an enormous amount of waste at the end. I gotta say, the thrill of making my own strips disappeared years ago, and the distaste level has hit a new peak, lol.
 
Wow man, you sound old. Complaining about a snow day!!! lol. Ya gotta look at the upside Mem, just think of all that woodstove wastage you've ripped.
 
Mem,
When I built my sailboat, I used an air stapler and 1/4 crown staples, 1" long, IIRC.
My hull was all western red cedar, with mahogany a stem and center plank.

The staples did hold the strips quite well, but as you've noticed, were difficult to remove.
I ultimately used two old offset screwdrivers (old jr high shop projects) to pry out the staples. I ground the flat blade end narrower, to fit the 1/4" crown staple.
I'll look for a photo of those, but the added leverage of those screwdrivers made a miserable job tolerable. BTW, my hull was 19 ft long with a 7 foot beam, lots of strips, many more staples.
 
Stripperguy, thanks for that advice, I was thinking the one inch staples might be best. Going to be a trial, one way or the other, lol. No way would I be building two of these. This year's build was an experiment, if it all worked out I was going to build another next year to raffle off for my outers Club. Problem is, the kids can't really get involved in the stripping process. They helped with cutting out the forms, but I need to have quality control for making the strips, and the kids aren't there yet. I guess what I'm saying, is this big bugger is too much work for a charity project, lol.

I have a kid starting on a John Winters Raven in a week or two, he's also helping me finish up a Pal. In a small school like ours, kids that are that good are rare, and he will be graduating this year. So I think the charity project next year will be some generic prospector or something.

Rippy, this should be the year some of you southern neighbours come to visit me and we take the party barge fishin'! Or wait two years, when I retire, I'm doing the grand tour and stop in to visit all my 'merican canoe pals!
 
Mem,
After you retire,, will you still have access to all that wonderful work space and those tools?
When I retired, I lost access to a full machine shop and large format printers, as well as a 3D printer...Some of that stuff is hard to duplicate at home.
 
I'm sure you're well aware of it but pay attention to grain direction when routing the cove. Some of the cheap cedar I use is prone to tear out. It makes a big difference if the cutter is cutting with the grain rather than against it.

Alan
 
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