Ben's Arkansas Traveler, Iowa Style

[Jim Dodd]

Nice finishing touch with the center piece!!

Thanks Canotrouge.

Ben did a rough sand Saturday.
I filled staple holes with Elmer's Max. This is my second canoe with the Max, it's notably better than everything else I've used so far.
The Iowa Traveler is ready to glass this weekend.
Here's a couple of pics.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Seal coated Friday night.

Just finished wetting out cloth pics later.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Here's some pics of todays work.

Jim

 

[Boatman53]

That sure does look nice Jim.
Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Thanks Jim !

Ben did a great job. Now I'll have to order more epoxy !
Isn't that the way things go ?
It was a fun day !

Jim

 

[stripperguy]

Looks great, Jim! Nothing beats building a boat with your son...

 

[Jim Dodd]

Looks great, Jim! Nothing beats building a boat with your son...

Amen ! Well maybe paddling with the Grand Daughter !

Jim

 

[Alan Gage]

Looks great, Jim. It's hard to complain about an early spring but it caught us both with unfinished boats in the shop. Now with an extra hour of daylight in the evening and open water we'll have to start deciding whether to build or paddle.

Alan

 

[Jim Dodd]

I've just been out twice, need more water time for sure ! Pick a place !
Need to put more time on that new paddle !

We were teeter tottering over whether to seal coat or not on the Traveler. Took 16 9oz cups to wet out and fill the weave. I think I used 18 on Nokomis, and it's much bigger. I skipped the seal coat on Nokomis, but I did use Peel Ply.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Ben and family were home for Easter, and was able to sand the outside of his Traveler.
He did a nice job, so
we pulled her off the forms.

 

[sailsman63]

This one is looking good. That hull form has a lot more "hollow" (can't think of the right term) where the beam flows into the stems than I see on many canoes. What sort of conditions is it intended for?

 

[Jim Dodd]

The Arkansas Traveler was Designed By Henry Rushton back in 1800s, as a tandem at 15' long. It was quite tippy.

By lowering the center of gravity, reducing the length, and making a solo out of it, I'm hoping Ben will at least have something his daughter Bailey can handle, with a double blade.

It should track well, at least I'm hoping.

Designs have certainly changed a lot since then.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Here is a pic that shows the Rushton influence.
Note the shadowed form lines.

Now if Ben can find time to come back up, and sand the interior.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

About to head out and glass the inside of Ben's Traveler.
​ We put a seal coat on last night.
It's amazing how well epoxy wets out when the temps are in the low 90 degree F !

I know we had several threads that experienced trouble wetting out cloth in colder temps. Moral to story, heat is your friend when wetting out cloth with epoxy !
More pics later.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Inside glassed.
It went exceptionally well. We had some outgassing ,mostly from the staple holes. A little heat from the hair dryer, a brush stroke, and that was the end of them.
A funny thing, we pulled the shearlines together a little, with blue masking tape. Right away little spots of cloth began to raise. we pushed them down with Peel Ply scraps, and that cured that.

Always, and I mean Always stay with your hull as the wet out coat cures!

Peel Ply. I was at the local Walmart, and they were clearing out some cloth. They had 100% Polyester liner (very tight weave) for $1 a yard. It was pink, and felt like Peel Ply.

We laid some out on the inside of the Traveler, but I got nervious, so we pulled it back out. It had some wrinkles. It did lift a lot of excess resin. I'm going to try it on some scrap to make sure it will pull off, when the resin cures.

Here's a few pics.

Jim

 

[Boatman53]

Looks good Jim. I always liked that hull shape.
Jim

 

[Mihun09]

Wow, we need a contest for messiest shop space, or, best use of every horizontal surface.

The first photo has some areas that look resin starved, must just be poor lighting eh?

 

[Muskrat]

Wow, we need a contest for messiest shop space, or, best use of every horizontal surface.

That's nothing. Of course my garage is tiny, but I have to move stuff out to the driveway to even walk around my build in progress.

Looking good Jim. Resin may flow nice in 90 degree heat, but it is definitely no fun applying it in a stuffy shop.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Wow, we need a contest for messiest shop space, or, best use of every horizontal surface.

The first photo has some areas that look resin starved, must just be poor lighting eh?

I'll enter that contest !

A few years ago while working as a janitor at the school. I was cleaning a classroom, and the teacher apologized for her messy room.
I said that's what I was there for.

She told me that she read on the internet, that messy people were more creative ! I didn't argue with her.

I guess I need a janitor !

But Thanks I needed that

The cloth is wet out fine. I laid some Walmart Special Peel Ply down, got scared and pulled it back off. It did soak up some resin.



Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

That's nothing. Of course my garage is tiny, but I have to move stuff out to the driveway to even walk around my build in progress.

Looking good Jim. Resin may flow nice in 90 degree heat, but it is definitely no fun applying it in a stuffy shop.

It was a little cooler in the shop today, but I loved how well the epoxy wet out the cloth. Last Winter was the first time I ever epoxied in cool weather. Guess I should just wait for warm weather from now on !

I'm going to do a full test tomorrow on my Walmart Special Peel Ply tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up Muskrat !

Jim