Jack's Special/ Chestnut Chum

[memaquay]

I hope it's the one you've been waiting for.

Ha ha, sounds like wives. I have a feeling this is the one. Worked on gunwales at lunch. Thought I would show my budget scarfing mechanism. Pound a straight board into the deck of the radial saw, fool around till you get the right angle, clamp gunwale and cut.


Then glue with gorilla glue. Hope mine is still good, it's a year old and feeling thick.

Mahogany was 12 feet long, so only one scarf. It's not the best mahogany, but it will have to do, as it's the only mahogany around here. Lot's to do tomorrow if i can get around this thing called work.

 

[Rippy]

Do what my American history teacher did,"class read chapter 12 and do the study questions at the end". Then he went to the teacher lounge and smoked til about 3 mins left of class. Can you imagine a young me in a class room with out a teacher for a whole period at a time.

 

[Alan Gage]

Cedar stems and mahogany gunwales? Whew, pretty light-weight stuff you've got going there. What have you done with the real Memaquay?

To you it might look ugly up close but it looks good from here.

Alan

 

[Rippy]

Cedar stems and mahogany gunwales? Whew, pretty light-weight stuff you've got going there. What have you done with the real Memaquay?
Alan

Do to the delayed response I fear the worst has happened. My guess is the kidnappers are trying to come up with a Memaquay sounding response to keep suspicion down. Don't be fooled we know better.

Mem if you can read this just hang on, Alan and i will figure something out to rescue you.

 

[Odyssey]

Do to the delayed response I fear the worst has happened. My guess is the kidnappers are trying to come up with a Memaquay sounding response to keep suspicion down. Don't be fooled we know better.

Mem if you can read this just hang on, Alan and i will figure something out to rescue you.

I fully concur gentlemen, but first let's see how this boat turns out. I can't wait. It's looking good.

 

[memaquay]

Weighed myself this morning, if I've been kidnapped, it's by the fat fairies, they've been stuffing me. At the rate I'm gaining weight, I may as well just build a freighter canoe. In any case, I am putting two layers of six ounce cloth on the bottom to keep the weight up. With this one, if I come in somewhere + or - 50 pounds, I'll be happy. If you don't hear from me for a few days, I've disappeared into the woods for a 100 mile snowshoe with no food and only a sarissa to fight off the fat fairies.

 

[Rippy]

I fully concur gentlemen, but first let's see how this boat turns out. I can't wait. It's looking good.

Ya, I didn't think about that, some one's got to finish the boat and they're making progress.

 

[memaquay]

Rough sanding finished, maybe fill cracks this weekend and get the last sanding done.

 

[memaquay]

This canoe has booty!

 

[Mihun09]

I'm looking forward to actually seeing this boat up close and personal this Summer. She is Booty-ful!

The mahogany for gunwales is purely for aesthetic reasons I'm sure, it will go very nicely with the darker panels on the sides. Cedar inners is normal and the ash outers offset the light cedar.

 

[Odyssey]

My eyes and knowledge are woefully inadequate, but that lovely shape looks almost Hiawatha-like to me. It's looking really nice mem.

ps Okay, the next morning now, and I see after my first coffee (she's sleeping in and I'm cheating on the no coffee diet thing) that the cedar strips are fooling my untrained eyes about the Hiawatha thing. Nevertheless, it's looking good, coffee or no coffee.

 

[Rippy]

The wood seems to flow from here to there in every direction. Very pleasing to the eye. I have a Nova Craft Bob's Special (Chestnut design) in Rx and the lines are similar looking from the front, only at 35" Bob would be a fat booty. When paddled tandem, which is very seldom, the canoe knife's into waves. Not a problem when paddled solo. I find that both my Pal and my Bob work best all around for me when trimmed a little light in the front.

In the top picture I can sense that it must have been a pain in the but to work the stem with the strong back sticking out in the way.

 

[memaquay]

You're right about that Rippy! I had a choice to either be able to work on one stem well, or have them both be difficult. The strong back is just an awkward length, I should have taken the time to cut another foot off it. That one stem is going to give me grief until I flip it right side up. Got to try to get the swirls out of it today. I'll tell ya, summer can't come quick enough, think I might even buy a new paddle this year to celebrate it!

 

[Rippy]

Any updates on your project?

 

[memaquay]

Hoping to fiberglass tomorrow, not sure if it will happen yet, only have until middle of feb, then I'll be taking a 6 week break, so I have to get a move on!

 

[memaquay]

Got the stems fiberglassed today. I like to lay down a layer of six ounce cloth on the stems before I do the main body. Then when I put the football, and the complete layer, I will have three layers protecting the area that sees the most abuse. Plus I'll have a brass strip over it too. I'm hoping to do the outsdie layer later this week.

 

[Hanz]

I can't wait to see it all wet out! Beautiful lines, Mmmmmmmmm.

 

[Iskweo]

I have some brass stemband material for strippers, with a flat back instead of the concave back. The concave ones are for cedar canvas boats and the flat ones are to use on the wooden stems of strippers. Just in case you are looking. I also have some really cool looking copper strip about 30inches long that would make pretty unique stembands. I am not sure what I am going to use them for but if you need some we can talk.

That is a very pretty boat.

Christy

 

[Alan Gage]

Being a stem newbie I'm having a hard time figuring out where the little jog came from and why it's there.

When the stripping was nearly done it looked like the inner stem at the bottom of the hull was completely covered up. I assume the strips were cut and sanded back to reveal it so you had something to attach the outer stem too?

Or, looking at it some more, perhaps the strips were only sanded flat on the bottom section, not revealing the inner stem at all, and the "jog" is the point where the outer stem transitions from being attached to the inner stem to being attached to the hull?

Did any of that make sense? If you could enlighten me I'd appreciate it.

Alan

 

[memaquay]

I think I get what you are saying Alan....the strips are cut back flush with the inner stem up to the transition point, which is the area I think you are calling a jog. At that point, I cut a trough in the strips down to the inner stem. So there are 1/4 inch sidewalls on each side of the inner stem. I shape the outer stem so that it will fit into the trough, but I leave the total width on the vertical part to cap all the strips I have cut flush on the inner below the jog. Then the whole thing is planed to flow with the shape of the canoe.

Christy, I'm definitely interested in your brass, send me a price!