NWC Cruiser build

[Jim Dodd]

I see you are not alternating stripping side to side. I've always alternated ,that way the ends of the strips interlock. I also did cove up, might not work as well with cove down.
A gain small thing ! Your doing fine !

Jim

 

[Sven]

I did try alternating the last few strips and they were not very cooperative. Think they would have been a little more so earlier in the build. At first I wasn't quite sure how to go about it.
Do you use a pull saw and cut the ends in place?

 

[Jim Dodd]

With the cove up. I use a rat tail file, 1/4", to "Bed the strip from the other side.

Hopefully this pic will help.
I file down to the bottom of the cove, so the bead is bottomed out, in the cove. This helps hold the strip in place, as the glue dries.

One of the drawbacks from going the Bead up technique.

A good pull saw is undoubtedly one of the best tools, for strip building ! I have several Stanley's, that work, but a Jap made pull saw is far superior !
My first one, I bought just the blade, and made a handle. I use it to this day.

Your technic will work. But you are selling me more and more on Cove up. Stay with what you are doing !

Jim

 

[Sven]

Jim, thanks for all of the advice. My internal reasoning for bead up was concern of destroying the cove side trying to set the strips. I will probably try cove up on the next one. Sounds you use a scrap piece to help set them or am I concerned with something I should not be? How do you cut the angles on the strips at the stems? I was setting a couple strips then coming back with the pull saw using the stem form as my guide. Then I run the strips wild on the other side. Your technique seems superior to mine by a long shot.
Again, thanks for the guidance, and also the encouragement.

 

[Jim Dodd]

If I was going stapleless. I might look at bead up. Beings I use staples, the cove up is the best in my opinion. I press the strips into place bare handed, and have not had any serious trouble with the feathered edges of the cove breaking.

Cutting the bevel on the end strips, is a very simple trick, that is best explained by a photo ! Right now, I don't have forms set up, but tomorrow, I'll try and get a pic.

I use a scrap piece of strip, as a guide, for my saw. It aligns the blade for a perfect cut every time.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

I sweet talked my oldest son, to take some photos of a mock up of how to cut the strips at the stems.
Hopefully this will helps some.

Jim

 

[Sven]

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Thanks Jim, you are a wealth of knowledge, as are many others on this forum. Minimal progress tonight. I manage to get to the transition from vertical to horizontal with the strips. Razor blade and ruler technique works great, with a little fine tuning using a block plane. Pictures!!!!!

 

[Sven]

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More strips, more pictures.

 

[Sven]

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Waiting for glue to dry, so i decided to try making a couple staple pullers. I used some 1/16 x 1" x 8" long flat steel stock that was sitting around and cut angles on the end. Then I de burred and sharpened them with the belt sander. Stuck them in the vise and eyeballed what appeared to be a good angle and bent them. They seem to work well so far and the 1" width seems to disperse the pressure nicely and doesn't seem to put dents in the cedar.

 

[dogbrain]

Looking good. You're a bit faster than I was with my build. Great idea on the staple puller.

Mark

 

[Jim Dodd]

Looks great ! Making good headway !
Preventing dents is the main goal for me.
I use these, That I purchased on line years ago, made by Bostitch / Stanley. These Old hand love them !

It works pretty good, but if a staple is sunk too deep, it will dent some getting it out. Many use a good pair of pliers.

Also in the pic is my ALL time favorite canoe building tool, a Japanese Saw Rasp , without handle. I don't use the handle.

Jim

 

[Sven]

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Put in about 8 hours last night. Boy those long angles are tedious, takes me about 20 minutes per strip on average. I Have about 30 hours into applying the strips.
I cut the centerline with a 6' aluminum ruler attatched to the forms with 2 screws
The end result was a very clean edge with no clean up needed. Just make sure to take your time with the knife (new blade of course) and try not to force it. It only took about half an hour with set up to accomplish.
Cutting the fill pieces was also very easy with the utility knife and much smaller aluminum ruler.
Getting pretty close with the strips, should be able to finish today. I'm kinda racing the weather since I have so many outside projects to do once the ground thaws.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Looks great !

Now would be a good time to add a design to the keel, and make fitting those final strips easier. Cutting strips, and trying to bend them as they fit into each end, all at once is tough ! If you plan a seam, you can fill the bow end, and then the stern end.
Examples.

Jim

 

[Sven]

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Jim,
Thanks for your encouraging words. I just finished the strips. I thought about doing a design, but ultimately wanted to see how difficult it would be. It was a b*tch! Not very happy with how it turned out, but learned a valuable lesson. Anyhow, a picture of how it looks.

 

[stripperguy]

Sven,
I think it looks great!!
I bet you can hardly wait to get it sanded and glassed.
Then comes everyone's "favorite" part, sanding the inside. Wear goggles!

 

[Sven]

Thanks for the kind words. What bugs me most is the way the very last 3 (more like 6 pieces) strips went in. One of you seasoned veterans to canoe building must have a trick/secret to this, maybe not. Other than that, I am happy to be done with strips, and feel like I did alright. Always room for improvement on the next one. Yes, I am excited to see how it will look with glass on it! I think Those redwood accents are going to pop!

 

[frozentripper]

Looks really good Sven... before and after photos of the strip pattern would be great to see, before and after glassing, that is.

Then comes everyone's "favorite" part, sanding the inside.

That did take a lot of time... something that helped a little was collecting the sanding dust from inside the hull, very fine grained and great for making wood filler and thickened epoxy.

 

[Sven]

Thanks Frozen, I will be taking lots of photos throughout the project, and will certainly post those ones. Will be pulling staples today and may even start sanding. Planning on hooking up to hepa vac and collecting the dust that way as you recommend. I will keep the thread updated as frequently as possible with lots of pictures for everyone's entertainment.
If you click on the upper link on my very first post it does take you to the Flickr photo stream where I have been saving all of the pictures. Some of which I have not posted on this thread.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Nothing wrong with that !

Jim

 

[dogbrain]

When I built my canoe the very last strip was kind of a hack job to say the least. I felt that I should have started over with it and try to do a better job, but I was anxious to get on to the next thing. After filling with thickened epoxy, glassing over it, and using it for a summer it is indistinguishable from the rest of the hull. You'll know the imperfections are there, but nobody will see them except you. Good work!