Building a Pirogue

[jh504]

I started building a pirogue (pee-row) a couple of weeks ago and I thought I would share my experience with everyone. It is coming together very well. I started with free pirogue plans I downloaded off the interent. They call for 2 sheets of 6mm luon, fiberglass, resin, hardener, putty, and hardwood for a rubrail. I have finished building the boat and I am almost done with the fiberglass work. I will be painting it this weekend and hopefully checking to see if it floats. I will end up having about $170.00 in it and will have a nice 13'6" flat bottom canoe.

I will post some pics when its done.

[sandalscout]

Cool, can't wait to see pictures.... unfortunately, and an embarrassment to my father, I'm a HORRIBLE woodworker, but I've considered getting the Uncle John's kit (http://www.unclejohns.com/boat/) due to the fact that the ribs and stems are precut. The only thing you need with their kits is 2 sheets of ply, and the fiberglass equipment.... I'm sure not nearly as nice as a completely scratch built setup like yours, but should be even easier. The biggest thing that I think I'd have trouble with is the scarf joint, how'd you handle the sides?

[jh504]

The Uncle John's kits look pretty good, and I know they have good instructions.
My plans did not call for a scarf style joint and I dont think it is necessary. I butted the sides into the bottom and joined it with fiberglass and putty fillets.
The easiest part of the whole build for me was cutting out the wood and temporarily joining the boat. But I do have an entire cabinet shop at my fingertips. The real challenging part was the fiberglass work. I fiberglassed the whole bottom of my boat. The inside joints were a pain, I would do things different next time. On my joints I painted on a first coat of resin, made my putty fillets, and put down my fiberglass tape all before it started to harden so it would all harden together. I would not recommend doing it like this. Next time I will paint on my first coat of resin, and let it harden. Then I would come back and make my putty fillets along the seams and let them harden. After that I would put down my fiberglass tape, dry, and then role on my resin until it is saturated. I did that on the outside of the boat and it was much easier.
I also learned that for the seams the tightly woven fiberglass is easiest to work with. I used that on my seams and used the other thick stuff, that comes all apart, for the bottom of the boat. That seemed to work out pretty good.
I also didnt use ribs on my boat. My plans dont call for ribs because of the thick fillets you put down and also the seat acts as a support. I did consider adding them anyway for the extra strength though.

[jh504]

Well I brought my boat home from the shop today. It has a few layers of paint on it but I am not finished with the pattern. I will be taking it out to the lake this week sometime to see if it floats. After the float test I will post pictures of the work and finished product.

[sandalscout]

Awesome! Thanks for the insight, I'll definitely refer to this in the future... Mind sharing were you got the plans? I've seen some free ones before that had butted joints, but not without ribs.

[jh504]

I am finished with my paint. I went with a camo pattern because I will be using this boat mostly for hunting. It turned out pretty well.
I downloaded my plans from http://www.bateau.com/. I am very pleased with the result. If you start on a build and have any questions just let me know.

[burke]

Lets see some pics

[ntsqd]

This sounds remarkably similar to the build method for an RC power boat that I got a while back. The "plan" is a full scale drawing of each part that you spray-glue to heavy, single layer cardboard. Cut out to the lines and CA the edges together. Then resin and cloth over the cardboard, inside and out.

What are you using for putty (I assume for fillets)? A local sail boat owner told me that he uses Bondo since his boat is polyester.

[jh504]

This sounds remarkably similar to the build method for an RC power boat that I got a while back. The "plan" is a full scale drawing of each part that you spray-glue to heavy, single layer cardboard. Cut out to the lines and CA the edges together. Then resin and cloth over the cardboard, inside and out.

What are you using for putty (I assume for fillets)? A local sail boat owner told me that he uses Bondo since his boat is polyester.

Sorry I am taking so long on the pics. They will be here shortly.
I made my own putty for the fillets. I mixed very fine sawdust together with my resin to the right thickness. I also used bondo glass on areas of the boat that I needed to fill in, it worked very well also. The bondo would work well for fillets but I liked using the resin because it did not harden as fast. I also used polyester for my boat and I was happy with the results.

[compactcamping]

Home-made plywood kayaks / canoes are a great way to get cost effective boat, check out DuckWorks Magazine for different plans and tons of good information.

For fillets I've successfully used both bondo and thickened epoxy. If I'm going to do a clear finish, I like to use thicken epoxy with sawdust so they blend in better. If I'll be painting over it, I use bondo, it's cheaper and quicker. One trick I use is a pastry bag to lay down a bead of material, then a quick pass over it with a shaping tool. This is a much neater and quick way to do fillets.