Built a car, so building a canoe shouldn't be too difficult?
Has anyone done it, got any plans, what to do and what not to do?
Any advice warmly welcomed!
don't drill holes in the bottom
tom
sorry, i realise that was completely unhelpful, but couldn't resist.
are you looking more to build a kayak or a canoe? glassfibre or wood, or maybe carbon?
watch ray mears. he makes an awesome wood one in one of his programmes!
[Edited on 4/7/06 by indykid]
I will have to take a look, the canoe will be used in cornish rivers (deep reas) and light good weather coastal work. Need advice on materials - an absolute beginner!
i have thought of this several times. Metal is close to our hearts but is not ideal for a light canoe. Wood requires a lot of skill, so i guess that
leaves GRP. Id still consider a metal one though, for a laugh. Wouldnt be very practical i suspect. 
What about one of these?
http://www-db.research.bell-labs.com/user/pfps/canoe/winisk/
that one in that link's beautiful steve!
did you do o level woodwork mark?
i'd think the big thing you'll fall down on with a canoe is manufacturing techniques. composite ones probably want autoclaving, plastic ones
need rotational moulding, and wood ones need about 4 trees!
unless you want a thing of beauty wood one, i'd buy one. if you make one, get some pics up
tom
Steve, the link look like the sort of thing I am looking for - Thanks
Joel, I did think of using ally, but that would mean a massive amount of tig work, but a really light, tough boat
Mark, awsome arnt they?
You certainly would have one of the best looking if you did one. and the plans are only about £60. Do you live near a forest by any chance?
made them in my schoolboy years (5 or 6 years ago
)
From memory they weremade in 2 halves. Moulds were treated with release agent then pigmented gelcoat then woving roven/pigmented resin then 2 layers
of matting/pigmented resin. Moulds were trimmed while green and then bolted together around rim. 2 Layers of 3 inch wide matting around the joints
(shit job through the seat hole) wait for cure seperate moulds etc etc. Make seat in same manner from mould and fit to opening and glass into place.
Place in water and enjoy.
Realistically though time wise I'd recommend buying a second hand jobbie. and remember the longer it is the better for straight line direction
(bugger to steer in small space) shorter is better for fast river/rapid work.
It is great fun though.
There used to be a company that hired out the moulds for GRP Kayacs, but cant for the life of me remember who, may have been called Strand Glass, or something similar. Dead easy to fabricate, if you have done any GRP work. Two piece mould, hull and deck, then just stick them togather with Sicaflex. Not much help, you could try a trawl through Google. atb Ray.
For wide rivers or coastal work and touring rather than white water a sea kayak or canoe is the thing.
Wooden boats are a thing of beauty but take a lot of building.
For building at home the common materials for a Kayak would be grp, kevlar or wood, a canoe probably wood or ally, though grp or kevlar are quite
possible.
For sea kayak plans a good start is:
http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/
For canoes look for canadian sites/books:
Something like http://www.greenval.com/models.html
To understand the tradeoffs between materials this is quite good.
http://www.venturenorth.com/canoeing/htctcfy.htm
The shape is critical depending on how you plan to use it.
An ally canoe isn't very light generally and are rather noisy but virtually indestructible. They are usually rivetted rather than TIG welded
which makes them easy to build and cheap.
If you haven't done any paddling before consider a short course accredited by the BCU to figure out which suits you better.
http://www.bcu.org.uk/bcu/bcu-standardtemplate1.aspx
Probably not quite what yer looking for
http://www.bruceroberts.com/
Might inspire someone on here though!!!
ATB
Simon
paper maché? i once made a sailplane out of it... it flew exactly three metres before nose-diving into my coffee table.
We have 2 old canoes behind my workshop - traditional glass fibre jobs constructed as described in previous posts, probably need a bit of gas fibre
to patch up.
Availble for collection by anyenthusiast in exchange for low value notes or Mk1 and 2 escort car parts
my son does a bit of paddling now but is into little dumpy boats and rolling in the rivers.
quote:
Originally posted by indykid
watch ray mears. he makes an awesome wood one in one of his programmes!
Seriously been thinking about a boat. Check this out. Loads of plans, if you can't find something you like, you don't like boats!
CD of plans for Aluminium Canoe on eBay. Doesn't say what a build budget would be but surely you could do it for less than £250
eBay Canooo linky
From the same seller http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6023100371&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr12_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT
Now that looks a lot of fun
"Hydroplane Runabout"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there appears a slight conflict in that statement!!
ATB
Simon
There is an annual race on Vancouver island - the bathtub race - where the boats look pretty similar
http://bathtubbing.com/gallery.php
[Edited on 5/7/06 by iank]