JEM Watercraft

I have just ordered the North Wind plans from Matt and am getting my head around a few things while I wait for the postman.
I was wondering if it would be an advantage to apply a saturation coat of epoxy to the plywood panels as soon as I cut them out. I recon that it would make them a bit tougher and help protect the surface during the building process. It would also make cleaning up any epoxy mess a bit easier.
Interested to know if anyone can see any dramas in that.

Roger

Mate, I think it is probably a good idea. The only problem I can see is with the twist in the bottom panels.

Pre-coating will make them tougher to twist into shape.

I am also building a s@G North wind.
What type of ply are you going to use?
With the number of panels in this build I think you could precoat with out a problem .
Ron

Thanks Guys. At the moment I am thinking of either Gaboon(Okoume) or Hoop Pine depending on cost and quality. I am concidering 1/8 inch ply. I know it will be more difficult but I dont mind a bit of a challenge. Perhaps a strongback like Mick's Southwind build would be the go.
Cheers
Roger

I would hesitant about using 1/8 ply with as much open space as you will have in that cockpit. I built one from 1/8 ply .
Never again.
Ron

You could put a coat on but it's not necessary. Be mindful of amine blush issues if the boat sits for a while without being worked on.

[quote][/ Be mindful of amine blush issues if the boat sits for a while without being worked on.

quote]

I dont think that would be any greater issue then that area where the scarf joins are epoxied and left to wait. The epoxy I use is suppossed to be immune to amine blush. But i believe that amine blush can be cleaned off anyway. I am certainly not an expert on epoxy though.

Roger

Oh yea.... the amine blush waxy film definitely can be cleaned off and it's not hard to spot.

I've done some epoxy work, left the hull sit half finished for a while and had to do sanding to take care of some blush that formed once I started working on it again.

tx river rat wrote:I would hesitant about using 1/8 ply with as much open space as you will have in that cockpit. I built one from 1/8 ply .
Never again.
Ron

I built the Freedom ( decked over ) , several pirogues and canoes ( all open ) using 1/8th inch wood and have never had a problem with them.
The pirogues did have ( 3 ) ribs in them along with three ( 1/4 by 1 1/4 inch ) stringers running the length of the boat to stop any oil canning. They came out at 15 1/2 feet and 32 pounds , the seat weighs 2 pounds. The 14 x 30 Sasquatch weighs 30 pounds ( total weight )
All the boats were glassed inside and outside.

What Chuck doesnt tell you is that he has been building boats for 50 years so is a master at it.
I am going to rephrase my statement. If you plan to use it in rocks are current I would advise against 1/8 ,
!/8 inch wood boats have a hard time where I paddle.
Ron