River Runner - Stitch & Glue - Part 1 click "comment" to read or make an observation about this  article - click "email" to send this page to a friend
By Chuck Leinweber - Harper, Texas USA

We got a chance to do a float trip on the San Juan River with a group of friends. The course was more than 50 miles of canyon which, once entered, must be traveled to the end. This called for a river boat that was stout and able to take rocks in stride. Most of our group would be taking plastic canoes but we thought Jim's tradtional River Runner would be a good choice for a river having a maximum of class III rapids. But to make it strong and abrasion resistant, we taped the chines, glassed the bottom and used a graphite/epoxy coating on the bottom.

We wanted to boat to be reasonably light for possible portages, so 4mm Occume was used for the sides: 6mm Meranti for the bottom.

(click images for larger views)

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I had never used Occume before and was impressed that each sheet had a big sticker that had to be removed before it could be used. Here, one side has had a Payson joint (glass tape) applied and I am about to glass the other side.

 

Once joined, the two sides were clamped together, marked and cut to the final shape.

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The plans are quite clear about the measurements of the sides and the bulkheads and transoms. So far, we were following the plans closely. (PVC pipe clamps)

 

Here are most of the major components laid out. The first diversion from the plans involved building the seats with two supports instead of one. This allowed us to include more storage.

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We temporarily screwed the bulkheads and seat supports to the sides. Gently (remember those sides are just 4mm) we turned this assembly over onto the bottom so that it was right side up.

 

I cut blocks to the right angle and used drywall screws to attach them to the transoms to the sides. I like to do this instead of wiring. To me, it is faster and easier to adjust.

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The bottom was pulled up to the sides and spiled (marked) for trimming.

 

One clear departure from the plans was the construction of a 'cooler' under the seat. Since we would be a week away from civilization, I needed a way to keep insulin cool. Diabetes does not slow me down too much, but I do have to make some adjustments.

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The idea was to build a 6" x 6" chamber and line it with foam except for the bottom where the 1/4" ply would be replaced with a piece of aluminum plate screwed to the framework and glassed over.

 

Cedar outwales were fitted before any gluing to help the boat assume the proper shape. Cedar is not the toughest wood, but we were going for light here.

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Ready to begin gluing! First, mating surfaces are coated with regular epoxy, then thickened resin is spread over one side of each joint and the two sides are screwed back together.

 

We turned the boat back over and used blocks to temporarily attach the bottom to the side/bulkhead assembly.

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We next removed the bottom to glue it to the bulkheads. You can see the blocks and the framing for the 'cooler'.

 

Before we removed the bottom, we marked all the bulkhead locations so we could cut out for the aluminum heat sink and glue the bottom on.

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Once more we painted on liquid resin and then applied thickened epoxy and screwed the pieces back together. We did not glue the blocks.

 

It's always easier to remove epoxy before it hardens so we cleaned up the corners where the aluminum plate would go later at this time.

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The next day, we carefully masked the insides of all the joints that would be taped later. I usually tape the outside first contrary to what is usually done. It seems easier to me. YMMV

 

To use this assembly method, you "weld" the outside together by first painting the joint with liquid epoxy then filling the crack with epoxy thickened with wood flour. The first coat of resin prevents the joint from starving as wood soaks up epoxy.

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The "welding" holds the boat together for the next step. It starts with the removal of the masking tape and the blocks.

on to part 2