The weather behaved wonderfully -- sunny, no wind, quite warm but not too hot. Because of the weather we decided to commit the entire day to the kayak.In this photo we nearly completed the bottom canvas installation. The old canoe is on the ground behind me, which we kept handy for reference.
During the cooler hours of the morning Schuyler painted the rubbing strips that go on the gunwales, the bilge keels and the main keel (rubbing strip). We built and varnished the floor boards. After lunch we put the canvas on. I didn't remember actually how difficult it was from my experience in the original build. It was so much easier and straight forward then, profiting most likely from complete ignorance of the task at hand and blatant inexperience.
We managed to get all the canvas on and were hoping to have time to put the first coat of paint on but the sun was setting quickly by the time we finished the canvas. You will see from the photos that we had to move the project several times to keep the project out of the shadows and in the heat of the sun.
It is
now starting to look like the lovely craft that it was intended to be. From this point on we are really finishing the canoe.In this photo Schuyler is the proud future boat owner - somewhat amazed at what has developed before his eyes.
Some technical boring stuff:
To fasten the canvas, we decided to continue to go with Lepage PL Premium construction adhesive -- which we already used for the wood, and a regular staple gun and staples rather than copper tacks . Copper tacks are not a regular hardware item in these parts. Besides that the use of a staple gun makes the installation so much easier. I found that the few iron parts that I had on my old canoe didn't really show much corrosion, again because it was usually well stored, and such parts were well painted. In this case, there is one significant difference though. Schuyler lives in Nova Scotia where probably half of the paddling will be in salt water and half in fresh water. I very rarely ventured into briny water yet with the old boat so have no experience with the salt exposure.
Based on my professional career though,
I do recall that salt water was significantly more corrosive on untreated steel. Another reason that I was not too worried about this decision was that for the old kayak the copper tacks had minimal impact on the integrity of the canvas installation. The tacks being almost completely tapered were extracted easily after a while and the glue was doing all of the work. Since we are using the very strong and effective PL Premium to hold the canvas, I suspect that the staples' main role will be in keeping the canvas in position while the glue hardens. My ony concern now will be if the staples rust if they will stain the fabric. I will be keeping an eye on the progress of this vessel and will most likely blog on this again in 10 years if blogs are still in vogue.
I guess you glue only the parts that are touching the frame? Must be fairly difficult to get the flat canvas stretched evenly over the curved frame and held in place until the glue dries---how do you do that?
ReplyDeleteWe started by stapling the canvas along its centerline to bottom @ ~ 6" intervals along the hog (or inner keel), no glue. We then turned the hull upright, and starting in the middle would work at one section (between frames), at a time. Schuyler would glue the inside of the gunwale and then smudge it with our "Dirty finger" - a right-handed disposable work glove sacrificed to spreading the glue. We actually end up using both the pointer and middle fingers of it. I would then pull the canvas up and over the gunwale , cut slits into the canvas at the frames and then pull the resulting tab down inside onto the glue and staple it. And then cut the excess. The stretching was indeed the hard part.
ReplyDeleteDear sir, i have nearly finished a PBK20. It looks from your illustrations to be identical to your PBK18 and I rather wonder what the difference is. Mine was built in London U.K. and is now just to the south east in Kent. Proofed does mean waterproofed. I have recently been carrying out tests on some canvases and waterproofing solutions for canvas. I tested a pre-waterproofed canvas and it lasted just a few days before admitting water but when treated with Fabsil Gold it lasted thirteen days before admitting water. This is not as good as polyurethane backed canvas which has to date raked up six weeks of continuous immersion without ill effect. My PBK20 was built traditionally with proofed cotton canvas as used for the bow tops of gipsy caravans. I painted mine with Dulux Weathershield exterior gloss paint. For joinery this comes with an eight year guarantee and I always recommend it in my work as a carpenter. I do not know if it is available in Canada.
ReplyDeleteMy canvas had to be stretched on solo. I did use copper tacks. I worked in short sections on alternate sides.
initially I stretched it onto the hog with three copper tacks at each end only. I do not like making holes below the waterline. After all the other tacks were in those on the hog were withdrawn and the holes plugged with Stormsure. When stretching the canvas on I found at times it was useful to employ a trick I learned while undertaking some traditional upholstery. Traditionally upholstery is held on with cut blue steel tacks. Upholsterers use a special magnetic hammer to hold the tack and allow it to be placed one handed. I do not have a magnetic hammer but one can stretch the canvas with one hand and then press a tack in a little with theother by hand and then tap it with the hammer. Do not drive it home. This allows a temporary and easily withdrawn fixing as one works around further stretching the canvas and then tacking with copper.The canvas on mine was not stuck to the framework but at the gunwales the deck canvas has been stuck to the hull canvas with Stormsure and likewise all the bow and stern joints were made with Stormsure.This is however messy and very very sticky to use at the bow and stern and having no grab it had to be held with clamps and timber packing blocks wrapped in parcel tape to avoid adhesion of the blocks to the canvas. Should I do this again I would jigsaw out some shaped clamping blocks.
I hope that this is of some help