DK 18 touring canoe

[fixwheelmad]

Any body split a DK 18' touring canoe? interested for two reasons, storage and transport.

Also do you need to scarf or butt the joints from the designs, i have all the panels cut on my CNC bed, so any mistakes its only a sheet of ply!

Has anybody used birch ply for gunwhales with any success? i know that birch goes grey and nasty with any water, but again got loads in the workshop, and also the end grain when varnished looks really nice, thought of router slotted on the inside?

Any help would be great fully received

Also the preference with nylon zipties or wire?

what seems to be the best method.

Awaiting prior to joining panels,

Many thanks in advance, newbie canoe builder

regards
Eugene

[Oldsparkey]

I'll get the program running .... Personally I like the copper wire to stitch the panels together. This way they are touching each other and it is easier to use the epoxy to glue them into a solid piece. It is the way I have made all my boats so I do it that way , not saying it is better or worse , just is what I am use to.

The joining of the panels , I do the butt joint with from 6 to 8 inches of glass covering the joint ( on both sides) , Tried the scarf joint and all they did was break on me so , again , I am just doing it the way I have and what works for me. Plus I use the 1/8th inch wood and butt joints are a lot simpler with that thin wood.

My suggestion is to follow the instructions the designer furnishes with the plans or kit. He designed the boat and knows what the steps are in making it the way he designed it. Plus read the instructions several times so they are understood and as you do step one , you know what step 2 and 3 and 4 will be so it all fits together in your head and on the workbench. That understanding does save time and epoxy , especially when there is some epoxy left over and you have a few small parts to fasten together that is needed a couple of steps down the line.

Chuck.

[Jimmy W]

I like to use wire instead of zipties since you only need a much smaller hole. I use about 19 gauge wire in a 1/16 inch hole.

[Kayak Jack]

Gene,

As long as you epoxy the birch ply, it shouldn't grey out. I used Okoume ply strip, 4" wide, as an inwhale on my canoe. Spacers in between for a ventilated gunnel. I use 45-45-90 right triangles as spacers. Had a row (about 3" spacing) along the top of the 4" strip, and an identical row along the bottom of the 4" strip. I alternated upper and lower spacers. This makes a box beam that is very strong.

[Guest]

Gene,

As long as you epoxy the birch ply, it shouldn't grey out. I used Okoume ply strip, 4" wide, as an inwhale on my canoe. Spacers in between for a ventilated gunnel. I use 45-45-90 right triangles as spacers. Had a row (about 3" spacing) along the top of the 4" strip, and an identical row along the bottom of the 4" strip. I alternated upper and lower spacers. This makes a box beam that is very strong.

I was going to use 18 mm birch ply, rip a 30 mm strip, place them together in pairs, and plunge route out a radius groove of 50-60 mm long, and take 8 mm a side, (e.g the groove is only on the inner gunwhale!)
the outer gunwhale i was hoping to use 12 mm x 30 mm, is it worth pre epoxy the end grain prior to assembly? and how do you prevent any build up between the grooves? careful cleaning?

just bought all the glass mat, so aiming to start assembly the sides and the base this weekend, can you load images direct or do they go to another URL? regards

Eugene

[Derek Bowen]

Hello Eugene, I am in the middle of building a DK Touring canoe and I have cut her in half for the same reasons. I also modified her a fair bit. If you can instruct me on how to post photo's I will show you the story. If you can give me a post address I can put the whole lot on disk and send them all to you. There's about 200 pics from lofting to now and I'm about to start painting.