Sassafras 12 by ccoyle - Chesapeake Light Craft - FINISHED - 1:1 scale canoe - you read that right

[ccoyle]

Ahoy, friends!

 

One of the things I have had on my bucket list for a long time is to build a boat, one of those "hole in the water into which one pours money" things. My choice of boat was based on these criteria:

 

• light enough for one person to carry
• able to carry me and some fishing gear
• suitable for first-time builder
• car-top portable
• small enough to store in the garage
• good on-the-water performance
• reasonably cheap.

 

This past winter, I came into a small inheritance and also happened to move to within a couple of miles of not one but two publicly accessible lakes here in SC, so the time seemed right. The Sassafras 12 canoe kit from Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) ticked all the boxes, so I ordered one. I didn't have time to get started last winter, since we had just bought a new house and moved into it, with all of the painting and landscaping that entails. Then the miserably humid deep south summer set in, so no building then, either. Now the weather has cooled, and the missus has made nebulous threats and implied that vaguely defined harm may befall me if I don't get the kit boxes out of the way, so it must be time to start!

 

So, what does the kit include?

 

Box #1 includes all of the parts: CNC-cut planks in okoume plywood, permanent bulkheads, temporary bulkheads, sapele decks, rails, wire, center thwart, seat, back band, and fiberglass sheathing. CLC calls the construction method 'lap stitch' -- it is a combination of lapstrake planking and stitch-and-glue assembly.

 

 

Box #2 includes the nasty, liquid goodies: 2-part epoxy (with dispensing pumps) and fillers.

 

The instructions run to 116 pages and combine text, photos, and diagrams. I've read through them once, and they seem pretty thorough.

 

Hopefully, when all is said and done, I'll have something that looks like this ...

 

... rather than this.

 

Cross your fingers!

 

First things to do are read the manual again, make a shopping list of tools and consumables, and get a work area set up in the garage.

 

Cheers!

 

 

[VTHokiEE]

This looks really cool! I’m really interested in how this turns out

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, VTHokiEE said:

I’m really interested in how this turns out

 

You and me both, brother!

[Landlubber Mike]

Very cool!  I have their wherry model kit, and saw that they also had these 1:1 kits.  Looking forward to watching it come together!

 

Probably can't build it on the kitchen table, eh?  

[Jim Lad]

That looks a very handsome canoe!

 

John

[ccoyle]

Nope, not building in the kitchen! Right now I'm still in the process of rounding up supplies and setting up shop. Made my first trip to Home Depot. The build process uses A LOT of disposable items, e.g. chip brushes, sandpaper, etc.

[ccoyle]

Here's nearly $200 worth of tools and consumable supplies. 😳 A bit more than what's usually required for one of my card models, but then again I can't paddle around in a card model. (The epoxy, metering pumps, and fillers in the back were included with the kit.)

 

 

The canoe has five strakes per side, each made in two halves which are joined by a puzzle joint. The parts are plainly labeled.

 

 

CNC cutting leaves little tabs on the plywood parts that need to be removed -- just like in many model kits!

 

 

While I'm waiting for materials to set up a temporary workbench, I've been removing some tabs and giving the plywood edges a light sanding to smooth away some of the fuzziness. Here's some cleaned up half-strakes atop one of the temporary bulkheads that will be used during the construction process.

 

 

That's it for now.

[bruce d]

That is so cool.

[druxey]

Ooh! Nice project, Chris. I'm on board here for a vicarious ride....

[Egilman]

Now if I remember stitch & glue construction, it is generally used on planing panel built hulls.... The stitches, (wire) tying the hull panels together while the glue (epoxy) sets up.... then the stitches are removed and the hull is fiberglassed....

 

Is this basically the same process? the strakes are assembled, (semi-lapstraked) the hull is stitched -n- glued then fiberglassed/epoxied?

[Bedford]

Having built a 12 inch to the foot model myself I'll tag along. While I'm on the subject my "Twelve inch to the foot dinghy" thread was moved to masting and rigging some time ago, can't figure why. As a moderator can you put it back in this section ?

[ccoyle]

On 10/9/2020 at 10:31 PM, Egilman said:

Is this basically the same process? the strakes are assembled, (semi-lapstraked) the hull is stitched -n- glued then fiberglassed/epoxied?

 

Yep.

 

6 hours ago, Bedford said:

As a moderator can you put it back in this section ?

 

Yes, I can, but can you provide a link rather than have me hunt it down? Thanks!

[ccoyle]

Learning as I go...

 

Lesson #1: Two-part epoxy mixed with filler to a "jam consistency" pretty quickly progresses to "modeling clay" consistency.

 

Lesson #2: The working time for mixed two-part epoxy isn't very long.

 

Lesson #3: The amount of two-part epoxy needed to glue up ten planking strakes has only enough working time to do five strakes. Ask me how I know. 😬

 

Lesson #4: My hands must be size extra-large -- large-size latex gloves barely fit.

 

Lesson #5: Disposable latex gloves do not breath, like, at all. When I took them off, sweat literally poured out of them.

 

Can't wait to see what I learn next! 🙄

[Jack12477]

Yep ! Learned all of that while restoring a 100 year old 38 ft ice yacht this past winter!  Have fun, Chris ! Nice project. Watched a guy build a stitch n glue rowing canoe with Purple Heart wood gunnels and seats, no plans, no kits, just drew it out on 2 sheets of plywood. Make for beautiful boats

[Bedford]

Yes epoxy is fun isn't it but the best 3 lessons you'll learn about it are :-

 

Lesson #1: After a certain period (dependent upon the type you're using) you can smooth the edges with a gloved finger dipped in alcohol

Lesson #2: After it has cured some more and is no longer soft you can use a sharp tool to easily slice off excess before it hardens completely

Lesson #3: After it has hardened completely you can use a hot air gun to soften it so a sharp tool can remove excess but be careful not to heat too much or you'll weaken the joint.

[ccoyle]

Yep. Looks like glued wood.

 

 

The instructions said not to worry about the mess, 'cause it's all going to get epoxied anyway, so I will try not to. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the rough epoxy was to knock down with a sanding block -- the instructions led me to believe it would be something like concrete after it set. I hope to be able to finish gluing the strakes before the weekend, so that I can start the stitching process.

[MEDDO]

Glad you are doing a full build log for this.  I have been interested in the CLC boats for a while.  A few years ago I built a Pygmy kayak and had a great time and learned a ton.  I have been trying to get the wife to allow me to go for the Annapolis wherry but so far she’s not having it...

[ccoyle]

The wherry is a real eye-pleaser. I would need some storage space and a trailer in order to have one about, so that's not looking like a possibility for the near future.

[ccoyle]

I took a slightly different tack with the other half of the strakes and hope that it produces acceptable results. I made the epoxy slightly runnier to lengthen its working time, and I applied the epoxy to all the puzzle joints first before putting them together. This time around, the process went much faster.

 

Here's a shot of the strakes atop my temporary workbench, consisting of a sheet of plywood screwed down to two 2x4s laid across a pair of saw horses.

 

 

A nice thing about the plywood is that I can clamp the glued pieces by screwing down a 2x4 strap across the stacks of strakes.

 

 

I will need to glue the outboard rub rails to the top strakes before they can be stitched, but they other four sets should be ready to go for the weekend.

[Old Collingwood]

Looking  like a good start.

 

OC.

[ccoyle]

Work continues. All strakes glued together and joints sanded. The camera makes the joints look messier and rougher than they actually are.

 

 

Except for the bottom planks, each plank has a rabbet cut into it. The gain, or taper, at each end of the rabbet must be created by removing some wood with a rasp & a sanding block.

 

 

To add some rigidity to the floppy top planks, the outboard rub rails are attached. They must be bent as they are clamped along their length. The instructions say to brush the epoxy onto the rail and then clamp it to the plank. This seemed to me to be a potentially very messy way to do it. Instead, I dry-clamped the rail to the plank and then ran a pencil along the joint to mark the width of the rail on the plank. I removed the rail, brushed the epoxy onto the plank, and then clamped the rail back on. This went well and didn't make too much mess. I also pulled this task off by myself, even though the instructions recommended having a helper. 😁

 

 

That shot shows every 2" spring clamp that Home Depot had in stock on the day I made my supply run. I'll have to do the other side tomorrow. I started stitching the bottom panels today, but no pic.

 

That's all for now.

[ccoyle]

Disaster struck! Well, a little one -- manageable, too. While trying to tie in a temporary frame, it cracked. What to do, oh, what to do? Happily, I had two pieces  of 1x1 cedar strip leftover from trimming the ends of the rub rail I glued up yesterday. So, I made a brace for the cracked frame, glued it in place, and clamped it. As a prophylactic measure, I made one up for the other frame so I could glue and clamp both at the same time. Hopefully the only pain this causes me is a slight production delay.

 

[Jim Lad]

As has been said so often before, Chris, the secret of model (and boat) building is not so much the ability to construct as the ability to recover from disaster.  Nice work so far.

 

John

[Egilman]

Building is simply coming up with solutions to the issues that the engineers could not foresee.....

 

Model building is doing it in miniature....

[Old Collingwood]

I would imagine that extra strengthening  will add strength to the join, I remember  my late farther  building an R/C  boat  for me  - he basicaly  over engineered the hull  - strengthening  the hull and applying coat after coat of  dope  to the inside and outside  hull followed by about 100 layers of paint.

 

OC.

[ccoyle]

58 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

I would imagine that extra strengthening  will add strength to the join

 

It won't -- it's only a temporary frame. 😉

[Bedford]

4 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

As has been said so often before, Chris, the secret of model (and boat) building is not so much the ability to construct as the ability to recover from disaster.  Nice work so far.

 

John

Truer words were never spoken, ask me how I know

[ccoyle]

So, when we last saw Mr. Coyle in action, he had just finished reinforcing the temporary bulkhead that he'd inexplicably managed to somehow break. Here's the repaired bulkhead wired in place (again, done with no help, since my "extra hands" always seem to have an excuse for why they can't come at the moment).

 

 

This, on the other hand, is one of the two permanent bulkheads wired in place. These will form compartments to create some reserve buoyancy. They will also have drain plugs installed.

 

 

Construction proceeds with stitching the side panels together. The whole thing begins to more and more resemble a giant porcupine.

 

 

So here we are with the bottom panels, bulkheads, and first pair of side panels wired in place.

 

 

Onward!

[Bedford]

My friend, slowly but surely it takes shape and from my own experience I can assure you there are myriad ways of handling and holding bits of boat that will present themselves to you in absence of reliable assistance. 

[ccoyle]

Everything wired together. Next step is to flip it over and tighten all the wires. You may notice some red and white wires -- the bare copper wire supplied with the kit ran short by a substantial amount. I made a trip to the hardware store, but the only 18 ga wire I could find came in the form of two-strand thermostat wire. Happily, I quickly discovered that I only needed to remove the outer covering from the wire and not the individual insulation on each of the two inner wires, hence the red and white bits in the photo. I actually like the insulated wire better, because I find that it twists together easier and more neatly.

 

 

The top panels with the pre-glued 1x1 rub rails are under a considerable amount of tension. I hope the epoxy will hold everything together! 😬 The instructions called for wiring the ends of the top panels together, spreading them with a temporary spacer, and then slipping the pair onto the hull before wiring. I tried this, but found it incredibly difficult to subsequently bring the bottom edges of the top panels together with the lower panel to wire them together. So I disassembled the top panels and stitched them on separately. I still needed some extra hands  (one set for bending, one for wiring) for the part of the process, but it worked out.