Another Strickland UK

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

I have three size , and one is the same size that yours ...it's possible to round the edge an the angles for the curves...
it's so easy to change the blade and grinding it as you want

 

[cwf]

Finally it looks like the temperature will rise above 10C and stay there for a few days, so I can stop fiddling with small imperfections which are endless and get on with 'boat soup' and hope it will make the canoe waterproof.

The outwales had been broken at the stern, maybe from rot, having been stored upside down or maybe from an impact. I tried steaming the final original piece, to be scarphed to a 6" insert, also steamed. I used a plastic bag, of the kind books come in the post, so a bit tougher. It worked well but 30 minutes steaming, although it allowed the 1/2"x1/2"x6" pieces of oak to be bent between two formers, they didn't keep their bend, so I cut pieces to shape instead. It's hard work cutting oak without power tools.

So, the soup... as recommended, I got 500ml of Tung oil and 500ml of boiled linseed oil. I had a tin of varnish and plenty of white spirit (mineral spirit in the US/Canada?). There happened to be 300ml of varnish left in the tin, so that was my unit - 1 unit tung, 1 unit linseed, 1 unit varnish and 3 units white spirit = 1.8litres, which seems to be about right for a 14ft cedar strip. I've done the inside and the decks and wales and there's 600ml left, with just the smooth outside to do, when this lot has dried in three days.

As you can see from the photo, it turns the old wood quite dark, while the new wood shines out white. In the other photo, you can see the soup doing it's stuff and leaking into the untight joints.

 

[Nick Dennis]

Looking good Chris. Repeat the "Boat Soup" exercise a few times as it will build up in the larger gaps giving the varnish more chance in the future.

Nick

 

[cwf]

Thanks Nick, I'll do the outside tomorrow, since we have summer temperatures for a few days. As to varnish, the Epifanes tin says thin 50%, then 25%, then 15%, then 0%. A chap at Mark Edwards said only 5% for the first, then 0%. What do you do? I'm aiming for usable, long term, not supreme champion.

Charlie.

 

[MGC]

As to varnish, the Epifanes tin says thin 50%, then 25%, then 15%, then 0%. A chap at Mark Edwards said only 5% for the first, then 0%. What do you do? I'm aiming for usable, long term, not supreme champion.

How many coats do you plan to apply? I have always thinned about 50% on the first coat with new or stripped wood and then thin it less on subsequent coats. By the 4th coat, I am applying it without thinning I generally stop at 4 or 5 coats depending on my mood.
On an old boat, my final coat is generally matte. I don't like old boats to look like they were just detailed by Joey Bagodonuts...
If I am re-finishing existing varnish, I tend to thin 25% on my first coat and then plan to apply one or two more un-thinned coats.

 

[cwf]

We've had weeks of high pressure, blue skies, 0C at night,15C during the day, most unusual but great for varnishing.

I started below the waterline. There was an original scribed line I found, so I put masking tape along and applied two coats of bituminous paint. In retrospect, I think it might have been better to apply the varnish first, slightly overlapping the line, so that the boundary was adequately covered. Having done it the other way round, first, it's quite difficult to varnish up to a line and secondly, I'm never quite sure there's not a gap. It doesn't help that I'm working with a single light bulb in a shed with few windows, so seeing any runs or uncovered patches is difficult.

I then put the canoe on it's side, so I could work on one outside half and one inside half at the same time. 50% thinners first coat, then 20%, then 10%, then two straight coats outside and one in, so five coats out, four in. That way, I have used almost exactly one litre of varnish, with a little left over for small parts. Here's a picture of one coat, three coats and five coats, enough for me. Apologies if it's too shiny but paddling on the Thames is a bit like walking down 5th Avenue, compared to hiking in the mountains.

 

[MGC]

I am trying to make sense of these images.
In the background it appears as though there is a dark paint (the noted bituminous?) applied over the keel and on the adjacent boards.
Then, there appears to a be a grey blotch painted/spilled on the tumblehome. The rest of the hull has been varnished.
What is that grey blotch? Is the plan to paint the hull and cover up that nice wood?

 

[John Sand]

I am trying to make sense of these images.
In the background it appears as though there is a dark paint (the noted bituminous?) applied over the keel and on the adjacent boards.
Then, there appears to a be a grey blotch painted/spilled on the tumblehome. The rest of the hull has been varnished.
What is that grey blotch? Is the plan to paint the hull and cover up that nice wood?

I think that what appears to be a gray blotch is just reflected daylight.

 

[cwf]

You're looking at the side of the canoe, rear end, outwale to the left, line of the black bottom paint right.

It's reflected light which ?might give an idea of the varnish coverage.

Incidentally, the bituminous paint dissolves in the varnish, so leaks into the clear varnish when overpainted - definitely better painted afterwards.