Glass and rib canoe

[Drewfice]

Greetings friends,

I have built one cedar strip canoe... a white guide 18'. Since then I have been captivated by the lines of the older style canoes like Walter Walker used to make. What I really want to do is build a canoe on ribs and glass the bottom. Bottom glass, inside ribs= super strong and awesome canoe? I read a form on here about some concerns with delamination with that style of build. Though, Langford canoes seem to have been built that way. I don't want to glass inside and out with ribs because of the weight. Id rather just use canvas if it's impossible to get a good product with my idea. If you have built a canoe with glass and ribs, I'd be grateful for your thoughts. I really would like to hear from experience if this can work... and work under some rough use.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

Bottom glass, inside ribs= super strong and awesome canoe?

No, actually it doesn't. What the glass skin can do is possibly reduce the weight a little bit if it is done well and add a bit more abrasion resistance if you are running over rocks, though by no means making it damage-proof. Delamination is seldom a problem with modern epoxy resin the way it was back in the days when polyester resin was used.

Fiberglass has high tensile strength, but unfortunately using it as the outside skin of a canoe doesn't take advantage of that characteristic. If you hit a rock, for example, the rock is pushing inward from the outside. It is putting the glass in compression, not in tension. It can't add most of its tensile strength to the equation. The fiberglass outer skin will just bend or break, and the wood inside will need to provide the canoe's "strength". The same is true on your stripper, where the inner glass layers are the ones which add strength for rock impacts, not the outer skin (so it is generally a really bad idea to skimp on glass weight on the inside of a stripper in an effort to save weight).

So, bottom glass, inside ribs actually equals a fairly normal canoe that may be tricky to repair because you can't replace it piece by piece as needed. This is my 1972 Old Town Guide. It got an epoxy resin/ 6 oz. fiberglass outer skin maybe15 years ago. It is doing fine, but I don't take it down rock gardens.

 

[Drewfice]

Tod, this is actually better news than I though I would get. If I understand you right, you are saying that the ribs inside, glass outside system works but is not as strong as the go-to glass laminate style that everyone uses. Regardless, it is a tenable solution as long as you aren't cherry bombing down a rocky rapids. Pretty Canoe btw... any guess at how much she weighs?

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

It's around 65 lbs. and a couple pounds lighter than it originally weighed dressed in canvas. I custom ordered it in '72 keelless with canvas covering. Curiously, about a year later a split about 4" long opened up just below the gunwale on one end. Upon inspection I figured out that they had split the fabric while installing it, then glued a thin patch of Dacron sailcloth behind it to keep from making a lump with a canvas patch, filled it, painted it and sent it out as a first quality boat with no mention of the defect. When I called them to complain they said that they would fix it if I was willing to pay the shipping from Illinois to Maine and back. Fat chance of that happening.

So, not knowing how to canvas a canoe and with no resources like this one at the time to learn from, I glassed it. I needed a boat, and I knew how to use fiberglass (previous sculpture major in college and I also built several strippers). Once boatbuilding epoxy resins became available, I eventually peeled the old polyester/fiberglass and re-glassed it using epoxy resin. Had it not been shipped defective, it would likely still be wearing canvas.

 

[Benson Gray]

Fiberglass canoes with decorative interior wooden ribs have been made by Merrimack, Navarro, and others for some time as shown at the first two links below. Langford's wooden canoes appear to have a fiberglass covering in place of canvas as shown in the third link below. This is like Todd's as shown above. A traditional canoe with canvas covering will probably work best for you. Good luck,

Benson

Merrimack Canoes - Composite and Wood Canoes

Merrimack Canoes - Handmade, The finest wood and composite canoes in the world - based in Winona Minnesota

merrimackcanoes.com

Navarro Canoe Co.

Navarro Canoe Co. handcrafts fiberglass and kevlar canoes in various models and colors. Canoes may be ordered for shipping within the continental United States.

www.navarrocanoe.com

Classic Wood - Langford Canoe - Let the Journey Begin

For over 75 Years the Langford name has been synonymous with quality hand made wood canoes. Made from BC Red Cedar, these classics are true heirlooms built to be passed on from generation to generation. Our amazing craft, evoke a time of exploration and discovery in Canada’s past, which is why...

langfordcanoe.com