Boat Bottom

I finally have gotten to the point where I can attach the bottom of the boat. I had to fiberglass everything from the underside that I wouldn't be able to reach once the bottom was attached. I had traced the shape of the boat on the plywood, and then carefully cut along the marker approx 1/4" outside of the line. I did this in case the line was traced a bit short. Once the bottom was cut out, I sanded some of the fiberglassed seems as this is easier to do now, then on the bottom is attached and trying to sand inside the boat. I screwed the bottom on the bow, transom, and down the center along the hog. Now that the bottom was attatched, I sanded the edge flush with the side board, and used some body fill to smooth out some of the imperfections so when I glass it, it will be smooth and easier to get tot eh final finish.

Getting There

The boat is slowly coming together. The rub rails really gave the boat some shape. The rear and forward gears are pretty much complete. I'm waiting for the angle grinder to be finished that I'm using for the right angle gear box to change the direction of the chain from down the center of the boat to across the transom. I had to add another sprocket in the front so the chain would travel under the main bench seat where my chair and steering controls will be.

My son couldn't resist jumping in the boat with Truffles while it was on the ground and pretending to be out on the water.... I think they're a little anxious to get out on the water....lol

The boat is fiberglassed together like the side boards, and has been marked and ready to cut to be put on. Once the steering has been installed on the main bench, I can close it in and start filling in the gaps, imperfections etc to get ready to install the mechanics and for the final coats of fiberglass and

Construction is underway on the boat

The construction of the boat is underway! I've been using the boat plans I got from Uncle Johns Country Store to use as a guide. I say guide because I'm not building the boat quite to the specifications.... side walls aren't high enough, the plans weren't meant for pedals, chains and other gear I need to install for propulsion.

I've really turned this into a "green" project as I've obtained all the plywood for this from work. The equipment we get come in 1/4" plywood crates which I've broken down, removed all of the hardware, cut and pieced them together for the sides, and bottom. At this point, the only money I've spent was on hardware (screws, nuts, bolts, steel, fiberglass, glue). The pieced together sides isn't perfect, however the boat is taking shape nicely and through some frustrating parts where I had to stop and think for several minutes on the best way to change the plans slightly, my son Hunter was always there with positive thinking. For an 11 year old, he's got a great head on his shoulders!! With words of encouragement ("This is your first boat you've ever built dad...... it looks great! Mom could never had built this!" and "It looks like a boat dad.... you're doing something right!")

Getting there

It's been a while since I've posted anything. The boat project is getting there. I had a bunch of non-working angle grinders given to me, and I managed to get a few of them apart for the parts. I've figured out my steering, and have managed to obtain some 1/4 plywood for the boat. When servers are delivered to work, they come in large plywood crates so it looks like I'll be recycling these as well making my boat truly a green project made up on 99% of recycled materials.

More to come as I'm closer to getting to the building stages of the boat and putting all of the mechanical together

The Hunt For a Right angle Bevel Gear box

Well, I was looking at 2 theories for changing the direction of the chain from running down the center of the boat to going across the transom. First was to use the twisted compact chain theory which consists of rotating one of the sprockets 90 degrees which works from what I've seen on other HPB websites. The other was to use a right angled Bevel gear box like you can find at Mitrpak.com. However, to purchase a gear box is expensive. The one I looked at was nearly $200.00 american, and out of my price range for my experimental boat not to mention, I'm trying to keep the boat as green as possible by recycling as many parts as possible.

While out in my shed the other day, I noticed my angle grinder sitting on the bench when it hit me....... angle grinders must have bevel gears and the shaft sizes are really close to what I was looking for. I searched online for a break apart schematic of an angel grinder (found some really good ones on Dewalts website) and low and behold, there were bevel gears!

I posted an ad on Kijiji.ca and I picked up a few non working grinders that were going to be throw in the garbage. I'm hoping in the next few weeks the weather will be a little warmer so I can get out in my shed and start working on the boat. If everything goes well, the mechanics will be complete very soon, and then I can start building the actual boat, which could be as early as April when I take my first vacation of 2009.

Spring is coming

I ran out of time last fall to complete my project, and figured Instead of rushing it, and trying to get some hunting in at the same time, I would take a break and get back at it in the spring. Here it is February, lot's of snow on the ground and I'm dreaming of warmer weather and my boat. I've been doing a lot of debating of whether or not to run dual propellers, or a single propeller. Dual props are certainly more work to put together mechanically, and can in theory more thrust with more effort. The more I think about it, then more I feel I need to go for the gusto and build the boat to the fullest. I'm hoping for the best, and in the worst case scenario, i remove all of the bicycle gear and have an ordinary boat and pop an electric motor on it to get around, but that's not positive thinking is it. This will work, just not sure if I'll be able to pedal it.... lol.

I'm still looking around for an inexpensive right angle bevel gearbox to transfer the direction of the chains so I can hook up the chain drive to the propellers. I've been given some websites to check out, however being an experimental boat and wanting to keep the costs as low as possible, $200.00 is out of my price range for a gear box. Time will tell what I'll find.

Stay tuned, more to come in the near future.