I start with a jig I made for the basic shape and size of the boat I want to make. I call it a "strongback". The strongback pictured is for the 1/12th scale, 16 footer I'm making now. I also have jigs for a one inch scale 12 foot canoe, and for two different types of rowboats I like to build. The base of the strongback is made of very strong apitong wood, and the forms are made of basswood. I reinforced the forms with a triangle wedge for strength. The middle form is the widest, the 2nd and 4th forms are the same size, as are the end forms. There is a notch in each, on both sides, where the first plank for both sides rests. A lot of tension is put on this strongback while planking the canoe, so it must be able to withstand this pressure. The canoe is built upside-down with this type of construction.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Building a 1/12th scale canoe
OK! This is the process I go through to build a one inch scale canoe. This particular project will be a 16 footer in one inch scale, made of cherry wood. It will be a "plank on frame" construction, using 1/16" x 3/32" strips of cherry wood.
I start with a jig I made for the basic shape and size of the boat I want to make. I call it a "strongback". The strongback pictured is for the 1/12th scale, 16 footer I'm making now. I also have jigs for a one inch scale 12 foot canoe, and for two different types of rowboats I like to build. The base of the strongback is made of very strong apitong wood, and the forms are made of basswood. I reinforced the forms with a triangle wedge for strength. The middle form is the widest, the 2nd and 4th forms are the same size, as are the end forms. There is a notch in each, on both sides, where the first plank for both sides rests. A lot of tension is put on this strongback while planking the canoe, so it must be able to withstand this pressure. The canoe is built upside-down with this type of construction.
I start with a jig I made for the basic shape and size of the boat I want to make. I call it a "strongback". The strongback pictured is for the 1/12th scale, 16 footer I'm making now. I also have jigs for a one inch scale 12 foot canoe, and for two different types of rowboats I like to build. The base of the strongback is made of very strong apitong wood, and the forms are made of basswood. I reinforced the forms with a triangle wedge for strength. The middle form is the widest, the 2nd and 4th forms are the same size, as are the end forms. There is a notch in each, on both sides, where the first plank for both sides rests. A lot of tension is put on this strongback while planking the canoe, so it must be able to withstand this pressure. The canoe is built upside-down with this type of construction.
I use two types of glue for building boats. The main glue I use is slow setting CA. (Cyanoacrylate, super-glue type adhesive). I like the "Loctite Gel Control" type, as it gives you a bit of time to align the parts where they need to be, before they set permanently. Here, I have glued the stems in their pre-determined location, at each end of the strongback. I put a shim underneath each stem, to make removal easier once the canoe is done being planked. I make sure the top of the stem is exactly 1/16" above the upper edge of the forms, because this is where the bottom plank goes, and it needs to rest on top of them.
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