Building an Instant Boat

[Tomterrific]

Before I became obsessed with building a camper, I wanted to build a boat. I studied a bunch of plans from shanty boat to stitch and glue. I notice most of the very best looking campers are like furniture rather than a boat hull. Does anyone have experience building with tack and tape, stitch and glue?

These methods are close enough to the same thing to use interchangeably. It starts with cutting sides and placing on the roof. Like building a boat upside down. This is the way most build our campers but where it differs is placing a fiberglass and resin tape along the seam inside and out. The edge is held together with wire or cable ties placed through holes then removed after the edge is glued. This makes a very stiff strong edge that lends itself to light weight. it also deos not require perfection. Has anyone used fiberglass tape along the edge of their camper?

Tt

[tony.latham]

Before I became obsessed with building a camper, I wanted to build a boat. I studied a bunch of plans from shanty boat to stitch and glue. I notice most of the very best looking campers are like furniture rather than a boat hull. Does anyone have experience building with tack and tape, stitch and glue?

These methods are close enough to the same thing to use interchangeably. It starts with cutting sides and placing on the roof. Like building a boat upside down. This is the way most build our campers but where it differs is placing a fiberglass and resin tape along the seam inside and out. The edge is held together with wire or cable ties placed through holes then removed after the edge is glued. This makes a very stiff strong edge that lends itself to light weight. it also deos not require perfection. Has anyone used fiberglass tape along the edge of their camper?

Tt

You mean just like the CLC Teardrop?

T

[Tomterrific]

Yes, Tony! You are on topic. This type of construction was introduced to me by Harold Payson and Phil Bolger. Boat builders and boat designers. The CLC is very much like a small light upside down boat. The edges of the plywood are very strong with the fiberglass tape. The entire structure becomes ridged when all the seams are finally taped. Very light and could be streamlined by design. My thoughts are saving a poorly designed and built camper with fiberglass resin giving strength and water proofing.

Tt

[greygoos]

I have used tape and resin on the last 2 to seal the edges before the final skin. One was aluminum and the other was bed liner.

[tony.latham]

Yes, Tony! You are on topic. This type of construction was introduced to me by Harold Payson and Phil Bolger. Boat builders and boat designers. The CLC is very much like a small light upside down boat. The edges of the plywood are very strong with the fiberglass tape. The entire structure becomes ridged when all the seams are finally taped. Very light and could be streamlined by design. My thoughts are saving a poorly designed and built camper with fiberglass resin giving strength and water proofing.

Tt

I was pushing epoxy today.





Tony

[swoody126]

Bolger's Nymph is a great example of CLC's type of building

Payson focused a book on it introducing a huge audience to the method

https://www.amazon.com/Build-Instant-Bo ... 159&sr=8-3

the process is quite forgiving and amazingly strong

up to 1/4" gaps glued together w/ thickened epoxy and covered inside and outside w/ fiberglass tape set in epoxy (don't use polyester "fiberglass resin" like was used back when the book was written because it's bonding characteristics are considerably inferior and it doesn't work nearly as well when thickened for filleting like epoxy) creates joints with strength that equals or exceeds the strength of common framing methods most folks/industries still use

i used this method of building w/ my junior high students from the 1980's > w/ great success

i even taught my dad how boats(got his start in boat building in the late 1920's) can be created w/o the use of permanent metalic fasteners

as i visit this forum regularly i am surprised that more folks haven't resorted to this method of construction

simple tradition holding folks back i guess ¿ ? ±

here is a simplified shot of the process(the joints are not required to fit this well for maximum strength)

sgdevlindet.jpg-300×290.clipular.png (31.88 KiB) Viewed 2183 times

(A) edges stitched together w/ fine wire or zip ties and adjusted for joint/line/curve fairness

(B) a thickened epoxy fillet is applied and when cured the stitches are removed

(C) fiberglass tape is applied

(D) the outside is rounded gently and taped w/ fiberglass set in epoxy

the resulting joint's strength exceeds the strength of the wood

covering the outside of the structure(shown above) w/ fiberglass set in epoxy competely seals it from the elements

this makes the use of common exterior construction lumber/plywood a fairly good choice since the checking commonly experienced WILL be eliminated ;-)

sand and paint as desired

if you use fine hardwood/marine plywood you can finish it w/ a good UV inhibiting varnish(most epoxy will degrade if the UV inhibiting finish is not used ) and have a beautiful long lasting natural finish

at this point the only avenue for water intrusion will be your openings(windows n doors etc)

the process is EASY and when you factor in the expected sound life of your trailer it will be less expensive over the long haul

there are lotsa videos out there

DuckWorks BBS is my goto source for supplies (ima cheapsteak and have never had a failure related to any of their products)

https://www.duckworks.com

sw

[Sparksalot]

Before I became obsessed with building a camper, I wanted to build a boat. I studied a bunch of plans from shanty boat to stitch and glue. I notice most of the very best looking campers are like furniture rather than a boat hull. Does anyone have experience building with tack and tape, stitch and glue?

These methods are close enough to the same thing to use interchangeably. It starts with cutting sides and placing on the roof. Like building a boat upside down. This is the way most build our campers but where it differs is placing a fiberglass and resin tape along the seam inside and out. The edge is held together with wire or cable ties placed through holes then removed after the edge is glued. This makes a very stiff strong edge that lends itself to light weight. it also deos not require perfection. Has anyone used fiberglass tape along the edge of their camper?

Tt

No experience for Rose, but I did build a stitch and glue kayak last year. It's a CLC boats Mill Creek 16. It looks and performs well. I even took it to Walk The Winds in Wyoming last July. There are some kayak photos in my album here.

[cheaterparts]

Before I became obsessed with building a camper, I wanted to build a boat. I studied a bunch of plans from shanty boat to stitch and glue. I notice most of the very best looking campers are like furniture rather than a boat hull. Does anyone have experience building with tack and tape, stitch and glue?

you could also look at strip building - with a bit of thought you can get more compound curves than ply - also a lighter construction depending on the wood you use



I recently finished this kayak and it was my first go at a designing and building a strip build - the wood was Paulownia which is about have the weight of most ply wood
anyway it's just a thought

[larryl]

I built two real simple designs. Built them out of styrofoam , light wood framework and used the PMF and titebond three glue. designs came from http://pdracer.com/ Daughter and I built a puddle duck and the flats rat. Both rigged for sailing. Picture can be found in foamies sub forum under puddle duck racer. lots of fun.

[greygoos]

Here is a diy stitch and glue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDGmr_g5_KU

[kerryb]

This is my take on tack and tape...A teardrop cargo trailer to pull with my motorcycle. most panels are thin marine plywood laminated to 7/16 styrene foam (building insulation) with 6oz. fiberglass cloth. Too bad I didn't have an aluminum trailer to put it on, the box weighs 35 lbs and the steel trailer frame weighs 118!
The clc teardrop camper is an ideal trailer kit if you like the shape, it is already very aerodynamic. Having built a couple kayaks from their plans, I am confident the design works well and is easy to build...it just looks a little different.

[Billinthedesert]

A little surprised that tiny 6-footer cost more than $2,000 in materials, not including the trailer itself.