Foamie Boat- Update 6/19/12

[Wolffarmer]

How to foamie boats hold up against gators?

Bears vs foamie trailers

Gators vs Foamie boats

Sorry, I could not help myself

Randy

[eaglesdare]

i knew someone would say something about that. i really don't have issues with campers and bears. but i do have something about water and water creatures. i know if i stick my pinky toe in the ocean "the" shark will come along and eat it!

[wagondude]

That boat looks quite usable. Good work. So when you finish will project number two be a recreation of the amazing trailerboat? Actually that would probably be the best one to build as a foamie.

Bill

[GPW]

Gators are like bears , ever Hungry , just they’re not that smart ... Fast though ... and since idiots have been feeding them on the swamp tours , they really will swim right up to the boat expecting food ... Thankfully , Most of the time they will avoid you ... but they do keep an eye on you from afar ... unnerving , but not as dangerous as Bears ... You do have to watch your dogs though , they will scoop them up in a heartbeat ... You do see lots of 3 legged dogs at the swamp camps ...

[atahoekid]

Gators are like bears , and since idiots have been feeding them on the swamp tours , they really will swim right up to the boat expecting food ...

Those must be the same idiots who feed the bears here in the Sierras. So now that they've developed a taste for human food and garbage, guess which animals tear into cars, houses and garages looking for meals???? Many of the bears up here now don't need to hibernate because they have a year round food supply. When they get aggressive and start breaking into houses and such and are unafraid of human contact they end up being shot by the wildlife authorities. The saying around here is "a fed bear is a dead bear.

Great little boat... can't wait to see it afloat!!!

[vwbeamer]

Nice Job, really impressed with the design and how it came out.

[GPW]

Snakes and gators ... No worse than the Mosquitoes True !

Rosey , I sent your album pics to Vincent ... I think he wants to build one too ...

[Rosey]

After another day of sanding and filling....


Sunday night I finally got some mesh glued on to reinforce the front

and the bottom runners


I am trying out the latex lagging from Childers on the outside. It was real easy to apply with a paintbrush, and dried pretty hard over the mesh. (I don't know how strong it is yet because I haven't shot any frozen turkeys at it)

On a little side note, I went to Harbor Freight on Friday and bought a new 1/2" crown pneumatic staple gun (and the staples recommended on the box) to make the canvas / mesh installation easier. Sunday afternoon I drug out my air compressor and the other tools I needed to do the project and discovered the staples were too wide to fit in the staple gun. I was pretty fired up! Inspite of the fact the staple gun was no good I proceeded. I returned to Harbor Freight last night and was informed by the "supervisor" that the boxes are all mismarked and the staple gun actually takes 3/8" staples. He had already contacted HQ. Seems like they could post a note or something so you don't have to make 2 trips.
Anyway, my love / hate relationship with Harbor Freight continues. I now have the correct staples and a pneumatic stapler for about the same price as I could have bought a manual staple gun at the big box stores.
I think this will be a lot easier with the staple gun!

[GPW]

Rosey, it sure is looking Good now ... And looking at your pictures , I wondered why we don’t apply some of this boat technology to our trailers ??? Like those bottom stringers , but on the roof (like your picture) ... or even the sides ? ... That’s just Gotta’ be Strong huh ?

Did you provide a method of attaching a line to the bow ??? Just a thought ...

[Wolffarmer]

Looks good Rosey

I am looking forward to your experience with the lagging compound.
Questions
1. What size/specs of mesh you used.
2. steps in applying the lagging compound and mesh.
3. Have you tried to pull any off the foam yet.

About the staple guns and staples at HF. On a wood working forum I haunt the staple guns are well thought of for non professional work ( but there are many pros that use them a lot ) But it is near unanimous that they ( and other guns ) work much better with any of the US made staples.

Randy

[Larry C]

Rosey,
I hope you have better luck with the HF stapler than I did. I was unable to control staple depth, even lowering the air pressure a lot didn't help. If your stapling to the foam, it may shoot right through it. Mine was listed as an upholstery stapler, maybe that's why it's so powerful, it's for shooting into hardwood. Also it jammed quite a bit while using it with HF staples.
I have the same love/hate feeling about HF

[Rosey]

Wolf,
Here is a close up of the mesh

I bought it on ebay for a dollar a yard. It's 4' wide (I cut it into strips) with 1/4" squares in it. It's made out of some type of woven plastic. It seems pretty tough. I am going to cover the entire outside of the boat with canvas and lagging compound.
The application process I'm using is to use staple the mesh to the wood in a few places then lather on the lagging compound with a brush. With the canvas I plan to put on some lagging compound and then attach the canvas with a few staples, then add more lagging compound.

In the inside of the boat I am planning to spread the mesh, attach it to the wooden corners with a few staples (may have to switch to the 1/4" crown stapler with 1+" long staples), then apply some of the hotwire foam factory products to it. I"m planning on leaving the mesh surface instead of applying enough to fill it in so I have a non-slip surface.

I have not tried to peel the mesh off because I want it to stay put, and when I get done it should not have loose edges to peel off. I'm mostly concerned with spreading out the force of any bumps with the mesh. (Does that make sense?)

Glen, There is a stainless steel eye bolt in the stem of the boat. I purchased a couple of stainless steel handles for the back of the transom.

P.S. the stapler has worked great so far!

[S. Heisley]

It's looking good, Rosey, and I'm looking forward to seeing a picture of you in it, in the water!!! Thanks for sharing your progress with us.

[GPW]

Rosey , just me , but I think that mesh is a GOOD idea !!!

Would you please save me a tiny little scrap to test ?

[Rosey]

Glen, you can definitely have some of this mesh for testing purposes. Let me know when you'll be in the area. I work nights but am always up by 4 pm.

LarryC, So far the HF stapler has been working great! I turned it down and was even able to use it to attach the mesh to the styrofoam without shooting through.

Sharon, Thanks for the encouragement! I can't wait to get it launched either!

A small update today!
I finished getting the mesh glued on the bottom of the boat


Then I started gluing on the canvas


I used a few staples on the canvas to keep the center, centered. Then folded one half back and covered the that half of the center runner the valley and the side of the next runner with glue. I layed the canvas back over that section and (starting from the center working out) brushed it with a wallpaper brush to work the canvas into the corners. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.... then I coated the outside of the canvas with the glue. I used pinking shears to cut off the canvas but it was too dark to take pictures of the final product for today.

I had three neighbors come over and watch me work for most of the afternoon. Glad I can keep everyone entertained