Was skyline now Mercury, tear inspired camper for six

[clermont cubby]

Rower,

Enjoying the thread and testing u have done. My foamie flats rat had to be reinforced on the bottom with plywood. The hull sustained damage last fall after scraping over rocks and concrete.

It weighs more now but seems to track better in the water. Just went kayaking this week at the mt. Dora canal. The boat performed great.

Good luck with the build. Love foamie boats.
Larry

[rowerwet]

how did you finish the bottom of the hull?
I'm wondering if fiberglass on the bottom might help it be stronger. I almost talked myself out of making a hybrid foamie mouse with the bottom panels plywood and the uppers all foam.... now you've got me worried again..
definitely looks like this will be my boat and the one I built for myself last year will be the nephews...

[GPW]

What about using that thick (0.120” ) gray chipboard on the bottom , That’s very STRONG and can be completely impregnated with the waterproofing mix, and sticks to foam like crazy with TB2 (and actually dries ) ... Covered with a fabric or even fiberglass, it should be extremely Tough !!! ( It’s made of the same material basically as the plywood , cellulose) Cheaper and easier to work with too ...That’s what I plan on using when we get around to building "the boat" ... (likely this summer)

I’m going to make a little sign for inside my boat ... “ Avoid Rocks and Concrete!!! “

[clermont cubby]

"how did you finish the bottom of the hull?"

Rower,

added an exterior chine (used a 1X2 furring strip kerfed for easy bending) fastened through the chine and secured to an interior chine with deck screws.

Glued and fastened 1/4" pc. of luann ply. to bottom, painted ply with porch enamel I had left over. The exterior chine has helped when I sail the boat. Acts like a leeboard or keel. Its about 20 lbs heavier than prior, but I can still portage it easily with my homemade dolly.

If I did not destroy the bottom of hull with reckless sailing, it would have been fine as it was built.

I could have covered the new plywood with canvas before painting, but was out of material.

Larry

PS

instead of a stitch and glue, could you use Gorilla Tape on the exterior joints to hold its shape and GG the interior seams. Remove tape once glue is dry?
Maybe even use bamboo skewers into foam to help hold shape until glue dries.

[clermont cubby]

"I’m going to make a little sign for inside my boat ... “ Avoid Rocks and Concrete!!! "

That one hurt... Blame it on old age and bad eyes...

This week while yaking the Mt Dora Canal, Someone asked if the foamie yak was a flower planter, another kayaker asked if I made it myself... reply " do you think I would buy something that looks like this?"

It does draw attention and comments everywhere we sail. Most very complimentary.

LL

[GPW]

Cubby, don’t feel bad .... the waters around here are filled with dangerous objects , concrete structures , oyster shells , pipes , etc... (a lot just dumped in the water by the Oil companies ) ... and never cleaned up (lawsuits pending) ... Many Dangers to navigation , a lot unseen just under the water ... Very dangerous ... I need the sign !!! We’ve seen boat bottoms gouged , lower units ripped off , nasty things ... Luckily we’ve avoided hitting anything major ... (touch wood) ...

[rowerwet]

GPW, do you have a link for the chipboard? I have no clue what you keep referring to, but am very interested

[GPW]

Here’s where I got mine for the FoamStream ... http://www.utrechtart.com/Utrecht-Chipb ... 43.utrecht ... but it’s a very Common material ... and with a little searching , available in 4’X8’ sheets .... I’ve seen it before in that size at a picture framing supply warehouse ...
It does stick like Crazy to foam with TB2, bends easily for application on curves, and soaks up “the mix" like a sponge , providing a hard waterproof surface... I’d think you could just glue it to the bottom , glue on the bottom stringers , give it a good coat of waterproofing , then paint and you’re done .... it would be easily patched too , just in case... besides , the boat won’t sink anyway ... A little fiberglass tape on the edges (TB2) wouldn’t hurt , and probably help eliminate a lot of “dock rash” ...

Although we haven’t tested it yet , we keep thinking it would make a good outer skin on a small trailer ... Schmaybe' ???

A quick test of this material is possible by using the backing off a writing tablet (same stuff, just thinner) ... try it out ... see what you think ...

[rowerwet]

got some more done today

[rowerwet]

I used great stuff as the glue, (never tested that, hope it works) the hull was tacked together using wood screws as "dowels" and duct tape on the corners. some tools that I wouldn't build without,

wall paper scoring tool, gives glue or paint some tooth in the foam, and gets more than the first layer of foam involved in each joint

stanley sure form, great for shaping wood, perfect for shaping foam and giving the edges some tooth

[clermont cubby]

Rower:

enjoy the pics...keep them coming. Can't wait to see her wet and sailing.

Larry

[rowerwet]

obviously I skipped a few steps in the pictures.
using the wallpaper tool I scored up all the foam panels, going over each one many times to get as much pattern into the foam as possible

then I used drywall screws to tack the sides to the frames, these work fine as long as the thread is coarse and you don't over torque them. I thought I would use tape or tywraps, but screws were fine (just like I use on all my wood projects)

and just like that a new mouse was born!

of course a few issues showed up right away. mouse plans are drawn for 1/4" plywood, not 1" foam. I had to trim 1" of each end of each frame, otherwise the bottom panels would be to narrow (by 2"!) this made my frames the wrong shape , and may have changed the shape of the hull slightly (oh well) a quick touch up with the sure form and everything meets up like it should.

since the sides and frames are cut (sort of) square, but the bottom meets them all at a curve, I profiled the edges as best I could guess. (a really nice part about using a glue that is designed to fill gaps and cracks)

since it seems GG and GS (gorrila glue and great stuff) are about the same stuff, just different means of getting it out of the can, I used an idea from the big thrifty thread. work GS until it is in a marshmallow fluff/mustard consistency.

it doesn't take long to get it de-fluffed and ready to glue

using the screws as alignment dowels I glued all the joints, making sure glue oozed out everywhere so I knew the joint was full of glue

then scraping the excess off to use on the next joint

I added some duct tape to each outer corner to keep everything tight, then for the fun of it, I test fit the bottom panel.

just enough width to make the panel (good thing I cut outside the lines on the bottom!)
I made sure to mark the centerline of each frame, this will ensure the boat is (mostly) straight, as the bottom seam will line up with these marks. (my first V bottom, original design mouse)

[GPW]

NICE !!! You’ll have us all building boats soon ...

[rowerwet]

last night I got the bottom fitted, first I matched the second side to the first

then I put the panels together and used the sureform to close up any gaps in the keel seam

then I taped everything together

then trimmed the bottom close to the final size.


couldn't help myself with this one, holding the frame on one pinky...

my lightest mouse to date is 35 lbs, painted, with bow and stern painters, gonna be interesting to see how this one compares!

[rowerwet]

NICE !!! You’ll have us all building boats soon ...

it seems many on here already do build boats, making tears and boats uses much of the same skills, and the pride of being able to say " I built it myself" is just as priceless.
for me boats and bikes are just as important for vacation/camping, how come we don't have a boating section?!
(don't worry, Duckworks already has that all taken care of)