Looking to build Wooden Raft for Short Movie

[hanser]

Hello,

I am new to the world of wooden boats and would greatly appreciate anyone's help.

We are looking to build a small wooden raft to resemble something from Huck Finn or Castaway. The movie script calls for something wooden, possibly made from logs, that can float and hold 3 people. This is a small student film so we don't have too much time or money.

We are in the Atlanta area and I was thinking that finding someone who already has a craft like this may be the best option.

If anyone can advice me on building, locating, or other info regarding a raft similar to the ones in these pictures:

http://www.hanmo.com/clemenslanding/raft.jpg
http://www.twainquotes.com/rafting3.jpg

Please Let Me Know,
Thanks,
Hans

hanser@gmail.com

[John Bell]

Just using logs may not be bouyant enough. You might wind up something that floats, but there's nothing fun or romantic about being a raft that constantly has its decks awash and is trying to toss it's crew overboard. For a film prop, I'd suggest building something like a bit of floating dock with foam, drum, or inner tube floatation and disguising it to look like a log raft.

I'm in Kennesaw, BTW.

[hanser]

how hard is it to build the floating dock you mention? I think that would be a good way to go. I found some old plans from a sears catalog that I was considering scaling down to provide the base.

this http://euler.sfasu.edu/Shantyboats/SearsRoebuckShanty/Sears-Roebucks.html
minus the cabin

any other ideas?

[Bob Smalser]

http://www.twainquotes.com/rafting3.jpg

Green logs won't work for the reasons John mentioned.

Look for a lumber yard with plastic-coated styrofoam floats to make docks out of. For a 6'-wide raft, buy three of them. The best ones are encased in polyethylene tubs, the cheapos wrapped in thin shrink wrap.

Build a 2X8 frame around them no longer to speak of than the floats (or the raft will be tippy).

Cut some log butts and lag bolt them to each end of the frame, and two also logs lengthwise for the sides.

Plank the deck with rough-cut 2X stock, bolting the floats to the underside of the deck.

Less the logs, I build floating docks this way and fix them to their posts with rope grommets and snaps. That way the family can detach them and pole them out for use as swimming and fishing rafts.

[htom]

http://dowbp-us-residential.buildscape.com/items/?type=install (scroll down to buoyancy billets)

First make a simple foam swim platform, then dress it to look like a log raft.

[PaulC]

If you have any pallet plants/factories near you, they are a good source for the bark "shavings". These are the bark sections that are cut off the wood to make the pallets. Typically they are about 1-1/2" thick and six to eight feet long. They would make excellent "dressing" for the foam rafts discussed above.

In our part of Michigan, the pallet plants are happy to give them away to those who cut them up and use them for firewood.

[Barry]

Boat-Building and Boating
by D.C. Beard
Dan Beard is the man who not only brought Scouting to America but wrote a dozen books that popularized many of the activities that Boy Scouts still do today. This is one of his best and will appeal to young people everywhere.

Do you want to build a raft that will sail, a dugout canoe, or maybe a houseboat? Dan makes it all seem perfectly reasonable and achievable; he has done it himself and is only too happy to pass the knowledge on to anyone else who wants to be an explorer or a guide.

His writing style fires the imagination by making anything seem possible; the only possible problems would be lack of optimism and energy. How about that logomaran on the cover? It looks like it could be completed before lunch...

Extensively illustrated. Smyth-sewn softcover, 5-1/2" x 8", 200 pages. First published in 1911; reprinted in 2004 as part of our Classic Reprint Series.
Boat-Building and Boating
49L80.90 $6.95

Available from Lee Valley Tools

[Bert Langley]

For a one-time use as a movie prop on what i assume is a very limited budget I would suggest your cheapest route would be to use empty 55 gallon drums (either platic or metal) for floatation. There are several sources of these in the Atlanta metro area, and I suspect that if you approach them right you can get the few drums you need for free. You also have to consider how you will transport the finished product. If you go the route of using drums for floatation and just dressing the raft up with log butts etc. it is pretty easy to design a take-apart raft that could be transported in a pickup truck and assembled on-site. I have actually done this for another purpose, where I needed a stable work platform in an area with no boat ramp.

I like John Bell am in Atlanta (actually Vinnings) and would be happy to ive you a hand.

[botebum]

When I was in Boy Scouts at summer camp we were divided into two man teams, given two logs, some rope and a bunch of boards. We had to build a raft without tools and get it to the other side of the lake. Great fun! If a bunch of boys can do this in one day then certainly you can.

[ssor]

Another approach could be to simply frame up a platform with 2X12 bright lumber and cover both sides with exterior grade plywood well nailed and set in construction adhesive with the joints also sealed. A bilge pump would be prudent. On a movie set that platform might even find other uses.

[Bruce Hooke]

Having built a number of log rafts as a child I can speak with some authority on this subject! :D :D

If you can find some nice big (9-10" diameter or so would be good) logs that have been lying around for a good while then all you really need to do is cut them to length, lay some rough cut boards on top to act as a deck and nail or lag screw (or lash, which may be more true to what would have been done in Huck Finn's day) the deck to the logs. Since this was the coast of Maine we used driftwood logs and planks and built rafts that were on the order of 20-25' long and 6-8' wide. Such a raft could support a number of youngsters quite readily -- if 3 or 4 of us stood at one end that end would start to go under, but sinking it would have been nigh on impossible. We even added a tripod mast that we could climb up for a better view. Poling was by far the most effective means of getting anywhere. Paddling was very slow. We tried sailing but that pretty much turned into getting blown straight downwind!

One thing that is important to note is that such a raft is HEAVY. Our raft washed ashore one winter and it took a lot of work with hyrdraulic car jacks, wooden levers and skids to shift the raft a dozen or so feet to below high tide line. Granted, sand is not the easiest thing to move heavy loads across especially when the load starts somewhat buried into the sand, but such a raft would require a truck and a crane to move any distance across land. As much as possible we tried to keep our raft anchored in the intertidal zone so that we could work on it at low tide and use it at high tide.

Another thing worth noting is that very small rafts always seem to be pretty unstable. Trying to stand on a 4' x 4' raft is an invitation to a swim! The raft Huck used in Twain's story had space for 4 people and a tent as a recall, so it was relatively large from our perspective.

Whether foam or steel drums make more sense than logs will, I think, largely depend on what you have available in the way of materials, as well as what logistics you face in terms of moving the raft from place to place. A log raft is dirt cheap if you can find the materials, whereas plywood and foam can add up in a hurry. On the other hand, suitable logs can be hard to find and even harder to move.

Here is a picture of our best raft, from the small town paper (it must have been a slow news day!). That's me on the left and my cousin on the right. The paper got that part wrong and also failed to mention the other 4 or so siblings and cousins who worked on the raft.
http://www.bghooke.com/brucehooke/Images/David-Ockington-Raft.jpg

[ 01-18-2005, 03:49 PM: Message edited by: Bruce Hooke ]

[THX712517]

Marietta, GA chiming in here.

My friend and I are both interested in filming, and have attempted a few things on our own from time to time. Need some help/mocking laughter?

[scepticus]

I'd consider using three or four inner tubes for floatation. Then you could easily adjust your waterline so that it looked best for the movie.

[Jim Goodine]

As a kid, we built a couple of rafts out of old cedar telephone poles. Call the power company or phone company and they might even drop them at your house when they get some. Good luck and keep it fun.

[hanser]

I want to thank everyone for all the good suggestions. I am not sure exactly which design we will attempt, but I will let you know.

Keep the suggestions coming

thanks,
hans

[Tristan]

For sure use DRY logs. I once felled a small cypress tree in a swamp, thinking to float it out. I was shocked to find the damn tree fell with a splash, sank, and lay on the bottom of the swamp, under a couple feet of water, like a STONE! The rafts we made as kids, and tried to float in the old Hialeah Canal, did a little better, but were always a prelude to swimming. If you read Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi," you'll find the timber rafts were quite large, and often had tents aboard that housed six or more people, often whole families. The steam boats occasionally ran over them, which annoyed (and occasionally drowned) the raft's crew. Lowell P. Thomas, Naples, FL

[ 01-19-2005, 06:11 PM: Message edited by: Tristan ]

[hanser]

getting geared up to begin building.

anyone know where in the atlanta area or what stores in general would carry STYROFOAM BOATING BILLETS? I would guess building or boat supplies, but any help would be appreciated.

anyone from ATL know specifically?

thanks,
hans

[John Bell]

Woolley & Co.
6865 Mimms Drive
Doraville, GA 30340
770-448-8473

I bought some styrofoam block from them about 6 years ago. Their prices were very reasonable.

[ 02-01-2005, 07:56 AM: Message edited by: John Bell ]

[C.Carini]

you should really follow Bruce's advice or no less Smalsers illustration, anything less wont be worth seeing. For everyone else: Daedalus has a great sale & for wood rat professionals ya can't go wrong on a $45 book marked down to $15 called Fresh Wood. A more specific book to this subject is Sea Drift $26/$4.98 & you'll love this story; an anthropolgist puts five men & six women on a raft to see (?) who does what sex act to whom first - rules me out i wouldn't even get off land under that pressure.

[hanser]

Well we built the raft last night and were planning on testing it and doing some filming today, but long story short we were unable to do so b/c of administrative issues. People at Stone MTN were being ridiculous. It was very fun building the raft and I appreciate everyone's help. As you can see from the pictures below, we used 3 55gallon drums for flotation and the craft easily held 3 people.

thanks again for all your ideas and support,
hans
https://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/hmouser/DSC03182.JPG https://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/hmouser/DSC03190.JPG

[C.Carini]

cool, after the shoot i bet some duck hunter could use it to make a blind for next season - will your film be the next big Blair Witch? Good Luck

[ 02-06-2005, 09:53 AM: Message edited by: C.Carini ]

[ssor]

Welcome to the "first-anything-that-floats" boat builders club.
My first was a log my brother and I found on shore on Rangley Lake in Maine. We nailed a couple of 2x4 outriggers onto it and paddled with some found boards. And caught HELL from our Dad.

[Paul Scheuer]

b/c of administrative issues. People at Stone MTN were being ridiculous. Looks like fun. Don't let the ankle biters get you down.

So what were the issues?

When we built our "fun" boat, we had State registration papers on hand, ready to go, for the "sea trials" just in case. Our design was just shy of 30 ft, so we didn't need a head. It doesn't look like that was the issue in your case.

[John Bell]

Boating in Stone Mtn Park is a famous PITA. I don't know why anyone bothers to try. Oh, it's easy enough if you RENT a boat from the state's concessionaire, but help you if you want to use your own.