Boats from Newspapers

[Dave Carnell]

I received a message for help on making a human-carrying boat of newspaper. Haven't found much on Google, but have foggy memories of contests for doing just that quickly. Any references appreciated.

[paladin]

Quick dry varnish works good.....use an old boat or canoe for a form.....attach waxed paper or saran wrap to hull with masking tape, stretch newspaper diagonally across the hull, and varnish, or epoxy it, let get tacky, layer the newspaper 90 degrees (seams) to first later and repeat until you have the desired thickness and rigidity....final varnish or fast dry epoxy, paint, race......can make a short mast from rolled paper, and a sail the same way...helped local scouts one year in Annapolis, we won.....

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

I received a message for help on making a human-carrying boat of newspaper. Haven't found much on Google, but have foggy memories of contests for doing just that quickly. Any references appreciated.

If you've got access to a kayak mold - wax to release as for glass - then use newsprint papier mache with PVA. Takes a while to dry/cure but it is amazingly strong and stiff - you can varnish the outside if you want but its not really necessary.

Did a cardboard boat whitewater race one year in a homebrew 17' K2 made from tri-wall - got charity sponsorship from 3M.

HOOT.

The proposal to use glossy magazine and name it "Rustler 2" was vetoed.

[rbgarr]

A century ago competitive racing shells were made with paper (not newsprint) skins by similar methods.

[paladin]

a century ago they used brown butchers paper.....

[rbgarr]

D-d,

Sometimes contests have silly rules. There used to be a race on the Charles River in Boston and you'd have been amused to see what people (especially from MIT) built the 'boats' out of: aluminum foil, milk crates and plastic bottles, Army-Navy store ponchos....

Not all floated for very long and some you couldn't even paddle without twisting all out of shape. It was fun.

The house out of Post-It notes is an intriguing idea. My wife likes yellow ;)

[peter radclyffe]

D-d,

Sometimes contests have silly rules. There used to be a race on the Charles River in Boston and you'd have been amused to see what people (especially from MIT) built the 'boats' out of: aluminum foil, milk crates and plastic bottles, Army-Navy store ponchos....

Not all floated for very long and some you couldn't even paddle without twisting all out of shape. It was fun.

The house out of Post-It notes is an intriguing idea. My wife likes yellow ;)
the beatles had one of the prototypes-newspaper taxis appear on the shore, waiting to take you away
http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Rigadog]

Didn't Motessier build a paper boat with tar to get off the South pacific island he was marooned on?

[Rigadog]

Paper Boats in Holland


from Gerard Meijer, of Maarssen, Holland


http://kcupery.home.isp-direct.com/PBArtic/Holl.JPG
About 33 years ago, at the age of 16, a friend of mine and I had an idea to build a canoe. But we had no money or materials. We knew that Indians made canoes from materials that nature offers, like twigs and birch bark. Willow spars seemed like the best for their strength and flexibility and are easy to come by in Holland. Here they're still used to make baskets and they are essential in dike building. The keel was made by tying two spars together bent like a bow which resulted in a keel, a stem, and a stern. Then ribs were made by bending small spars and tying them to the keel. The framework was completed by attaching stringers and gunwales, the latter made from thicker spars. All the branches were tied together with rope; not a single nail was used. The frame now looked like a Canadian canoe.
The large birch tree that the Indians used the bark of, does not grow in Holland. Considering our budget we looked for discarded materials that would be useful. We found chicken wire and old newspapers. There was just enough money for a can of coal-tar and with these materials we managed to complete the boat.
The chicken wire was bent and tied to the frame. Paper was tarred and put on the wire. The process was repeated until the hull was strong enough for our liking. We completed the boat by making a floor out of branches to protect the bottom. Would she float? Would she be watertight? Would she be able to cross the Rhine with two of us plus luggage?
Early the next Saturday we took the canoe to the harbor of Wagningen and launched her. It was a sober launch for even if we had a bottle of champagne we were afraid of the damage it might do. It was unbelievable! It really floated and not a leak in it! We loaded our luggage, tent, and sleeping bags and looked again for leaks, but none existed. For security we placed the tar and a heap of newspaper in the center of the boat ready for use.
We paddled out of the harbor and onto the Rhine, staying near the banks for about three miles and then crossing the river. Whenever a big ship passed, our canoe dropped her nose into the waves, but rose without problems. You could feel that the structure of the boat was flexible and seeing it bend, I looked in the bottom for water, but she did not leak. We arrived at a small canal connecting to the Rhine feeling very satisfied with our canoe.
At the end of the canal there was a windmill that regulated the water level. We had to take the boat out of the water to pass the mill. (Behind the mill the river Linge flowed.) We inspected the boat before putting her back in the water. Not a piece of paper was missing. We continued on through the peaceful landscape of Betuwe. By sunset we asked a farmer if we could camp on his property. We took the boat out of the water an placed it upside down for shelter.
The next morning it looked like it was going to rain. We launched the canoe and paddled off Two boys in rain gear in a paper canoe! The rain began! The bean can from the last night's meal was used to bail. The rain came down harder and the bailing intensified. Floating in the water that was thrown out were small pieces of paper. It kept on raining and by the afternoon a lot of the paper was gone. We decided to take the canoe out of the water and hauled out on a slippery and muddy bank.
Our gear was wet and dirty. In the distance there was a bus stop. When the next bus appeared, we were on it. Through the wet and slight foggy windows of the moving bus we caught our last glimpse of our paper boat. We were sure that those who found the boat would wonder what amazing adventures such a peculiar craft might have had.
Return to Paper Boater issues (http://kcupery.home.isp-direct.com/PBArtic/issues.html)

[Woxbox]

Well, as someone who works for a newspaper, if you want to do this, do it now. The supply won't be around for long. :eek:

[Canoez]

Check out Ken Cupery's (http://kcupery.home.isp-direct.com/index.html)website. There is good information there. This was a serious production method around the turn of the century for making boats - particularly rowing shells and canoes. It was the high-tech composite of the day, but the paper was a bit different - hemp paper with high tensile strength IIRC.

There was also some discussion over at the WCHA website about doing this for their annual meeting.

[Paul Pless]

John Gardner's Building Classic Small Craft, has a chapter on the construction of paper boats, including plans and materials.

[ShagRock]

Voyage of the Paper Canoe by N. H. Bishop 1878.
http://www.eldritchpress.org/nhb/paperc/c05.html/htm