Pondering finishing options for my guideboat

[Baltimore Lou]

I'm nearing the point in the construction of a cedar strip-built Adirondack guideboat where I need to consider how best to finish it. I am tentatively thinking of painting the exterior (one part polyurethane), finishing gunwales and stems bright, and varnishing the interior. My question regards what finishing protocol is best on the interior. the outside of the hull is sheathed in 4 oz. fiberglass cloth and epoxy. Is it sufficient to consider just varnish (about 5 or 6 coats) on the interior, or do I need to be plan an epoxy coating prior to the varnish? The boat won't get heavy, regular use. Your thoughts are appreciated.

[SaltyD from BC]

If it was me and seeing as you've gone to the trouble to seal and protect the outside with 'poxy I'd keep going with that program on the inside. Maybe even with S1 sealer or maybe that CEPES (sp?) stuff which I hear good things about. A couple coats of one of these or the like and then a bunch of coats of an appropriate varnish on top of that. More time spent upfront but I'm sure it would pay off down the line as you would no doubt be varnishing a lot less in subsequent years. .. Sounds like a nice boat, got any pics?

[Baltimore Lou]

SaltyD,
The downside, as you can imagine, of using first, is the amount of sanding required. But I guess that will be only a fraction of the total if sanding between each coat of varnish. It is a daunting job as there are ribs every 5 inches or so (33 pairs!), so lots of sanding not only between the ribs, but also the ribs themselves. That's probably the way I'll go.
I spent over an hour this morning trying to post pictures, but kept running into "file too large" messages. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but wound up feeling like a moron after that experience. I'll ask my daughter to help me convert the pictures to smaller files and see what I can do.
Lou

[Baltimore Lou]

Wow! Let's see if this worked?! My daughter just helped me through saving this picture small enough to post. If it works, I'll post a few more.

[mizzenman]

Don't reduce the file size

You need to post the pictures at a photo hosting site like photobucket or some such before you can post them here.

the litle landskape picture on the quick reply box is the button you use when you link to the pic

[Baltimore Lou]

Mizzenman,
I tried that this morning and was unable to get it to meet the size requirements. I'll try again.
Lou

[JimConlin]

If the boat is not to be harshly used, varnish is a reasonable choice. It won't show scuffs as prominently as a paint finish. After you've gotten the weave of the glass filled, four coats on the inside and six on the outside will suffice.
If you don't need to get an OMG finish, it's not a lot of work.

[neilm]

I would varnish the outside and use matte finish varnish on the inside like a classic stripper canoe.

Neil

[Candyfloss]

I use PictureTrail. Copy & paste the image URL for Forums (gyhuhyuhu) directly into the "Reply" box & add your commentary. When you "Submit Reply" the image will appear. Try to get it right first time. The EDIT function on this forum is not intuitive.:D A lot of nice people gave very carefully considered answers to this same question on my thread "Paint your dinghy."

[Baltimore Lou]

CandyFloss, thanks for the PictureTrail suggestion. Here goes:

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/369984756.jpg
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/369984747.jpg
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/369984751.jpg

[Baltimore Lou]

Wow CandyFloss, can't tell you how much frustration you just ended for me! Thanks loads! I feel like I've entered the 21st century. :D
Lou

[SaltyD from BC]

Wow CandyFloss, can't tell you how much frustration you just ended for me! Thanks loads! I feel like I've entered the 21st century. :D
Lou

Congradulations Lou, on technology thing but moreso the boat :cool:

Seeing the pics I think I'd still go with expoxy sealing the interior and varnish over that. I would not go for a show quality varnish finish on the interior but concentrate more on building up a lot of coats without a lot of sanding. With all the crazy lines and wee frames the eye will not be drawn to the odd rough spot or blemish and it will look great. And you won't freak every time a little ding appears like you would with a mirror quality finish. As neilm suggests a matte varnish and not high gloss would be the way to go.

If you do a search on this forum of 'hot coat varnish' or something like that you'll find quite a bit about easier ways to get a good thick protective UV protective layer (varnish) and how to fairly easily keep it up. ..

[Baltimore Lou]

SaltyD,
Thanks for the suggestion. I like your suggestion, since all those ribs would make lots of sanding between coats pretty tedious. I'm about to start caning the seats and seat back, and then will be ready to begin finishing routine.
Lou

[Candyfloss]

Mate! I can see why you want to clear finish that! That is beautiful work. Two coats epoxy, lightly sand the first coat, thoroughly water wash the second one. Six to eight coats UV resistant matte varnish. Store indoors when not in use. Enjoy:p:)

[SaltyD from BC]

Caned seats? Nice. :cool:

So now that you're a big time intraweb photo poster, do keep us up to date eh? ;)

[Todd Bradshaw]

I'm going to go against the grain on this one (who, me? never). With all those surfaces to cover, getting an interior finish that really looks good enough to be part of that boat is going to be an absolute pain in the butt if you try to epoxy coat it. Epoxy is quite difficult to apply as a smooth, uniform-thickness coating in areas where you don't have much room to work with it and have a mix of horizontal, vertical and angled surfaces, both before and after it's hardened. It doesn't go on like varnish, is damned difficult to sand without some serious power tools and you may end up with a surface that looks like somebody poured syrup all over it.

I would certainly consider a base of CPES, followed by a light sanding and a really good varnish job - even though I find a certain portion of the CPES hype to be bunk. In this case, it well may be the best sealer you can buy to back up the varnish and extend its life. Sans CPES, I'd simply do a really good varnish job and maintain it properly. Unless you have an awful lot of free time available and are willing to spend it hand sanding and scraping drips, runs and lumps out of small areas of epoxy coating, I would not coat the inside with it. The boat's beautiful interior is what will be most visible on this one and draw people to it. The finish there matters a lot. I'd also go gloss on the varnish. It's more traditional for a boat from that era and often tends to show dirt less and clean up easier.

[Baltimore Lou]

SaltyD, Candyfloss and Todd, thanks for your thoughtful responses. Todd, you're pointing up the issue that I'm most concerned about - all the narrow spaces that would need sanding multiple times. I've cut down the disc on my PC random orbit sander so it will fit comfortably between the ribs, but I'd still have the ribs themselves and some of the hard to reach joints between the bottom board and stripped sides to hand sand. Pretty daunting. As I said originally, I don't expect the boat to get hard use and will be dried out between excursions. I did use CPES about 10 or 15 years ago on an Oughtred Willy Boat I built, but have always wondered if it was extra unnecessary caution on a boat that was carefully stored and maintained.
Todd (or anyone else) what is your experience/opinion about the idea of "hot-coating" with varnish? Thanks again all for your ideas. I will keep pictures coming as I make progress. Spent the day today with my son putting new brakes on his Honda Accord. What should have been a couple of hours turned into most of the day. Maybe some boat progress tomorrow, between work appointments... :rolleyes:

[Todd Bradshaw]

If, by hot-coating, you mean applying a fresh layer as soon as the layer below will support it, I do it all the time when working with resin and when spraying varnish, (mostly for non-contamination reasons) but have never seen much reason to try it with brushed or rolled-and-tipped varnish. If I look hard enough, there is normally something, someplace in the previous coat that I'd rather fix than overcoat, but to each his own.

I have a pretty high tolerance for sanding though. When I was in college I worked for a sculptor, sanding resin castings that sometimes weighed up to 200 lbs. Other than the first cut with a 36 grit disk and the final buffing with a soft cotton wheel, all the rest of the sanding to bring them up to a flawless, glass-like polish was done by hand. By comparison, sanding layers of varnish between coats on a boat is a piece of cake.

Old Town canoe has been varnishing the insides of their wood/canvas canoes for decades using a first coat of 50/50 varnish and thinner on the bare wood, followed by subsequent coats of straight varnish. It seems to work pretty well and other than the fact that they never put on enough coats at the factory, interior varnish anomalies are pretty rare with reasonable maintenance and storage, so that's typically pretty similar to what I do. I bought my Old Town Guide new in 1972. Since then, it's had a light hand sanding to scuff it up and fresh coat of varnish applied to the interior on three occasions and it still looks quite good. This is either due to the fact that the system works pretty well or the fact that I don't get out enough, or both - but I don't see much reason to argue with success.

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/guide-010.jpg

[Candyfloss]

Lou.
I'd be real interested to see how you go about caning your seats. I think I'd like to try it on my dinghy. Can they be made removable? I don't like standing on my head to varnish under seats.:p

[Baltimore Lou]

Todd,
Your canoe is beautiful! I don't have quite your patience when sanding, but do it as necessary. When I was in college at University of Maine at Orono I visited the Old Town factory just up the road. Pretty beautiful work they were doing at the time (just a year or two after you bouught your boat). I had a chance to buy an old, beaten up Old Town canoe from a camp I worked at. It had sponsons and was set up as a sailing canoe. Tragically, during one of our "lean times" early in marriage I sold it. One of the few things I regret getting rid of in my life. Was amazed though, when I wanted to get some of the history of the boat, I contacted the company with the number stamped into the inner stem (I think) and they mailed me a xerox of the original factory build order. Date was some time in the early thirties, gave who it was built for, and date of each step of completion of construction. Pretty neat.
Candyfloss, Yes, the seats are removable. In fact, in the guide boat the middle seat has to be removable, as you take it out to install the carry yoke in order to portage the boat. I built similar caned seats (look like Todd's two posts back) for a Ted Moores strip built canoe I built about 15 years ago. I am hoping to glue up the laminations for the stern seat bowback seatback today. Maybe I'll be able to post a picture.

[LazyJack]

Nice boat.

I too have built the Grant Guideboat (planked instead of strip-fiberglass-epoxy although a fiber glass boat is definately a better, easier, far more practical way to go... probably holds up better too) and have subsequently built others which I have elected to paint inside and out as per the traditional working guideboats.
I have found the painted version much easier to use, much more likely to be used, and much less likely to draw attention and be a target when sitting on the roof of a vehicle which is where one of my boats is stored. I can also toss gear aboard, allow friends to step into the boat without so much angst (of course there is the floor grate but I stopped using it because the extra piece was more of a pain than it is worth and you can't really portage with it)
The one boat I varnished hangs in the rafters most of the time while the others are regularly used. Given that strip/epoxy construction is such a common look, there's really nothing to 'show-off' in that regard I'd just go ahead and paint it. I'd concentrate on an emacculate job with fitting the deck and coaming (not easy in this design) and leave that, the seats, risers, rails, carrying yoke and oars bright.

For the most part, varnish is lovely on other peoples boats.

Just my bias...

[Baltimore Lou]

LazyJack,
Thanks for adding your suggestion. I'm giving it some thought, although i've got to say I'm partial to the look of the stripped hull, and after having made a canoe and a kayak with this method, enjoy the comments they get from the public. My boat will be used quite a bit less than yours, given what you've said.
I've been spending the afternoon caning my seatback (stern seat). maybe I should have started with one of the other seats. This one is a little challenging as there are so many holes spaced closely together along the bottom horizontal, that the weave is pretty tight. My neck is getting stiff, so I'm going to give it a rest for a while.
I'll post some pictures as I have some finished work to show.
Lou

[LazyJack]

I look forward to seeing some more pictures. I'm a little confused about "there being so many holes along the bottom spaced so closely together" I would think that the holes would be spaced pretty evenly all the way around. I didn't do the bowed seatback, I did the older style four piece seatback with the vertical horns to catch the edges of the oars.

The way I laid out the holes in my seat frames was to draw a grid of 7/8ths squares on a piece of paper bigger than the woven section of the seat. I then laid the seat frame down on this grid centering the squares within the frame so the horizontal and vertical components intersected the seat frame uniformly. I then marked the outside edge of the seat frame where the lines of the grid intersected the flipped the frame over and connected the tick marks with a straght egde vertically and horizontally. I then used a compass to scribe a line a uniform distance from the inside of the seat frame. Where this scribed line crossed the vertical and horizontal lines is where I drilled the holes all the way around the frame. This insures that your weave will end up even and that your octogons will be octagonal. Clear as mud??
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/IMG_4416.jpg?t=1248560566

[Scot L T]

I'm going to side with Todd on the interior epoxy thing. I found it a major PITA with the stripper canoes I built so I (me personally, I refer to) would not even think about doing the inside of a boat with ribs. In the John Michine book (Building An Adirondack Guideboat) he details a method for epoxy being applied to the interior by brushing it on with a bristle brush and wiping the excess off with paper towel. Seems like a recipe for a big mess to me. I have limited experience with CPES (any epoxy and I have an unhealthy relationship at best) but it would seem to be a good way to seal the interior before your beautiful varnish job.

Although, I like the look of some strippers, I find that quite often there are too many lines of different color wood for my eye. I think a nice deep Royal blue or Forest green paint to the main body and leaving the trim bright, as Lazyjack notes, would be very classy. For anything other than the odd canoe, I think, a stripper finished bright is just too much of a good thing. Paint is also a better protection from the damaging rays of the sun. I know varnish makers are getting very good at this but if one’s boat was going to spend time on top of the car exposed to the sun en route to the favorite pond, it might be something to consider.

On a bit of a side note and I hope this isn't hijacking the thread. I’ve often considered building a Guideboat but my concern with the stripper Guideboats is that they are glassed on the outside of the hull and not on the in. I don't know enough about the dynamics, stresses on the wood and so on, of this method to have any opinion but I do have questions.

From hanging out over on the Wooden Canoe site I gather that glassing of a W/C canoe is less than acceptable and people go to great pains to get the glass off when one is found. I, as luck would have it, have not yet had that pleasure but I fear my day is near. I have just discovered a rare gem covered with a rather poor glass/epoxy job…

Those of you that are much more studied and knowledgeable than me, what are your thoughts concerning the glass on the outside only in reference to this method of boat building? Todd? Lazyjack?

BTW Beautiful boats guys!

[Baltimore Lou]

LazyJack,
Your boat is beautiful! I'm inspired to keep going by your picture. Here (I hope) is a picture of the bow back for the stern seat, with caning in process. The reason I mentioned many more closely spaced holes along the bottom is that the number of holes needs to match the number of holes along the top circumference in order for the lines of cane to match up (paralleling the sides). I expect it will look better when all the caning is done: :o
I must say i debated your style seatback just for the horns to rest the oars on, but went for following the plans this time. I may make an alternate seatback, or affix some kind of small ears on the side of this one for that purpose.
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/370407335.jpg

[Baltimore Lou]

Scot,
I did not mean to ignore your post. I have used CPES some years ago, and like the idea of a penetrating sealing coat without the gloss or finish of epoxy. I also agree that the idea of following the book by applying epoxy and wiping off excess with paper towels sounds like a mess waiting to happen to me too.
The question of having a boat sealed with epoxy and fiberglass on the outside and a vastly different finish on the inside is what prompted me to post the question here in the first place.
I am coming to the conclusion that a good finish of multiple coats of varnish, and the careful use that I expect to make of the boat, (and my preference for the look of a varnished interior and painted exterior) has me leaning towards just varnish on the inside. I've got plenty of time to decide this, so I'll still be interested in hearing dissenting opinions here. Thanks all for your thoughtful input!

[Todd Bradshaw]

I kind of wonder about the brush-on/wipe-off method for epoxy sealing. I have done something similar on guitar bodies (brush-on and then scrape it into the pores and very thin on the surface with a piece of plastic like an old credit card) but in those cases it was mainly to act as a grain filler. Obviously, I don't routinely toss my guitars into the water, so it's simply used to get a smoother varnish job by giving a more level surface to varnish over.

If you look at it from the epoxy boatbuilder's perspective, the resin manufacturers have certain target thicknesses in mind for effectively sealing wood with epoxy and they're quite a bit thicker than what a brushed-on/wiped-off layer would provide (more like brush or roll two to three coats on and leave it). I have no doubt that "brush and wipe" would provide a certain amount of sealing power, but I don't know how much or whether it's actually worth the time and expense to do it. I have a fairly similar feeling about the whole CPES diluted epoxy method. It can not possibly seal the wood anywhere near as well as regular, 100% solids epoxy in a proper thickness does. But....it might help form a good base for paint or varnish, and I think the delivery system for CPES sounds neater and easier to me than the wipe-off method for full-strength epoxy and probably has similar results.

As to the fiberglass outside/varnish inside without glass or epoxy scenario, FYI that yellow Old Town canoe shown above doesn't have canvas on it. It has 6 oz. fiberglass outside with a double layer on the bottom, which I installed using WEST epoxy. Manufacturers have been building canoes with a fiberglass skin option for decades and once epoxy resin became available for that use, the durability entered the "quite decent if" category. The "if' is maintenance and reasonable care along with doing a proper job of installing it in the first place. If you keep your varnish in good shape, avoid allowing water to sit in the boat for extended periods and store the boat out of the weather, it will most likely work fine and enjoy a long life. You do, however, have a very substantial fiberglass moisture barrier plastered up against one side of the wood, so you want to maintain the varnish well to keep water from soaking the wood, getting in there, and possibly getting trapped up against the glass.

Canvas-covered canoes can also be damaged just as easily by poor storage, pooling rainwater and lack of maintenance, so it's not really fair to consider the fiberglass covering to be a weakness without also considering the weaknesses of other covering materials as well. It's true that most of the old home-fiberglassed wooden canoes you find out there are rot just waiting to happen and by far, the best course of action is usually to remove the old glass and re-cover the boat. The cause is usually either improper resin or bad workmanship (it's a pretty tricky job to do it right - much trickier than glassing a stripper because of all the little gaps that have to be bridged).

With all the work that goes into building or restoring a nice boat, most owners will use common sense and maintain it - maybe even baby it a bit, and single-side skinning will probably work just fine. Note that I'm talking about sheathing boats like canoes and guideboats here, not a 30' carvel-planked sailboat with 1" thick planks. That type of thing is a very different story with a very different success ratio.

[L.W. Baxter]

Were it my build: in the past I would have brushed epoxy all over the inside. If I were doing it now, based on some experience, I would start with thinned varnish and then try to get as much varnish on as I could stand to do. Todd describes pretty well the hassles of epoxy for this kind of job. I would add that anywhere you end up with extra thickness of resin you risk having clouded or yellowed epoxy at some point in the future if your U.V. protection is not perfectly maintained, and/or you simply leave the boat in direct sunlight for extended periods.

Nice project, by the way.

[LazyJack]

Your hole spacing looks a bit crowded for the weight of cane you're using. Here's one that Grant did.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/PictureCD191.jpg?t=1248575819

[ShagRock]

Lazyjack...that's a mighty nice guide boat! I'd go along with Baxter on the finish technique. What size planks were used and how would you compare the end result to a typical stripper with narrower planks? I suppose the recommended finish technique would be the same in either case, or would it?

[Candyfloss]

Nobody's answering my question. How do you do this caning thing? Is there a book I can get on it? How do you make them removable? I really need to know. Please. Thank you.

[LazyJack]

Candyfloss, a good photo is all you really need to do the caning thing. See I learned to do it copying a photo image of something similar I was trying to cane. See if these help you out...

Start filling back and forth wise...
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/DSCF0023.jpg?t=1248605720

What it does underneath
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/DSCF0025.jpg?t=1248605863

Then fill up and down wise over top of the first layer
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/DSCF0027.jpg?t=1248606010

Note you have to skip some holes along the side to keep the grid square. (On a rectangular frame this would not be a problem)

The you add a third layer, this one a back and forth layer again over top of the first two

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/DSCF0030.jpg?t=1248606263

[Baltimore Lou]

Todd and L.W.,
Your explanation of the finish on your canoe has just about sold me. No epoxy or CPES on the interior. Just a coat of thinned varnish followed by as many coats of varnish full weight as I can stand to apply before going nuts!
LazyJack, thanks for your pictures and your tutorial for Candyfloss. Very clear pictures. As I said, I should have started with one of the seats, not the seatback. Perfectly parallel lines, evenly spaced holes will be much easier to work with. I'm still recovering from a saw cut (don't ask!!) on my right thumb and the caning has been a challenge because of that.
Candyfloss - the book mentioned earlier: Building an Adirondack Guideboat: Wood Strip Reproductions of the Virginia (Paperback)
by Michael J. Olivette and John D. Michne has been my reference for this entire project, and they've got a pretty clear explanation of caning. You can also look on youtube for some good video tutorials. Try this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv7YfDIsjtE

[LazyJack]

So after you have the third layer stacked on top of the first two, you add a fourth layer, and by weaving this forth layer, you effectively 'weave' the previous three together as well.

There is a lot of friction on the cane as you draw it through, especially if the first three layers were woven with a lot of tension. You should keep the cane damp with a spray mist of water, and as you weave one strand, you should have the next strand soaking in water. (this goes for the first three layers as well)


ahttp://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/DSCF0032.jpg?t=1248606679

After you complete that greuling part, then it's time to fill in the diagonals. Choose holes across the diagonal of your frame such that the cane passes through the corners of the grid at as close a 45 degree angle as possible. What I'm pointing at is what happens with trapazoidal shapes as the caning climbs up one side faster then it is coming across the adjacent side. You can see how the bend would get worse and worse if I continued...
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/DSCF0009E.jpg?t=1248607243

So this is where you 'double up' and end two runs of diagonals in the same hole...

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/DSCF0012E.jpg?t=1248607670

[LazyJack]

If you double up on the corresponding hole on the other side as you're weaving the opposite diagonal, all will be well. Heres a photo of a rectangular seat with the weaving complete (that is without the margin around the outside. Later I may post a picture of a trapazoidal seat back but I have to snap a photo of it first. Hope this all helps and doesn't confuse too badly. There are a lot of references on the internet as well.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/LazyJack/DSCF0008.jpg?t=1248607874

This whole process is rather time-consuming! One set of seats for one guideboat was enough to last me a lifetime...I'll either press pre woven cane or pay someone else to do it from now on...

[Baltimore Lou]

So Lazyjack, I assume these pictures of your caning are out of your "archives" and not a demo you threw together in the last hour for the sake of this post?

[LazyJack]

Would that freak you out?

Wanna race?

[Baltimore Lou]

I'd consider racing you rowing, but not caning! Yes, it would freak me out! - and I can identify with the idea of subcontracting caning on future boats. This gets pretty tedious.

[Scot L T]

Nice caning job there. It does seem a little tight as someone mentioned above but it looks like you closely copied the seats of the Grant boat and the number of holes appears to be the same. Must be an optical illusion.

I actually like caning seats. I find it very therapeutic and the only time I used sheets of pre-woven cane I felt totally ripped off. It was a fine product but I just felt I had missed out on a special step in the process of boat building.

Thanks for your answer to my concern, Todd. I appreciate you taking the time to explain where most of the problem comes from. I understand better now. If I were to build a Guideboat the stripper way I'd most likely get someone else to do the glassing, anyways. But maybe after a bit more experience with traditional building techniques I'll have a go at the beveled lap construction of the original boats.

[Lazy Jack]

Scot, do you do anything to lubricate the cane so it draws through the weave easier?

[Scot L T]

I just use a little vaseline. A dab between the thumb and first finger then run the cane between the two seems to be all that is needed. You don't need much.

According to a late 19th century book on furniture building from my shelf, in the old days a piece of bacon rind was used to lubricate the cane...I don't know but I wouldn't think that, if you're traveling through bear country with your trusty Guideboat, it's a good idea to have your butt smelling like fresh smoked bacon...It might just be me but I think the vaseline would be safer...yikes, this post could get real nasty real fast!

[Baltimore Lou]

So, after a slow down in work, partly due to a thumb injury from my table saw (on an unrelated project!), I've been back at my guideboat. Here are a few pictures of recent progress.
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/377195054.jpg
The previously steam-bent deck circle is being installed, here behind the bow deck. This was real antsy work, as the strip is planed down to about 1/16" at its outboard ends, and was prone to cracking when being sprung into place. After scrapping one, I finally got them both in place without any incidents.
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/377195458.jpg
Deck circle screwed in place and book-matched cherry deck pieces installed.

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/377195458.jpg
Stern deck and stern seat.
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/377195123.jpg
And with seat back, as per design. While the seat back fits well, it is just placed in the seat frame and held by gravity. I'm still trying to come up with a simple, unobtrusive way to secure it to the seat when in use, so it won't fall forward or rattle around. Suggestions?

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/377195484.jpg
I had the wonderful pleasure of having my father join me in the shop this weekend. He's become a pretty accomplished woodcarver since he retired, and it was very special to have him add his contribution to the boat. He and my mom live summers in the Adirondacks and winters in Florida. They make the pilgrimage every spring and fall, and visit us in Baltimore before boarding the autotrain. They were here this weekend on their way south. Yesterday my dad joined me in the shop and carved the rounded ends of the seat risers after I shaped the half-rounds with a scraper. I think it has been about 40 years since we worked side-by-side on a project in the shop, and we both were quite nostalgic as we enjoyed each other's company.

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/377195026.jpg
Here's the cherry deck with a maple trim strip down the middle. This one is just holding place, as I found a piece of birdseye maple that I'll be replacing it with, hopefully tomorrow. And yes, the bow and midship seats still need to have the caning finished off with a border strip of cane. That will be done soon.

My folks are on the train now, and I've made a commitment to put the project back in high gear. More pictures to follow soon, hopefully!

[Baltimore Lou]

I neglected to mention that, after the original question I posed about finishing options, I've settled on varnish on the interior and exterior trim and stems. The planking on the exterior will be painted a deep blue with Brightsides.
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/377195301.jpg
Here I've got seven coats of Captain's Varnish on the interior. Soon I'll be attacking seat risers, decks, gunwales and stems before painting the hull.

[Scot L T]

Looking very nice Lou! I think the blue exterior will be very classy but then I paint my wood canvas canoes with a royal blue and varnished interior, it's my favorite.

[Baltimore Lou]

Scott, I'm anxious to see the blue go on. I agree that it will make for a classy finish...I hope!

[Baltimore Lou]

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1673/12542239/22311829/377255737.jpg
Sorry about the picture quality, but here is the birdseye maple trim piece and first step in fitting brass stem cap. Once varnished, I think the contrast between the cherry deck and the maple center strip will be a little more pronounced.

[Scot L T]

Just a thought, Lou. Once the finish goes on there might not be as much of a contrast between the maple and the cherry as one would hope. I had a similar situation on a small box I made. Once varnished there was a contrast but not as much as I would have hoped. On the second box I put a couple coats of shellac just on the cherry and then applied the varnish as normal. That darkened up the cherry enough to add more contrast.

I'd try it on a couple scrap pieces to see if it's what will please your eye.

As I said...just a thought.

[Baltimore Lou]

Scot,
Cherry darkens pretty quickly once it is exposed to light. Perhaps it is UV and your box didn't get much sun exposure. But I believe on a boat, it should bring up the color. I made a similar deck and trim ring on a canoe I built years ago, and the cherry is much darker than when first installed.
Lou

[Scot L T]

Yea, I'd forgotten about that fact. Not much sun fell on the jewelery box. On my stripper canoe I used cherry trim and I have to agree with you, it has darkened over time...makes me wonder about the UV protective properties of my varnish...Hmmm, a whole other thread there.

[Baltimore Lou]

Scot,
You've stumped me. there must be something other than simply UV that causes cherry to darken. Maybe IR? Maybe something about exposure to air, although varnish or an epoxy coating should beat that. I'm sure someone here will have a better explanation.

[Frank R]

Scot,
You've stumped me. there must be something other than simply UV that causes cherry to darken. Maybe IR? Maybe something about exposure to air, although varnish or an epoxy coating should beat that. I'm sure someone here will have a better explanation.

I think it is UV. I read a story in Fine Woodworking Magazine from a furniture builder who put a newly built cherry table out side his shop for a few hours to darken in the sun. When he went to retrieve it, he found that the paper boy had left the newspaper on his new table top, leaving a nice outline below.