Robb White Sport Boat

[AlanDuncan]

OK! New to this board so hello everyone! I have been wanting to build a strip canoe/kayak for over 13 years. Finally got serious a month or so ago. I have look at Pygmy Boats before. Stumbled onto Robb White's Sport boat. Bought the plans. Checked around to see who else has built it. Seen the one one Kurt built last year. Beautiful. I have to admit that I will use some of his techniques. I checked out a bunch of books from the library. Robb White admits that his methods are not the end all be all. I am going to take a little from all the sources and go at it in a way that suits me and see what happens?

Having said all or that I will post pics as soon as I can as it goes. I am also going to say that I am open to suggestions since I am sure there are plenty of people here that have forgotten more than I know about boat building but I sense that by the time I post a picture of something I have done.....it will already have been done! i do have wood working skills. Had to dust off the old tools though. I just design house now....not build or remodel anymore.

I have all the forms cut and in place at the moment. Waiting to get build material now. Checking some sources. I would like to get white cedar. May have to resort to red cedar. A local lumber yard suggested eucalyptis grandis? Never heard of it? I have read some of the posts/arguments on polar/ tulip polar and since I take the censis is to use the tulip polar and not sure I can get it....I will stay away from the unknown? I have had some say if I am going to epoxy and glass it I could use anything? Thoughts on that?

That's enoough for now. I will try to start posting pics tomorrow.

Thanks in advance.....

Alan

[AlanDuncan]

Trying to post a pic....is there a minimum size?

Thanks,

[RodB]

Alan,

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your project. Lots of folks like the design you have chosen.

Post pics at about 8x10 at 72dpi and you will be fine. If you have images from your camera and the resolution is somwhere in the 4x6 at 300 dpi... its better for time and access to lower the resolution to 72dpi with a size somewhere around 8x10 inches ( or a bit smaller). . . 1024 x 768 pixels.

just post your images on a image site like shutterbug and then copy the direct link at your image storage site and copy it to the "imagae" URL space on the woodenboat forum.

RodB

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Strippers can be built from almost any wood. You can even use common eight-foot two-by-fours if you know how to scarf. But one of the reasons Western Red Cedar is the prefered wood is that it works easily. Both with machine and by hand. You shouldn't overlook that. It takes a lot of handwork to get a hull ready for the 'glass. The amount of muscle power and dust-eating that is required is the most remembered part of most strip jobs. Also, wood that will conform to the demands of the mold can make things go easier. Right now a bundle of first-class, color-matched, bead-and-cove Western Red Cedar strips sufficient for a canoe or kayak goes for about $550. Folks don't pay that just for the look. WRC has prooven to be the most advantageous to the shaping of a stripper hull.

There are two common types if "white cedar". Northern White Cedar is the canoe wood of the past. It's really an arborvitae and good knot-free stuff is hard to get and very pricey. Eastern White Cedar is plentiful and used for planking but I haven't seen much mention of it as stripper material.

[AlanDuncan]

Getting closer on the pics....maybe later tonight? Thanks for the info....

Thanks for the thoughts on the material types....may go "economical" on the first one and then step it up on the next build?

[AlanDuncan]

Ok first try.....
This is just a pic of the Form material....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aduncan...7630003502037/

[AlanDuncan]

Still not sure how to get the pic to show up here?

For now here is a link to the FLICKR site with the pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/aduncan...57630003502037


You can see I have the Beam constructed out of 1/2" MDF on some 1x4 legs with casters for ease of moving. Formas are made and in place. When I get the build material I will up load more pics then. Thanks again for any help. I will definately have some questions for the fiberglass like where is the best place to get it? Robb White suggested West brand...4 oz. cloth...

[Bert Langley]

Located in Mobile you ought to be able to get some pretty good cypress for a decent price. Cypress makes a pretty good strip built boat and while not as easy to work as WRC is not that bad. I know there are several woodmizer owners in the area. I suggest you contact woodmizer to get some locals who could supply you. Some of those guys may also have Atlantic WHite Cedar, but they will likely call it juniper.

[RodB]

Alan,

I posted a couple of your best pics...






So.... click in "insert image" icon once you have copied the direct link url of your image stored on your Flicker site...



Then click on the "URL " (not... "from computer") and paste in the direct link address (URL address to your image) ... then click "OK" and then complete what you want to say and click submit post I guess...

Be sure to uncheck the box "retrieve remote file and reference locally"...



There are some very detailed threads on posting images on the forum... but what it amounts to is uploading your images to a storage site... then copying the direct link to your photo... then pasting it into the "Insert Image" box on the woodenboat forum.

Good luck,

RodB

[kurtloup]

I concur. Cypress is a good wood to use for stripping. I've used it in all of the boats I have built.

[Bill Perkins]

Did the plan package come with full size patterns for the stations ,or did you enlarge scale drawings ?

[kurtloup]

The plans are full size on a single sheet of paper. I made multiple copies so I didn't have to trace the pattern on the forms. Looks like Alan did the same thing.

[AlanDuncan]

RobB....THANKS! That was very nice of you! I will work on the pics as soon as I can.

Kurt....thanks in advance for the questions you will answer for me!

John....I did as Kurt said....made copies....spray glued to mdf and then cut out.

I ended up getting Eucalyptus Grandis or Red Grandis for material. I will obviously let everyone know how it goes and what is done is done so any thoughts and opinions are welcome on this type wood. I know it will be heavier than the cedar but going with that theory it should also be stronger and since Robb White stressed this is a planing boat and not a rowing boat maybe it may be able to handle a little bit bigger motor. Not that I am after speed, it would be nice option. Kurt I noticed you went with a "canoe" approach in that you did not do the ribs and bench type seats and floor boards like the plans. Yours has to be very light! I am figuring if you put in all the stuff Robb White did with the extras that would make it more of a "boat" than a conoe? Thoughts?

[kurtloup]

I'm guessing that the boat weighs around 110 lbs. Actually, if I were to do it again, I would build it a little beefier. I wanted it to be light so that I can lift it by myself onto my rack that fits on my truck. Now that I have a trailer, weight isn't an issue. Here is the trailer I built to hold the boat and kayaks above it. The boat is light enough that I don't need to back the trailer into the water. I can slide it off the trailer into the water. There is no need for a launch.

[AlanDuncan]

This pic is just a pic of the 1/2" MDF I used for the beam and forms

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/aduncan...os/7159782323/[IMG]

[potomac]

kurtloup- You made a lovely job of that boat. Did you fiberglass inside and out? What were the dimensions of the strips? Also, how do you like the boat? Thanks, Aaron

[kurtloup]

Aaron, thanks. I used 1/4" strips. After adding the bead and cove on the edges, the strips were about 7/8" wide. If I remember correctly, Robb recommended 3/8" strips. I used more fiberglass than recommended. He used 2 overlapping layers inside and out. I used 4 overlapping 60" wide fiberglass cloth inside and out resulting in a total of 8 layers in the center of the hull and 4 layers on the sides.

I have no complaints about the performance of the boat. I fish in the marsh with my 8 year old son. The boat is more stable than I expected. I can easily stand and fish or pole from the rear seat. If there is one thing I would change, it would be beefing up the hull a bit so I can run a larger motor for more speed. I'm currently running a 4.5 hp motor. However, I hate to even make that comment as I didn't build the boat according to plan. Robb built with thicker strips (although with less fiberglass), ribs and floorboards. Robb recommends up to a 6 hp motor.