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The Strongback |
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| Canoe Project Home -
The Strongback - The Form
- The Mold (part 1) - The Mold
(part 2) The Layup (part1) - The Layup (part 2) - The Layup (part 3) - Project Finish (gunwales) - Project Finish (floats) - Project Finish (seats) |
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| The strongback is the platform on which the forms are mounted to build the mold. I started with two 2x6x16 foot planks, 2 sheets of plywood, 2 sheets of house foam and two sawhorse hinges. In the picture you may notice two 2x4 boards, I will get to them later. |
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| The book contains three plans, I decided to try to build the 'family' canoe because it offered stability and plenty of room for three occupants (two of which in this case are children). The strongback starts with one 2x6 plank cut to three less than the length of the canoe, in this case 15' (18' -3'). |
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| The next step in the process is to attach the sawhorse clamps. This is where I ran into some problems with the 2x4 boards shown above. The 2x4 boards which I had were rough true 2" by 4" (from my dad's sawmill) and thus did not fit into the sawhorse clamps. This necessitated purchase of other boards. |
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| The plans say to make the legs of the strongback 24", however, I cut them to 30". I am tall and hate to stooping over to work on anything for long periods of time causes my back to hurt. Time will tell if the higher center of gravity of the strongback will cause problems with stability of the work surface. |
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| After getting the legs on the base of the strong back I needed to stop due to rain. I wanted to be sure the strongback was straight and level. It is level, the straightness is yet undetermined. I have to quit my little project due to rain. |
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| Back to work on the strongback. The next day (16-July-2005) I was able to place on the horizontal (or work surface)of the strongback on the rest of the frame. I drew a line in the middle of the the horizontal beam to line up the form stations. I just would not do to have a canoe with a bend in the middle. |
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| The finial strongback. |
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| Previous: Canoe Project Home | Next: The form | ||||||||||
| Canoe Project Home -
The Strongback - The Form
- The Mold (part 1) - The Mold
(part 2) The Layup (part1) - The Layup (part 2) - The Layup (part 3) - Project Finish (gunwales) - Project Finish (floats) - Project Finish (seats) |
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