Waterlust canoe construction question

Hi,

I’m beginning to stitch together a waterlust canoe kit. The bottom panel has nibs on it. They seem to hold the first strakes a bit away from flush with the bottom. Is that intentional? Should I shave off the nibs?

Thank you for any suggestions


6 replies:

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RE: Waterlust canoe construction question

   On the Northeaster Dory the nibs were just there to hold the panel in place for shipping. I'm certain you want the strakes flush.

RE: Waterlust canoe construction question

Your first CLC kit build I take it?

Those nibs are remnants of the CNC process used to cut kit components to shape. They hold pieces together on the vacuum table as the cutter head cuts them out (otherwise the pieces might shift) from the full sheet of plywood loaded onto the machine.

You'll find them on pretty much every plywood piece. They are to be carefully removed before assembly, either by judicious use of a block plane, sharp chisel (careful!), box cutter (careful!) or fine-toothed pull saw (careful!) then a sanding block as you approach getting them faired to blend with the adjoining edge surfaces.

On planks, such as your Waterlust bottom panels, they're pretty easy to identify.

On frames and other componets DON'T CONFUSE THEM WITH THE TABS PUT THERE that are intended to facilitate positioning these structural elements in their proper places during assembly! THESE tabs are NOT TO BE REMOVED as doing so would make easy and proper assembly much more frustrating. Tab A into Slot B becomes impossible once you've removed Tab A....

Before doing ANY tab removal, be sure you're targeting the tabs that are meant to be removed before assembly, not those that will save you much frustration!

(And I look forward to hearing of your progress here! I too have a Waterlust kit - perhaps the very first one ordered late in 2016? - that I'm about to begin assembly of. If you want to open a conversation by e-mail, let me know here and I'll pass on an e-mail address.)   

RE: Waterlust canoe construction question

Thank you all. Makes sense.

This is my first build. I’m proceeding pretty easily but a bit unevenly: two steps forward one step back. That’s what I expected. CLC says the boat’s not for first time builders, and it’s also how I’ve done most epoxy work before now. 

It’s great fun to be building this. So far my 13 year old kids have caught my mistakes before they were entombed in epoxy.

Out of curiosity: there’s thickened epoxy plus glass on both sides of the bottom panel up onto the first strake: do you think that could have bridged the gap I made by leaving the nibs on? I’m not going to do that, just curious.

Sam

 

 

 

 

 

RE: Waterlust canoe construction question

And yes, if you could pass on your email, that’d be great.

I guess the one bit I’m concerned about doing really wrong is the mount for the pedal drive. I don’t have the pedal drive yet and probably won’t until (well) after the boat’s together.

   

RE: Waterlust canoe construction question

Leaving those nibs on most certainly would affect how panels (strakes in traditional construction) fit together. Resulting gaps might be bridgeable by thickened epoxy but would vastly affect proper hull lines being achieved, maybe structural integrity too (though I doubt the latter). Better to do things as intended by designer & manufacturer intended: those tabs should be removed before assembly.

I have similar concerns about the Mirage drive well not fitting a drive unit. I do trust Dillon however on this, having ensured his design specs result in a virtually foolproof assembly if a builder follows what instructions are provided. You have doubts, give him a call or send an e-mail. He’s always replied to mine!

As for e-mail? Mine’s here....

RE: Waterlust canoe construction question

Drat... thought a link’d be the trick.

Anyway, try this (after suitable addition of required character):

spclark

at

icloud.com 

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