ATTRACTIVE Indian markings are stick-on lype from Grumman Industries, Marathon. N. Y.

T HIS 16-FT. motor canoe can do every-

thing an ordinary canoe can do and
a lot more. You can paddle it, row it or
sail it—but the real fun conies in power-
ing it with the smallest-kicker you can
buy and cruising all day on a gallon of
gas. If you're the outdoor type, and not
too much taller than 6 ft., you can also
sleep aboard. The ample beam, flat bot-
tom and hard chines give her a tip re-
sistance that's hard to believe, and added
buoyancy can be gained with the instal-
lation of optional styrofoam stabilizing
fins.
The materials used in building her
consist of four sheets of 4 x 8-ft., 1/4-in.
exterior plywood and some stock lum-
beryard pine, plus about a quart and a
half of Weldwood resorcinol resin glue
to lock it all together with peak strength-
weight ratio and keep it leakproof with-
out caulking.
The finished hull weight is around 62
lbs., on a par with typical readymade
models, so cartopping is easy —and you
get a financial bonus: you can build the FOUR SHEETS of 4 x 8-ft.. 1/4-in. exterior ply
whole works in a weekend for about a are u s e d to make the 16-ft.. 62-lb. hull.

58 Mechanix Illustrated
fourth of what you'd pay for a store-
bought job with a lot less pizazz.
Construction procedure is along no-
fuss lines. The only frame that has set di-
mensions is the midship one. You merely
cut the other ones to fit on the job.
To get the shape of the bottom, fasten
two of the plywood panels together tem-
porarily, end to end, with brads partially
driven into a scrap strip underneath.
Then bend one of the 3/4 x 3/4-in. pine
chines as a batten from the panel edge to
a point 18 in. in from each end, as shown
in the drawings. Mark the curve on only
one of the panels. Then cut it with a
saber saw.
The cut-off piece serves as a template
to mark all the other curves. This way,
both sides and both ends of the bottom
will match. Save the cut-off pieces as
they become the top surfaces of the
buoyancy fins (if you include them) and
also serve as flooring in bow and stern.
You get one hull side plank from each
of the two panels. The mid section of the
floor and the other two hull side planks
come from the third panel. After the ply-
September, 1968
wood parts are cut, place them one atop
the other (bottom panels and side plank-
ing separate), brad them temporarily,
and smooth off any waves or bumps in
the edges with a plane so everything is
smooth and matched.
It's a good idea to have your mid-
frame assembled and glued before you
start putting the hull together, so the
vertical members won't tilt inward dur-
ing the "dry" (unglued) assembly. The
dry assembly is a necessary first step to
permit planing and rasping of angled
parts (as at the transom) for a snug glu-
ing fit. It also gives you a chance to undo
any goof you may have made in cutting.
Start gluing with the bottom, after
dry-assembling it and planing where
necessary to bring plywood edges and
chines flush. Use 5/8-in. #5 brass flathead
screws at about 12-in. spacing to hold the
chines and plywood bottom together dry.
Then remove them, take off one chine at
a time, coat it and the meeting surface of
the bottom plywood with Weldwood res-
orcinol resin glue, and reassemble.
The bottom butt strip (across the mid-
59
Motor Canoe
ship seam) should be in place
"dry" until the chines are
glued on. Then flip out the
butt strip, glue-coat it and its
mating bottom surface and
screw it back in place. The
butt strip ends should be a
snug fit against the inside of
the chines. If there are any
gaps fill them with snug-fit-
ting glued-in wood slivers or
glue-sawdust putty.
Set the mid frame on top of
the strips so the after surface
of the frame's cross member
is directly above the cross
seam of the bottom pieces.
This way, a few 1-in. #5 flat-
head brass screws can be
driven up through the bottom
(just forward of the cross
seam) into the frame cross
member. The vertical side
members of the frame should
[Continued on page 120 ]

BUTT PIECE—1/4" PLYWOOD X 7" X 10W'

60 Mechanix Illustrated
 Drive a few screws from inside the hull
into the rub rails to line them up after the
glue is applied. Then unclamp them, apply
the glue, and put them back in place, add-
ing a screw here and there, if necessary to
get complete gluing contact.
After the rub rails are in place, turn the
hull over and install the 3/4 x 3/4-in. keel.
Glue-coat it. then fasten in place by driving
1-in. copper nails at about 12-in. spacing
through into the hull bottom. (These are
clipped off after the glue sets.)
The rest of the job is simply a matter of
mounting seats and attaching the false stem
and gunwale cap strips and foredeck, all
bonded with the same type of glue. Mount
the false stem before the deck, so you can
drive the necessary screws.
Installation of the optional stabilizing
fins is a straightforward operation that
shouldn't cause many problems. These fins
are not vital to the design but will allow the
use of a more powerful motor, say, up to
5-hp maximum. They are simply a wood
Motor Canoe framework containing cut-to-fit pieces of
[Continued from page 60] Styrofoam held in place by epoxy resin or
glue. • END
be facing aft.
The plywood sides should be glued on
next (after their joining butt pieces are
glued in place), using the dry assembly
screw holes to line things up along the
chines. Use a square to make sure the
frame side members are perpendicular to
the bottom before driving two 1-in. screws
through each side into them.
After the sides are glued to the bottom at
the chine and to the mid frame, glue in the
stem and transom. Then clamp the rub rails
in place immediately before the glue sets,
as these usually cause a slight change in the
curvature of the upper edges of the sides.
Springing them in immediately lets the
still-soft glue adapt to any slight variations.
Then cut and fit the remaining frames,
glue them together and glue them in place
one at a time. The vertical members should
always be on the side of the horizontal
member nearest either end of the boat.
Thus all forward frames have their verti-
cals on the forward side, all frames aft of
the midship frame have their verticals aft
of the horizontal members. This positioning
lets you plane-bevel the vertical edges for a
snug fit inside the side planking.
Let the glued-in frames set up hard be-
fore you remove the rub rails for gluing.
Mechanix Illustrated