Jacques Coon’s Drift Boat Build By Josh Coon
After seeing the clean lines and flowing curves of a Jason Cajune drift boat near Yellowstone River in the summer of 2018, Jacques Coon excitedly agreed to lead a build six months into the pandemic lockdown with his son and grandson. Read on and drift away...
Before jumping into building a strip kayak, I wanted to find out all I could about the process. To begin, I read the book Kayakcraft: Fine Woodstrip Kayak Construction by Ted Moores cover-to-cover and referred to it frequently during construction.
Helping my brother Nelson build two Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) stand-up paddleboards was one of the first projects I started after retiring. We were building them for the best kind of friend—the paying kind. I guess I’m one of those guys who finds retirement much busier than work. In fact, I wonder how I ever found time to work. Continue reading
By Jon Fox
Cover Photo: This custom pedal car was the 1st place winner at MITES at both the regional and state level.
For the past two years, the Drafting/Pre-Engineering autobody class I teach at Tuscola Technology Center in Caro, Michigan has been invited to participate in a contest sponsored by Summit Racing. Students build a custom pedal car that is displayed and judged at the AutoRAMA show at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Summit Racing either supplies participating schools with one of their stock pedal cars which can be modified and customized, or students may build their entry from scratch. We constructed our entry from scratch both years. Our first car was inspired by the Delehaye roadster and built of aluminum in an Art Deco style. Continue reading
After many years of pursuing techniques for male mold plug creation and composite shell construction, I’ve developed a method that is inexpensive and fast. It calls for sheets of rigid foam insulation stacked and screwed in multiple layers to achieve the desired mold shape, then covered with multiple layers of carbon fiber and Kevlar cloth. WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy is used to bond the composite structure and cured at room temperature.
Composite shell construction became a pursuit for me following a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. While walking through the exhibits I came across a human-powered speed vehicle called The Gold Rush. It had been ridden by cyclist Fast Freddie Markham, the first person to exceed 60 mph on a faired bicycle. Going that fast under human power alone was an idea that challenged me, and later became my passion. Continue reading
This shortened version of a Grand Laker canoe is very popular on the big lakes in Maine. It was built by architect Victor Trodella of Yarmouth. It is 16′ 6″ long, 42″ at the beam, and is equipped with a 2 hp Honda outboard, oars and oarlocks, and of course, paddles. Trodella says, “WEST SYSTEM gave me fabulous results… again. Thanks for your advice.” Continue reading
Knife makers Cliff Fendley and Mike Carter decided to try their hand at making laminated denim knife handle material. After some research, they chose to use WEST SYSTEM 105 Epoxy Resin with 206 Slow Hardener to laminate pieces of denim fabric into blocks from which they could machine knife handles. Mike first made a 5″ x 7″ piece about 1/2″ thick with alternating front and back layers of blue jean denim. Cliff made a 1″ thick 5″ x 5″ Piece from faded blue jean and 1″ thick 5″ x 5″ piece from faded blue jean and a 1″ thick 1″ x 7″ piece from alternating layers of tan and black denim which he twisted before pressing.
On December 13, 1996, Stuart Andrew became the first person to cross the Bass Straight alone in a pedal boat. On completing this goal he remarked, “I’d never do it again. I’d never think of doing it again. My legs feel like big lumps of wood, my eyes are stinging, but I’ve finally made it.” The following article was published by Epoxyworks in Fall 1996, a few months before Andrews made his record breaking journey in a 7.45 meter pedal boat constructed of Durakore® and WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy.