March 10, 2007

After pouring the race canoe on February 10, 2007, the construction team began working on other odds and ends, including the curing tent, cross-section, and wet sanding the outside of the canoe.  Two weeks ago, the prestressed tendons were released and the ends of the canoe were hand formed.  Today marks 28 days since concrete placement, and the form was removed from the canoe.  Now, the construction team is ready to start the patching and sanding process.  In addition, the concrete must be stained and sealed in time for Mid-Pac, and there is still a lot of work to do on the cross-section.  The construction team certainly has their work cut out for them over the next month!

Removing the form from the canoe

The form was cut into pieces for easy removal

The mold is encased in fiberglass so it may be reused

Patching the inside of the canoe

January 18, 2007

So after a long winter break, the construction team is at it again!  Well, the truth is that they've been "at it" this whole time and no one has updated the website.  Nonetheless, construction is the talk of the town these days, and not just because they provide sunflower seeds and music during work hours!  In fact, the team will be extremely busy in the basement of the structures lab over the next two weeks to prepare for the next concrete pour on February 10, 2007.

And onto older news: we poured our practice concrete canoe for the 2007 competition!  The canoe turned out great and it is currently being tested by the paddling team.  No cracks have been reported and the complaints about its turning abilities have been limited.  Pictures from the practice pour can be viewed in a seperate web browser by clicking HERE.

During the trial concrete pour, the new construction techniques worked very well.  Beginning with a reusable styrofoam mold (coated in fiberglass and bondo), the team pre-placed all reinforcing materials (including pretensioned tendons) on the mold prior to the concrete.  By tying all of the reinforcement beforehand, the team was able to place the concrete in a monolithic layer.  This made for better bond, higher overall strength, and quicker concrete placement.

In case you're wondering about more specific details of the reinforcing scheme, here are some general stats to ponder: there are 2 levels of 8 tendons (16 tendons total)—each tensioned to 300 lb—and each level supports a layer of carbon fiber reinforcement. Concrete is the last ingredient . . .

Placing reinforcement on the mold . . t-minus 12 hours till pour day.

Our idea of "pouring" concrete

Taylor and his inmate pictures....

November 21, 2006

Adam and Nick have spent the better part of the last week and half working some very late hours completing the bondo sanding. We found that the application of bondo is a delicate process for many reasons. For one, to much catalyst causes the bondo to set to early and before we can actually apply the coat to the canoe. Secondly, applying to much bondo makes for a greater amount of sanding time than if we had applied thinner coats. Third, we finally found that metal trowels are far better than the plastic one used previously for appplying smooth even coats. As we wrapped up the primary sanding of the canoe, Adam took special care to create our keel line. As for the bow and stern ends, we used balsa wood to create our razor like point, something that was difficult to do with the bondo alone.

Adam tinkered with many different methods for creating our gunnals out of styrofoam. He finally settled on using our trusty hot wire method, which worked like a charm after he created the shape he desired. We then applied the sections of foam directly to the sides of the canoe with an aerosol glue. In order to keep the foam from melting from our fiberglass pour tonight, we used 3" tape to cover the new gunnals. The tape served another purpose as it cleaned up many of the imperfections found in the foam gunnals. With this process complete, and the canoe primed with paint, we were almost ready to pour the fiberglass stage one female mold.

Today, we applied three coats of a wax mold release directly to the male form. We hope that this application will result in a smooth release of the female from male mold after the fiberglass has cured to sufficient strength. Adam and Nick will cut the female mold directly down the keel line and remove the two fiberglass sections. After this, we will figure out how to space the female mold off the male mold as we will have to fiberglass again over the cut keel line once the two sections have been properly spaced. Both of us are looking forward to this Thanksgiving weekend for a much needed break from our last two weeks.

November 10, 2006

We finalized the fiberglass portion of the male mole. Adam Mcnutt and Nick Maxon began to apply the first coat of Bondo to the exterior mold last night. Applying this material will allow us to make a next to indestructible male mold, and to perfect the outside surface of the canoe. Bondo sands easily enough, and will allow us to see any low or high spots, and will provide us with a means to shape perfect lines that is called by our Hull Design. At this point, if we can finish the Bondo preparation and sanding by the end of this weekend, we would be on target for our construction schedule. The next three weeks success will depend heavily on luck falling on our side. With little or no mistakes, we can tentatively plan for our mock pour with the reinforcement and tendons on the mold. Let’s hope everything falls into place!

November 4, 2006

Last night, we put fiberglass on the mold and construction is running right on schedule! Over the next two weeks, we will be creating the female mold and preparing everything for practice pour day, which is quickly approaching.  The pour is still tenatively scheduled for Saturday, December 2, so mark your calendars.

Sanding the styrofoam pieces

A special thanks to Interstate Safety for the masks!

Applying fiberglass to the form

A preview of this year's canoe...

October 15, 2006

We were able to get all of the cross sections rough-cut out of styrofoam pieces over the weekend.  The hot wire apparatus was giving the guys some trouble and caused a little delay in the construction prcoess.  However, things are still proceeding on schedule and we hope to begin assembling the form in the next two weeks.

Two-Inch Foam Cross-Sections

Setting Up the Hot Wire

October 9, 2006

We finished printing the cross section last Friday, thanks Dale for getting that done! On Saturday, we had a large crew come into the sutdent lounge who used razor blades to cut out the cross sections. Total time for 119 cross sections: One hour fifteen minutes! Thank you to everyone who came in after practice for this work, it has enabled the construction to begin the foam cutouts this upcoming week. We should have the new hot wire foam cutter developed this week and should start the first mold by the end of this week.

In other news, the contruction table is near completion. Looking great, it's starting to look like we are in business again! Adam will need some help over the next few days as he continues his work ths week, I'll be hunting down volunteers as needed.

September 27, 2006

Construction is up and well on its way. We will be using a male/female mold this year as we attempt to perfect the outside surface of the canoe. This will increase our sanding and patching time, but we expect the final product to be a smooth finish akin to the top canoes at nationals last year. New tools have been purchased to eliminate the need for borrowing friends tools as was the case last year. Once again, our canoe will be constructed in the basement of the UNR Large Structures Laboratory. Being surrounding by massive amounts of concrete isn't a bad place to build a Concrete Canoe in any ways! We would like to thank the staff of the lab, Patrick LaPlace, and Paul have generously allowed us to continue our work for the third year in a row. More updates will arrive when we begin to to cut the foam for our mold.