Notes on building a skin-on-frame Adirondack Guideboat

Note: This is a work in progress. Still a lot to add.

Why skin-on-frame and not 100% wood?

Skin-on-frame is much lighter. 45lbs vs 80+ lbs. A single person can pick it up and move it, put it on the car, etc.

Required reading

We followed John Michne’s Building an Adirondack Guideboat: Reproductions of a unique regional classic for information on building the frame, but did not plank the frame once we created it. We also made the stem thinner than Michne recommends.

Brian Schulz’s (Cape Falcon Kayaks) notes (1 and 2) on building skin-on-frame guideboats.

Things to buy

Hardware – Need two sets of these. $300 total.

840 X-TRA Tuff Ballistic Nylon and Coating Value Kit from the Skin Boat Store / Corey Freedman – $173 (skin material + 2-part urethane)

Seats from Essex – $150

Two 4-ft lengths of brass stem strips from Noah’s Marine – $48

Screws – Hillman Wood screws – Brass

#6 screws by 1” and 1.25”

#7 ¾”

#6 exterior screws – Hillman Power Pro Exterior

Build by Stage + notes

Step 1: Cutting Stock

Step 2: Laminating Ribs

14 layups (includes two zeros plus all the rest), 6 full plus about 3 ½ per. Should come out to 105 pieces.

Harbor Freight 11 In. Swivel Pad Locking Pliers work GREAT for clamping. Use Tin Caps with tape to keep the clamps from leaving marks.

Mark the center line in sharpie before slicing ribs so all center lines are the same.

Laminate enough ½ pieces to make sure the corners are covered.

Ribs 0 – 6 ten plies, 7-9 we did all12 (definitely not less than 10 ply for 0-6), sometimes 11-13

Step 3: Bottom Board

Maybe try a nail on both ends to find centerline. Centerline and station perpendicular lines on top all marked before cutting to shape.

Only need station lines on the top side because we pilot our holes

Bevel pattern on bottom, bevel

We used marine ply stems. Cedar flat sawn boards were expensive as hell and broke.

Step 4: Mounting bottom board

Best to try to level it at this point- side to side

Oil everything – Ribs, gunwales, stringers, bottom board, BEFORE attaching them.

Attaching ribs

Rather than relying on measurements to determine screw locations, we setup the rib in place, traced the outline, removed it, and then piloted holes from the inside to the outside to get precise screw locations.

Ribs: Getting the shoulder to the edge is key. If it is off, attaching the stringers is difficult.

Step 5: Attaching gunwale (center mark at rib 00)

Use airplane jig, 14” on center. Bottom of airplane wings to top of gunwales at 00.

At rib 6 top of airplane wings to top of gunwale

Clamp all ribs. Start at center and move fore and aft centering ribs using spacer blocks.

Attach to stems roughly 3 3/8 inches from top of stem to top of gunwale. Cut angles, epoxy, screw and lash, in that order.

Pilot and countersink screw ribs only in the middle of the gunwale.

Step 6: Stringers

For the future, use the marks on the rib templates 0, 3, 7, and 10 to mark where stringers should go.

Nailing the stringers with the boat upside down is 5x easier than crawling underneath to nail them.

Skip the nice brass nails and use a brad nail gun. The boat will rot before the stainless nails rust.

Step 7: Stems

Step 8: Decks

Step 9: Coating

Use Rubio Monocoat

Step 9: Skinning

Drape over the boat, pin along the bottom board.

Wet with a spray bottle, pull tight, and staple along the gunwale. Use lots of stapes. Every inch. Don’t worry, there will be an outerwale. This is a two-person job.

Stapling on the stems?

Step 10: Coating with urethane

Step 11: Outerwales + seats + hardware