Beat up 1448 jon into a bowfishing machine

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bowman5

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Jan 18, 2009
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Location
North-central Illinois
I posted a link to this one in the other forum, but I wanted to post each pic, so here it is.


I got a deal on this thing, and it's obvious why. But I had alot of free time coming up, a few good ideas and alot of oak left over from some past jobs (I'm a finish-carpenter). Here's what it looked like when I brought it home.

right-front.jpg

front-leftsplit.jpg

right-rear.jpg

The guy cut out most of the gunnels.
gutgunnels.jpg


So I started by taking everything out of it...
gunnelsandtransomremoved.jpg
 
I replaced the transom and hardware on it. The glue is a strong polyurethane glue I use for high-stress jobs, like when I'm bending wood.
newtransomandhardware.jpg

A new bow-board in front..
newbow-board.jpg



and layers of 1/2" red oak for the new gunnels. I put thick beads of silicon caulk along the wood where it met the aluminium of the boat, and a polyurethane glue between the pieces of oak.
Ineedmoreclamps.jpg


Then 3" carriage bolts every 8" to snug it all up.
leftsidedone.jpg


The oak pulled the hull back into shape all on it's own.
nicearc.jpg


Oak on both sides of the hull, inside and out, adds up to over 2" of solid wood. Alot of support and strength.
over2inchesofoak.jpg


Here's the gunnels all done...mostly.
100_3722.jpg
 
I then finished up the bow and sealed it all with 2 coats of spar-varnish...
100_3725.jpg


..put some 3" and 4" screws into the corners to keep everything tight..
100_3723.jpg


..and planed the gunnels level with the boat.
planedright.jpg


Nice and level gunnels all the way around.
nicelines.jpg


I ended up changing all the hex-head bolts to real carriage bolts because of the smoother heads.
Allnewcarriagebolts.jpg
 
I then started on the gunnel-caps all the way round the boat. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of these few steps. It was pretty involved here and I was preoccupied with getting the curves all right.
capclampeddown.jpg


Spot for the bow-light..
spotforbow-light.jpg


..and stern-light..
gluedupforstern-light.jpg


..and then I drilled, screwed and plugged the cap down with 1 1/2" screws about every 10" or so.
drilledscrewedandreadyforplugs.jpg


Here it is all routed, sanded and sealed;
woodworkisfinished.jpg
 
thats is some awesome craftsmanship.. How did you fix that hole in the front left corner?
 
I just covered it up with the oak, and then used some bondo and spray paint to finish off what the wood didn't cover.

Here's a couple of it finished;
nicelydone.jpg

pretty.jpg

nicefinish.jpg

spotforbowlight.jpg

areaforstern-light.jpg


Then I had to start the frame for the elevated deck. It is a bowfishing boat, remember?
100_3827.jpg
 
All the wood for the elevated frame wasof either 1 1/2" wide, 1 1/4" wide or 1" wide scrap I had lying around. All the ends are mitered tight, glued, predrilled and screwed. It doesn't even squeak when me and my partner are on it, it's so tight. And light-weight too.
support-framesstarted.jpg

finishedplatform.jpg

finishedplatform-top.jpg


And here it is on the boat;
rearviewofplatform.jpg


With the motors mounted...
bowfishingboat.jpg


Lights, generator and a few decals and she's ready for some serious fish-slaying!
newdecals.jpg


Here's one of the first trip out. I had the best day ever bowfishing!
1stdayanmynewboat.jpg


And finally, here's the biggest gar my partner and I ever shot, in the first state-shoot my boat was ever in. I think we took 5th out of 17 teams. That's my partner with the gar, and me with my biggest buffalo ever, same day.
Markwithhisbestgartodate.jpg

Mewithmybestbufftodate15-pounds.jpg


Hope you enjoy the pictures.
 
Nice work. That is truly a one of a kind bowfishing rig. I can't believe what the last owner did to it...LOL.

C'mon over anytime...I need some help with building some kitchen cabinets. :lol:
 
Nice woodworking. Dad has always been a woodworker, so before I learned to play with metal, I used to mess with wood, and I do have to say, that takes a lot of work to reach that. I never had the patience for fine woodworking.

Do you have any fore and aft rocking, as all of your triangulation is transverse?
 
Thanks alot guys. I have been a carpenter for 16+ years and I started in a cabinet shop. I've been doing custom stairs and railings for the past 8 1/2 years. I like making things come out nice.

Bassboy, most of the movement we have on it is side to side. Noone rides up there while under outboard-power, and that's the only time we have any real fore and aft movement on the boat; starting and stopping, breaking waves. When we're up there, we're only under trolling motor power, so we aren't moving that fast. On the other hand, when one of us hits a fish, there's all kinds of side to side motion going on! But the way I put it together, it could handle plenty of fore and aft rocking if it had to, like when we hit a stump or something. Still, I've not heard one creak while we've been on it.

I'm glad you guys liked it.
 
You sir are a true craftsman. Beautiful work and an equally awesome bowfishing boat. I could never have envisioned the finished craft when looking at the beginning photos. Thanks very much for sharing it with us.
 
Anybody have a couple of wood clamps I can borrow? :D :D

On the serious note that is one excellent looking boat. Nice job.
 
The glue is Tite Bond Urethane glue. It expands as it dries and it look like that Great Stuff spray foam. You don't need to use very much of it.

Thanks again guys. I do take alot of pride in my work.
 
bowman5 said:
The glue is Tite Bond Urethane glue. It expands as it dries and it look like that Great Stuff spray foam. You don't need to use very much of it.

Thanks again guys. I do take alot of pride in my work.

Thanks - I am gonna be (hopefully) doing a mod using some Ash - and that glue looks perfect for adding the wood
 

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