# started a canoe



## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

So, I decided to try to tackle a strip canoe as a project for the summer. So far, it has been a lot of work and I only have 1 strip laid down! I'm sure it won't be nearly as sea worthy as Kenbo's :boat:.

For a background, I'm Gil Gilpatricks book for a guide. The full size plans are great. Most of the hull is going to be red cedar. I'll use that until I run out or feel the need to switch to northern white cedar. I decided to bead and cove all the strips and scarf joint where 2 ends meet. I'll also cut random length pieces so all the joints don't line up.

Right now, I have 2/3rds of the red cedar bead and coved. The other 1/3 of red cedar are slightly wider strips and haven't decided if I should trim them down, or leave them wider to fill up more space. Red cedar is expensive!! The first strip decided to split a little when trying to secure it while bending over the bow and stern. I'm wondering if I should make a steamer. Here's some cell phone pics. I'll post more as I progress. It may not look it, but the white cedar is the shorter wood on the left, it seems a lot whiter and the red is a lot darker in real life.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I wouldn't exactly call my boat "sea worthy", unless of course, I was only 6" tall. :laughing: Thanks for the kind words though. 
This looks like an awesome summer project. I'll be following this thread for certain. As far as the steamer box goes, I'm not sure. I mean, it sounds like it would be a benefit to you for this project, but I don't know much about it. Bending 1/16" strips on a 23" model boat is a far cry from what you are doing. Be sure to post plenty of pictures and a word of advice.............don't rush this one. You're making an heirloom piece here. This canoe can serve you for years to come. There's no hurry to get it done.
Thanks for posting...............looking forward to the next post. :thumbsup:
Ken


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

hansmike, before building a steam box, just try hitting the stip with a hair dryer for a minute or two as you bend. I haven't needed to do that, but a lot of builders have good success with that. Good luck with your boat, it's a great project and really worth it when you finally hit the water. Hopefully I'll be glassing mine (kayak, not canoe) this week.

One other thing, it looks like your strips are still fairly wide. If you're having trouble with the bends, rip a strip in half and then glue the flat sides together after you bend them into place. The thinner strips break far less often than the wider ones and they're a lot easier to bend. Takes longer to build that way, but not too much, when you consider the time and materials saved on broken strips.


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

Thanks for the advice Frank,

I started laying the strips last night and was getting very frustrated on the steamed strips not bending as well as I hoped. I was thinking I could throw it through the router again and bring the strips down to 3/4" but your suggestion of ripping in half seems more economical and efficient. Thank you for your advice, you saved me a lot of time, money, and frustration.


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

Here's an update on the canoe!

Well, things have been going REALLY slow. Have been very busy but now I have the next week off to work on it. I kept having to find ways to adapt on securing the strips to the canoe while bending over the sides. When I finally figured out an effective way, I only had 2 strips to go until the horizontal transition. Things are going much faster now. Here's where I'm currently at, hopefully be finished with laying the strips tonight! Also caned one of my seats, took about 14 hours... But it came out good.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Wow!!! That looks fantastic. You've really come a long way from the first pictures you posted. Looking great and the seat looks amazing. Really looking forward to seeing the completion of this one.


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## jaxonquad (Jan 26, 2011)

Looks GREAT! cant wait to see it finished!:thumbsup:


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

That caning job is perfect. The canoe looks great. 

How much does it weigh?


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## tcleve4911 (Dec 16, 2006)

It's probably taking time away from your golf game??? I see the clubs in the backround.

Beautiful job.
Will you have enough materials to do it all in the red cedar?

Thanks for the posts.


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

looks good , did you plane down 3/4 boards into 3/16"???????? or did you rip them then plane them?


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

Brink, I have no idea, but I'm *hoping* it will weigh a little less than 65 lbs by the time I'm done. Epoxy, fiberglass, and the cherry hardwoods will add a bit of weight.

tcleve, I suck at golf so its no big loss there =) No, I didn't have enough red cedar to do it all which was intentional. I thought about it, and thought it would look neat with a contrasting bottom. We'll see how it comes out.

ihackwood, most of the red cedar was almost quartersawn quality and I wanted to keep it that way. So, I ripped them to 1 1/8" wide lengths, then flipped it on its side and ripped it half which came to about 5/16 thick. Then I planed them all down to 1/4". After I put them through the router table, they were all 1 1/16" wide with a bead and cove. I couldn't go any thinner because the router bits wouldn't be able to handle it correctly, and it took me long enough to find bead/cove with a 1/8" radius. If I would do it again, I would use 3/4" wide pieces, and forget the quartersawn, probably be easier to bend and secure.

I have the next week off (except Monday :furious so hopefully I should have the entire outside done and started on the inside. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself while the epoxy is curing!!! Improve my golf game?


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

oh cool i thought you were planing it down lmao, no wonder your going thru wood haha it's hard to see on pics hahaha

don't worry when ya start epoxying your gonna be one high mofo anyway,i doubt you will be doing anything cept maybe eating hahaha


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Wow! 65lbs, I thought it would be heavier/hard to move.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Brink, unless she's a big canoe 65 pounds is actually a little high. Most of the strip builds weight about half of a plastic or metal boat of the same size. I've even seen some strippers that weighed less than fiberglass boats of the same size. My 18'7" kayak weighed less than 40 pounds the first time around. I figure it'll gain an extra couple pounds when it's all back together with the stripped deck because there will be more fiberglass, but still under 45 I is realistic.

Hansmike, she's looking really nice and that caned seat is perfectly done. Good job. Can't wait to see the finished product.


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

Here are a couple more pics. First one is with sealer coat of epoxy + reinforced bow and stern. The other pic is what happens if you collect the squeegeed epoxy with an orange juice container. There was about 1/2" of epoxy on the bottom and look how it blew up.

The difference between the 2 types of cedar's is apparently extremely minimal. A little bummed about that but I'm really enjoying the look. My next pic should hopefully be in a couple weeks of the completed canoe!


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Looking good and making quick work of it, it seems. Are you planning to feather the keel reinforcement more or just leave as is? I always have a heck of a time feathering the edges of the glass.


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

Frank,

That picture was taken right after the first coat of epoxy dried, so yes, I did feather away and when I did the main fiberglassing, I folded over 2 more layers of fiberglass and feathered to the best of my ability. There's also a 2nd layer under the bottom for a skidplate. The fiberglass sucked up 3 coats of epoxy (chemical bond) and now is all sanded down ready for polyurethane (Minwax Helsman sp?). Time to flip over and start on the inside!


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Still enjoying this thread. :thumbsup: It looks awesome.
Very very impressive


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

Here she is!!! Just took her out for her maiden voyage on a slow moving river. Handles bad due to lack of keel. Can't wait to take it on some white water!! I got a ton of compliments on the river. All in all it took roughly 110 hours, maybe a lil more, only 2 months, 16 ft, weighs less than I expected, I would guess around 50-55 lbs, my neighbor thinks its less. Here are some pics!


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

other pic


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Absolutely gorgeous! WOW! I want one.

I don't want to go on the cart. I feel happy!


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

Brink said:


> Absolutely gorgeous! WOW! I want one.
> 
> I don't want to go on the cart. I feel happy!



Don't be such a baby. You're not foolin anyone, ya know.


Also, all the hardware is brass if anyone was wondering, except the carriage bolts which is stainless steel


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I know nothing of canoes*

But isn't that one sitting high in the water? Seems like it should have more "boat" in the water...I donno?  bill


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## hansmike (Sep 5, 2010)

woodnthings said:


> But isn't that one sitting high in the water? Seems like it should have more "boat" in the water...I donno?  bill



Yes, you're correct (in a sense). First and foremost, it has a very flat bottom, which leads to greater manueverability, but suffers a great loss of tracking. This makes the displacement very high to being with. The bow and stern are in fact angled upward more than you would normally see, this angle is called the rocker. A heavy rocker (which this canoe has) also adds manueverability but also suffers tracking. The combination makes it ideal for white water, where you would want high manueverability and not so much tracking. Also, once you add a second person it sinks in a little bit.

Here's a web page that describes all the different characteristics of a canoe.

http://www.canoeing.com/canoes/choosing/design.htm

So if you look at that page, this canoe has a flat bottom, wide beam, tumblehome hull, heavy rocker, blunt entry line, and a rounded stem.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Holy  that turned out gorgeous!!!! Congratulations on a job well done. There has to be a great sense of pride after completing this one. You should be very proud of this, I would be for sure.
:thumbsup:


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

you gan always graft a keel into it, youshould be reallyproud paddling that, especially when ya get people who ask ya where you bought it from, nice job dude


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

hansmike, you're making me look really really bad, here. All I had to do was put a tiny little deck on a puny little kayak and I'm still not even half-way finished-- you built a whole damn boat!

Excellent work, my friend.


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## Chad (May 10, 2009)

That looks awesome. Almost a shame to risk scratching on a rock.


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