I purchased the plans first so I could see what was involved in the build. After a couple weeks of looking the plans over and watching the course videos, I then started to look for materials. Where was I going to buy green-white oak? Well, as it turns out, I have a small one-person sawmill about a mile out of town. I actually helped him saw my rib material – 5/4 x 12 x 8′ quartersawn cost me $25. Now I’m really starting to get more committed! Off to a big box store to find my material for the gunwales and stringers. The third board I picked (1 x 8 x 16′) had only one small 1/8″ knot. I also picked up a 2 x 6 x 16′ for stringers and stems.
Now, what shall the dimensions be? After pondering this it really depends on cargo, paddler weight, and what kinds of paddling is to be done. For me this is usually a BWCA type trip or a backwoods Canada trip.
So here are the specifications for the canoe I decided to build.
Dimensions – Length 15′-1″, Width 31″, and Depth 12.4″
Sheer – Bow and Stern 7.5′”
Rocker – Bow and Stern 2.5″
Variables
Depth to Beam (d/b) .4
Rib Length to Beam (r/b) 1.44
Other features
Stems – Bow is Curved, Stern is Angled
Gunwale Layout – Asymmetrical
Outer-Gunwale – Either Cherry or Ash
Seat – Hand Caned Ash
February 2nd, 2025
Now, onto the progress. I am using my shop at times, but it is too small for the actual build. For that I move into the garage.
Planning the gunwale material.
Gunwale material ripped into strips ready for lamination.
Gunwale glue-up: I used Titebond-3, let it dry for a day, scraped excess glue off, and finished it with a hand plane.
Completed lamination ready to be split.
Splitting gunwale with my bandsaw.
Planing them down to final thickness.
Mortising fixture I made. The build gave me a reason to purchase a plunge base for my compact router. My new favorite router. Here is a link of me using this fixture Canoe Building Skin on Frame mixed end results I need to do a redesign.
Mortising completed.
Mortise depth check: I checked every other one as I was routing them.
Checking for alignment using my laser level. I will use the string method eventually.
Alignment at the stern is off by about 1/32″. This is projected through the gunwale intersection point of the bow and center of the middle spreader. Then, it’s checked at the stern intersection.
So, the next step is to work on my stems as I await my shipment of sinew and needles. Stay tuned.
February 16th, 2025
Progress was held up because I had not ordered my sinew and needle kit. So after those arrived I stitched and pegged the gunwales. Designed and then lasered my patterns for the bow and stern stems.
Kerf cut the gunwale at the bow.
Gunwale lashed together.
Laser aligned at the bow. If you do this you have to make sure the middle spreader is level.
Forward spreader alignment.
Middle spreader alignment.
Aft spreader alignment.
Stern alignment a little off but the rest of the alignment looks good.
Stern pinned in place. Done now I have to accept the shape.
My best-half said it would look good to have the bow stem curved and the stern stem angled. Which was kind of confusing since the extra stock you need on the gunwale lengths is different than for each. Patterns were cut with my Co2 laser. Since I am planning on creating a pinned and half-lapped joint on the final stem, I planed some 3/4″ finish ply to 11/16″ to use as temporary stems. I Then used my patterns and a flush trim bit to make the temporary stems.
Temporary stems
Bow temporary stem held in place to check fit up.
Stern stem, the end of the gunwales need a little shaping since there is slight a belly in the end.
Cutting scarf joints on my rubrails. Used American Elm.
Sand paper to keep the joint from sliding
All clamped up.
Used water based tinted stain thinned with 25% water.
Last of five coats of Halcyon water-based gloss finish.
Stringers cut and ready to go – clear pine 1″ x 8″ x 16′.
After the gunwales are leveled out and sheer checked on each end. I laid my keel in place according to the measurements I set in the plans. The rocker was then double checked. It had floated about 1/4″ less so I decided to go with it.
White oak ribs source from a saw-mill a few miles away. Boards were 6/4″ x 10″ x 9′ freshly cut two days prior. Not all of the grain was straight enough to bend. So I made piles of good and not so good. Then it was off to ripping the second board.
Cutting each rib. A little off topic my wife came out to the shop and says “I thought you were going to test a couple of the ribs out before you made them all?” So onto bending I went.
The first and last rib could have been about 3/8″ longer but I liked the way it looked when I sighted it from the bow. I think the math was right on the money.
This is not mentioned in the course. But, after gently bending the ribs to keep the keel in place, I was tired of worrying about not catching the movement and having an out of shape keel. I decided to try to tie a string to the gunwales to hold the rib and keep it from creeping. I found this to be helpful in slowing it down. But, you still have to monitor it. I was also able to pull a rib left to right and the tension on the string held it in place.
The hull is taking shape. I was impressed with the way the ribs looked. It is a good thing I followed rotating every other one when removed from the steam box. You could see the difference in the way the ribs shaped one would pull to the left the next one to the right.
Onto stringer layout on a Friday evening.
Lashing did not do my carpal tunnel and favors. This was taken about two in the morning. I ended up leaving the last stringer for the next day.
The stems shaped and ready for installation.
Keel glued in place with gorilla glue. Whenever I use this glue, I always mask off the adjacent areas. When dry you just peel off the tape then I have very little cleanup.
Time to trim the unruly stringers. Was so not looking forward to this process but it went fine. All of my pull saws had teeth on both sides of the blade, so we went and purchased one with only one set of teeth. I really did not want to cut myself.
A cut stringer. I kerf cut these closer.
Then I switch to kerf sanding with 80 grit sandpaper. I start by pinching the stringer to the stem and then pull the paper through. When it gets close to fairing out properly, I pull the paper from each side. If you do this, you must keep the paper flat on the stem ask me how I know. Otherwise, you can radius the tip of your stringer. The cable ties keep enough tension on the joint, so it does not flex all over the place.
Final result after sanding.
Stringers lashed in place.
Using my laser to double-check stem alignment.
I am in love I cannot wait to take it for a paddle!
