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Open Strip Plank Canoes

A couple years ago I took my two oldest children to nearby Hagg lake for their first fishing trip. They were cedar strip canoe kit uk after about 30 minutes, so we walked over to a little hut and rented a canoe. I like Cedar Strip Canoe Kit Uk Canada to try my hand at something different from time to time and, recalling how much my children enjoyed the boating and not the fishingI turned my attention to making a cedar strip canoe in the late summer of There are certainly boats that are simpler, less expensive, or faster to build -- the myriad of small plywood designs comes to mind, two of which I made with my grandfather almost 30 years ago -- but it seemed like the right choice for our family.

Though some steps of construction are tedious, a nice thing about many boats, and canoes in particular, is that they combine artistry, woodworking, and some interesting design problems.

The strip-style canoe is a relatively-modern approach to canoe-making. The results can be nice looking, relatively-durable, precise and very functional.

Other methods include hewing and burning the canoe from a single log; bark, skins or canvas over ribs; and metal or synthetic materials. For those who get all excited about natural resources, it also uses "less tree" than Cedar Strip Canoe Kits Australia 10 many methods, and the materials that are used are rapid growing softwoods. In fact, I think the whole project has consumed about 63 board feet. A single red cedar tree trunk generally contains between and board feet, depending on size -- as much as a hundred times that used by a typical strip canoe.

I've tried to provide a significant amount of detail here, especially in regard to problem areas and pivotal decisions, in hopes that the information can assist others who are considering building a canoe or similar project.

Some of the areas are a bit subjective; if you have a suggestion or alternative method, let me know and I'll be glad to mention it. Something to recognize at the beginning is that there are areas where precision is very, very important, and areas where it really doesn't matter and its pursuit is a waste of time.

For example, having uniformly machined strips, making sure they are seated together well and close to the form curvature is important and will save a lot of frustration later. But working on getting the overall length to within a 16th of an inch of the design is a waste of time; no one is going to notice or care. In choosing a canoe to buy or build, first consider its intended use. I was looking for a design that could hold me and my wife, along with cedar strip canoe kit uk of the kids or just cedar strip canoe kit uk and some kids all at the same time, and cedar strip canoe kit uk be good for a camping trip.

No rapids or whitewater. Just lakes and gentle rivers. This means I need about pounds capacity, fair stability for the kids and little rocker. Then one chooses a design or model that fits the desired. In this case, after evaluating a variety of designs and companies, I purchased the design plans from Green Valley Boat Works Canada.

It is 17'6" long. They call it a "Winisk," designed by John Winters. I liked their designs, the online information they provided, and was impressed with the speed with which they replied to my pre-sales inquiries. Canoes have a variety of design parameters, one of which is the end-to-end symmetry.

Most less expensive canoes are symmetrical; you could cut them in half across the middle and wouldn't be able to tell the stern from the bow. Assymetrical designs like the Winisk are shaped differently and tend to move more efficiently in one direction -- hopefully forward. They are usually a little more narrow in the front, for example. The plans are basically real-size drawings of cross-sectional segments with a bunch of additional and helpful notes and suggestions.

These shapes represent and become the mold for the hull at one foot increments. There is nothing magic about the form spacing; some small boat designers use two foot or other spacing, for example. Closer spacing is helpful in areas where there are tight twists or curves. Attach these wood patterns also called forms or stations to a firm, level base of some kind. The base is called a strongback in some circles, and looks like a cedar strip canoe kit uk bench.

Once your cedar strip canoe kit uk is made, make it as straight and level as possible. I detected a little twist in mine, and so applied clamps to counteract it. I made one edge as straight as possible cedar strip canoe kit uk that it could act as an alignment reference for the upcoming forms, but the same result could be achieved by "snapping" a chalk line down the middle. The MDF forms are attached to squared hardwood blocks using nuts and bolts, and the blocks are clamped to the strongback.

Make sure that the forms are all smooth, level and properly spaced and aligned with each. I marked lines at one-foot intervals on the strongback; the faces cedar strip canoe kit uk the forms are aligned with these lines.

A file and sanding block can quickly smooth out any irregularities in the edges of the forms. In one case, I cut too far when cutting cedar strip canoe kit uk the form and had to cedar strip canoe kit uk it back up using a putty wood filler.

Because the strongback is straight and level, I used it as a reference to check the depth of the forms, measuring from the surface of the strongback to the centerline on the forms to make sure they are in the correct position. Once the edges are ready and everything is aligned, apply tape to the edges of the forms to prevent them from gluing to and damaging your canoe's interior; at first I was tempted to use wax, then realized that it might interfere with the epoxy to be applied later.

The horizontal lines on the forms are the theoretical waterline. Some people begin by installing strips parallel to this line.

Others just start at the sheer line and build from. The vertical lines are the centerline cedar strip canoe kit uk useful for aligning the forms and establishing the meeting lines for the bottom strips later on. It could help to elevate the forms another inch or two more from the strongback. It sometimes seemed a little tight or awkward at the ends during assembly and fiberglassing. Steamer: You can make a steamer using a camping stove, large pot with a lid, some simple fittings, flexible metal pipe, and 4" diameter PVC or ABS pipe don't seal it up tight, or you will be making a very dangerous steam bomb.

The hot plates sold at common retail stores do not provide enough heat cedar strip canoe kit uk generate sufficient steam. You need either a gas source or a commercial hot plate. Drill holes through the 4" pipe and insert suspension wires so that the boards aren't resting in a pool of water. I used end caps to retain some steam; these were drilled for safety. Many strip canoes have hardwood stems on the ends to which the upcoming cedar strips are attached.

I used teak for my hardwood trim pieces, including the stems. Yes, teak is heavy, but it is basically water and weatherproof, and I like how it looks with the cedar; most makers recommend ash and lighter hardwoods. It is helpful to have at least one extra sacrificial strip on the outside of this bend, as the outermost strip tends to tear out and get damaged by the C-clamps.

Once the pieces cool and dry, they are then glued together and re-clamped, creating a laminated stem. Some people recommend just using a heat gun instead of steam; I didn't try it, but did see pictures of some pretty cedar strip canoe kit uk bends made in individual strips with hot air.

I don't know how well it would work if attempting to bend multiple strips at the same time. Speaking of clamps: I decided to make the canoe myself after seeing how much it would cost to buy one. The materials for a strip canoe are in the same range of a decent, new synthetic canoe If cost is an important factor, and cedar strip canoe kit uk don't already have most of the accessory tools and supplies, you may be better off if you just go out and purchase a finished canoe direct from a professional maker, a retail store, or secondhand.

My general materials costs came out approximately as follows including shipping :. The strongback can be reused for other projects. The Best Cedar Strip Canoe Kits 94 forms and plans have no future utility unless you plan to make another canoe of the same design and cedar strip canoe kit uk designers of commercial plans will ask you not to do this without paying for another set of plans.

You can also cedar strip canoe kit uk everything as a kit less the strongback for about twice the cost of the raw materials. But if you have the tooling to make the strips and a good source for lumber, you can save some serious money by making Cedar Strip Canoe Kits Minnesota State them.

Other things like the car rack, life jackets, lines. And then there is beer, of course. Some talk as if making a cedar strip canoe requires hardly any tools and anyone can do it. I beg to differ. Anyone can replace a radiator too; but having experience, skill and the right tools are the difference between a half-hour job done right the first cedar strip canoe kit uk, and three days of torture, frustration, and an eventual tow to the nearby shop to complete a botched attempt.

Experience, skill and the right tools and a little luck can make anything look easy. Considerable time, space, tooling and patience are all necessary to complete a strip canoe; the skills are similar to, but not exactly the same as, basic hardwood furniture construction. Similar principles apply. The truth is that, since starting this, many more people told me stories about half finished disappointments than completed seaworthy beauties.

Getting a kit can save some time and avoid some initial fabrication problems for a price, but even if you are building from prefabricated strips, you may still need at least the following tools and supplies in addition to the above :. In addition to your cedar strip canoe kit uk space, you need a clear, sheltered, dry, level space at least 10' x 20' for canoe assembly; the larger, the better.

And you need a good 40' clear path to make the cedar strip canoe kit uk. In other words, this is a much larger project than it may appear to be at. But back to the stems: Some designs have no stems, and the wood strips overlap and glue to each other at the ends.

Some have only an inner stem, to which the ends of the strips attach. Some have an inner and an outer stem, where the outer stem acts as a strengthening end cap to the boat. I made the Winisk with the inner and outer stems. I think, though, that the inner stem design should be altered so that it flares out and is slightly longer than the outer stem along the keel line.

As it is designed, its interior end is a focal point for routine and impact stress, and there is not much mechanical strength at that point; there is little more than a butt joint between the cedar strips and the stem as it approaches the end, held together, effectively, by the epoxy and fiberglass laminations. By lengthening and flaring it, the strips have more material to grab and hold onto at that stress point.

Obviously, this is just my opinion; I'm sure the designer has a good argument for his approach. The inner stem needs to be beveled to match the angle of incoming cedar strips. I roughed the bevel in advance with a small hand plane, then finalized the angle with the inner stem mounted in position on the forms. To do this I used a straight hardwood stick about 2 cedar strip canoe kit uk wide, an inch thick, and 16 inches long with sandpaper wrapped tightly around one end.

Use the stick as a sanding block against the stem, doing a few inches at a time, installing cedar strips, sanding a few more inches. Keep one end against the nearest form and the sandpapered end against the stem, and the entire stick oriented in the same direction as the upcoming cedar strips. I already had all of the needed major tools, and a lot of large clamps that are good for furniture making, but not for boat work.

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Flip a house over so a cedar strip canoe kit uk vessel is upon a underside. We'd similar to some-more sailors upon Hubpages. What we wish is the good unvaried tone everywhere in a wooden. house in to 3 9 in. A usually reason they will empty is which if H2O somehow will get in a opening cuddy, we can do it low.

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