building a canoe... or half of one at least.

It's always been a dream of mine to build a canoe. ever since the first time i ever sat in cedar strip canoe at Manitoba Pioneer Camp in the early 90s. I have limited faith in my building ability, and i do love books, so why not refine some techniques by building a canoe bookshelf.

Here is a photo tour of how i built it. this is a long term project, so it will be updated as i go. adding more to the end and filling in some blanks.

Build the strongback.  thats first.  it's 3/4 inch plywood i cut.  it's gotta be solid because it supports the whole thing.

heres the strongback.  1' between molds.

Next was the molds.  they look like a mix of hello kitty's and mushrooms.  i got the plans off the internet, printed them out full size, and then traced them onto 3/4 plywood.  cut them out with a jig saw.

hello kitty.

all the mushrooms mounted up

next the stem and stem mold.  i used 3/4 pine wood and steamed it in the most getto steamer ever.  3 strips clamped, dried then glued.  it was easier then i thought it would be.

the stem mold and bent stem strip things.

The time to start the strips.  i dodn't have a table saw, though louie hepled me out when he had access to one.  80% of the strpis were cut off a 2x10 with a skillsaw and a crappy guide.  even 1/8' strips 8 feet long with a skill saw is not fun. especially when you have to make 40 of them.

starting the strips.

As i lay the strips, i originally decided not to use nails.  glue only.  it was tons of work but actually went fast.  had to be inventive when it came to rigging up some clamps.

home made clampy thing

Like i said, the stripping went fast.  all of a sudden i was seeing a finish line.  ratchet straps are a huge mandatory item for this, especially when you aren't using nails.

getting closer

mmmmm. ratchet straps

closing it up

The day the canoe finally came off the mod was a major milestone.  it came off the mold pretty easy, but it was also pretty flimsey.  once the bottom shelf was cut and in, it became WAY more solid.  The shelves are 3/4' pine shelving.  i cut and sanded them.  it was a major pain.  really gave me some ideas about the next one. 

fresh off the mold.

1st shelf

 I broke down and used nails to hold the shelves in.  i bought an air finishing nailer from canadian tire.  it ruined the clean look i was going for without nails in the first place, but with my skills, glue wasn't going to be enough.  i felt bad about it at first, but im good with it now.

3 shelves

Before cutting the shelves, i made them from cardboard to get the shape right.  didn't always work out so well,m but pretty close.

all the shelves in.

Next was the gunwales.  they are 1x1/2 strips with a groove cut out to sandwich the canoe planks.  they went in pretty easy and helped the shape of the canoe a lot. 

boom goes the dynomite

The inner ones i notched to fit around the shelves.  not an exact science by any means, but it worked well and went quickly.

notched inner wales.  inwales?

The met at the top and i cut out a triangle of pine to fin in the inside.  nailed it in with the ait nailer.  felt like a milestone

waiting for glue to dry.

UPDATE!!! After looking at the canoe for the past few months have no progress, it became time to do something about it.

Next step was stain.  I chose a semi-transparent stain in a dark green.  Tamarack.  It wasn't as dark as i imagined, but i was happy with the end.

taped the keel and gunwales and wiped on the stain

I was contemplating 2 coats, but 1 was good. 

Next was bring it in the house.  It's current location might only be temporary, but as good a place as any. 

zora scouting

I filled it with books and a cool carving of a canoe on the top shelf.  

Not quite done, but good enough to start using.  needs a little more wood at the top.  3 pieces.  almost there.