Cedarstrip Canoe

Nice canoe how long does it take to built one of these…?

-- christoper Blanchard, Michigan

Hi kkickback

If you stay on top of it (which we did not) you can turn one out in about 5-8 weeks. Building the hull is only part of the process. There’s a LOT of hardwood trim work involved and it’s all handwork with planes and razorsaws. It was a wonderful learning experience for me as my brain is trained to think in terms of strait right angled cuts and shapes etc. This project was nothing but arcs and bevels and curves.

Entire project from start to finish is documented at my (crude) website;
http://home.wmis.net/~eastmant/projects.html

-- Tim ~ ~ Be an example worth following

That’s a real piece of craftsmanship, Bender. Congrats!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

It looks too good to put in the water.

-- Whether You Think You Can or You Think You Can't, YOU ARE RIGHT!!!

Eight years ago when I built my shop I had visions of building a 20 foot strip canoe. It would have been possible then but not now cause there isn’t enough room. I still have visions of building one. Your canoe is very nice. Congratulations on a job well done.

What’s going on in the second picture?

-- Measure twice, then try to figure out which one was right.

What a beautiful boat. If I only had more access to waterways locally, I would have to build one of these.

-- Julian, Park Forest, IL

Wow!!! I’d be so proud you did an outstanding job .

Great craftsmanship.

-- Rj's Woodworks,San Jose & Weed Ca,

Every time I see one this beautiful, I get the urge to try it myself. maybe someday…

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

Fantastic.. really beautiful. What does it weigh?

-- Sharp tools and thin whispy shavings make woodworking a joy.

Awesome boat, great job.

-- Wood and Glass they kick (well you know) Have a great day - Dug

J.Johnson – in that second pic that is my son and I adhering the fiberglass to the wood hull. Amazing thing is this is actually a fiberglass canoe with two skins – one inside and one outside. The weave of the fiberglass is then filled with additional coats of epoxy until smooth. On top of that goes at least three coats of a U.V. protection spar varnish because epoxy cannot handle UV, it breaks down. The fiberglass really does wet out to be clear.

Rob – she tips the scales at 49 pounds and a lot of that is the hardwood trim and the epoxy. The cedar and raw fiberglass hardly weighs anything in comparison.

I’ve started on a second canoe. This one is for me and the missus for our own trips.

-- Tim ~ ~ Be an example worth following

Man that’s sweet.

What a joy for many years, love seeing it…...................

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

Awesome Conoe! What a great father/son project. I’m like the others, would hate to get it wet.

-- John @ Myrtle Beach

Great job on the canoe guys! You did a beautiful job on it. Thanks for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Very nice work! That is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship and I bet it is a lot of fun to use. Thanks for sharing.

-- Doug, Cass City, Michigan

Awesome canoe! Fantastic craftsmanship!

-- Les, Wichita, Ks. (I'd rather be covered in saw dust!)

Maybe that could be a nice project to do for an fund raiser/ auction….what do you think??

-- christoper Blanchard, Michigan

Christopher hi.

Right now in this economy it would not go well. Not enough disposable income banging around.

These canoes are prohibitively expensive and target a very small cross section of the population. I have seen these finished canoes go anywhere from $3200 to $6800. Yes really. Mine is an entry level as far as craftsmanship goes. I have seen some of these that are so finely detailed and executed that they truly are beyond hobby work and solidly into the realm of fine art.

The fund raiser would have to be targeted to a very selective audience. But when you do an auction you pretty much take your chances huh? The out of pocket material cost (doing it all yourself) could be anywhere from $600-$800 so if the auction came in anywhere below that one would have to outright donate all of the proceeds and not count on covering your costs. Depending on the nature of the fund raiser that might be the original intent. But I’m not sure I would be able to screw up enough courage to do that. $800 out of pocket for me is a lot of money.

But I appreciate the comments. :)

-- Tim ~ ~ Be an example worth following

A real beauty. Great job. Your son looks very happy.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

I love the finish on this canoe, well done

EXCELLENT! Very Very Nice

-- Ben Kahmann Dayton, OH

Really sweet job…..well done.

-- I will just keep doing it till I get it right.

fabulous job, thanks for sharing it with us
good lookin’ kid too

Very Nice Old Town Canoe. I used to own an actual Old Town Canoe. Sold it for 500.00 dollars. Way back in 1974. Don’t know what it would be worth today.

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Super canoe

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

WOW!! Great looking Canoe. Welcome to LumberJocks.

-- Dennis Zongker

Great Job…
Who’s design?
What epoxy did you use?
Did you laminate the inside stem?

I have just started on a “Great Auk” Kayak and hope my kayak comes out as nice as your canoe. Actually all I have done so far is loft the stations to paper, but it is a start ;)

-- Dane, Fairview Pk, OH. The large print giveth and the small print taketh away...

Hi Dane

The design is from Northwest Canoe Co. in the St. Paul, MN area I think. When we got the plans it was called a 38 Special because it was 3.8 percent larger than it’s smaller sister the Merlin. That style has since been renamed to the Merlin 160.

We used System 3 Silver Tip Laminating epoxy and absolutely fell in love with it. For first timers it was very forgiving and did exactly what it was purported to do. It will do a fantastic job on your Great Auk. And by the way that is an awesome design for a kayak, good choice there. I am seriously looking at Nick Shade’s Night Heron, or Valcav’s Cape Ann Expedition. But that’s another whole project.

We did not use inner stems on the 38 Special. These plans did not call for it. The finger joint in the bow and stern is phenomenally strong and backed up with a fillet of thickened epoxy (wood flour and cabosil). The outside of the bow and stern is further reinforced with three layers of 6oz. cloth. It wets out so clear that you have to look right dead at it to see it, even then I would have to point out the extra layers to you .

Are you stripping your kayak or are you doing a hybrid?

If you have not already done so go hang out at Nick Shade’s kayak builder’s forum.
http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi
There is a wealth of knowledge there and they don’t go out of their way to embarrass new guy questions. But use the search engine for researching questions. Chances are pretty solid someone has already had it answered.

Happy building!

-- Tim ~ ~ Be an example worth following