# Deep Dish Canoe Yoke



## toaddy100

Hey all….I'm looking for a little help. I'm hoping to finish a 15.5' canoe this spring, but will need to carve a carrying yoke to finish it off. I could most certainly buy one that would work, but where's the fun in that???

I would like to be able to custom fit the yoke to my shoulders, and would like to make a 'deep dish' yoke, which looks like this:










I'm not quite sure where to begin to get the overall shape. Would it be easiest or most effective to make the contours using a sanding drum, or should I use something a bit more aggressive like an angle grinder? I've also thought about a dremel tool or setting up a jig for use with a router. Looking for suggestions! Thanks much!


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## runswithscissors

An angle grinder with the right disc on it would certainly make short work of that. There are many to choose from-overlapping sanding flaps, chain saw circlet, carbide imbedded dish shaped disc from HF. Be careful though, as some of these are very aggressive. Practice on scrap wood to get the feel of it first.

The Dremel is the last tool I would choose. Too little power.


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## HornedWoodwork

Angle grinder would do a great job, but it has a pretty steep learning curve. If it were me I'd build a router jig that followed a series of patterns to hog out most of the waste. Once I was within tolerances I'd finished with a spokeshave, rasps, files, and scrapers. Not only is this technique easier to master, it is highly repeatable and you can transfer it to practically any shaping challenge you will ever have.


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## toaddy100

Thanks….I'm leaning toward an angle grinder with sanding flaps or something not particularly aggressive. I have a little time before I need to get this one done, but I'll certainly put it and the rest of the canoe up when it's done. Dang Minnesota winter and non-heated shop slowed down my progress.


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## mtenterprises

I got one of those chain saw circlet for doing some canes I was working on. They work well for this kind of work BUT BUT BUT KEEP YOUR MIND ON WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!! Clamp your work solidly and don't get too aggressive and work slowly AND make sure the disk stops turning before you set the tool down. Mark out the area you want to remove and work from the center to your lines.


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## Cantputjamontoast

I've never done this but how about you make some kind of model of Styrofoam or STE with the dish you want and then drill holes in a grid that mimics the shape.

Drill uniform length hole down through the model in into the work and then use the angle grinder to get what you want and stop when the depth guided holes are not more?

am I making sense?


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## mtenterprises

Cantputjamontoast Great Idea I'll try to remember it.


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## Dabcan

I had to replace the yoke on my canoe last summer as it rotted through. Lucky for me I had the old one to copy. I used a band saw for the shape, then a large gouge to get the contour. Rounded the edges with a rasp and then used an orbital sander to sand it all smooth. It's not a lot of wood to take out, so it only took me an hour or two to finish it all off, made it from some 6/4 Cherry I had lying around.

I'm sure an angle grinder would also work, but I didn't have one.


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## toaddy100

Cantputjamontoast That's a good idea….I like the idea of getting the shape right before I make any shavings about it.

mtenterprises I was just looking at the chainsaw circlet things, and they seemed interesting, but they seem like one slip would cause irreparable damage. Might be worth a shot though.

It's so crazy it just might work! Actually it's not overly crazy.

Thanks again, everyone. I'll let you know how things turn out.


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## runswithscissors

The chain saw circlet will want to pull the angle grinder to the right, so you have to brace against that force. Take shallow cuts, and keep it moving.

I like HF's carbide imbedded disk. It's convex, cuts fast, and is safer than the chain saw circlet. Perfect for shaping hollows like in your canoe yoke. Follow up with a convex sandpaper flap type disk. Finish with hand sanding.

The whole thing could be done with gouges and a mallet, too, if you want to stay away from the machinery.


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