cedar strip canoe construction..

[DMadden]

Hi all, some time in the near(ish) future I realy want to build my own cedar strip canoe. I have never done anything like this before, I'm a complete novice, but this project has realy captured my imagination!

• So, could any of you offer some advice?

• Major do's and don'ts...

• I'm thinking of drawing up my own plans from figures in the 'Canoecraft' book - to save a bit money

• I can realy only make a 12 foot (give or take a few inches) canoe due to space restrictions, is this a decent sized canoe?

ANY advice will be great!

Thanks for reading,
Dan.

 

[Wheatbear]

I think Ray Mears made one in one of his videos.

Watch them on youtube, Ithink it' s called birch bark canoe.


I am no expert, but I liked the video. I think it' s very informative.

Sry my English, I am German:togo:.

 

[bhofmann]

Cedar strip is very different to Birch bark construction. Birch bark is like a skin over a frame. Cedar strip is put on a frame to make the cover, but it's in strips, not in a wide sheet. There are some very nice videos (bad lighting but nice videos) on YouTube showing a chap making a Cedar strip canoe:

Part1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFpcW7cnB08

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIxCYSha83w

Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H_Yk2WNfpE

Enjoy, and if you do try it, PLEASE take lots of photos or video.

 

[jojo]

There is nothing complicated about building strip plank canoes: you make a mould, glue lots of little strips of wood together, cover with glass cloth and epoxy, thern turn over and do the inside. It's just time consumming and fiddly. They make very nice looking, light and strong little boats. It's also quite possible to build one without plans, I have done it (There are a couple of pics in my blog). If you have little wood work experience and it's going to be your first boat, it would be easier to build using a plan or a book that contain plans. When you consider you'll be spending hundreds of ££ on material, the cost of the plans/book is not really much of a saving and could save you a lot of time, money and headaches!

They are quite expensive to build, compared to building one in ply. If you have experience in using canoes, you'll already know what works for you, if you haven't, I'd suggest you make yourself a inexpensive plywood canoe first to get the hang of what works for you: if you are 6ft10" and weigh 300 pounds, a 12 foot canoes maybe a tad too small! If your heart and mind are already set on building one, I'd say go for it though. It's a great feeling of achievement.

 

[bhofmann]

I found this website and the free plans they offer for plywood boats and canoes when I was looking for Epoxy resin suppliers in the UK. You might find it useful:

http://www.epoxy-resins.co.uk/plans/freeplans.html

 

[John Fenna]

I cannot help with info on building the canoe but as a canoe coach of many years standing I would offer the opinion that you may find a 12' canoe a little "twitchy" or "tender". Basically longer canoes are more stable in their holding a straight line and as their width is in proportion to their length usually prove more stable and less likely to tip sideways. Experience and skill will help keep the boat doing what you want!
Nessmuk was an advocate of the short canoe - but he paddled it with a double ended paddle!
I prefer a 14' - 16' length for solo paddling and of the traditional designs favour a Prospector hull shape.
This gives a good mix of versitility, manouverability, tracking, stability, load carrying and ease of paddling.
A 14' canoe will fit in a standard garage - but a 16' will not!
There are a couple of good books around - but I cannot recall their titles (sorry!) - I am sure others will let you know!
Have a trawl on Song of the Paddle - lots of good info on all aspects of canoeing there!
Strippers are beautiful craft and I will want to give yours a go when it is finished!

 

[DMadden]

Thanks for the comments guys! Plenty of food for thought there.

I would love to build one bigger than 12 foot; 14' could be an option, but my garage is 17' and I was just concerned that I would struggle to build one with just over a 1 foot either end of the canoe.

Cheers, Dan

 

[silentpaddler]

We have a 16 foot cedar strip canoe and it is a joy to paddle and a beautiful thing to look at. It is not a joy to portage (63 pounds) and, unlike
our other modern composite canoe (16'6 and 45 lbs), it requires annual maintenance, varnish, etc. For multi-day excursions the 16' is pretty much the minimum size. We also have a 14'
fiberglass and I find it good for solo paddling on calm water, but I sure wouldn't want anything shorter than that....just my 2 cents...hope it helps...

 

[jojo]

Thanks for the comments guys! Plenty of food for thought there.

I would love to build one bigger than 12 foot; 14' could be an option, but my garage is 17' and I was just concerned that I would struggle to build one with just over a 1 foot either end of the canoe.

Cheers, Dan

It's a bit of a squeeze but I built a 16ft in a garage once. The solution is to open the garage door, put some small wheels on the stand on which you build, and to move the boat partly out when you need to work all the way around. It's a bit more work to built a frame/stand with wheels on but it's well worth the effort.

 

[DKW]

Ive allways fancied an oldfashioned wood and canvas canoe. Buildmethod is to my knowledge similar.

Try looking up a book called "The wood and canvas Canoe" by Jerry Stelmok and Rollin Thurlow. I find it not only very informative and explanatory, but also very wellwritten and present.

 

[nuggets]

hey dan

i,ve just started building the mould for a 16`- i have the plans on disc if you want to copy them ,im not that far from you !!!
just purchased 1100 foot of red cedar, square edged- 8mm x 19mm from M southerns in tyne dock for £187 the lot - i think it worked out at 49p a mt plus vat , He has a cancelled order of cedar from a customer that went bust so got it a bit cheaper -they quoted me 60p a metre square/edge or 70p a metre bead and coved moulded normal prices !!

anyway have sent you a pm with my details if you want the plans

 

[pastymuncher]

For a durable finish, coat the epoxy with some good quality polyurethane ( I prefer 2 pack) varnish with U.V. inhibitors, most epoxies degrade with U.V. light. I've tried pretty much every varnish going on my boat, and 2 pack poly over epoxy is the most durable system I've found.
But the most important thing is, take you time.

 

[Beorn]

I know a guy down in Stuttgart, he builds plank strip canoes and also does courses, where you build your own one using his workshop, tools and his knowledge as an instructor. He also does this as school projects and once build one for about 12 people (don't remember the sice, but it was ssoimply huge, in my eyes).
Try a search for books, most I know are in German, but normally they're translated from English!

This might help: http://www.wooden-boat.de/d/index.htm

or this: http://www.woodencanoe.com/

and for reading dreams: http://www.abebooks.de/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=007137227X

 

[DMadden]

Thanks for the help guys!
Dan

 

[Chainsaw]

Have a poke around on the Song of the Paddle site, there's a self build section in there that has loads of useful stuff, plans, material suppliers and a bunch of guys who've made all the mistakes.

Cheers,

Alan

 

[sheeres]

It may be a bit late to reply....but here goes anyway.

In having built
2 plywood kayaks
2 plywood canoes
3 cedar strip canoes

the following may help in your decisions:
1-what will you use the canoe for? calm water(whatever you want)
2-river (more rocker)
3-big water(longer and wider)

Minimum length is more along the lines of 16'. 12' you better stay on calm water.
Several good books WITH plans out there. Do a Google search. Again design is VERY dependent on what you will use the boat for. I have made several John Winters design boats and love them. Plywood Osprey and cedar strip Osprey both with cherry trim weigh in around 35 pounds.

There is a ton of information on the Internet to help you.
A big warning! If you limit the size to 12' because of space to build in you will regret it. BUT it is not all that bad. It just means you will have to build a 2nd...then a 3rd....it IS very addicting.

 

[Chambers]

Not to jeck the thread but covering the cedar with fibreglass and epoxy, would this be a single layer of tissue weight cloth as otherwise would it not hide the cedar?

 

[Asbo]

i dont know if this would help you or if it is what your looking for but this is one i found on the internet
http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/canoe2.htm

 

[jojo]

Not to jeck the thread but covering the cedar with fibreglass and epoxy, would this be a single layer of tissue weight cloth as otherwise would it not hide the cedar?

When you build a cedar strip you want to keep it as light as possible, lighteness and beauty being what that type of construction is really about. You use a single layer of light cloth and epoxy on the outside and the same on the inside. The choth become practically transparent when wetted out with epoxy so you need to go a good job of the woodwork underneath as every fault will be clearly seen! If you want to go down rocky rivers, you may be better off with a plastic boat though. Cedar strips are difficult to repair!