Stitch and Glue Canoe - step by step (Pic Heavy)

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Kerne

Maker
Dec 16, 2007
1,766
21
Gloucestershire
Posted this a week or so ago after we proudly launched our DIY canoe:

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116121&highlight=floats

Some folks showed interest in the photos I took during the build. So here they are:

First off - this is not meant to be a "build-along" type guide as the photos are more illustrative than instructive. There are also some gaps as I couldn't take photos when my hands were covered in sticky epoxy resin:)! I built the canoe with ORCA (website: http://www.orcadventures.co.uk) in the Lake District and can thoroughly recommend their course.


When we arrived on the Monday morning we were given a panel saw and a set of four plywood boards with the outline of the parts already traced on them:
p3hw.jpg


A morning of brisk sawing produced all the panels needed for the canoe:
mptj.jpg


After drilling holes every 10 ins or so along the panels we used zip ties to bind them together. Amazing to see how quickly it all started to resemble a canoe. There is a temporary thwart fitted to give the boat some shape.:
v04j.jpg


Close up of the tied together bow. The gaps would be filled with an epoxy paste at a later stage. This was how it looked at then end of the first day:
3xcd.jpg


Now it was time to fix the gunwales and inwales. These were made from long lengths of softwood skewed through we very 10 inches or so. The plywood "arches" held them in place until the screws were put in:
6nbo.jpg


Once the hull was tied together we used glass tape and epoxy resin to permanently fix the panels together (dodgy photo due to VERY stick hands!):
4srp.jpg


The yoke was temporarily fixed in place until the gunwales were finished then bolted through the inwales:
8z4a.jpg


Next, the hull was turned:
5rz1.jpg


Looks a bit like a hedgehog at this stage. Tape added to hold panels just where you want them ready for the epoxy filler:
ultc.jpg


Zip ties snipped off. Time now to mix up an epoxy filler paste and fill the gaps:
u60w.jpg


(Distinct lack of pics here due to working with epoxy!)

Gaps filled then left to cure before being planed and sanded to smooth out the curves. A coat of epoxy added inside and out:
p6hv.jpg


Last day was very hectic trying to get it finished so not much time for pics! Seats, decks and carrying handles added:
vlf4.jpg


The temperature dropped considerably on the last night and, as a result, the epoxy did not cure as I would have liked. Adding a second coat the following morning only made it worse and so, when I got it home, I used a heat gun and a paint scraper to strip it all off. I then reapplied epoxy followed by three coats of exterior paint and three coats of yacht varnish:
7sni.jpg


I took the seats, decks and handles out and varnished them. I then applied three coats of exterior paint to the inside (no varnish as I thought it might get a bit slippery):
wnj7.jpg


All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable process and one I would love to repeat - maybe make a smaller, solo canoe or try a strip planked canoe. As I said earlier, the course at ORCA is very good - intense but enjoyable. Amazing to see six canoes built in three and a half days. One couple even took theirs out on Ullswater on the last afternoon.
 
Last edited:

ammo

Settler
Sep 7, 2013
827
8
by the beach
Thanks for posting the pics. This really interests me, and is something I hope to do the coming year. It must be great to be on the water in something you built. Well done, yours is a beauty.
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
Great work!
Those photos take me way back to when I made a stitch and tape canoe.
I used copper wire not zip ties and poly not epoxy , oiled not varnished the fittings and used hardwood not softwood for the gunwales - otherwise very similar workings :)
How thick is your ply? - we used 4mm.
 

Kerne

Maker
Dec 16, 2007
1,766
21
Gloucestershire
Great work!
Those photos take me way back to when I made a stitch and tape canoe.
I used copper wire not zip ties and poly not epoxy , oiled not varnished the fittings and used hardwood not softwood for the gunwales - otherwise very similar workings :)
How thick is your ply? - we used 4mm.

Thanks.

We used 4mm ply and the zip ties are a great innovation compared to copper wire - easy to tighten and even easier to snip off.
 

Kerne

Maker
Dec 16, 2007
1,766
21
Gloucestershire
What are the dimensions and how much does it weigh?

It comes out as about 15'6" by 34". I don't know its weight precisely but I can lift it onto the car roof on my own. Much lighter than my mate's Mad River that we've done a few canal trips in and struggled to portage around long flights of locks.
 

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