Cedar Strip Canoe build-along

[Gary™]

I am building a Ranger 15 using plans from  Bear Mountain Boats and thought I'd share photos as my build progresses.  

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The first step in building a strip canoe is to build a strongback.  Essentially a strongback is just a long torsion box whose purpose if to provide a stable base that the forms get mounted to.   This strong back is 14' 6" long and 12" wide.  

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Usually strongbacks are mounted to the floor for rigidity.  I wanted to be able to roll mine around so I can work on it outside in nice weather.  The problem is the stongback can twist a little on uneven ground.  You'll notice I used winding sticks to shim one wheel to remove the twist.  I painted an outline under each wheel so I can put it back in the same spot each time.  

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The next step for me is to plane then rip the Western Red Cedar into 1/4" x 3/4" strips and scarf the short boards into full length (16') strips.  I'm going to temporarily mount some jigs to strongback and use it as a long workbench for this process.   I'm won't be able to work on it for a week so it may be a couple of weeks until the next update.

Thanks for looking!

[oakey]

nice i have a freind that builds birchbark canoes always though it would be fun to build a canoe and the cedar strip canoes look way cool hope you can keep the details posted
Sam

[32ojdidit]

Very nice start Gary! I like the wheels. Wish I had done that on my last kayak build. I will look forward to the updates

[32ojdidit]

They say the fastest way to meet all your neighbors is to build a boat

[Gary™]

32ojdidit said:

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They say the fastest way to meet all your neighbors is to build a boat

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You're 100% right on that.  People are already stopping and talking and it doesn't even look like a boat yet!

[tocws2002]

Gary,

I just added this thread as a favorite so I can follow along, I've been wanting to build a cedar-strip canoe for more than 15 years now! I'm looking forward to your postings and progress, maybe once I finish the rocking chair I'll have a chance to consider the canoe.

Where did you end up getting your Western Red Cedar from, and did you have it milled with the bead and cove or are you doing that?

Would love to see the canoe build and finished product in person if you're ever up for a visitor, I'm not too far from you (or you can bring the finished canoe to my house and we can try it out on the nearby lake!!! )

Great progress so far, can't wait to see more!

-jason

[Gary™]

tocws2002 said:

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Where did you end up getting your Western Red Cedar from, and did you have it milled with the bead and cove or are you doing that?

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I ended up getting it from Lowes. It was cheap but the quality was poor. I picked through the pile to get the best boards I could with the proper grain orientation. Mixture of 8ft and 12ft boards. I'll not get may full strips out them due to defects and I'm preparing some jigs to mass produce scarf joints to get 16ft strips.

I plan on ripping the strips a little thick (over 1/4") and scarfing them before I plane then down. I'll have to use the bandsaw to rip as some of the nicer boards had a huge bow in them.

tocws2002 said:

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Would love to see the canoe build and finished product in person if you're ever up for a visitor, I'm not too far from you (or you can bring the finished canoe to my house and we can try it out on the nearby lake!!! )

Great progress so far, can't wait to see more!

-jason

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I'd love a visit but it'll have to wait a couple of weeks due to work commitments.

[TangoTwo]

I'll have to use the bandsaw to rip as some of the nicer boards had a huge bow in them.


That should be ok, not many straight boards in a canoe anyway!

Ken

[Mtobey]

I am going to try to link to Compu-marine; a fine source for strip-build plans. They also have links to cedar sources. I've had the strongback for a modified dinghy from their plans for building a duck hunting scull boat(very modified) done for years and put away. I probably need to get to it before I get to the "bucket list stage." I helped on one once and had the true joy of the feel of a good handplane coving the strips both before and after laying up. On that one we had great material and used a tablesaw with cobbled very long infeed and outfeed to rip raw strips. Very rewarding until you get to the fibreglassing part-smelly, burny and itchy.

My scull boat adventure was inspired by owning two of Ralph Thomson's(Clinton, Iowa) "Big Pool" 16 foot scullers-the first custom built for me with two bung holes for the oar-I am a leftie and had hopes of teaching a few companions to scull. The scull boat is the closest to the market days experience in waterfowl hunting available today. These sculls are built heavy for tracking and are incredibly stable.

Scull boats are an unsung gem of the strip-built tradition in boat-building. Of course, then there is the challenge of making that 12 foot specially curved ash oar-another art in itself. strip built plans

[Robert Adams]

I have used a canoe with a scull kit on it and it's a joy compared to a paddle. One easy swish compared to 50 strokes of the paddle.

A canoe is on my list of projects. I'll make the strips myself when I do. Just a big model airplane built on a crutch/strongback. easier cause no wings to attach