Hello!
I've learned as much, if not more, online as I have from my Canoecraft book and video. So first off, thank you to everyone out there who's willing to share their knowledge with us newbies.
I have begun the build of my first canoe, a Freedom 17. I found a posting on Craigslist for custom-milled Western Red Cedar, which came from decommissioned utility poles. The guy figured the lumber is 80-100 years old, which I thought was pretty cool, so I ordered five 21ft planks at 1x6. The trim work will be ash and maple from my parents property that my brother and I milled a few years ago, with some details in walnut that belonged to my late father - most of my woodworking projects use lumber that has some personal meaning to me.
So far, I have:
- Traced and cut out the forms
- Bent the stems
- Built the strongback
- Planed the planks
- Milled the strips with my Skilsaw - which worked perfectly!
- Routed the beads and coves
I'm getting ready to set up my stations and inner stems and will hopefully begin planking this weekend! There were more knots in the cedar than I initially realized so I plan on doing a lot of butt joints, I'll probably leave the smaller knots for character. I'm still trying to decide what to do for a feature strip, leaning towards a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 = walnut, cedar, walnut strip. I've also been thinking about a chevron or trapezoid pattern in cedar for subtlety...we'll see.
The huge amount of work has become very apparent as I don't really have anything to show yet and have already lost track of how many hours have gone into it, but I'm thoroughly enjoying every minute. My plan is to work through the winter (in my heated garage) and have a completed canoe for my annual BWCA trip next the summer. I'll keep this post updated throughout the project!
Adam
I've learned as much, if not more, online as I have from my Canoecraft book and video. So first off, thank you to everyone out there who's willing to share their knowledge with us newbies.
I have begun the build of my first canoe, a Freedom 17. I found a posting on Craigslist for custom-milled Western Red Cedar, which came from decommissioned utility poles. The guy figured the lumber is 80-100 years old, which I thought was pretty cool, so I ordered five 21ft planks at 1x6. The trim work will be ash and maple from my parents property that my brother and I milled a few years ago, with some details in walnut that belonged to my late father - most of my woodworking projects use lumber that has some personal meaning to me.
So far, I have:
- Traced and cut out the forms
- Bent the stems
- Built the strongback
- Planed the planks
- Milled the strips with my Skilsaw - which worked perfectly!
- Routed the beads and coves
I'm getting ready to set up my stations and inner stems and will hopefully begin planking this weekend! There were more knots in the cedar than I initially realized so I plan on doing a lot of butt joints, I'll probably leave the smaller knots for character. I'm still trying to decide what to do for a feature strip, leaning towards a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 = walnut, cedar, walnut strip. I've also been thinking about a chevron or trapezoid pattern in cedar for subtlety...we'll see.
The huge amount of work has become very apparent as I don't really have anything to show yet and have already lost track of how many hours have gone into it, but I'm thoroughly enjoying every minute. My plan is to work through the winter (in my heated garage) and have a completed canoe for my annual BWCA trip next the summer. I'll keep this post updated throughout the project!
Adam
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