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Make up a pair of striped blanks Make up some thin slats and slice the blanks and number the pieces Flip every other piece and add the cross piece Epoxy them all together, using tinted epoxy (dark cedar dust) Cleanup the excess epoxy, to make the piece reasonably flat. Then setup...

Gamma, The idea that thinner strips aren't going to be as strong, isn't exactly due to the wood strength, that is actually is a minor component. You are creating a composite structure when you glass both sides of the wood. The woods job is to hold the glass layers in position, not provide any...

Need to be a little careful here, going to 1/8" strips will impact the strength of the composite formed and there are already several steps being taken with thinners strips and lighter glass. Also ... putting the layer on the inside isn't about stiffness, it is about strength/impact resistance...

I totally agree that epoxy weighs a lot and contributes a lot of weight ... however ... a lot of the epoxy in that 2 gallons ended up in the grunge cup. On my last Freedom Solo 16'3" with 6 oz E glass... the external glass/epoxy was 6 pounds and the internal was 5.5 pounds, about half of what...

Welcome to the group, I will let SG try and seduce to the dark side of building your own, he can be our ambassador for that. If you want a load capacity of 350 pounds and you are around 180 pounds, that is 170 pounds of gear .... sort of defeats the purpose of a lighter canoe. The reason I...

At camp last fall I decided I wanted to try a little longer shaft on my twin paddle ..... guess I must talk in my sleep because I had 3 requests that trip for paddles. I had also promised a friend from Louisiana I would try and make him a paddle to scull his boat in the bayou for fishing. So it...

Gamma, I found with my Freedoms, the secondary stability is great and if you lean it hard on the side, it turns on a dime

Sometimes it is better to take a step back and really think about what you want from the boat. If you want to save weight and want to use Tamarack, those things aren't necessarily mutually exclusive ... a nice white cedar hull with a 3"-5" Tamarack band just above the water line would likely...

I got my 60" S glass from Sweets, haven't even opened it yet, but I did notice that when you order pay attention to the quantity discounts ... I ordered 3 extra yards and it was cheaper than what I was originally going to order, because I crossed one of the limits for discount. I think if I was...

No argument that S glass has more abrasion resistance, however, S glass is some 40% stronger under tension and both E glass and S glass are comparable in compression (exterior layer under impact). If we are talking impacts from the outside, which is likely the case ... the decision is basically...

Maybe make 2 panels Gamma, I think it may be stronger with the S glass on the interior, not exterior

Gamma, I know you mentioned you have some epoxy left from the previous build, but I will share some info on my epoxy plans for the next build, may be of interest, since you haven't started yet. I have built a few boats now and I find people who start with a particular epoxy are more inclined to...

As an aside Allan, thank you for a) the build posts b) posting the Baracuda build I was rereading this post and I always wondered about how the Baracuda would handle, almost made that the first boat .... when I read that build threat it answered something else that has been nagging me since I...

Unlike some folks, I have room for 3 canoes ... that means 2 solos and a tandem. Currently I have a modified Freedom Solo 16'3" and a 15' stretched copy of a Keywadin 14 Love the Freedom Solo, but it is 39#, but built for heavier paddler. The stretched KeyWadin 15" is a really nice...

I have built 2 of the Freedom Solo 16'2" boats and they may be close to what you want IMO https://www.bearmountainboats.com/collections/canoe-plans/products/freedom-15-3 You could go with a narrower boat like the Ashes which has high reviews as a solo, but if you consider the dog and potential...

Heading out tomorrow (Friday) for a weekend trip, snow called for, rain called for, heavy snow, light snow, low wind, high winds ..... should be interesting night tomorrow Brian

For many years of my tripping ventures, I would just rent whatever canoe seemed to fit the needs of a given trip. About 15 years ago I got the idea (bug/sickness/itch) that maybe I should buy my own, that quickly changed to maybe I should try and make my own. I discussed it with the better half...

Epiphanes here as well, 3 coats outside, 3 coats inside, then an additional coat of flat on the inside to kill most of the shine. It goes a long way, you may get away with just a quart, but I suspect you will go slightly over that. Just make sure you do the extra step to wash the hull well with...

And the anticipation builds ... this my favourite part of the build

that is exactly how the snozzle bag works