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Patience. More patience. Sharp tools. A good staple puller. Decent dust control. Beer fridge. Beer.

My experience is mixed; I have a lot of sympathy for the honest folks stuck in a bad job and since giving up our land lines we don't get a whole lot of scammers on the phone anymore. We do get the missionaries at the door from time to time though and they're invariably well-intentioned super...

I think the biggest difference for me was making the decision to purchase by the quart. A fresh can always seems to tip-off so much better than one previously opened no matter how well sealed I thought it was. I pay more but I waste less. Can't say if it's a wash, but application failures are...

I'm afraid Jim might be right, an inch or two behind the centre line doesn't seem quite right given the shape of that hull ... a simple way to establish trim is to use a milk crate as a seat prior to fixing your permanent seat; you will quickly notice performance changes as you move forward and...

My favourite was 16 feet long. It weighed 80 pounds and was made in a high school shop class. I sat on the forward deck and fell in love at the age of 12 (unrequited btw, dang). I caught a 24 inch rainbow trout at the age of 10. And the stories could go on ... but it WAS the perfect canoe...

More rocker you say? Rocker is a funny thing. When my bow catches an eddy line and spins me round I curse the lack of it. When I'm crossing beam to the wind I curse too much of it. Downwind with a following sea, give me more. When paddling sheets of glass ... Have you got an all-time favourite...

Well ... Not my car. Not my boat.

No Title Yup, she's a pretty small boat. I have drawn a solo with more volume and height but haven't built her yet, still looking for a brave first customer :) ... She's got similar rocker. An inch more freeboard, slightly more flare, and a touch less tumblehome. More secondary stability...

Not to blow my own horn, but ... She's a 15 footer and when built with 3/16" strips, 4oz glass reinforced in stems, football, and cleats, ash trim and no decks, she comes in at 30 - 35 pounds ... To date there have been approx 30 built, or underway. Not the same long record of other boats but...

The Avon River in Stratford, ON Bill Chan took the photo. Dreamy.

I've only had positive interactions. Even when I've done something stupid. When very young I Iit a fire in Grand Canyon National Park which got under a fallen tree. I dug at it for hours trying to make sure it wasn't travelling and finally figured I had to go to the Ranger Station and get some...

The two biggest challenges in my shop are dust management and CORDS! If I hang them from the ceiling and I'm always walking off and unplugging something. If I plug them into wall sockets I'm inevitably twisting them around something, including my legs. And I swear, I've cut or knicked a half...

I wonder if I might chime in with a couple of general thoughts. In addition to most fabrics needing protection from water, if fabric is exposed it will need UV protection. Some epoxies are formulated to include UV inhibitors, most are not. If the fabric is ripped, the structural integrity of...

My thought was that rather than being fixed, the pedestal would be integrated into the seat itself, and be pegged to the rails as appropriate to achieve desired trim.

errr, ummm ... posting that quality of craftsmanship is gonna make me want to retire

I've been attracted to this method but never used it partly because the table saw was always there and handy, a partly thinking that I wouldn't be able to achieve acceptable tolerances. This provides me the confidence to have a go at it, however. I wonder if it might not be even easier and...

I like that option ... unless lowering my weight for safety reasons my solo paddling preference has always been sitting cross-legged with my knees against the gunnels. Not comfortable with either sharp or cold rails though. The wood is attractive too ...

When prototyping my solos I've tested seat positions by putting a box into the boat. Given that I like taking the dog out from time to time I've often thought about a designing something more permanent. The design I'd probably start with would be two rails affixed to the hull below the seat...

Thank you for the kind welcome folks, I can see by your profile pic Jim that one solo is not nearly enough for you! Yes, I'n now building in an old bank barn. I made the move from an industrial bay last summer. Lot's of pluses but difficult in the winter. We spent two weeks on Pelee Island and...

No Title Thank you Odyssey ... here's a pic of me and one of my boats at the foot of the Avon ... if the link works you should be able to see more Avon River pics here ... as pretty as the pictures might be, the river is mostly dead from agricultural run-off and with the growing number of...