First canoe build

[TravisH]

Well I thought it was time to finally start my canoe build thread. I was planning on building my canoe during the winter months, but I had alot of set backs and I wanted to get the new shop setup properly first.
I have chosen to build a 16ft laker canoe out of full length western red cedar, which was my first rookie mistake. For some stupid reason, I bought 16ft cedar for a 16ft canoe. Obviously, the material was to short, so I had purchase 18ft red cedar.
So here is the progress so far, which includes the shop setup.

 

[Boatman53]

Nice shop. You are not the first one to buy too short lumber. None the less it looks like you are off to a good start.
Jim

 

[Cruiser]

Nice start from a fellow Ontarian.
Where did you source your lumber, I am always on the look out for new suppliers

 

[TravisH]

Nice start from a fellow Ontarian.
Where did you source your lumber, I am always on the look out for new suppliers

The company i purchase my red cedar from is located in bancroft. Owner is great to deal with.

Western Red Cedar Lumber Supplier | Quality Cedar Products

Supplier of high-quality western red cedar lumber products available for all your project needs. Ontario wide delivery.

www.qualitycedarproducts.ca

And I found a company called Muskoka timber mill that said they can cut white ash for me, however I haven't actually purchased any from them yet.

cheers

 

[Robin]

Nice shop, lots of room, well lit, good luck with the build.

 

[TravisH]

Nice shop, lots of room, well lit, good luck with the build.

Thanks

 

[Jim Dodd]

Great time of year to start a build !

Agree with others on your shop ! Mine is always a mess !

I would put some wheels under that strong back, so you can take it outside, when it comes time to sand.

The last 16' stripper I built, was with mostly 8' strips. Often making two splices on one side, to make a course..
Though splicing isn't fun, it works .

Are you going stemless, or building with stems ?

Jim

 

[TravisH]

Great time of year to start a build !

Agree with others on your shop ! Mine is always a mess !

I would put some wheels under that strong back, so you can take it outside, when it comes time to sand.

The last 16' stripper I built, was with mostly 8' strips. Often making two splices on one side, to make a course..
Though splicing isn't fun, it works .

Are you going stemless, or building with stems ?

Jim

Thanks for the response Jim

I am going to put wheels under the strong back, I bought threaded casters so im able to adjust the height to make things level. The flanged T-nuts I ordered from amazon are taking forever to arrive, the local hardwares and Canadian tire wants $11 for each nut and Amazon was a fraction of that price.

I may end up splicing strips on a future build, but want my first build to be a little easier. That is also why I'm going stemless for this build. I'll most likely do stems on my next build.

Travis

 

[Jim Dodd]

Yes ! Working with full length strips, is the way to go.
I'm guessing you are going to hand bevel your strips. The hull design, you chose should make it easier, as there is little, to no tumblehome.
A good choice for your first build .

Good move with the casters.
You have a great start !

Jim

 

[Gamma1214]

Wow. Awesome shop & looks neat as a pin (unlike mine lol). Looking forward to watching your progress.

 

[stripperguy]

Wow, that shop does look great. Although I have a large garage/workshop, it has to share space with endless Jeep projects and lawn equipment, I'm envious!!
I like your outfeed table. I also used to use a workmate as an infeed support.
I'll bet you're glad you sheetrocked the entire space.

Those recurve stems are gonna look very classy.
Jim asked about beveled strips, maybe you plan to do bead and cove?
Looking forward to see your progress.
That first build is always a head trip, in a good way.

 

[TravisH]

Yes ! Working with full length strips, is the way to go.
I'm guessing you are going to hand bevel your strips. The hull design, you chose should make it easier, as there is little, to no tumblehome.
A good choice for your first build .

Good move with the casters.
You have a great start !

Jim

I am using the bead and cove, figured that was the easiest way. I bought 1/4" bits, however I found that it was leaving a tiny lip on my strips. So I purchased 5/16" bead and cove, which seems to have fix my issue. I'm assuming all my strips that i ripped must have been a hair over 1/4".

Travis

 

[TravisH]

Wow, that shop does look great. Although I have a large garage/workshop, it has to share space with endless Jeep projects and lawn equipment, I'm envious!!
I like your outfeed table. I also used to use a workmate as an infeed support.
I'll bet you're glad you sheetrocked the entire space.

Those recurve stems are gonna look very classy.
Jim asked about beveled strips, maybe you plan to do bead and cove?
Looking forward to see your progress.
That first build is always a head trip, in a good way.

Thanks for the response,

I also have a single car garage apart from this shop, so that helps in keeping the shop uncluttered. Mind you, the wife keeps suggesting more and more things to store in the shop.

I'm still working on the sheetrock, im a little hesitant to completely finish it off. Being a new shop and just starting out, I know I will want to move equipment and probably electrical plugs at some point. So I'd like to leave some sheetrock off so I'm able to run new electrical plugs if needed.

And if you see my response to Jim, I am using the bead and cove bits.

Cheers

 

[Jim Dodd]

Thicker strips creates a problem with bead and cove, for sure.
Your solution should work,
How did you cut your strips ?
After well over 30 strippers, I found a Skilsaw, and simple fence produces very uniform thickness.
Skilsaw set up.
Another link by Cruiser, to setting up a Skilsaw to cut strips.
Skilsaw primer

Jim

 

[TravisH]

Thicker strips creates a problem with bead and cove, for sure.
Your solution should work,
How did you cut your strips ?
After well over 30 strippers, I found a Skilsaw, and simple fence produces very uniform thickness.
Skilsaw set up.
Another link by Cruiser, to setting up a Skilsaw to cut strips.
Skilsaw primer

Jim

I went and purchased a bandsaw in hopes of having less wood waste because of its thin blade, however it was a disaster when I tried ripping my first board. I have next to no experience with bandsaws. So I'm sure that's the reason behind the failure.
I ended up using the tablesaw, which seemed to work pretty good but alot of waste. I never even considered a skilsaw. I do have a spare one I could setup for strips, and try it out.

Thanks for the links

Travis

 

[Cruiser]

I went and purchased a bandsaw in hopes of having less wood waste because of its thin blade, however it was a disaster when I tried ripping my first board. I have next to no experience with bandsaws. So I'm sure that's the reason behind the failure.
I ended up using the tablesaw, which seemed to work pretty good but alot of waste. I never even considered a skilsaw. I do have a spare one I could setup for strips, and try it out.

Thanks for the links

Travis

It's not just you with the band saw, regardless of how easy it sounds, you have to have a really well setup bandsaw and really know how to use to get decent strips .... and even with my limited experience I think it would be really slow going.

If you decide to try the skilsaw, I recommend you use a thin kerf similar to this : https://www.homedepot.ca/product/di...w-blade-for-wood-cutting/1000670229?rrec=true

If you look at the blade thickness, it is less than 1/16" ... once you get that thin, the one band saw advantage is pretty much gone and once you try the skilsaw method, I would be interested in you reporting back with your thoughts. Personally, I pretty much cut all myy strips with my skilsaw now.

Brian

 

[TravisH]

It's not just you with the band saw, regardless of how easy it sounds, you have to have a really well setup bandsaw and really know how to use to get decent strips .... and even with my limited experience I think it would be really slow going.

If you decide to try the skilsaw, I recommend you use a thin kerf similar to this : https://www.homedepot.ca/product/di...w-blade-for-wood-cutting/1000670229?rrec=true

If you look at the blade thickness, it is less than 1/16" ... once you get that thin, the one band saw advantage is pretty much gone and once you try the skilsaw method, I would be interested in you reporting back with your thoughts. Personally, I pretty much cut all myy strips with my skilsaw now.

Brian

You guys are giving me good arguments for the skilsaw, ill definitely give it a try. I have all the strips I need, so it will have to wait for the next canoe build.

Travis

 

[Gamma1214]

...I pretty much cut all my strips with my skilsaw now.

I'll echo that. I bolted a piece of angle to the shoe of my spare circular saw and it's now (semi-) permanently set up for 3/16 inch strips.

You're on the right track with the bead & cove bits IMO. I use 3/16 in strips & 1/4 in bead & cove bits.

 

[TravisH]

You're on the right track with the bead & cove bits IMO. I use 3/16 in strips & 1/4 in bead & cove bits

That's good to know, I thought having to go 1 size bigger was because I did something wrong.

What are the benefits of using 3/16 strips as opposed to 1/4 besides weight reduction of course?

 

[Cruiser]

Thinner strips are more flexible, lighter and arguably gives you more strips from a given piece of wood. You do take some loss in strength of the final composite, but IMO the standard 1/4" strip with 6 oz glass is already a bit of overkill in the suitability for task category and dropping to 3/16" is still fine.

Brian