Canoe Building

Now that the boat is complete I thought I’d put together a dedicated photo diary since the individual posts are now in reverse order and hard to scroll through.  I started the form in late July and completed it two months later in late September.  The hull was completed in November, canvas and filler accomplished just prior to Christmas to take advantage of the holiday break since the filler needed to cure for several weeks prior to paint.  Outer rails were milled and installed in early February and then we commenced painting.  Varnishing stage began mid February and I finished up in early March with the stem bands and rail caps.  Now that I have the form and some experience I feel confident I could complete a boat using evenings and weekends in 8-10 weeks – there were some rather large gaps in the November – March project.

Inspiration:

One of my mentors, Ken Wetmore of New Limerick, Maine, built this boat for our Maine camp about 10 years ago.  It’s a 17′ boat that Ken based on a White design.  Before you get upset with me, Ken covers his canoes in fiberglass/resin so she stands up to the gravel without a problem.  He’s been building a few every winter since before I was born.  I helped him with a little 14′ solo canoe this past summer that I think he managed to hang onto.  There’s no telling how many he’s built over the years and he finally managed to keep one for himself.  I hope I don’t have that problem!

This is the old Gerrish that planted the bug many years ago.  I grew up in this boat not knowing what she was: a Gerrish rowing canoe probably built between 1905 and 1910.  She was at least 18′, leaked, and weighed a ton.  My mother was deathly afraid of the sailing rig after stories her father told of capsizing on the opposite side of the lake.  If there was more than a wisp of a breeze the rig stayed in the boathouse.  I don’t know what has become of the canoe – I donated it to a museum not knowing the curator was a crook.  The museum went belly up years ago and the collection of small craft disappeared.  Maybe someone took her home and restored her.

Here we go, starting with the form:

Station molds attached to the 2×6.

3/4 x 3/4 rib-bands being attached to the station molds.

The twist becomes too much toward the ends so the bands are stopped short and blocks glued in.

Chisels, draw knife, and plane are used to fair the blocks to shape.

Rail backers are screwed into the slots in the station molds. The compound curves toward the ends require steaming so we break out the turkey fryer, some heater hose, and a PVC pipe. If I do another form in the future I’ll bend the rail backers on a jig prior to installing them on the form.

20 gauge galvanized sheet metal bands are installed. These will turn the points of the tacks used to fasten the planking to the ribs.

The slots left at the ends are for the stems of the actual canoe.

With the stems and inner rails attached to the form we’re set to bend on ribs. The ribs are pre-soaked and then”cooked” in the steam box. With the strongback bolted from stem to stem, we slide one rib at a time under the strongback and nail each end into the inner rail using bronze ring nails. This stage goes surprisingly fast – I had all the ribs fastened in one afternoon.

Using a fairing block (large sanding block) and a section of planking stock to check for high spots, the entire hull is gone over carefully. Any errors here will reappear quite painfully later on when you can’t correct them.

Planking begins. To avoid bolt holes, remove the bolts from the strongback, slide it to one side of center, and brace it against the overhead. Once you get a few planks set, reset the strongback on top of the planking so you can run the other side. The purpose of the strongback during the planking stage is to keep the hull tight against the form so the tacks will hit the metal and clinch.

Only the garboard planks (first run either side of centerline) are fastened to the stems. The rest are left free otherwise the hull become trapped on the form.

Remove the clamps that fastened the inner rails to the form and carefully work the hull free and turn it over. The remaining planking will be done off the form using a clinching iron to turn the tacks.

Pulling the hull off the form reveals the inner beauty that’s been hiding.

Rather than force the planks to lay against each other I let them curve naturally to the stem…

…and fill the gaps with long wedges of scrap cedar.

Detail of goring and butt joints.

Same section from the inside.

Clinching every tack to make sure we don’t end up with any heads poking up.

The small hammer and clinching iron used to go over the entire hull.

Wetting her down with hot water to swell the hammer marks.

Rigging for canvas.  Good thing I decided on Rollin’s 15′ design and not the 17.5′.

Ease off tension and stuff her in.

Take up slack and brace against the overhead to keep the hull from riding up.

Start at the center and work toward the ends pulling and tacking at each rib until you get to the cant ribs.

Then you cut her loose (leave several inches beyond the stems to work with) and do the ends.

Slit along the stem, butter the stem with bedding compound, and pull/tack one side.

Followed by more compound and the other side.  Ideally you want your tack line to be slightly offset so that the edge of the canvas is eventually covered by the stem band.

Tack the last couple of ribs.  You may have to pull the last few tacks you did while the hull was in the stretched canvas in order to ease the pull of the material.

All smooth.

Now for the filler.

In 3′ sections, work the initial coat into the weave with a short brush.  It will dry almost immediately.  Brush on a second coat and start rubbing it in using a canvas mitt.  Keep rubbing it in until it’s nice and smooth.  It will likely take a 3rd light coat and more rubbing to get the desired look.  Once you get a section the way you want it, move down and start all over!

The seams at the ends take several more coats before the raw edge of the canvas disappears.

Several weeks later once the filler has cured out it’s time to install the outer rails.  In this case, mahogany.  I followed Rollin’s method of relying on the paint to help seal the joint between the rail and hull.  I could have painted the hull and then installed the rails.

Lots of clamps to keep every thing lined up.

Time for paint…

Endeavour Blue marine enamel.

Varnish really makes the interior pop.

Second coat (I did a total of three).

Bedding compound goes under the stem band and in the screw holes.  You may need a little something to steady the nerves as you drill holes in the beautiful hull you worked so hard on for months.

I carried my rails beyond the stem in order to trap the end of the stem in a modified mortise/tenon joint.  This meant I couldn’t wrap the stem bands up onto the decks so I used Rollin’s trick of a copper cap hammered up over the ends to protect the tips.  Again, bedding compound underneath to seal out water.

Finished!

Floating!

And finally working moving water with a pole.

Resources:
Professional builder and designer of the Cheemaun 15′ canoe: Rollin Thurlow http://www.wooden-canoes.com/ Also co-author of “The Wood & Canvas Canoe”.  Another good reference book is “Building the Maine Guide Canoe” by Jerry Stelmok, Rollin’s old partner.  Both are available through Rollin’s website or Amazon.

A good local source for books, paddles, canoe parts is Alabama Small Boats.  They share retail space with Mountain High Outfitters in Cahaba Village Plaza off 280 in Mountain Brook.  http://www.alsmallboats.com/

Supplier of all things related to wooden canoes: http://www.shawandtenney.com/index.php

Supplier of marine hardware for traditional boatbuilding: http://www.jamestowndistributors.com

Posts detailing the entire construction process are available on my blog: http://www.steveambrose.net/woodshed/category/the-canoe/

Tools you won’t find at the big box retailers, Woodcraft in Pelham: http://www.woodcraft.com/stores/store.aspx?id=511

Wood you won’t find at the big box retailers, Hardwoods of Alabama in Alabaster: http://www.hardwoodweb.com/distribution/hia.cfm

For those interested in a working vacation in Maine, classes are available through Rollin and http://www.thewoodenboatschool.com/

More info on wooden canoes of all types: http://www.wcha.org/index.php

Index of builders/suppliers (all types, not just wood/canvas) http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply/