A Quick Photo Tour of Canoe Construction
by David Hazen, author of The Stripper's Guide to Canoe-building
by David Hazen, author of The Stripper's Guide to Canoe-building
Alot of planning and preparation must be done before any actual construction occurs. After choosing a hull-shape design, you can calculate the quantity of flat-grain lumber to buy, and rip it into the vertical-grain strips (right), or buy the strips already cut.
Then trace out and cut the plywood forms (on the left) and get ready to assemble the 2x6's for the strongback (center). The fiberglass and resin are not shown.
The strongback and forms are assembled into a jig, having been aligned with a taut string, a level and a square. The edges of the plywood forms are covered with masking tape to prevent glue adhering to them.
The strips are stapled to the forms with a staple gun loaded with long-legged staples; and after glue is applied to the edge of the first strip, the strips are also stapled to each other with a second staple gun containing short-legged staples.
The strips run out past the stems and are trimmed after the two sides of the canoe are completed.
Stripping is completed, and the next step is to pull all the staples and to begin careful sanding with disc and orbital sanders. See how the bottom strips run parallel to the keel, and join the side strips at a long, curving line. This boat was built by carefully whittling each individual bottom strip to fit into the side.
However, it is more efficient to build the bottom first, oversized, mark the join line with a long strip of wood bent to the correct curvature, and cut the line with a sabre-saw.
After draping fiberglass cloth over the boat, epoxy resin is applied in several small batches with rollers and squeegees, and extra strips of cloth are wrapped around the stem. The resin makes the cloth transparent. When the resin hardens, adhering the cloth to the wood, the hull becomes a single structural unit.
Additional coats of resin are applied to fill in the texture of the cloth for streamlining, and to protect the cloth from being cut by abrasion on rocks. The boat is now ready for more sanding (fun!) with disc and orbital sanders, since the surface of the resin is bumpy.
Here the exterior of the boat has been sanded, and the hull has just been removed from the jig. The next step is to mark the sheer line and cut it with a sabre-saw. A cradle must be made to hold the boat high enough for a good working height.
Then the fun really begins as one dons goggles, respirator, ear plugs, dust cap, and coveralls for the sanding of the interior of the boat. With a little careful practice, it is possible to use a disc sander fitted with a soft rubber back-up plate to smooth the concave surface of the interior.
The interior is smooth and ready for fiberglass. The cloth is draped inside and clipped to the sheer line. Only one coat of resin is used on the interior, since the texture of the cloth does not need to be filled.
This layer of cloth completes the fiberglass-wood-fiberglass sandwich, making the hull rigid and lightweight. Flotation chambers are added by making teardrop-shaped panels that seal air into the bow and stern.
The ash gunnels stiffen the edge of the canoe and provide a firm anchor for thwarts. This gunnel is being epoxied and doweled onto the boat, which makes it very strong.
Usually, the hardwoods are not available in 18' boards, so outwales have to be scarfed-jointed together from two pieces. The inwale can be a soft wood, and flat-head brass screws work nicely if you can't get alot of C-clamps to do the gluing.
Finally, the gunnels are complete and sanded, the thwarts are installed. The two center thwarts are portage thwarts. The hull is now completely rigid.
Installing the seats, finish sanding, and varnishing are all that is left. The exterior of the boat can be decorated with sign-painter's enamel before it is varnished.
The Stripper's Guide to Canoe-building by David Hazen is available from:
Copyright 1998, David Hazen. You may download, store, or print a single copy of this page for your personal information. No part of this material may be reproduced, stored or transmitted for personal gain.
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