Cedar Strip Canoe in process.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

I've been working on this for a few months.   As @BilletHead mentioned, this site is about so much more than fishing.  This does however have to do with fishing. 

 When I first stumbled on OAF,  I was looking for info on how to build a canoe.  Well, the plan to build one was put on hold, but I signed up.   Since then, we had a member, @woodman who really peaked my interest.   Just wasn't the right timing for me.  So, I am no longer in Scouts, after almost 30 continuous years.  Now I have some free time.  There is a joke amongst the leaders, as you are only asked for about an hour of time a week.  So, I have about an hour a week free now. Just for clarity, my son has really gotten into cross country, and Marching Band, so he decided to give up scouts as he is usually doing on or both of those on the weekends.  No scandals or disapproval of any policies.   Carring on, I decided now is a great time to give it a go.  

Cedar Strip Canoes are just that.  Strips of cedar stacked around a mold of wooden stations.   Then fiber glassed.  

I bought a good amount of locally harvested cedar.   Come to find out the cedar trees in MO, which are abundant near me, are not cedar at all.  They are Juniper trees.  The red aromatic cedar we all know and love is actually Juniper.   I learned that a little too late.  Luckily for me, a friend was doing some rehabbing of his porch, had some western red cedar, which is what is preferred for this type of canoe.  He invited me and the family over to have a fire, and planned to cut and burn the used boards.   I asked if I could have them instead of burning them.  He was happy to give them to me.  

I cut them down into 1/4 inch strips.  Then used a router to put a bead and cove on each strip.  This is similar to tongue and groove.  Now time to stack and glue each strip.   I gave myself the timeframe of about 1 year.  That was from choosing the plans and first launch.  Merlin by Northwest Canoe Company is what I decided on.

Here is a list of photos for those who like that sort of thing.  

The whole project starts with a table to hold the mold of the canoe.  The table is called a strong back . 

you may base the "table" to the right those are some of the boards I bought for the project, but Eastern Red Cedar is heavier than Western Red Cedar.  

 

The boards on the floor are the boards that were given to me by my friend.   They are what make up my strips. 

Each station is traced from the plans onto a 4x8 sheet of wood. And then cut out with a jig saw. Painter's tape is wrapped around each station to keep from gluing the strips to the station molds.  

You can never have too many clamps....  this statement has proven to be true many times in this project.   

I made a box to soak the strips to be bent into stems.  In the book Canoecraft, they say to use a bathtub.  Well, indonlike being married,  so instead I used some of the extra boards and created a box.  Lined it with painter's plastic drop cloth plastic sheets.  It worked great.  

well, you really want the stations to be square.  I used 10 lb. braid and a drop shot sinker to create a plumb bob. 

since my canoe is 16 feet long, and my boards are 9 feet and shorter,  I have to splice or scarf each level of strips. 

[MOPanfisher]

I swear I could smell cedar while reading.  Cool, way beyond my woodworking abilities but very cool.  Can't wait to see it finished.

[Johnsfolly]

Looks like a promising start buddy. Can't  wait to see how this project progresses.

[Quillback]

That's really neat.  Used to burn some western cedar when I had a wood stove.  Lightweight when it is dried.  Good wood for starting a fire, burns fast and hot.  Nice to have something light weight for a 16' canoe.

[BilletHead]

           Very Neat Daryk!

  I'm going to follow this close. Carry on and get er done 😀

[fishinwrench]

Cool project 👍 

My grandpa started a wood strip rowboat in his basement.  Framed with ash, and I'm not sure what kind of wood the strips were.  He worked on it sporadically, in spurts, and it took pretty much my whole childhood for him to complete it.   

Once it was finally done it looked really cool...... but then he discovered that he couldn't get it through the door that led outside.   So it was either chisel away 10"x40" of concrete foundation, or make a giant bookshelf out of it.   

A bookshelf it became. 🤷‍♂️ 😂

[ColdWaterFshr]

Looks like you're off to a great start.  My brother is about 3/4 done with his strip kayak.  Sanding and finishing stage is very time consuming.  Not sure I would have the patience.

[Lvn2Fish]

Awesome post ! Will definitely be following along 

[fishinwrench]

12 hours ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

Looks like you're off to a great start.  My brother is about 3/4 done with his strip kayak.  Sanding and finishing stage is very time consuming.  Not sure I would have the patience.

Dude, that's beautiful !   👍

[Gavin]

Great project! I'm looking forward to pictures of your progress.