Canoe building
Canoe Building Links













Home | Canoe Building Sequence | Current State of Canoe | Full Thumbnail Sequence | Canoe Building Links





Wood strip canoe building links:

I'm building a BWCA cruiser based on Minnesota Canoe Association plans: http://www.canoe-kayak.org/pages/plans.html

http://www.michneboat.com/Builder's%20Corner.htm A particularly useful site with lots of specific details and instructions, particularly for stem bending and strip scarfing. Shows the full sequence for making a Wee Lassie II.

Very useful builder's forum:
http://www.bearmountainboats.com/phpbb2/index.php

Various people's photos showing the sequence of making a canoe:
http://www.almechd.de/almechd/paddling/bobs_index.html Shows photos of most of the process.  Good detail.
http://www.aracnet.com/~ncglad/canoeentry.htm Another fairly complete sequence.
http://www.greenval.com/builders_notes.html Lots of tips, including details of a removable yoke. Also good links from site.
http://www.laughingloon.com/shop.tips.html Stripping tips: make them thin, used heat to bend, white cedar bends better. Good links.  Lots of stuff  other than shop tips.  See his plan for the Solo Portage 14' 6" long, 30"  wide, 10-1/2" deep at center, 18" high at stems, weight 30 lb!
http://www.laughingloon.com/solo.port.html  He has a book with a lot of photos and building tips for light weight construction.  


Chesapeake shop tips:
http://www.clcboats.com/shoptips/index.php/cart_id=832a3323dd14deae2d1f1d08e9948b52/

http://homepage.mac.com/ropegun/Canoe/Menu20.html Note: this link is not functional. It's left here in case I find it elsewhere. Pictures without much text, showing the process except fiberglassing. (Horror story fiberglassing, eventually with a happy ending.)

Pictures of canoe, not so detailed of process:
http://groups.msn.com/Buildingstripcanoes/shoebox.msnw No inner or outer stems.

Removeable yoke:
http://groups.msn.com/CanoesKayaks/minniemiss.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=98

Another forum:
http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi?review=84982 Points to discussion of USComposites epoxy.

Info on materials:
http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/Epoxtest.htm epoxy test. See related stuff there, like:
http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/Abrasion.htm#eglassanch
http://johnrsweet.com/Fabric.html More glass cloth info. Cloth must be treated for epoxy adhesion, and they like silane treatment better than volan (Cr). Also a supplier.  They have the best price on non-volan cloth, that I've found.  I used their 3733.
http://www.bgf.com BGF makes LOTS of types of fiberglass. Identify them here.  Also read the epoxy book, downloadable from:
http://www.systemthree.com
http://www.advantagecomposites.com/catalog/default.php best prices on system 3 stuff. Note: This link no longer works, but I've left it here to remind me to look for it.
http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/

Weaving seats:
http://www.hhperkins.com/hhperkins/servlet/catalog?action=getcat&parent=8 H H Perkins sells all the caning supplies. I used the plastic cane this link points to.
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~vista/html_pubs/weave/weave.html Here is a description of the process of weaving a cane seat.
http://krypton.mnsu.edu/~wayne/Caning/ChairCaning.htm And here is another description.


Estimate Boat weight:
http://www.greenval.com/weight.html

Suppliers:
System 3 above.  I used their clear coat epoxy for glass wet out.  This epoxy is very clear, colorless, and non-viscous.  It is applied easily with just a roller, does not need squeegeeing, and hardens slowly.  For filling the weave, I used System 3 SB-112 resin, which is fairly colorless and clear, but noticeably yellow compared to the clear coat.  Both are clearer and less colored than anything tested in the epoxy test.  SB-112 is very viscous and hardens fairly quickly.  It can not be applied by roller: it's poured on, squeegeed, and smoothed with a dry foam brush.  One coat was enough to fill the weave.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com carry everything, including bronze screws and carriage bolts.
http://www.noahsmarine.com/United_States/united_states.html also carry lots of stuff.  5.9 oz volan treated cloth 60" wide is $4.90/yd. 

http://www.mertons.com also carry lots of stuff.  Good prices.

http://www.mcfeelys.com square drive screws. SS or bronze. Probably want narrow shank, not the marine type of bronze screws carried by jamestown.
http://www.screw-products.com torx drive ss screws.

http://www.raka.com/ Good epoxy, cheaper than most.  Raka came out looking best in the epoxy test, cited above.  Also carries cloth, etc. including 5 oz cloth said to be stronger than 6 oz, but not expensive like type s.
http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html Best prices for epoxy resin (about half of next lowest price). The slow hardner does not blush, but medium does (and they require different mixing ratios). See for discussion link:
http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi?review=84982

http://www.northwestcanoe.com carries books, supplies, complete building kits, etc.  Get 6" long 10/24 bolts for hanging seats.  Al Gustavson book cited as describing stemless construction.   Caned seats for about the cost of the cane.  Very knowlegeable and helpful.

Lists of links:
http://www.newfound.com/links.htm

Books I've found useful (available at amazon.com or websites cited above):

Canocraft    Moores  Lavishly illustrated, clear and complete.   A good book, but it's useful to read others too, to see alternatives.

Building a strip canoe  Gilpatrick        Stemless construction (actually stronger than with a wood stem).  The author has taught many high school students to build these canoes, so he knows what needs to be taught.  Includes instructions for weaving cane seats.

Laughing Loon Building Plans  Macks  Lightweight construction described in great detail.  He customizes the book to match the canoe plans you are interested in.

The canoe building book  MCA  Concise (53 pp.) but quite clear.  While there's less detail than many of the others, there's also less work involved in making the canoe if you do it their way.