I want a canoe. I want one really badly. New, it's going to run me $400 or more. Used, well, I just don't like Craig's List and haven't found any other listings in my area. So what's a boy to do? Build one!!!
There is no shortage of guidelines and tips and hints and clues and allusions to canoes out there in internet-world. What I had trouble with was finding step-by-step instructions. Every time I got close, the search results would morph into kayaks. There are several well-written guides right here on Instructables, and out in the Wild Unknown Internet you can find a lot of generalities or opportunities to buy plans, but none of them gave me the info or product I wanted at a price I would pay ($0, for the record).
So anyway, I decided that I would study the guidelines and tips and hints and clues and allusions to canoes and build one. Options are several: Skin-on-frame, plywood stitch and glue, strip planking. Right off, strip planking is out. Complex, demands skills I don't have, and would likely cost much more than the $400 of a new fiberglass unit unless I used plywood strips. Plywood stitch and glue gives you a durable, serviceable unit, but requires epoxy and fiberglass and the results are ugly as hell. A skin-on-frame is comparatively simple, very cheap and can give you a gorgeous boat. Besides, if it was good enough for the warplanes of WWI, it's good enough to float around the local flood control lakes.
Sites that inspired or informed me on this project:
http://ecketrailmates.org/event_files/colorado-canoe-trip/dimensions-tips.htm
http://www.dimensionsguide.com/canoe-dimensions/
http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/canoe+paddle.html
http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/canoe2.htm (This one in particular - the finished product is GORGEOUS !)
http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=g2UUAAAAYAAJ
Read on if you would like to hear the tale of my trials and tribulations as I strive to build my own canoe for less than the cost of a new unit!
There is no shortage of guidelines and tips and hints and clues and allusions to canoes out there in internet-world. What I had trouble with was finding step-by-step instructions. Every time I got close, the search results would morph into kayaks. There are several well-written guides right here on Instructables, and out in the Wild Unknown Internet you can find a lot of generalities or opportunities to buy plans, but none of them gave me the info or product I wanted at a price I would pay ($0, for the record).
So anyway, I decided that I would study the guidelines and tips and hints and clues and allusions to canoes and build one. Options are several: Skin-on-frame, plywood stitch and glue, strip planking. Right off, strip planking is out. Complex, demands skills I don't have, and would likely cost much more than the $400 of a new fiberglass unit unless I used plywood strips. Plywood stitch and glue gives you a durable, serviceable unit, but requires epoxy and fiberglass and the results are ugly as hell. A skin-on-frame is comparatively simple, very cheap and can give you a gorgeous boat. Besides, if it was good enough for the warplanes of WWI, it's good enough to float around the local flood control lakes.
Sites that inspired or informed me on this project:
http://ecketrailmates.org/event_files/colorado-canoe-trip/dimensions-tips.htm
http://www.dimensionsguide.com/canoe-dimensions/
http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/canoe+paddle.html
http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/canoe2.htm (This one in particular - the finished product is GORGEOUS !)
http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=g2UUAAAAYAAJ
Read on if you would like to hear the tale of my trials and tribulations as I strive to build my own canoe for less than the cost of a new unit!
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Signing UpStep 1: A false start.
After dreaming of this for some years, I finally put my foot down and decided to do it. I had been reading what I could find and had some general ideas as to size and construction method in mind. From this vague mental image I developed my take-offs and got together a materials list. I met up with my long-suffering cohort, Bob, and we headed to the big-box home improvement warehouse.
Most of my sources show frames with many ribs, all different sizes, all steam bent, all beyond my skills and patience. My plan was to buy regular 2x dimensional lumber and rip the parts I would need to frame the canoe with multiple stringers over a few frames. My "research" suggested that this is a common method in kayak construction, and since it looks simpler than 20-30 unique ribs, that's what I would do.
I knew I wanted a 16' canoe, so I needed 16' stock. 2 x 12 boards come from larger, older trees and so I expect that the grain will be less susceptible to splitting. My plan was to cut gunwales as .5" x 1.5" slices from the edge of the board, then the keel would be a 1.5" x 1.5" slice. After that, stringers would all be .5" x .5" strips. I still didn't know how many I would need, or how many useful parts I could get from a single 2 x 12. So we bought 2.
For the stems and a center frame, I used .75" plywood. Thick, strong, easy to cut curves - just the thing. We grabbed a 4' x 8' sheet and had the staff cut it in half for us.
Next came wood screws and tacks. Common and easy to find anywhere.
Fabric came from fabric.com. 6 yards of 60" wide 10 oz cotton canvas ran about $40, shipped. I checked first to be sure they wouldn't send me 6 1-yard pieces as I can't sew well enough to put them all back together. Delivered on time, as ordered, and ready for action.
We headed back to the house with our 16' boards resting comfortably on some pool noodles ($1.50 at Biggs) protecting the roof of the van. Once there we set up the backyard boatyard and started hacking away at the wood.
We still had no real concept of the dimensions we would need for the various parts, but decided somewhat arbitrarily that the sides would be 18" high and the stems would be 24" to give the ends that up-swept look. I took a minute to look up some basic sizes and found that a 16' canoe has 12"-13" sides. That seemed shallow to us, so we bumped it up to 18". More is better, right? A quick spin on Google SketchUp and we had our stem shapes. We cut out 4 and doubled them for each end, giving us parts that were 1.5" thick to secure the ends of the stringers and fabric to.
By the time we got to this point we were exhausted. True to form, I didn't start the project until summer hit it's stride and we were working in a heat index that hovered right around 100F. Too damn hot! We had the stems cut out and secured to the keel, the gunwales were cut out and secured to the stems, and the center frame was in place. The whole assembly was upside down on my sawhorses in the shady part of the yard and ready for more.
Most of my sources show frames with many ribs, all different sizes, all steam bent, all beyond my skills and patience. My plan was to buy regular 2x dimensional lumber and rip the parts I would need to frame the canoe with multiple stringers over a few frames. My "research" suggested that this is a common method in kayak construction, and since it looks simpler than 20-30 unique ribs, that's what I would do.
I knew I wanted a 16' canoe, so I needed 16' stock. 2 x 12 boards come from larger, older trees and so I expect that the grain will be less susceptible to splitting. My plan was to cut gunwales as .5" x 1.5" slices from the edge of the board, then the keel would be a 1.5" x 1.5" slice. After that, stringers would all be .5" x .5" strips. I still didn't know how many I would need, or how many useful parts I could get from a single 2 x 12. So we bought 2.
For the stems and a center frame, I used .75" plywood. Thick, strong, easy to cut curves - just the thing. We grabbed a 4' x 8' sheet and had the staff cut it in half for us.
Next came wood screws and tacks. Common and easy to find anywhere.
Fabric came from fabric.com. 6 yards of 60" wide 10 oz cotton canvas ran about $40, shipped. I checked first to be sure they wouldn't send me 6 1-yard pieces as I can't sew well enough to put them all back together. Delivered on time, as ordered, and ready for action.
We headed back to the house with our 16' boards resting comfortably on some pool noodles ($1.50 at Biggs) protecting the roof of the van. Once there we set up the backyard boatyard and started hacking away at the wood.
We still had no real concept of the dimensions we would need for the various parts, but decided somewhat arbitrarily that the sides would be 18" high and the stems would be 24" to give the ends that up-swept look. I took a minute to look up some basic sizes and found that a 16' canoe has 12"-13" sides. That seemed shallow to us, so we bumped it up to 18". More is better, right? A quick spin on Google SketchUp and we had our stem shapes. We cut out 4 and doubled them for each end, giving us parts that were 1.5" thick to secure the ends of the stringers and fabric to.
By the time we got to this point we were exhausted. True to form, I didn't start the project until summer hit it's stride and we were working in a heat index that hovered right around 100F. Too damn hot! We had the stems cut out and secured to the keel, the gunwales were cut out and secured to the stems, and the center frame was in place. The whole assembly was upside down on my sawhorses in the shady part of the yard and ready for more.
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When you car top put 2 straps one to each end of the bumper so the canoe doesn't shift laterally. A proper roof rack is a better idea. Stopping in a hurry is inclined to end up with the canoe on the bonnet - Don't ask!
Wetting the fabric and if possible placing on the frame corner to corner will allow you to pull most of the wrinkles out - Cotton cloth will shrink as it dries and tighten - Nylon doesn't. If you can get Polyester (Dacron) it can be heat shrunk somewhat with a hot air gun. see aerolight boats link.
Strong back is essential if you want the canoe to be straight. As a construction medium you might have been better off using plywood. Either wet bending 1/4 inch (9 mm) or dry bending 2 layers of 6mm ply ( a stronger option when the 2 layers are glued together.) The aerolight construction can be done this way producing a light strong result.
Monokote sells a really nice iron, as do most of their competitors. Just browse through any hobby website for covering materials and accessories, and you should see one or two of these irons.
There's also a myth about hair dryers not being hot enough (at least for model work) and that's not correct. You do need to let them warm up a bit, but I've covered quite a few wings by tacking down the covering material (Fabric or film) at the leading and trailing edges, and then using a hair dryer to pull it tight. I might be a bit more skilled at avoiding burn-through, but I have seen another modeler blow a hole clean through his covering material with an actual "hot air gun" - looked up for a second, and *fwoomp rattle rattle* - hole opened up in the side of his plane about the diameter of the heat gun tip.
I do agree with the iron bit, though - on big flat faces, or following really tight curves, the shrink is smooth, even, and amazingly fast with the iron, and you don't worry about over-heating since the iron has a temp control on it.
Good luck with your future endeavours - I look forward to the instructables!
I hadn't thought about going corner-to-corner with the fabric. I'll try that on the next round. The cotton shrank nicely though, and except for the weight I'm pretty happy with that. I did see one where the builder used a white synthetic and whatever he sealed it with made it nearly transparent - that looked pretty cool!
I might try plywood, but cutting the strips will be a challenge with a bench saw. I would probably waste an inordinate amount of wood.
I'll definitely check out your links! Thanks.
Wade
Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a synthetic... but you can throw it on, stitch it to the rails (gunnels?) and then hit it with a hair dryer to tighten it up. Polyester naturally shrinks with the application of heat - Monokote plastic film for covering airplanes is actually just polyester film - nothing special except the heat sensitive adhesive on the back.
The only hitch is, with the thinner/lighter stuff, you may want to lay a strip down on your frame members, just tacked in place with some glue, and then cover the whole frame with the cloth, so as to avoid the sharp edges of the frame bits rubbing through the fabric.
There are a variety of waterproofing materials to paint on afterward, but a good quality nitrocellulose dope (ridiculously combustible) or a clear acrylic would let you stitch your design features on, and you can get the fabric in the color you like - so the coating is only for waterproofing, not for color.
I already have an aluminum canoe, but I can see building my own floats for my upcoming kitplane project.
I especially like the rolling outfeed table. Is that by Tonka?
And to Rick, just went to your instructable to check out the links. Thanks for all the resources.
-Aaron
I have been looking at cedarstrip conoes, but this almost two good to pass up.
What is the approx load capacity? And how many hours of construction time?
Build time was not tracked, but I spent roughly 2 months of random evenings and weekends working on it. Most of the time I only got an hour or two at a time before the mosquitos drove me into the house.
I want to do another one, this time with a deadline of 20 June, but the weather has not allowed me to get started. I don't think I will be able to get it finished and inspected in time for the event it is intended for. I also intend to use plywood as suggested by Rick Harris, below.