I’m starting another canoe project. This time I am building two identical solo canoes. However, one will be all white cedar and the other will be all dark western red cedar.

This project might drag out a while but I would like to have them done by the end of the year.

I am building the Merlin.
15’-6” long
26” at the gunwales
29” at the waterline
3/4” rocker
40#

I have a lot of work ahead of me but I am chipping away each day.


I pulled out my forms and started getting them set up on my new strongback. I built the strongback as a long rectangular box with baffles inside. A strongback like this is perfectly straight, square and level.

This weekend I steamed some strips of cedar to make the stem pieces. I bend the inside and outer stem on top of each other.

-Tom

I’ve been busy every day working on the canoes. I ran into a snag when I made an intricate accent strip for them and didn’t like it- it’s too tall. The finished strip was a bought 1 1/3” tall and looks out of place on a solo. Therefore I am rebuilding them and will show pictures when they are done. I can’t do much on the canoe until they are done.

I’ve been cutting strips this past week. I’m cutting white cedar on the band saw in the following pictures.






After I had all the white cedar and red cedar cut, I ran them through my drum sander to get them just right. Finally I ran them again through a router jig to put a bead and cove on them

If you would have cut your strips with a Skilsaw, ( I learned from the Minnesota Canoe Asc.) you wouldn't need to do all that extra work !




https://www.canoetripping.net/threads/cutting-strips-with-a-skillsaw.75680/post-121010

I'm also building two at a time ! Only one is a Kevlar copy.
I'm starting with a shortened 38 Spl, (15'8"), and using that as a male mold, for the Kevlar copy.

Jim

Hey Jim,

Running them through my sander makes them smooth and cuts out a lot of rough sanding after the hull is done. I sand them down to120 grit.

I too am thinking of using one of the stripper I build as a mold for a Kevlar canoe so keep me posted on how it works.

With the 38 special is there any issue getting the Kevlar hull out of the plug with all the tumblehome or can you wiggle it out?
Tom

PS, I’m building the Merlin

This is my 6th Copy build. Three Kevlars, and three Carbon fiber/Kevlars.
There is no problem getting the hulls off the stripper mold, as long as you leave at least one end open. I leave the both open, but next time I will just leave the stern open. Then come back later, after it is off the stripper and close it.

My favorite technique, is to tape, a thick plastic over the football area, then use Partal ( Poly Vinyl Acetate) for the rest. I always worry about Partal leaving a residue, that might interfere with the Spar Varnish sticking to the hull. I would recommend varnishing first.
I build a cedar insert ( 1/8" thick) for the inside of the Kevlar.

Here is a link to one of my Copy builds. I've made my share of mistakes, but it's a fun ride !

The hull I used in this build is my combination of Bruce Kunz's Merlin ( top half) and Bob Brown's Pirate (bottom half), I call it Pearl.

Carbon/Kevlar Pearl copy

The Merlin would make a great hull to make a Kevlar copy !
The trick I use for tilting the strongback when building a stripper, also works great to keep the Kevlar tight to the stripper form.



Oh, the Kevlar copies come in about 15# lighter, than the stripper mold.

I haven’t had time to update my progress lately due to time constraints.
I finished the accent strips. They were made in one thick 8’ length then cut into 1/4” thick strips and blended together. In the end I had two 16’ strips. One for each side.

I’m building the canoe without staples for improved craftsmanship of the hull. I can add four strips at a time. Two on each side and I let the glue dry. Lots of clamps and straps keep the strips tight to each other and the forms.

Nice! How’d you do the diamonds? And is the white basswood or maple?

Here are the clamps I made up for holding Strips on a stapleless build. Easy to make, and they work great !









a link to how to make them. Inexpensive, compared to factory made ones on the market, that are similar.
Spring clamps for stripping.

Sorry bout the delay in responding. It’s been just so busy and I was also in the BWCA for a few days.

To make the accent strip with the diamonds. I am using Aspen for the white, it is the whitest wood I know of. The dark wood is heartwood western red cedar.

In the picture shown, the white wood is cut on the band saw. I make the pieces about 1.5” thick. The little diamonds are just cut pieces of cedar. I glue the diamonds to the white pieces and make a piece that totals about 8’ long. It is 1.5” thick. After I make this piece, I glue the thin pieces on either side of the first diamond strip. Then I cut the thick strip into four strips that are 1/4” thick and 8’ long. With the four strips I made I know have enough for a canoe. Two 8’ strips on each side.

I am making two different strips for two different canoes. The diamonds are white for one canoe and dark for another canoe coming next.


It’s really all just a lot of cutting little pieces and getting them to fit together just right.

Accent strips on a cedar strip canoe are always cool ! Yours will certainly fit the bill ! Yes, Aspen is the best I have found also. Looking forward to more !

I finished up the bottom of the hull and have the outer stems on.
Today I sanded the entire canoe down to 120 grit paper. I have a few little spots to fill with a dab of thickened epoxy and then tomorrow I glass.

Making great progress !
Looks fine !

Dang!!! Looks fantastic!

Looks great! I admire the fact that you're doing it staple-less too. It makes for such a nice finished look without all the tiny woodpecker holes. Never had the guts to pull the trigger on a build, but every time I see one of these builds it makes me reconsider.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments and ideas!
I glassed the canoe this past weekend without any issues. Three coats of Epoxy.

I’m a West System guy and know its behavior well and I trust it above all others. I mix by weight instead of volume so I don’t have to sit and pump, pump, pump.



I make about a 600 gram batch at a time and get it on the canoe in less than 15 minutes. This always allows plenty of time to apply it before it starts to set up. I like warm epoxy, about 75’ to 80’ since it flows out so well and cures a little faster. My shop space is allowed to slowly cool as the day goes on which is critical when doing the inside of the canoe. If the canoe is allowed to warm up after the epoxy is on, the expanding trapped air has nowhere to go except to bubble out of the epoxy making craters everywhere. A cooling canoe will not do that.
This is not much of an issue on the outside since there really is no trapped air yet.









For this boat I am using 6oz glass on the outside and 4oz on the inside. Only one coat of epoxy on the inside to keep weight down. Wait til you see the birds-eye maple I have for the trim. Oh man…

Finished weight of this canoe will be around 40 pounds. And remember, it’s full length white cedar. More rare than an honest politician.

Looking beautiful, tumblehome.

I glassed the inside this past weekend. I was going to only put on one coat of epoxy on the inside but I was unable to get a perfectly matte finish so I will put a second coat on which is plenty for the inside.

I am also starting on the second identical canoe except it will be all heartwood dark red cedar.

Looks great ! Making good time .

Do you add bias strips to the stems, for abrasion protection ?

Jim

1JimD: " Looks great ! Making good time .


Do you add bias strips to the stems, for abrasion protection ?


Jim"

Yup. Always!

Man I just love the white cedar look! Gorgeous!

I haven’t posted for a month but I’m in the shop every day.
I’ve been building the second hull and want to get it glassed on both sides then I can finish them both at the same time.

Today I finally glassed the outside. Hopefully I can glass the inside next weekend. When building a stripper, you don’t want to wait too long after getting the canoe off the forms before you finish the inside. The canoe can deform and even curl up like a leaf if you let them sit forever with just the outside glassed.



The first photo is before the glass and epoxy.


And the finished hull. I have two coats of epoxy on the canoe in the picture with one more coat coming.

Building the dark cedar canoe is a little more tricky. The dark wood shows imperfections in the glass layup and scratches from sandpaper more than light colored wood. Therefore I was extra careful with sanding it enough with progressively finer paper to get all the remaining scratches out.

When I glassed this canoe, I warmed up the shop to 80’ and also warmed up the epoxy to about the same temp. This made for thin, runny epoxy that flowed well into the glass to ensure perfect transparency. The pot life is reduced due to the warmer epoxy so I had to move swiftly to get each batch on the canoe in about 10 minutes.

Tom

For sure the dark cedar is risky. I built two canoes from some "chocolate" cedar stock. The first one turned out beautiful. People loved it and I soon got a request for a canoe made with similar, dark cedar. It ended up with a very slight milky cast. It would not have even been noticeable on a lighter wood, but it looked awful on the dark wood. I ended up building another for the customer, who agreed that a lighter color would be fine. I painted the outside of the milky hull a pretty blue. Amazingly the inside looked fine. I used up the dark cedar for accent strips.

I think your strategy with 80 degree shop and warm resin is a good one.

Hey Sedges,

As you know, the milky epoxy is either blush, or excessive trapped air.

I use the clear-coat hardener (West System 207) and brush on the epoxy with a 3” chip brush. I dip the brush in the epoxy and without wiping the excess off on the pot, I brush on the epoxy with just a few strokes and then LEAVE IT ALONE! I do not keep brushing the epoxy to try and force it into the weave. It will do this on its own in a minute or too. I squeegee off the excess after 30 minutes for the first coat only. This greatly increases the transparency of the glass.

I’m writing this for anyone following that might want to build a canoe.

Tom

My experience was from a long time ago, before WEST system had the 207 hardener. Epoxy systems are much better these days though I am still not comfortable with dark woods. The milky cast could also have been moisture/high humidity. My shop had marginal climate control in those days. I basically used your same method to wet out the glass.

Its is good for folks to understand why you don't run the brush over the edge of the pot. As it clears excess resin off the surface of the brush it also entrains air bubbles into the resin that runs back into the pot. Epoxy is thick enough that the air isn't released and ends up in your next brushful of resin. Very warm thin resin releases air better. I store my resin and hardener on a propagation mat that I turn on the night before glassing.

Heat is the Key to clear Epoxy,
You will find this, with any epoxy.
RAKA, MAS, or any other.

Jim

12-26-22

This past week I finished glassing the dark cedar hull so now both canoe hulls are complete. I am now starting on the gunwales and trim. When I”m not in the shop, I am able to work on caning the seats in the house.





The birdseye maple decks are installed first. I cut and fit them but install them basically unfinished. I wait until the gunwales are installed and then I sand everything into a seamless finish. I mark the screws I use on the inwales and decks so that when the outwales are installed I don’t end up drilling a hole into a screw already in place.

The gunwales and seats are made of black ash. It’s great wood for this part of the canoe. Black ash is relatively lightweight. Springy but strong. Not hard and brittle. The ash is full length wood with no splices. Whenever I can find long clear ash I will surely buy it.



I should have the trim finished on both canoes in a week. I still have a lot of sanding to do on the epoxied hulls but that is just arduous work with no creativity needed.

Getting close tofinishing though, thankfully!

I look forward to finishing the two canoes. My original plan was to be done by the first of the year. However, I am taking my time getting everything just right. I spend two or three hours a day in the shop so progress is happening.

Gunwales and decks are on both canoes. I still have hours of sanding the hull and gunwales. The screw holes in the gunwales are plugged with ash plugs I make on the drill press.

Seats are getting close. I got to watch the Viking lose to the Packers as I sat on the floor caning.

Finally, they are finished!

Whew, that took a long time. I finished up varnishing both canoes over the weekend. Three coats on each side with light sanding between coats.

Sanding the gunwales and decks to the finished state took forever as it always does. Not sure why but I spend hours getting them just right. I put a slight rounded top on the decks for aesthetics and it’s tough to get everything perfect.



I finished the birdseye maple decks off differently on each canoe. One canoe has the inwales going all the way to the ends and the other has them stopping at the end of the decks.




The hand-caned seats are the only way to go for a hand-made canoe. Very time consuming to make but worth the effort.


The dark canoe has a few more pounds on it than the lighter white cedar canoe. Both are in the 40 pound range. All the hardware is brass or bronze.
Both are going up for sale in the 3k range. On to my next project……
Tom

Beautiful. Worth every penny and then some!

Well that's some jaw-dropping canoeporn.

Tremendous work, Tom.

They look great Tom !

Congratulations !

Jim

Gorgeous! Phenomenal job!

I Think 3-dimensional decks add a lot to the canoe.

Between the two I prefer the inwales going all the way through instead of stopping at the decks.

Way to go!!