ScottE Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 I got a serious hankering to build another canoe over the winter. Since I already have a wood tandem boat that I made some years back I decided to build a solo canoe this time. The design is the Northwest Passage Solo and it's 15' long. Instead of the usual western red cedar, I built this one out of basswood. I wrote an article about how I built the boat on my Furniture Blog if you want to check it out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 If I built anything that beautiful I would have trouble dragging it up on a rocky beach. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Agree with Chip! Beautiful canoe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmykx250 Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 That thing would be hanging in my living room!!! Really nice work. You should be very proud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Never seen a basswood canoe before, lovely boat. I have been mulling over starting one with a no-staples method, probably a Prospector hull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 21, 2014 Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 Awesome. Want to do a boat sometime, but scared to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Melton Posted March 21, 2014 Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 Your article on the build process is awesome, A strip canoe is definitely on the bucket list for me. What lengths were the strips you used? Did you use anything special to mill all of those coves and bull noses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted March 21, 2014 Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 I grew up around boats. A wood lined hole in the water into which you pour money ( or labor ) ! That is one of the nicest lined holes I have seen in quite a while ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottE Posted March 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 If I built anything that beautiful I would have trouble dragging it up on a rocky beach. I definitely carry it up on rocky beaches, but I keep in mind the words of the guy I bought my first set of boat plans from. I had called him around the time I was spraying on my last coat of varnish and he said "great, now the last thing you need to do is get yourself a 16d nail and go at the bottom with it! Ya just gotta get over that." I use the boat and it gets some scratches. I've never had someone come up to me and say 'nice boat, too bad about the scratches'. I used 8' strips for the boat, but I was careful to keep strips from the same plank together so that I had a nice color match at the butt joints. You can see the joints if you really look for them, but if you just look at the boat you never see them. As for the cove and bead, I made a little jig with 2 routers on it (one with the coving bitt and the other with the bead). They were offset by the width of the strip. Then I stuffed the strips through the jig and it did both sides at once. Worked pretty slick. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Ever try the 'stitch and glue' method with thin plywood? I'm interested in a boat for utility more than appearance, and that seems like a simple and less expensive method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottE Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 I built a Six Hour Canoe once. It isn't technically stitch & glue, but it's almost like that. It is quick. Strip building is really utilitarian although I'll admit you could throw a boat together pretty fast with S&G. Faster than strip building. What ever floats your boat, as they say. It's all fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Fast to build, light, and stable is what I'm after. More of a garvey or jon boat than a canoe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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