The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Congratulatons!! A truly beautiful boat. I know the work that went into it-I am just finishing up our Freedom 15 also-built the seat frames today and will hopefully install them tomorrow. I also would be interested in your weight/seat locations as well. I have another 15' boat that I measured and am...

I just checked out the book to get more info-look on page 117 and you will see the profiles of the inner stems at different areas of the stem as you progress from sheer to keel. It clearly shows that the back edge of the inner stems stay a full 3/4" in width throughout the stem. I did not shape...

I built a Freedom 15, so I assume that the bow and stern shapes at the stems are similar. I also used 3/4" plywood for the forms. I made my inner stem 3/4" wide and did not need to shape the mold(Both the mold and stem are equally 3/4" wide). the inner stem itself is the part that get...

I am finishing our freedom 15 and want to add a third seat for occasional solo paddling. Does anyone have a Freedom 15'3' solo and can tell me where the solo seat location is?? Or anyone have a good idea how to determine the correct location?? We have another 15' boat that has 3 seats, but like most...

Yes, I followed the sheer line on the forms with the first strip. the Freedom has a relatively flat sheer line, so it was easy to use the ash strip and let it conform to the required sheer profile. I used full length 1/4" strips with bead and cove routing. I am just finishing the deck plates an...

I 've read several posts lately that mentioned "capping"the gunwales by creating a rabbit in the outwale and letting it sit on top of the hull and join with the inwale. I thought this would look nice, but decided on a different system with the same appearance. I thought about it before sta...

You may get more strips if you use a narrow kerf rip blade. I used the one made by Freud . They have a model LU87R that depending on your blade size has a vey narrow kerf. I used a 10" blade and the kerf is listed as .094"(which is approximately 3/32"). The cuts were smooth and the wa...

I actually made the strongback bottom/base in 2 sections -each is 7 feet long. they are made so that the 3/4 plywood top is screwed to the base in 3 pieces so the middle piece of plywood bridges the gap between the two sections. This way, I can easily disassemble it for future use. I mounted it on 3...

I did call West System this morning. I talked with one of their Technical reps and he gave me some good advice. I wanted to make sure that I did things right this time, so I waited about an hour and called West systems again-talked to a different Tech rep and got esentially the same answer. good! th...

thanks for the replies- no, I did not use staples, so no holes there. After sanding, I vacuumed twice and wiped down with a clean t-shirt rag I went out late last night and sanded off the orange peel. I will call West and see what they say. I assume that I was too vigorous with the roller and introd...

I just finished with the last coat of epoxy and it has a distinct orangepeel surface. I am using West 105/207, I precoated prior to fiberglassing. I brushed and squeeged the wet-out coat, brushed on 2 filler coats , sanded thoroughly and applied the last coat using the West foam roller followed by b...

I am also building a Freedom 15 and have just finished stripping the hull. I have 2 suggestions for you: 1)I added a horizontal piece of wood between the center stations at the centerline to support the last few strips.It was flush with the tops of the stations. I covered it with wax paper so that g...

Hello, I have been lurking around for about a year and appreciate all of the great information and experience that has been shared. I am building a Freedom 15 and have just finished stripping. I am now fairing and sanding the outside of the hull. Everything is going along well and I am very pleased ...

Thanks for the quick reply. Our combined weight is about 310(me 175,she 135). That still gives us 140 pounds up to the maximum listed capacity. I doubt that we would ever carry that much gear. We were recently sea kayaking for 6 days in Canada and had about 135 pounds of gear including water. I am i...

Hello, I am a new member that has been lurking for a long time. I have been investigating all types and models of strippers for about a year. I have just finished expanding my workshop in order to have a place to build our boat. I am an avid woodworker an canoer that has wanted to build a stripper f...