The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

I've got both the Veritas low angle block plane and their small apron plane. In my opinion the apron plane is the cat's meow for canoe building. It's a lot lighter than the regular low angle block plane. The extra heft of the bigger plane is great for trimming end grain in hardwoods like a mitered o...

What will black walnut do? I bought some boards and might use them in a canoe. Walnut will fade a bit, from the deep chocolate brown color when it's freshly varnished to a dark reddish brown, probably close to a darker mahogany color. Hit a couple antique stores if you're curious, they will probabl...

Matthew, For what it's worth, I've built 2 canoes, one with walnut stems and one with ash, I think the darker woods look better for the stems. To me it outlines the profile of the boat better. Using what you have, I'd go for the mahogany. I think most mahoganies bleach out over time w/sun exposure s...