The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Thanks Steve! I promise to post some pictures when she is in the water...

Greetings Friends, As i look at the blueprints for the freedom solo, the main elevation shows the 15' version, with exact locations notated for the seat, thwarts and center of buoyancy. I have built the stretch version; am I to assume that everything stays the same relative to the station mold locat...

Thanks for all the ideas; i ended up going with ash, mainly because (right or wrong) i started thinking about when i hang the seat from the inwales, ash would be the sturdier wood. I had visions of the pine or spruce breaking if i sat down abruptly on the seat. However i do lament the extra weight i...

Thanks for the sage advice my friends;

One last question: Does anyone have any advice for using douglas fir for gunwales and decks?

Hello,

Does anyone not recommend using clear select pine for inwales and decks? I am looking for a lighter colored wood (other than ash) to contrast with my cherry outwales.

Thanks,

Anthony

Hello,

I am about to sheath the outside of hull. I am noticing CanoeCraft, on page 142, under the caption "Sheathing the Outside of the Hull", says it takes "about 2 gallons total".

Would that be just for the outside of the hull, or for both sides?

Thanks!

Thanks Randy

Hello everyone, I am at the outer hull sanding stage of my project. Every time after i fill the gaps with epoxy, i sand and then i notice there are new gaps to fill. I have repeated this process more times than i care to admit. My first question is, can i assume that small pin hole size gaps will fi...

Gentlemen, I found the belt sander a bit too cumbersome and aggressive. After trimming the planks to within a 3/16" of the inner stem, I ended up using a very sharp spokeshave adjusted to cut extremely fine. I did adopt Randy's idea of standing directly over the stem, looking down on it, and ke...

Randy & David;

Those are both intriguing ideas! I suspected there was another way to perform this seemingly simple operation. I would like to get this joint tighter on this boat than i did on the first one.

Gentlemen I thank you both

Greetings, Does anybody have any additional advice on trimming the plank ends flush with the inner stems? I remember from my first build that this step, while it seems innocent, can be a bit tricky. Perhaps the teeth on my pullsaw are too big? What kind of saw do you use? All advice is greatly appre...

Thanks Glen

Thanks guys; I made several adjustments overall; the strongback was not completely level side to side under the station most out of line. Then i reconfigured the string line. In the end it turned out pretty close to perfect.

I seem to have a mental block; i am ready to mark the lines on the inside stems, in preparation to plane the rolling bevel. Canoecraft says that the leading edge should be 1/8". So my question is, when you add the 1/4" strips on either side, you will end up with 5/8" total thickness a...

Greetings everyone, I just set the forms on the strong back and i am noticing that about 4 forms are off when measured at the string line on top. The worst one is about 3/16" out of line. I pulled it off and checked the centerline on it. It was ok. I took great care in leveling the strong back ...