The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

I went to an outdoor show earlier this year and there were 2 builders there. One had a canoe and the other a row boat. Both were absolutely gorgeous. We were talking about the difficulty in finding quality cedar. One of these guys (Glen-he knows your buddy Scott Larsen} suggested using Willow. He ha...

On my first canoe i used a new tack cloth after the final epoxy sanding just prior to appling the varnish. The varnish didn't cure and kind of oarnge peeled. I had to remove it and since then have used nothing but acetone wipe downs without any problems.
Dave

Hi Glenn You can do whatever you want with my posts. I have trouble with photo bucket. This fish is a Carp. I don't know at what depth you can bowfish at but I like to go out at sunrise. These fish then are cruising right at the surface. You have to spot one and kind of stalk it and gently get into ...

Its been ahile since I've posted but I went bowfishing in one of my canoes yesterday. It was challenging but fun. Dave in MN http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v455/brnsam/100_1570Small.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v455/brnsam/100_1571Small.jpg Edited: Dave, I changed the url for the 2nd pic...

I've built 2 canoes. One with scuppers and one without. When I get home from an outing I like to clean them inside and out using a garden hose with the canoes on the lawn in the back yard. Flipped over to drain the one with scuppers drains and dries and the other one doesn't. I like the "looks&...

I don't know where you live but there has to be other choices other than red oak. It might work just fine but if you have lumber yards there you should have other choices. You just need 3/4" straight grained stock. I used maple for one canoe and it bent nicely. It was however difficult to shape...

I just re-varnished one of my canoes today with a foam roller and a foam brush. Works good for me.
Dave

I built a Bobs Special a few years ago. It was my first canoe and some of the cedar had some knots. At the time I wasn't happy with the knots at all. But in time I have gotten to really like them. They're kind of a focal point. Knots look good. You have to use a little more care when fairing them in...

I have used a 2 part epoxy that came in a tube. Some of it stuck and some of it didn't. I suspect my surface preparation tho. Do a thorough job of sanding to remove any varnish before applying.
Dave

I've used the varnish from Newfound Woodworks for 2 canoes. Its called Coma Berenice. It applied nicely and gave an excellent gloss. I'm out of that stuff now. I revarnished a canoe on Sat and used Flagship UV. Its available here locally and cheaper than Coma Berenice but isn't as glossy. Ya gety wh...

I figure that I can build a canoe for 4-500 hundred dollars but I also have my strong back. I can also scrounge alot of wood. You still have gunnell material,deck material, seat material to scrounge or purchase not to mention the fiberglass,eopoxy and varnish. I just re-varnished one of my canoes ye...

On my first canoe I made the stems out of what we call around here-brown maple. This wood is very hard and dense and didn't lend itself well to hand tools at all. Even my trusty and prized little block plane with a very well sharpened Hock knife struggled with these stems. However on my second canoe...

A laminated system that you show could be just the ticket for people not wishing to tackle a traditional mortice and tennon. It should be plenty strong. If the seat rails were 90 degrees to each other then loose tennons could be used or maybe even dowel joints.
Dave in Mn

Hi I've also built the Martin Step seat using standard mortice and tenon construction. It was a fun project and I would recommend it to anyone. The seat gets just as much attention as the canoe. However-if I were to build some more of these seats I would use loose tenons. It would simplify the proce...

Hi
If you're using a router table just push your rail straight into the bit at the beginning and end of each scupper slot and remove the material in between with light cuts paying attention to the grain direction to avoid tear-out. Works for me.
Dave