The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Are there any problems I should be aware of with storing my finished canoe in an unheated garage. The temps can get quite low in New England over the Winter months and the garage can be a bit damp.. I just want to make sure the wood won't pull away from the glass or cause some weird reaction between...

I need some help. I applied my MAS epoxy last Feruary. I throughly block sanded and smoothed the fill coats down to 320 grit. All looked well. I applied HMG gloss varnish and the hull looked like a piece of furniture. A week later it took it's maiden voyage and was better than I could have possibly ...

PB, I didn't use a plane to shape my stems. I used a file that I bought from Newfound woodworks. It looks like a bunch of hacksaw blades. One side is coarse, one side is smooth. Worked great, very fast. It allows you to get into very small areas and leaves a great service for glue or epoxt. I used i...

PB, Try drilling 1 1/4" holes thrugh your stem mold. That way you can use c-clamps to hold your stem to the mold. Don't let the holes get to close to the edge of the mold for strength purposes. I'll defer to those with more experience for your other problem.

I used a bar clamp to pull the deck up tight against the inner stem. Then I positioned the deck and put in 2 scres on each side. This allowed me to get it perfect while dry. I then epoxied the bottom of the deck, let it dry, then epoxied onto the hull. I cut an angle fron a scrap of wood and put a p...

Thanks for all the advise.

I am hoping to attach my outer gunwales this weekend. I plan on using thickened epoxy only. It will give me a chance to use the vast array of clamps I have aquired during the stripping process. I have cut the gunwales to length and tapered the inside a bit. I am using MAS epoxy and have been very ha...

Looking at Glen's post in regards to a stolen kayak has prompted me to ask a question. I am finishing up a 17 ft stripper that I plan to use on lake at a family summer cottage. I will be using this exclusively at this location. My problem is what to do with it when I leave for the week to go to that...

John,

Could you explain the PVC "C" clamps. Cheap and effective sounds good.

Tom

I am planning to sand the epoxy when I have a chance to move outdoors (need warmer weather please). I figure my wife will appreciate the lack of epoxy dust in the basements. My question-How light sensitive is the epoxy? I'm using MAS. I don't plan on leaving the canoe outdoors for any longer than it...

It looks like a canoe!!!! I took it off the molds this weekend. I used plywood cut out with the profile of mold #4. I cut an additional 1/2 inch off and slid a piece of foam pipe insulation over the edge. Works great, holds everything firmly in place, but it is a bugger to sand do to the height and ...

I finished the outer hull glassing last week. It actually went better than I had hoped. I feel like I have crossed a major threshold in the boat building process. What an amazing transformation. Thank You to EVERYONE for there help up to this point. There are many different ideas expressed on this f...

I'm getting ready to tackle the mounting of my outer stems. I will be using MAS epoxy with slow hardener. I have used the stapleless method to build the canoe and sure would like to attach the stems without drilling holes and plugging with dowels later. That said, I am nervous that if I use some sor...

Sorry for the confusion Rod. I am installing the football shape assembly into the bottom of the boat. It is about 9 feet long and about 12 inches wide at the center.

I am presently getting ready to install the football. I still need to do a bit more planing to get it to fit into the hole. The last strip mounted on the canoe is a medium colored red cedar with the bead removed. I saved these filings. What is the best method to install the football, glue or some so...