The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

I also have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the epoxy strip method. The problem, of course, is the irrevocable nature of the epoxy: no second chance. Using a very slow setting product has eased my apprehension a lot, but I still check and double check everything before I start. I'm also lucky...

An interesting read. Thanks for posting.

David

Hi Asa,

I'm glad you found it helpful. John has a great site!

Dave

I would set the bit to make a shallower cut so that a small amount of the original strip edge surface remains. See John Michne's site for an excellent article on making strips, and many other aspects of canoe building:

http://www.michneboat.com/Web%20site%20home.htm

Dave

Beautiful canoe, I really like the colours. Agathis is not a wood I have heard of - I'll have to look it up! Happy paddling!

Dave

I agree, Bryan. I'm going to start with a redesigned deck with coaming and go from there.

Thanks,

Dave

Dawne, check out pages 5 and 6 of Kayakcraft for some scientific test results. It can be found at: http://books.google.ca/books?id=KlbM8d1S19AC&pg=PA5&lpg=PA5&dq=how+strong+is+cedar+glas+laminate&source=bl&ots=Rqqy-s1CPg&sig=eQgToF3qlGygZLHBy3QEyV1INWk&hl=en&ei=DByPS6...

From my experience, gluing the decks up without splines will be plenty strong enough, especially if you are adding a layer of glass underneath. I would use a good carpenter's glue instead of epoxy. It's easier to work with, and still provides a joint which is stronger than the surrounding wood. Chee...

Thank-you all for your ideas, they've certainly expanded my focus beyond possible swamping to more general safety concerns. Rick, although we already always wear PDFs, and carry a good bailer I can see that adding flotation bags or sealed chambers to the canoe this spring would be wise. Dave, I hadn...

It may come to that Karl, but first I want to exhaust all options with the Freedom. It has greater versatility and performance in other areas ; besides, I really do like it!

Thanks for your thoughts.

Dave

A few years ago, I built a Freedom 17, choosing it, at the last moment, over a Nomad. I've been quite happy with the canoe. It solos well, is fast, stable, and it tracks well. The only weak point in its performance is in handling the steep waves created by large displacement inboards before they ach...

I used two routers to mill strips for my Freedom 17. As Greg said, I mounted one router upside down in my router table, then built an auxiliary table which attached to top of the router table and supported a second router right side up. The setup worked, but it was a lot of work to build and adjust....

My canoe also sat, bare, sanded and uncovered, in an unheated garage in southern Ontario over the winter. It suffered no ill effects that I know of, and I glassed it successfully the following spring. As long as it is not half-glassed, I don't anticipate any problems.

Cheers,

Dave

You have the same work area as I have in my garage, so if you're building a 16 or 17 footer, you can set the strongback in place and not worry about the added issues involved in moving it. Two concerns come to mind: snow load and cost. This temporary structure may end up costing several hundred doll...

John, your best bet may be to move the scarfs to sections with minimal bend, where steam will not be required. For example, if you locate the scarfs somewhere in the center third of the gunwale, only the ends will require steam. Alternatively, you could test several glues and see how they stand up t...