The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Hi Shawn -

I found precoating to be a waste of time and epoxy, with nothing significant to be gained. For a discussion on fiberglassing in general and precoating in particular, see the article on my web site, http://www.michneboat.com/Fiberglassing%20-%20101.htm.

John

Hi Kent –

After I drill the quarter-inch holes in a seat frame for caning, I use a 1/8â€

Hi Chuck – The Wee Lassie II has a pretty sharp keel line or spine, continuing the knife-edge entry the entire length of the hull. The logical closure would be to strip half of the football, then trim a straight centerline and strip the other half up to the centerline. The herringbone closure would ...

Hi Lonnie – The dark spots around your fills may or may not go away when you do the wet out of the fiberglass. If you tried to remove as much excess as possible when you did the filling, very little epoxy soaked into the wood and the resulting blotching is easily scraped off, followed by sanding to ...

For an article about making near-perfect strips, see my web site, http://michneboat.com. Click on Builder's Corner, then scroll down to Making Strips.

John

Hi Kent –

See my web site, http://michneboat.com for discussion about gunwales. Click on Builder’s Corner, and then scroll down to the gunwale link.

- John

Hi Todd – Very clever clamping system indeed – thanks for pointing it out. As I studied it, the idea of a spring between the nut and the clamp block came to mind, and sure enough, Dean also suggested it. I personally strip with the bead leading, so the clamp block would have to be modified. I don’t ...

I use a Bosch jig saw with nothing special for a blade, then finish them up at the stationary disk sander. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned, though…. Canoe forms are generally in two’s – identical forms fore and aft. I trace the form on a sheet of ½” plywood, then place a second sheet underneath t...

Hi Rob – So you want to build an Adirondack guideboat…. You have come to the right place. I have built three – one ribless and two fully ribbed. The boats are reproductions of H.D. Grant’s Virginia. The ribs are laminated spruce; the planking is cedar strips covered in 4 oz. fiberglass. I have also ...

Hi George – I have used scarfed cherry for gunwales on my guideboats with no problems. The joint must be accurately and securely made. See my web site, http://michneboat.com, click on Builder’s Corner, then scroll down to Working with Short Strips. Toward the end of the article is a section on gunwa...

Hi Joe - I also like my Powermatic 66, and just picked up the new DeWalt 3-knife planer. Awsome!! On the mahogany canoe, I built a Wee Lassie II from 3/16" Honduras mahogany. It came out just fine, if only slightly heavier than 1/4" cedar. See my web site, http://michneboat.com for details...