The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

You might see this site: http://www.newfound.com/tools.htm I don't have any stock in Newfound but have purchased a lot of stuff from them. Ed.. Edit: I've used the hook & loop soft pad on my Porter Cable ROS on the inside of my canoe hull but didn't have the problem that Kent expressed. It may b...

Ed, I feel your pain! Glen is right about waiting a sufficient time before trying to sand. I like to use a foam pad cut from a green garden kneeling pad. The pads are an 1 1/4" thick and impervious to water but just soft enough to conform to a hull. Cut the pad to the length of a 1/4 sheet of W...

Yes, with a flush cutting 2" bit, one could cut the tapers. Getting the ends down to 1/64" would be trickey but down to perhaps 1/8" would be a lot faster than hand planeing for sure.

Tapering a 30" length of inwale can be interesting. Here's one way of doing it, perhaps the idea is obvious but it works for me. The fixture consists of 4 pieces of wood, Ply or solid (I call plates). The 2 center pieces being the same thickness of the inwales, and are clamped together with 2 o...

Blotchy finishes, on raw wood, whether varnish, oil, epoxy, etc., can be caused by sanding with too fine a grit. Sanding with too fine a grit can cause the wood to become burnished. I learned this the hard way because I figured that smoother was better. :confused Ted says sand with 80 grit, wet to r...

Thanks Glen for the reply. I think you're correct. Even though the stem mold will extend past the strongback, the shear line will be very close to strongback if I reduce the baseline. I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and buy 3 sheets and add and extra inch to the base line.
Ed...

I'm getting ready to cut molds for a Ranger 15' and discovered that stations 0 thru 3 require 24 7/8" in the vertical. Is there a reason why I can just raise the baseline up 7/8" on all the stations including the stem form so as to get all the molds from 2 sheets? Am I missing something he...

Well, I've read the entries here and pose this question: between the Ranger 15 and Bob's Special 15, on a flat lake, with a solo 220# paddler sitting on the forward seat - reverse paddling, plus 25# of gear, which canoe will have the best feeling of stability roll wise? I've studied the FAQ stabilit...

Glen, in your samples above, what tools did you use to apply the 1st and 2nd fill coats? Brush alone, brush + roller? ?
Thanks.

Another way to mark the center line on a strong back is to stretch some 60# monofilement line, from end to end flush with the top of the strongback, and then lightly spray over the line with black (or the color of your choice!) spray paint. Cotton string will work as well but I think the mono makes ...

Such a beautiful job Erik. I'm totaly impressed with the inlays! The pictures on your site are most appreciated. Perhaps if you have time, could you please give us a some more info on how you went about doing the inlays? I thought I read that you cut through bottom strips to put in that beautiful in...

Bubbles in varnish coats can occur if the varnish is stirred before use. If it must be stirred, do it gently as to avoid introducing air into the varnish.