The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

We just built a Bob's for a friend of mine, but he's not able to carry it. Where can I find plans for a "Canoe Cart?" I've seen them before, with two wheels and a strap. I can't remember exactly what they're called, but I'd like to make one for him. Anyone have any suggestions on where to ...

Hi Bob,
Sounds like Bryan is right. That's the good thing about building your own stripper. You can do your own repairs. I'm on my third canoe right now, and I'm in Hamilton. If you'd like I can stop by and give you my opinion. I'm no expert but it might help(?)
Rob

The reason I was asking is my 16 year old son has started making paddles with a vengeance. In the past few weeks we've gone from a 3 ( 20 year old) paddle houselhold to about a ten paddle household. He's even got people asking people to make them one or two. He carves them out of a cedar deck board ...

Sorry guys, I'm looking for opinions on canoe paddles.
Rob

:thinking I was just looking for your opinions on paddles. What is the most important thing in a paddle? What is the best way to build a paddle - laminated, or one piece? What type of wood do you prefer? Why? How long does it take to build a paddle? Who builds cedar paddles? Thanks! Rob from Hamilton

I'm a little embarrassed to ask, but how do you get the BMB plans ( for a Bob's Special )onto the wood to prepare to cut the molds out? I don't want to wreck the original plans.

Hi Chris, It's your canoe. End it where you want it. On my Redbird I didn't want any brass coming over the top at all, so I stopped it before making that sharp turn. I didn't want to use it for tying the boat up anyway. Don't cover your nice deck up if you don't want to. As for installing it, I used...

My wooden garage door was starting to rot, and fall apart, and I fixed it with epoxy thickened with sanding dust. My son is constantly finding uses for my epoxy. One day I saw him and a few neighbour kids out on our front lawn, looking for four leaf clovers. Next thing I know is all these kids are w...

Patrick, What kind of glue were you using, that would make it so difficult to remove stations? Mine practically fell right out.

My Redbird weighed in at a hefty 70 lbs, but my next one will be built alot lighter. Being my first boat I figured it was best to build it strong. Believe me, if you need to carry the thing any more than about 50 feet, you'll be thinking of trying to cut the weight next time!
Rob

I agree with John. I built a Redbird, and I added an extra strip to the sheerline, so it has more tumblehome than a Bob's, and I let my gunnels go with the curve of the boat. I think it looks better that way. It helps show off the curves of the REdbird. I've certainly had no one complain that my gun...

Hi Bernie, Thanks for understanding some of the things that go through ones head when building a canoe. It did help clear my mind, and was very therapeutic. Then, watching my son build his own canoe, I realized I had actually passed something along to him, as I realized my Dad had passed things on t...

I had all kinds of names in mind. I like music so I had thought of silly little names like "Bits and Pieces", or "Daydreams", or "Norwegian Wood". There were more names that were under consdideration too, but I can't remember them all right now. The name I settled on ca...

Erich, I don't think you misread the question at all. Some people apply epoxy to their gunnels and some people don't. For those who do, 120 grit is fine. For those who don't they may want to use a finer paper, like 180 or 220. To me, anything finer than 120 is not necessary. Personally, when I've we...

Hi Tony, It's okay to move the strongback. Just make sure it's strong enough to survive the move! I moved mine and almost had a disaster. I had four people, lifting equally on two hockey sticks underneath the strongback. We only had it a few inches off the ground while moving it outside for sanding....