The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Thanks Glen. Our decks as you know have lots of concave front to back. But we expect the side to side to be pretty flat so we prorably have more wood to take off but a bit easier job overall (skill-wise) to get it right. I was assuming this would be another (of many) example where I need to apply so...

power planer. This idea is intriguing. I don't own a power planer and this might be an opportunity to buy a new tool (this project has been fantastic for generating excuses to buy new tools :smile ). But the design of our decks and the amount of recurve on our Redbird make it difficult to see how we...

59 was plenty but we seemed to find narrow spots that "could use another one" and we just kept putting them on (but avoided cranking down on them too tightly to avoid starving the joints). Later I found 2 more clamps I had forgotten about (used to clamp our scraper sharpener to a bench). W...

I'd like to add a PS to Glen's note. I lost lots of sleep thinking about glassing our (first) canoe a few months ago. I read every website google and the great talents on this board pointed to. It was immensely valuable. I imagined all the things that could go wrong. But once the epoxy started to fl...

The unscuppered mid portion of the inwales is 13.5" (wider than would be needed to accommodate the yoke but wide enough to bracket the (upsidedown) maple leaf just below the gunwale - per our asthetics consultant - mom). You have to look carefully to see the flat portion. I'm betting it will be...

West System 207 is claimed to include UV protection but I've never seen anyone suggeest that it is sufficient by itself.... From West System's website: An ultraviolet inhibiting additive improves the resistance of a WEST SYSTEM 105/207 mixture to sunlight, but the cured epoxy surface will still requ...

This may be a useless response but depending on how much (if any) recurve your canoe design has, the gunwales may be quite a bit shorter than the canoe length. For example, the Redbird is designed to be 17'6" but the inwales are about 16'6" (about a foot shorter). How short are your inwale...

We're sneaking up on our gunwales. They are all bent. One inwale is cut to length and (dry)fits perfectly in our hull. We'll tackle the other one tomorrow night. I've seen reference to sealing the gunwales before installing them (BTW, we're going to epoxy them on). We intend to seal the surface faci...

I've never done it alone (I still can't figure out how you guys build a canoe all by yourself) and only done it with help once (so I'm no expert). But as Patrick and I worked to fiberglass our canoe this winter, it was clear to me that having a 3rd person would have been helpful. Here's how I would ...

Larry, Thanks for posting the link to your pictures. Very timely. Patrick and I have finished bending our gunwales and are about ready to put them on. We have our decks pieces (3 triangles each) glued up and ready to shape. We'll use some of your tips.

thanks!

I had the urge on Sunday to paddle. Given our Redbird isn't done yet I had to resort to paddling my son's kayak around a local lake. Good to get out anyway :eyebrows. Com'on Spring!

Chris, I'm not expert on this but various wood species will bend to different minimum radii. Cherry has been 'quoted' as bending down to 6" radius. My personal experience is a bit better than this (~5" with 1/4" thick strips). Some info at the following website might be helpful: http:...

Kent,
I really admire your determination. I'd be crushed and probably would have given up. You are an inspiration. I'm sure things will go smoothly on the re-build; You're an expert now. I look forward to pictures of the new canoe.

I'll cast my vote for steam as well. Last night I attempted to bend some cherry stock 1/4" X 3/4" as tightly as I could (not for stems but for an inside curve on decks we are building). Information I've seen so far says 6" radius is as tight as you can go. This wasn't tight enought to...

I'm no expert but everything I've read from the experts says "don't go there". 17'6" down to 15" is a big change. According to some info on this website, the Redbird isn't dramatically more stable than the Hiawatha (92 vs 88). It's not obvious that making a Redbird at 15 feet wou...