The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

I deduct from the pictures that you join the strips before milling them, any particular reasons for doing joints first ??? I am interested ... ;o) The joints are made after the strips are cut to thickness but before they the bead and cove are routed. I have made the joints after bead & cove, bu...

My mistake, I misread his question. It would seem that a 45 degree cut across the 1/4" section would not be difficult to do. However, I would just butt joint instead of making that cut (if I wasn't going to scarf lengthwise).

George,

Yes, those are redwood strips and yes they do darken a good deal with epoxy. The strips also seem to darken with time.

BTW are you guys REALLY doing this on your strips? It seems to me to be pretty fine slices.... Are you referring to the 1:7 scarf? If so, YES!. I know Glen favors the butt joint but I really like the scarf. I scarf the planks then glue them (held together with 2" binder clips-an idea taken fro...

Cypress is about 35% heavier than western red cedar, so the canoe could be up to 10lbs heavier in the end. You might be able to use 3/16" strips instead of 1/4" and reduce most of that weight.

I have used cypress to make paddles and I like the way it works.

3 for me

1 - Bear Mountain Redbird with my brother-in-law (joint owned)
1 - One Oceans Storm LT Kayak for my daughter
1 - Bear Mountain Ranger 15' Prospector with a friend (for him) - 90% complete

planning
1- One Ocean Expedition Kayak
1- Bear Mountain Freedom solo 16'

I believe the reason Ted instructs tapering the inside end of outer gunwales is because he bevels the bottom edge so that the outside gunwales are 5/8" thick and the inside 3/4" (p. 85). This bevel runs the length of the gunwale and is cut before the ends are tapered. If that is done, it i...

Since my daughter moved to the Minneapolis area, I have better excuses to travel north. Does anyone know of a good source in the Twin Cities for Western Red Cedar or white cedar. I'm wanting planks that I can mill into strips.

Dale

Doug, I'm not sure if you are asking how one loads a kayak using rollers or how one transports a kayak. I have not used rollers as I carry mine using cradles I made following Ross Leidy's instructions. Here is how it looks on the car. The downside is that you have to lift the kayak up and place it i...

Ed, Your Ranger will remain a great example of the excellent craftmanship from builders on this forum. You paid great attention to detail and design. In particular I like the look of the football area, the stripping patter and the seat design. Your work is an inspiration; thanks for sharing the phot...

Inta, I had the same issue, posted the question here and got the following answer: "The seat placement according to my plans are: stern seat is 34.5 inches from zero station to the rear of the stern seat. The bow seat is 43.5 from zero station, measured to it's rear." However, I think it s...

I think it would be OK to store it as you described - just don't remove it from the forms unless you get both sides glassed. I glassed the outside of my Redbird in August, then removed it from the forms then did not work on it for 6 weeks. When I began fairing the inside, the wood (redwood) cracked ...

This summer a friend wanted to build a canoe and we decided on a Ranger. I lofted the molds from Canoecraft and on July 15 we started and finished glassing the outside last weekend. We are still hoping to get it wet this year! It has been a thrill to help someone with little woodworking experience w...

To set the record straight, the hardwood classification has little to do with the hardness of the wood (although most hardwoods are harder than most softwoods). Hardwoods are trees that produce flowers (angiosperms technically) while softwoods reproduce with cones not flowers (gymnosperms). There ar...

I used Durham's water-based putty on the kayak I made and found it difficult to match colors and can see the putty easily. . I completed it early this summer, so not enough time to see differences in aging. I used epoxy putty on the first boat we built (redbird out of redwood) and matched the color ...