First time boat builder with a stripping pattern question...

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toomanysplinters
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:44 am

First time boat builder with a stripping pattern question...

Post by toomanysplinters »

Hi All,

I've been watching and reading this site, among others, since the summer when I decided that I wanted to try my hand at building a canoe. There's a ton of useful information here and love looking at people's pictures of their canoes in process/water.

My father and my son built a small 10' canoe over the summer (it's not quite finished yet, but it will hopefully be before mine is).

He had several plans for larger canoes and kayaks that he had purchased over the years, and after looking through all of them, I decided on the Prospector plans that he purchased here back in the 90's.

Anyway, before I bore you any further with all this, I'd like to get to my question. I started stripping the hull this past weekend and currently have 4 strips on each side. The strips are bent to follow the shearline of the boat. My original plan was to transition at this point to a more gentle curve (close to a straight line parallel to the waterline). I had a pattern in mind, but am not not sure how it will look.

This picture is a sketch sort of explaining what I was thinking...
Image
The lighter strips were going to be maple (seeing that's what the stems and gunwale will be made from) and the rest of the canoe will be western red cedar.

I'm wondering how this is going to look now that I'm at the point of adding this "accent" strip".

I assume the decision to attach the planks along the shearline versus a more gradual bend, is the builders preference? Is there an advantage to one over the other?

I'm sort of at a point where I'm not sure if I should proceed with my original design intent, skip it and continue planking to the shearline curve, or starting over with the gradual curve.

Thanks for any advice you might be able to offer, and thanks for such a great resource.
Scott
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Patricks Dad
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:11 pm
Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Re: First time boat builder with a stripping pattern questio

Post by Patricks Dad »

Your start (following the sheerline) is indeed a personal preference. Some people do that, others start out waterline-parallel, others start with a "natural" droop created by attaching the first strip to a few of the amidship forms and letting the strip droop naturally from there. The latter two cases require short strips to fill in between the first strip and the sheerline at the bow and stern... You have chosen to start paralle but add the short strips mid-stream.

Your plan to work your way closer to waterline-parallel will work just fine. It may make the football area easier (you will reach the top of the stem closer to the same time you turn the bilge with your stipping).

The wood hardness difference between maple and WRC will be a challenge to fair. You will have to watch carefully that the WRC doesn't sand away faster than the adjacent maple. A scraper might be helpful.
Randy Pfeifer
(847) 341-0618
Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
toomanysplinters
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:44 am

Re: First time boat builder with a stripping pattern questio

Post by toomanysplinters »

Thanks for the information Randy. After further researching the looks of each stripping style I've decided to start over. I'm going to go with method of following the shearline only on a few of the center stations and letting it droop towards the stems. I hated to lose the 4 per strips per side that I had already attached, but I think I'll be happier with the canoe if I do it this way.

Thanks again,
Scott
Karl Huebner
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:59 pm
Location: Delaware Ohio

Re: First time boat builder with a stripping pattern questio

Post by Karl Huebner »

Toomanysplinters, I do think that with the right combination, the side herringbone pattern combined with a bottom herringbone to close her up would have been a great art project. Might be very distinctive, one of a kind...
Karl
16' Prospector style canoe
17' BMB Freedom 17
17' BMB Endeavour
14' plastic kayak
14' McCarthy style Wee Lassie II
1 Thomas Hill lapstrake Daisy May canoe
Coming Soon Freedom 16.2 solo
To be repaired
1923 St. Charles River
1967 Langford
BearLeeAlive
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:00 pm

Re: First time boat builder with a stripping pattern questio

Post by BearLeeAlive »

I like the herringbone too, just not sure I would add the accent strips, especially the small ones on the end.
-JIM-
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