pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Welcome to the new Bear Mountain Builders Forum - an interactive internet service we provide to encourage communication between canoe and kayak builders
finrod
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:48 am
Location: belgium

pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by finrod »

i'm building a freedom 15 and thought about keeping this topic to share some pics and experiences as i go through the process, this is my first attempt to build a boat so all tips and tricks are welcom, feel free to post any comments as you like

i use cedar and padouk, i milled the strips myself using the bead and cove technique.. good thing i can use the machines at my work to build this thing, in life i'm a carpenter, building windows, sidings, doors ports and roofs for houses so i'm not a total newby i guess

realy like how the padouk looks in the finishing of houses so thats my stimulant to use it in my canoe.. its orangy and i think it goes realy nice with the cedar :cool

right now i'm working on the stems, it was realy hard to bend the padouk because the fibers were criss cross all over the strips, had to try many times to find the right steaming time but it worked out afterall.. next step is glueing and shaping them...

so there it goes, feel free to comment as you like

grtz finrod
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by finrod on Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"what's the point in talking about freedom, if you don't have the guts to build your own boat and sail the seven seas"
wb9tpg
Posts: 114
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 7:01 pm
Location: Versailles, KY
Contact:

Re: pics of my canoe in progress

Post by wb9tpg »

Is that cedar on the inner stem? The picture looks like it's not. A hardwood would be harder to shape.
finrod
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:48 am
Location: belgium

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by finrod »

no its padouk, hardwood, i thought it was necessary to make all stems in hardwood?? my mistake then.. thanx for the tip!!! i will sure go better to shape them!



some more pics:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"what's the point in talking about freedom, if you don't have the guts to build your own boat and sail the seven seas"
finrod
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:48 am
Location: belgium

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by finrod »

this is the system i'm using to steam the wood, its a steam generator that is used to take down wallpaper, connected to an alluminium tube (for the stove)..

live now on johny cash records :razz

link to youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e86GfUpC62w
"what's the point in talking about freedom, if you don't have the guts to build your own boat and sail the seven seas"
finrod
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:48 am
Location: belgium

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by finrod »

i think i go with the hardwood inside stems afterall, ive bent and glued the now so i will use them , hope this will not be a problem, just a little harder to shape them but thats oke for me, its good practice..
"what's the point in talking about freedom, if you don't have the guts to build your own boat and sail the seven seas"
User avatar
Denis
Posts: 313
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 8:11 am
Location: Lakefield, Ontario

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by Denis »

Just wondering? did you bend the inside and outside stems together or are you doing them separate? It would have been easier to do them all in one step and then you are more assured that they will match up when you go to attach the outside stems. I am attaching a pic of my first attempt at this way back in 2006 :-)

bottom 3 strips are white cedar and top three are red cherry

Image
finrod
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:48 am
Location: belgium

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by finrod »

i'm doing them seperate because i spent all my strips on the inside stems, i had a lot of trouble with it because they broke almost every time, this wood is not easy to bend and also the stems of the freedom have a sharper angle.. if i need new strips i have to make extra time to go make them..
so i thought to just get along with it and bend the outside stems later, right now i want the project to move along since it took me already 3 months to be where i am now and i would like to put the strips on soon..

my plan is to bend the outside stems when i need a break from sanding the hull..
i just use the plans and make a second stem and stern so they will match perfect

what type of canoe were you building in 2006, do you have any pics or albums to show how you did everything? always nice to see how others build it :)
"what's the point in talking about freedom, if you don't have the guts to build your own boat and sail the seven seas"
User avatar
Patricks Dad
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:11 pm
Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by Patricks Dad »

Bending all of your stems (inside and outside) at the same time is the way to go. You will find that you will break far fewer pieces. The outer laminates help hold the inner pieces in place and bend without breaking. If you add a 7th piece on the outside (3 inner stem pieces + 3 outer stem pieces + 1 sacraficial piece) you can bend them all at the same time and likely break nothing (or at most only the sacraficial piece). You need to ensure you have enough heat to get the tube and contents well over 200F. I also pre-soak all the material over night before bending. I've used cherry for inner and outer stems. I have also used cedar for inner stems (much easier to shape but using hardwood for inner stems will work fine too).

best of luck and thoroughly enjoy your build!
Randy Pfeifer
(847) 341-0618
Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
wb9tpg
Posts: 114
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 7:01 pm
Location: Versailles, KY
Contact:

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by wb9tpg »

Patricks dad advice is sound and matches my experience where the sacrificial piece breaks when bending.
User avatar
Patricks Dad
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:11 pm
Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by Patricks Dad »

One more piece of (unsolicited) advice: I think you will regret having to go back and build outer stems later. It will require more work to build another set of stem forms to bend the outer stems over. You'll wish you had already just built all the stems at once. Bending them all at once will ensure a good fit between the laminates for both inner and outer stems as well as a good fit between the inner and outer stems. (I don't have any experience with the wood type you are using). I have built the Freedom 15 and that stem bend, while reasonably sharp is quite manageable. Once your stems are bent, keep them clamped in place until thoroughly dried. Take them off the mold only long enough to glue them up and reclamp. Once the outerstem is glued, put it in some tension with a string across the ends to keep it's curve and minimize the amount of relax.

You're making me want to start another build myself...
Randy Pfeifer
(847) 341-0618
Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
Rabbit
Posts: 121
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 8:20 pm
Location: Downunder

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by Rabbit »

i had similar problems with my outer stems, which are 2 strips of spotted gum and 1 strip of merbau.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/co ... _stems.jpg

my first attempt the outer merbau snapped. like patrick's dad suggested, the solution was to presoak overnight and i used a 3mm (1/8) strip of the same material as my inner stem outside the merbau. i didn't think about the effect of this at the time in keeping it together, it was more so that i didn't have to fiddle with little pieces of wood to protect the outer stem from clamp marks :wink
finrod
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:48 am
Location: belgium

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by finrod »

well i did everything possible to prevent them from snapping but it didnt work, i soaked them in water, i even steamed them 2 times in a row, but still they would break, i think i made a bad choice of wood but here i am now and the stems are finaly glued together.. i didnt try using a sacrificial stem, that realy sounds like a good idea!! i know that now for whem im making the outer stems.
i got my spokeshave this morning in the mail, i just finished shaping the inner stem, it was realy hard to shape the bloody thing, the fibers are all crisscross over eachother and the wood itself is realy hard, but it looks oke to me now.
the other inner stem is drying now so tommorow i will shape it and start stripping after :)

next time i will make my inner stems in cedar and my outside stems in hardwood.. i guess you learn while you build :) hehe

@ patricks dad: i realy hope the stems will make a nice fit, in theory it must be right but i know in reality it can be total different.. i'll see when i get there i guess..

and btw, you should build another one again! :wink


thanx for the replies and help!

pictures will follow as soon as my camera is fixed


ps. sorry for the bad "english writing" :rolling eyes
"what's the point in talking about freedom, if you don't have the guts to build your own boat and sail the seven seas"
BearLeeAlive
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:00 pm

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by BearLeeAlive »

I was having a heck of a time with the steam bending of my stems, and had some cracking, especially on the sharper stern mould.

I had it suggested by Martin Step to soak them in warm water for 2-3 hours, have a couple kettles of hot water boiling, then start clamping the stem strips on the mould at one end, hold the stem strips apart with Popsicle sticks, and pour the boiling water over the area where the bend is the sharpest (with a catch container underneath), pull the Popsicle sticks, and finish the bend. It worked perfectly for me. I found that one kettle was more than enough slowly poured over about 12-16" of the length.
-JIM-
finrod
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:48 am
Location: belgium

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by finrod »

the first 2 strips are on! :)
"what's the point in talking about freedom, if you don't have the guts to build your own boat and sail the seven seas"
finrod
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:48 am
Location: belgium

Re: pics of my canoe in progress 'freedom 15'

Post by finrod »

my camera is fixed so here are some more pics:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"what's the point in talking about freedom, if you don't have the guts to build your own boat and sail the seven seas"
Post Reply