The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Not sure where that's going to end up. I'm sure it will find itself in a prominent place in my son's room. It really is a hoot to work on this project with my son. At 16, he's no doubt tempted with lots of other things he could be doing (in the case of homework - "should" be doing). I'm ve...

Patrick and I took a crack at dry fitting the stern outer stem on our redbird this evening. After cutting it to length and strapping it down at the keel line, we noticed a few small gaps as we pulled it into place in a couple other places. The gaps are visible if you look at the right angle and hold...

MT, Awesome job. I just sit here looking at it with my mouth open (my wife can't figure out what I'm doing - she knows I'm nuts anyway). Congratulations on your work so far. I look forward to seeing the finished product sometime in '05.

Thanks for sharing the photo.

Dean, Not sure exactly what you are looking for but I have lots of pictures (over 400). I have sent you a link to the last 200 or so. Let me know if you find what you are looking for. I haven't uploaded any pictures of the mortise yet. Anyone else who would like like to look at them can find them at...

Glen, Great pictures. Much more thorough description of the procedure than the book. Patrick and I spent this past weekend cutting the mortises on our Redbird. We're just about ready to put on the stems and shape them. Your pictures and descriptions are very helpful. Thanks for taking the time (as u...

For cutting the compound angles on the strips so that they mate well with the centerline, we used a plane. We pretty much followed the directions in the Canoecraft book (with a couple interpretations along the line). It's not as difficult as it appears to begin with. The other thing to keep in mind ...

The contrast between the dark and light strips is really more than the picture shows. The light strips are pretty light. The darker strips when wet are pretty dark. The strips in between which fade from dark to light (stern to bow) match pretty well the dark and light on either side of them. The acc...

Patrick and I placed the last cedar strip on our canoe this weekend. Now for the outer stems and lots of sanding. Below is a picture (the stitching together of several pictures didn't go too well but you get the idea): http://img.groundspeak.com/cache/log/15488d67-01a9-4782-a25b-08ba54fd293a.jpg Pho...

A follow-on question for the glass-masters... I've read several website descriptions of the glassing process which have all been very informative. But haven't seen anyone suggest the following. I'm wondering what the downsides or difficulties one might encounter. I'd appreciate your assessment. I wa...

Boy, I gotta confess, it's not as easy as I was thinking it was getting. After boasting about getting 3 correct right off the bat, we short changed the next 3 boards! :oops: I'm humbled. Hope tomorrow (er, today) is a better day.

Thanks again for all the advice.

While it seemed scary to begin with it indeed is easier than it appears. We've put 3 strips on so far and having goofed one up too bad yet. The bevel on the 2nd strip was a bit steep but I think it will fill in fine with epoxy when we glass the inside. Now that we're away from station 6 on the Redbi...

Patrick and I have been make slow but rewarding progress on our Redbird. We have completed 1 side and have planed the centerline true and plumb (it's been a hoot so far). We are about to start the final assault on the other side. The next challenge we see is the very acute, beveled angles on the end...

Guys, This evening I measured the plans for the Redbird. The height of the center of Station 7 is 20 5/8 inches. The height of the Stem mold where it joins with station 7 is 20" With the addition of 3/4" stem on top of the stem mold that leaves the top of the stem resting 1/8" ABOVE t...

My son and I are building a Redbird and are about 3 strips away from covering the inner stem. We have been shaping the rolling bevel as we go. Last night we started on the final shapping of the inner stem (between Station 8 and 7). My question deals with the inner stem as it approaches or butts into...

Post pictures when you're done! Your strip sounds very similar to the original plans we had for our canoe. We finally decided against this design because the width of our darkest strips were narrower than the light strips we had and I had no good way of milling a light strip down to match the dark. ...