New to forum and working on first canoe!

[ethgib]

Hi all,

I've been wanting to build a boat for a while and finally settled on a canoe. I was on a recent canoe trip with my best friend and we jokingly mentioned taking a trip in a hand made canoe. He's getting married next year, and I decided to give it a go! I've got some decent woodworking skills. After reading canoecraft and the book by Gil, I was hooked!

I ordered the plans for the Freedom 17 a few days ago and I'm eagerly awaiting the package. Which leads me to my first if many questions! I tried to research the best canoe that would fit him and his fiancé and that would fit in my shop. The canoe will be mainly used on slow, clear, northern Michigan rivers. I wanted something that would hold him and her comfortably yet fit in my shop. Any thoughts on the freedom 17 for this type of usage?

Many thanks! I'll be documenting my whole build via photo and video!

[Cruiser]

First, welcome to the forum, I read CC 3 times before it clicked and I started planning my first build ... I have done wood working for a long time, and I have to say I learned more about wood working from that first build than I would have believed possible. You are in for a real experience and I hope you enjoy the ride.

I just finished my Freedom 17 last year, it is a nice, straightforward build which I am sure you will enjoy. You need about 2 feet clearance on either end of the canoe, so 21 feet, my garage is 20 and I managed with that.

I plan to use mine for tripping around Ontario pretty much on lakes and interconnecting rivers, so similar usage as you. I won't actually get it on the water fully loaded (and tripping) till August, so I can only tell you what it is supposed to do ... the long hull should be quite quick, low rocker means it will track well, but not be too fond of tight turning (think of tight meandering streams). It is also supposed to plough through rough water, if it performs anything like my Freedom Solo, it will do all that and more.

I have my build posted here, unfortunately with the current Photobucket debacle, all the picture links are broken ... if it would help I will fix those links so that the pics are once again visible.

Brian

[ethgib]

Brian,

Thanks for the info! My shop is 20' long, but I figured I could place the strong back from corner to corner to buy me a couple extra feet. I'll make sure to pass the info on its handling abilities to my buddy. I don't foresee him taking it on small twisting streams, but you never know!

[Patricks Dad]

My first build was the Redbird at 17'. It was tight in our 20' X 18' garage but we built it diagonally and it worked just fine!

[Spring]

ethgib.

I have just completed 2 Prospectors. I will start the third after Labour Day, and yes, that is labour with a U. Welcome aboard! WRT space, I too mounted my strongback on the diagonal in order to get more clearance on the ends.

Two things to remember are that in addition you will need enough space to lay out the strips. Presumably you will do that beside the strongback. You will also need room (the space formerly occupied by the layed out strips) to set the canoe once it comes off the molds. So in planning, not only is length an issue, adequate width to be able to work efficiently should also be a factor.

Good luck with the build.

Cheers!

[Cruiser]

Once you have enough length, I suggest you make up a strip rack down one wall ... that saves a lot of floor space. It doesn't have to be fancy, strapping material can be cut up like in the photo and used to hold your sorted strips.



I lay out the strips ahead of time and number them, then store in the racks as left and right sides, with each strip getting a sequential number (i.e. L3, R7). I do this before I setup the forms ... using the strong back as a convenient table. You can use ply sheets or just a few pieces of strapping to make a workable sorting surface on the strongback.



Once the canoe comes off the molds, remove the molds and the strongback becomes the work table for finishing the rest of the canoe.

Brian

[Patricks Dad]

Rather than storing strips on the wall (my wall space is always at a premium), using a bit of copper plumbing, I built a simple rack hanging from the ceiling of my garage. I used a bit of 1/2" copper pipe, some Tee's and flanges to build three upside-down T-shaped structures to rest strips on. Strips for each side of the canoe were then stored on their respective side of the T.... the Tees each thread into a flange screwed to a ceiling joist. That way, they could be removed if needed (they have never been removed). This structure is also used for mounting additional lighting when I glass or varnish (outlets in the ceiling).

You can kinda see them in this picture:



Or this picture:




I used upward pointing elbows on each pipe to ensure strips didn't slide off the rack.

[ethgib]

All,

Thanks for the replies! I will take all of your advice into consideration! I'm currently building some tables for the house, but as soon as that's done, it's on to the canoe.

I couldn't find cedar in large quantities around here. I ended up with four nice pieces of Sitka Spruce that are 14ft long and 6 inches wide. I also found two pieces of Western red cedar for accents and whatever else. I also have a literal ton of oak laying around and quite a bit of purpose Heart for trim and or details. We will see!

Thanks!

[Cruiser]

Sitka will cost you about 5-6#s on the hull weight compared to cedar, but it's considerably stronger. You can go ahead with the standard .25" strips or you could go a little thinner to offset the additional wood density, say to .20 or .21" ..... the 5-6 pounds isn't the end of the world, but the pounds on a build have a way of piling up if you don't keep track of them.

Brian