Wood Be Creative: A Shop Journal for Red River Canoe & Paddle

2012-02-10T09:06:00.000-06:00

Now that the canoe building is essentially done, I can get onto some of the other work that is waiting. First up is a pair of 9 1/2' oars. These will be going to Cross Lake, Mb and will be used in the canoe races there. These are built with a cedar core and blade, and Fir faces and sides further up the loom. The fir is used both for strength and to increase the mass inboard for better balance. AS the cedar was low cross grain strength I applied a thin, 2 0z., layer of fiberglass on the blade and extreme end of the shaft. There is also a band of walnut around the perimeter of the blade for edge protection.

2012-02-10T09:01:00.000-06:00

A little more progress on the mold for the Clairtone globe shells. I had a lot of problems getting this off of the pattern, neccesitating quite a bit of remedial work. The residue is cleaned out, sanded, and coated with new epoxy. I have about 5 coats on and I am letting it cure hard before sanding and polishing. Pretty soon I can take some laminates from it! Then I can progress on making the rest of the cabinet and stand. THEN I can put the components in and use it.

2012-02-03T09:59:00.000-06:00

Our local skating club hosted a regional competition a couple of weeks ago. They were looking for auction items, so, as my daughter skates with the club, I felt like I needed to put something in. This painting is about 18" x 24", acrylic on canvas. I didn't want to invest a huge amount of time into it as I was pretty sure that the smallish size of this competition wouldn't draw huge numbers of people. I based it off an 1940's photo of Carol Lynne by Gjion Mili.

2012-02-01T07:50:00.000-06:00

The yellow Cruiser is nearing completion. I had planned on doing the pinstripe as gold with a black border, but its looking pretty nice in black only. I am awaiting word from the client on his choice.

Final varnish in on all of the trim, the thwarts are ready to bolt in, the stem bands are on, and the seats are being caned. Almost done!

2012-01-27T08:45:00.000-06:00

A yellow canoe is like a blast of sunshine in the shop on a cold January workday.

2012-01-27T08:42:00.000-06:00

This may look like an ordinary tomato, but it has been picked off of a tomato plant that I have been over-wintering in my shop. Last summers plants were looking pretty good when they were due to be pulled out and thrown on the compost heap, so I decided to try keeping one potted. The goal is to get a good start for next summer.

So far, so good.

2012-01-27T08:22:00.000-06:00

I had about an hour left at the end of yesterday before I closed the shop for the day. I had put the final coat of paint on the new Cruiser and couldn't risk making dust, not now! What to do? I decided to continue cutting out the pegbox for the Viola da Gamba that I have been working on. So now most of the wood has been removed and the refining is left. Once this is done I can fit it to the garland, which is what the assembled sides are called before the top and back are on. After it has been fitted I can continue work on the back and top.

2012-01-20T18:02:00.000-06:00

One final view of Bob's Boreal "Y" stern all done and awaiting pick-up. Its tough to get a nice shot of a canoe inside the shop.

I've often been asked about how it must be hard to invest so much of yourself into building a canoe like this. "Oh it must be so hard to see it go!".

The truth is You build enough canoes (or guitars -whatever...) and you finish one and it goes out the door. You don't weep, you don't moan, you just sweep the floor and say "Right, Next!", and move on to the next project like the Jesus Lizard running across the water because you have bills to pay and you sink if you stop running

And the next project is always more exciting anyway.

2012-01-20T17:57:00.000-06:00

Who doesn't like looking at some gleaming woodwork under 5 coats of varnish as the light comes streaming in through the window?

Yes, Bruce, this IS your canoe...

2012-01-20T17:54:00.000-06:00

I make up these Brass plate to be installed on the ends of the gunnels. On the restorations that come in I find that the ends take a beating over the years, mostly when the canoe is resting turned over. These are to help protect the wood.

2012-01-20T17:50:00.000-06:00

The tuning machines for the L-00 arrived this week. I had actually hoped to buy them a year ago! But, life happens and the money is needed on more immediate thing. Seems like my children want to eat...

The machines are from the Stew-Mac "Golden Age" series of replacement tuners. They are patterend off of vintage style tuning machines primarily for replacing worn out machines on otherwise still worthy guitars. I choose the relic treatment not for any faux vintage for my guitar, but because I didn't want anything too shiny. I also choose the engraved ones just because I liked them better than the plain plates.

Everything is going to completion! Bob's Boreal was picked up this afternoon and will be travelling with him as he moves house to Ottawa in next week. Done just in time! The Cruiser in the back needs only paint and to have the trim installed, and the guitar just needs set up for the strings to play just right.

2012-01-18T10:39:00.000-06:00

I never did receive any in the field shots of the Sectional Klondike canoe that I built for Frantic Films' "Klondike: Quest for Gold", nor did I ever receive a DVD of the series, so I lifted these ones from some clips posted on Youtube. I apologize in advance for any copyright infringements, but this IS my canoe.

2012-01-14T09:00:00.000-06:00

A close up of the Walnut trim on the Cruiser after first coat of varnish.

2012-01-14T08:56:00.000-06:00

I am declaring the finish on the L-00 done...at least for now. After slaving on it over the last few weeks and suffering the inequities of errant dust, I reminded myself that the purpose of this particular guitar was that I have something around that my hard picking friends can thrash on instead of despoiling my delicate nylon string gutiars.

So, with that personal edict in mind I glued on the bridge and bolted the neck on to start checking and refining its alignment. While it was all together I decided to get a couple of glamour shouts of it sitting in the canoe.

2012-01-14T08:50:00.000-06:00

All of the thwarts and seats are made for the Cruiser in Walnut. Here they are with the first coat of varnish.

2012-01-14T08:47:00.000-06:00

Some colour has come into the shop this week! The paint on the Boreal is all done, got her turned over and got the last two coats of varnish on the gunnels. On Monday I will bolt the thwarts back in and get the stm band prepared and installed. All that is left is to put the seat in and they are being caned while all the rest of the work is getting done.

If you squint you can see in the background (second photo) that the Cruiser has its outwales on, that they are sanded and have the first two coats of varnish on.

2012-01-12T09:05:00.000-06:00

Been working the L-00 along. On the classical guitars I apply a shellac finish in a French Polish. On this gutiar I am trying a varnish finish. A number of guitar makers are turning to varnish as a finish as Nitrocellulouse laquer is risky to use for small shops, what with all of those nasty chemicals it requires.

Anyway that you look at it, applying a finish is a long, tedious, and challenging process. I hate factory guitars for setting public expectations to evaluate a guitar on how perfect the finish is.

Anyway, the Mahogany and Spruce is looking lovely.

2012-01-11T18:34:00.000-06:00

Sanding the filler on the Boreal "Y" stern. The keel is just about to be put on, then paint, paint, paint!

The Cruiser is in filler to the left and is waiting while the filler cures.

2012-01-09T08:45:00.000-06:00

The trim is on the Boreal and the Cruiser has three coats of varish. The Cruiser is now faired and sanded on the exterior and is now ready for canvas. Its actaully already in canvas for a week now, but I'm behind in posting! I'll get two more coats of varnish on yet.

2011-12-14T08:47:00.000-06:00

The Boreal is now in canvas.

One down, one to go...

2011-12-14T08:38:00.000-06:00

The new Cuiser was being planked up this last week. The first number of runs go pretty quickly, the three bilge planks take a little longer because each one requires some complex fitting.

But once the canoe comes off of the mold there is a lot of detail work required. The decks and cant ribs need to be made and fitted, The last three ribs at each end need to be tapered to allow for the outside gunnels to have a clean run to the stem, the ring nails holding the ribs to the gunnels all have to be set and the ribs ends need to be trimmed down, all the takcs need to be checked for tight clinching, etc, etc...

So now she's all planked up and ready for the interior to be sanded and cleaned up for varnishing.

But wait, I have the Boreal to canvas and fill...

2011-12-13T21:24:00.000-06:00

A last vacum out of the dust prior to varnishing the interior.

As this canoe is being presented to Bob as a retirement gift from the congregation of St. John's Cathedral in Winnipeg, I thought that it might be a nice thing to bring it over to the church for them to see it, and for them to sign the hull prior to the canoe being canvassed.

The signatures and blessings imbue this canoe with plenty of mojo!

2011-12-12T09:33:00.000-06:00

Planking, planking, planking...

2011-12-12T09:30:00.000-06:00

I had some trouble taking the mold off of its pattern. I tried, off and on, for about a week to pry it off with no success. One day I just said "This thing is coming off today!" A dremel with a cu off whell made a cut across and and I peeled it off. A lot of the filler came off with it. No wonder it was sticking. It is scraping off quite well with a hardwood "chisel". All is not lost, but its more work than I wanted to do.

The pattern with filler as it looks now. It used to look so nice...

2011-11-17T09:48:00.000-06:00

Its amazing how much the lighting can change in just a few minutes on the Canadian prairies.

2011-11-16T18:58:00.000-06:00

Bob is learning by doing, that all of those ribs need some fairing before the planking can go on, and some linseed oil.

The Boreal has most of the bottom planking one and we're working around to the sides. The ends are left loose until its off of the mold.

The Cruiser with the ribs all faired and coated with linseed oil. She's ready for planking now, too.

2011-11-16T18:54:00.000-06:00

The ribs on the two canoes. There is something about this stage of building that looks great.

The top canoe is the Cruiser. If it looks a little odd how the stem is sitting at the end, that's because this old mold doesn't conform to the shape of the stem that I use and needs a little jigging.

2011-11-10T00:55:00.000-06:00

Monday was rib bending day. Its a lot of work to get everything ready, but once it is you're ready to roll! There isn't much time to think about what you're doing or idle chit chat, so you have to have a process all worked out in advance. Having a good process ensures that all of the decision making is all done in advance.

This canoe is being made as a retirement gift. That's Bob on the right, he's the lucky recipient. He's also luck because he's one of the few people who can spell their name backwards and it still looks right. I can't do that, it comes out as Goud. On the left is my dad. He came by for the afternoon because Bob had to leave mid-day and I really needed to sets of hands till on deck till the job was done.

Two canoes all ribbed out! In the back is Bob's Boreal and in the front is a Cruiser.

2011-11-09T09:41:00.000-06:00

First snowfall. I expect that this is here to stay.

Dorge's Field, November 7, 2011

2011-10-28T13:34:00.000-05:00

The rowing shell is done and looking very blue! It was amazing just how many fractures were put into this hull during transport, I still shake my head on wonder.

I tried a new paint, for me, on this boat. Based upon my satisfaction with using their enamel paint and varnish, I decided to try the Epiphanes Monourethane paint. I really liked the depth of gloss and how well the paint flowed out. However! I had a heck of a time keeping the dust in the shop from screwing it up! I did the best that I could, but always hope for better.

Dust is the bane of my work life.

2011-10-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

Ribs for two canoes milled and ready for tapers and round over.

2011-10-28T13:12:00.000-05:00

Spent a little time refining the surface of the pattern for my Project G globe mold. After coating it with fairing compounds I used a semi-circular sanding block (ie. a block cut to exactly the radius that I desired in the finished pattern), glued some sandpaper on it, and sanded away. Filled in the gaps, sanded some more. Filled in the remaining gaps, sanded some more. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Then I spray painted it gloss black and sanded that to find any remaining hollows. I'll be repeating this a couple more times.

But for now its looking pretty good!

2011-10-27T19:55:00.001-05:00

There was some pretty good fog this morning, I had to wait till this afternoon for it to clear enough for this photo. Earlier all the photo would have shown was grey, grey, grey.
Dorge's Field. October 27, 2011

2011-10-19T10:15:00.000-05:00

I'vre been milling ribs and planking for the last 3 or four days. Its a frustrating puzzle at times, trying to get the most yield and best cuts fro the wood available. White Cedar does not come into my shop in uniform dimensions, nor in uniform quality. There are a lot different sizes, some with knots, some with checking. It is disheartening to pick up a big piece of cedar only to examine it and find knots distributed all over it, or checks that go right through it, rendering the wood almost unuseable.

Occassionally, though, you get a piece like this!

3 1/2" thick, 17" wide, and almost 8' long of clear wood with no apparent checking. THIS is a high yield piece of wood. I got a lot of planking cut from this piece with almost zero waste. I hate wasting wood, it is disrespectful.

Not all of this pile was from the piece shown above, but a good portion was. This is the product of my cutting efforts, here shown rough sawn.

And here thicknessed to its final 5/32" dimension. Time now to group it by grain and colour type, and to clean up the shop.

2011-10-19T10:06:00.000-05:00

Dorge's Field. This is the first time that I've seen the straw bailed on this field.

Evening light.

Morning light.

2011-10-16T13:07:00.000-05:00

Stems are bent for three canoes: One double end Cruiser, one "Y" stern Boreal, and on "Y" stern NRC. I don't have the order for the NRC yet, but there is talk and its easier to bend the stems now than later. The little stems in the foreground are outer stems for the "Y" sterns. They provide the transitions from the keel to the transom.

2011-10-14T09:56:00.000-05:00

Dorge's Field, October 1, 2011

2011-10-14T09:52:00.000-05:00

A very interesting canoe came into the shop last spring. This is an old Chestnut Bob's Special. OK, so while that may make it interesting enough, what really sets this canoe off for me is that it is the very first canoe restoration that I ever did, back in about 1987. It has some interesting construction details that I totally missed first time around. I wish that I had paid more attention to the shaping of the decks and the seat!

This is one of the trio of canoes that I stripped out last week. They are now ready for future work once the winter sets in. Meanwhile I am busy milling ribs and planking for two new canoe builds.

2011-10-14T09:47:00.000-05:00

Thought you'd like to see this variation of the typcial Peterborough bow decal. I need to figure out how to preserve this while cleaning up the varnish on the rest of the deck.

2011-10-14T09:44:00.000-05:00

The weather has been mighty fine here last week, so I grabbed the "opportunity" to strip the varnish out of three canoes. Varnish stripped is might stinky and the fumes hurt my head, so working with the big shop door open made the task less unpleasant. Stripping varnish is tedious, and any efficiencies that I have developed over the years has not made the job go faster, I just end up doing a better job in the same amount of time. This is a Peterborough Minetta half done.

In case you couldn't tell, the stripped out side is on the right!

2011-10-13T08:46:00.000-05:00

This 20' recreational rowing shell came in for some repair. It appears brand new yet has recieved mulitple fractures-at least 8 in shipping! All over the hull, not just in one area. I have no idea how this was accomplished.

2011-10-13T08:43:00.000-05:00

The 1962 Kildonan getting set up for canvassing.

2011-10-13T08:42:00.000-05:00

I went through a lot of screw piloting drill bits before I settled on this combination. The tapered drill bit is sold by Lee Valley, and the countersink is a Dimar. It has carbide cutters and is made of two parts which clamp around the drill bit allowing it to be installed on any drill bit up to 1/4" diameter.

It is more expensive that some others, but lasts for years and years. And it works! Money well spent.

2011-10-13T08:29:00.000-05:00

My friend Cam wants a new walnut paddle, but he wants it made all of a single piece of wood. No laminations anywhere. He puts a lot of kilometers under his canoe each season while guiding. So, while he not only needs a paddle that he'll be happy with, he needs a paddle that is up to the task. That means that the shaft has to have a minimum diameter of 1 1/8". His will be 1 3/16". The trouble is that most lumber is only available in 4/4 thickness, or 1" max. Ideally, I'd prefer to buy lumber that is 6/4 thickness, but that isn't being sold. So, I have to buy a great big piece of 8/4 Walnut.

Here you can see how the new paddle is being laid out on the stock. There is lots of wood left over and I need to be creative in how I use it so that it is not going into the scrap box. I was able to get woodout of this piece for one more laminated paddle, and some small pieces for other purposes. I don't scrap any wood until it is so small to use that the work of using it exceeds the value of the wood.

2011-10-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

Gunnels for two canoes bent and waiting.

2011-10-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

Another Souris River canoe in for gunnel replacement. This is one of the older Prospector models and the gunnels were fabricated as a single piece with a slot cut along the length, allowing the hull canoe hull laminate to slip into it. The screws clamp it tight. At the stem end some undercutting is required to allow the gunnel ends to reach the end of the canoe. For scale, the gunnel stock is about 1" square. The original was more like 7/8" tall and 1 1/8" or 1 1/4" wide (I can't remember now).

I'm not sure why the gunnels were done this way. I'm assuming that there was an expected time saving as only one piece per side was needing fitting, maybe easier to fabricate. My experience fitting these gunnels is that one person working alone would have an easier time fitting a two piece gunnel as they are more flexible and easier to get started. This style is much easier a a two person job as there really is no way to hold it into its curve while you get the first half installed. Its very similar to fitting aluminum gunnels in this regard.

2011-10-12T22:55:00.000-05:00

The Kildonan's had this particular deck shape. Its usually made of Elm. This deck has the interior face undercut like the old Chestnut ones.

2011-10-12T22:50:00.000-05:00

I've been working on an old Kildonan canoe. This one is in pretty decent shape even though it has had some pretty wonky repair work done to the stem in the past. Its just a plastering of Bondo!

So the stem tip and the gunnel ends get the repair treatment, and the interior is sanded and it gets a coat of varnish. The last cant rib needs some repair work on the end, too.

2011-09-29T08:57:00.001-05:00

I've been listening to my new speakers for awhile now. The sound is very articulate and transparent. They don't have the bass extension nor the "openness" of the previous Studio Reference Monitors, but the bass is very precise. It is also very present once the volume is put up a little to moderate levels.

These are the speakers which will go into my Clairtone Project G build.

I keep referring to these as "Deathstars", for obvious visual reasons.

2011-09-29T08:49:00.001-05:00

My friend Dave was the photographer for a recent local Dragonboat race. He sent along this photo of a Dragonboat paddle that I made awhile back. During the 1990's I was contracted to build a Dragonboat and about 200 paddles. Following that work, from time to time, I was contracted by individuals to make Dragonboat paddles. This is one of them.

2011-09-13T09:01:00.001-05:00

There is a flange that runs around the mid-section of the speaker cabinet that will allow it to be mounted in the globe enclosure. I felt that it would be easiest to make the flange in two pieces and have it supported by a smaller flange.

After using epoxy to seal the wood grain so that the paint goes on nice and smooth, the surfaces are sanded and given the first two coats of paint. I will continue to work up the paint finish till I like how it looks. OK, so it will be mostly hidden inside of the globe, but I am thinking that the front globe screen may have a fairly open weave and be quite revealing of the cabinet within. It is far easier to make it look good now than later.

2011-09-12T21:17:00.000-05:00

I have 2 new canoes to build, so with that in mind, its time to start making parts. I am starting with the gunnels. Here a pair of Fir inwales for a "Y" stern Boreal are getting their bend at the bow. Beside are a set of Walnut gunnels for a Cruiser, and a pair of one piece Oak gunnels for a Souris River Kevlar canoe. The bends work best if they have time to "Set" on the mold, so I like to get the gunnels and stems made up ahead of time.

2011-09-12T21:10:00.001-05:00

The Huron got picked up yesterday. The owner is doing their own painting which will save me some work time.

Now its time to start the next restoration. This one is an old Kildonan canoe. After opening up the canvas I found a rare treat: one of the workers at the time of building actually wrote the build day. Not sure if you can make it out in the photo, but its July 1962.

2011-09-12T13:07:00.001-05:00

Its Autumn in Lorette. Across the road, this is how Dorge's Field looks now.

2011-09-12T13:04:00.002-05:00

You gotta love how some canoes are built. This particular one has a Kevlar structure but with a thickened resin core. Most of the time this works fairly well. The problem is when you hit something hard, like a rock, and the resin core fractures. It often delaminates internally and there is nothing holding the inner and outer laminate skins together, so its a soft, floppy spot.

To fix it one of the skins needs to be ground off, the fractured core picked out or ground out, refilled, and new skins laminated over top. Then it all needs to be sanded smooth and given a finish. At this point most people opt for a shot of spray paint that is a near match as this is much cheaper than going through the work of colour matching gelcoat and polishing it to a gloss that matches the hull.

2011-09-12T12:57:00.001-05:00

My speaker cabinets are coming along. I routed the front baffle in order to receive the driver, glued the front baffle onto the cabinet, and cut the bevels on the front edge.

2011-09-12T12:54:00.001-05:00

Another Huron canoe. This one was in pretty decent shape. In addition to the obvious work of recanvassing and varnishing, I had to repair the end of the stem and replace the decks. The outer gunnels needed some repair work, too.

2011-09-12T12:49:00.001-05:00

Another Brigden canoe in for a gunnel replacement. One of the nice things about working on Brigden canoes is that they are straighforward and easy to work on. That means no goofy construction without a mind for future repairs! This one dates from 1975. Not bad, really, for a 36 year old canoe.

2011-09-12T12:44:00.000-05:00

Some old fiberglass canoes are cheaper to repair than they are to replace. This one is branded as an "Equinox", and made in Winnipeg during the'70's-80's. Its nota great canoe, but serves its owners family well. It got caught in a pretty significant windstorm and some holes were worn into the hull laminate. Grind, grind, grind, some fiberglass and epoxy, sand, then paint. Now its ready for many more years of use.

2011-09-12T12:38:00.002-05:00

I've been having a run of composite canoes come in with broken or rotting gunnels.

Too many people treat wood gunnels on a canoe the same as they would aluminum gunnels. You can't. They need to be stored in a dry place and the finish needs to be kept up. This is not helped by canoe manufaturers who are hard pressed to make any money at canoe building and feel pressed to keep their retail prices low. So, to do that, they maybe get one coat of an oil finish on the outer surfaces of the wood. Canoe owners usually work with the assumption that that is enough.

Then the canoes come to me looking like this.

2011-09-12T12:29:00.001-05:00

The Project G globe is originally made of spun aluminum. I don't have access to a lathe substantial enough to spin a sheet of aluminum that would be about 3' in diameter required to produce the half dome of 18", so I will make mine of composite construction. First step is to make a pattern from which to make a mold. From the mold I will make my half globes.

There's a reason why most people just go to the store and buy this stuff...

2011-09-12T12:24:00.003-05:00

Got a start on the speakers for my Clairtone Project G reproduction. This cabinet will sit inside of the globe. It is octogonal in shape and will use the Mark Audio Alpair 12 driver. Plans are from Dave at Planet 10 HiFi.

2011-09-10T13:03:00.001-05:00

A special treat about this trip to Banff was the walking tours of historic Banff. We chanced upon the event while visiting the Banff Springs Hotel for lunch (like we can afford to stay there!) On the cover of the tour brochure was a photo of a lutherie shop. I asked at every stop that we visited "Where is this place in this photo?". Finally we got an answer and had a lovely visit with the luthier who now makes his home in banff.

2011-09-10T12:57:00.001-05:00

I managed to grab a weeks' worht of holiday time with my wife and one of my daughters! We went to Banff and stayed with my wife's sister who lives and works in Banff. My daughter, my youngest, is really into horse riding so we booked her a 4 hour trail ride out of Lake Louise up to the Plain of Six Glaciers. She like it well enoug, but coming from an English saddle riding backround, she felt as though she was "just along for the ride".

We managed to take in a Stoney Pow Wow that was happening that week. Beautiful setting just outside of Banff on traditional grounds.

Lake Louise offers canoe rentals. One of the outtings that you can book is a voyageur canoe ride. Wood rib construction with a fiberglass skin. I couldn't get close enough to get a really good look at the canoe, but I could see enough.

2011-09-10T12:46:00.001-05:00

More new paddles. I'm not getting as many paddle orders this year as in the past. A lot of this is due to the state of the economy, as well as the newar parity of the Canadian and US dollar. It used to be that the the Canadian dollare was valued at about .75 US dollars.

2011-09-10T12:43:00.001-05:00

I've been having some difficulty in securing good White Cedar recently. When I call my supplier, either they've just sold out their stock to my competition or they haven't been able to get good logs in. I finally got some cedar in earlier this summer. Just in time as I have a couple of new canoes on the books!

2011-09-10T12:40:00.001-05:00

I finished off the PEterborough Champlain that belongs to Manitoba Pioneer Camp. New Spruce outwales, maroon paint, new stem bands, re-caned seats, new decal, and new thwarts. The old the old thwarts were all messed up so I pulled some of my own older ones out and used them. At least they all match and are in good condition. I pained the new name on the bow, too. In the end I decided to call it "The Peterborough" as that is how this particular canoe has always been referred to as. Why fight it?

2011-09-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

OK, so it seems that I haven't posted for awhile. Fair enough, but HEY! It's summer! What can I say?

So, time to catch up.

After the rowboat left I had a bunch of smaller jobs to get through. First off was to put some kevlar felt pads on these two Royalex canoes that belong to my friend and neigbour Cam, who runs Red River Outfitters. Not a prticularily difficult job, but it still requires care to do well, nice and neat.

2011-07-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

I just received these photos from the new owner of the Bailey-Rangeley on the water for a shakedown sail. Still some minor issues to be resolved that are due, mostly, to this being a completely new boat for him. That will all get resolved and we'll both learn from it.

2011-06-30T22:48:00.000-05:00

And away she goes.

2011-06-30T22:45:00.000-05:00

And some more.

2011-06-30T22:42:00.000-05:00

The new rowboat is finished! Time for some wrap-up photos.

2011-06-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

And I started getting the stem band on.

2011-06-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

Nice oarlocks deserve nice oarlock pads.

2011-06-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

More parts for the rowboat: two leeboards, a rudder, and two mast collars that I made of fiberglass to simulate the brass ones on the Bailey.

2011-06-09T22:17:00.000-05:00

It took some searching, but I found these stainless steel clamp nuts for the leeboard hardware.

2011-06-09T22:10:00.000-05:00

The leeboard thwart took some doing, but its done now, too. Half of the work was research, and finding the hardware! Some of I couldn't find so I had to make, that would be the angle brackets at the ends. On a sailing canoe these used to be available in brass, and I suppose that I could have made some in brass given more time. I made these from many layers of fiberglass, then painted them black.

This is how the leeboard thwart sits on the boat and how the leeboard itself is fastened.

2011-06-09T22:03:00.000-05:00

After a lot of shaping, sanding, and varnishing, the 4 oars and the spars are done.

2011-05-29T12:05:00.000-05:00

Time for making some oars!

Spruce is nice but hard to get here, and if I can get it, its very expensive. I chose to use Douglas Fir as its almost as light, might be stronger, available in good quality, and its affordable.

Big glue ups of wood! You can see the rudder and leeboards sitting on top.

Once the oars are cut to shape, the first step of the spoon is cut. There is still a lot of wood to take off, but with other tools than the bandsaw, which is what I've been using so far.

2011-05-25T09:31:00.000-05:00

Finished the paint on the rowboat, got the deck together except for a few screws, making up the oar blanks, and made an 8 stave bird's mouth joint 12' hollow mast. Made patterns for the leeboards, rudder, and oar blades, etc. etc. Just a little more varnish on some of the interior trim and I can get that all installed.

There are router bits now available to make these joints, but a table saw works just fine, too. Due to the way that my little tablesaw is positioned with my work bench the blade won't tilt the full 45 degrees that it should, so I used this little carriage. The wood itself is tilted at 45 degrees and is positioned exactly where it needs to be all the time.

The cuts look like this.

And this is how they go together.

The photo of the end of the spar looks a little loose as this is just the test fit before glue up. This is the base of the mast, that hole will have an octagonal piece glued into it up to the partner.

And the mast all glued up.

2011-05-15T13:36:00.000-05:00

Now the new boat is starting to look like what it will be when complete. The second coat of white is on the hull and on Monday I will get the last coat on. That will make one coat of primer and three coats of finish. I am using Epiphanes #24, in case anyone is curious.

The last bits of hardware are starting to arrive now. I just received the pintels and gudgeons, as well as the long stem band pieces. I still need to receive the oarlocks and the sail. I am sourcing out the leeboard hardware, and tomorrow I will have to order the last bits of wood to ensure that I have enough for the spars, leeboards, rudders, and oars.

I am also putting in another mast position forward of the one already in.

I took the opportunity of having to flip the boat over to get a shot of the interior with the finish coats of varnish.

2011-05-12T08:54:00.000-05:00

Some info to add due to my website being down, my offerings of new canoe models:

Esprit: 13' length, 28" beam, 2.5" rocker. This is a dedicated Freestyle canoe for smaller paddlers.

Red Fox: 14' length, 30 beam, 1.5" rocker. A direct copy of an old Chestnut Fox (before they got fat!). This is a great all-round solo canoe and is one of my most popular canoes.

Swift Fox: Same as the Red Fox but the stems are pulled out 6" at each end to make a finer entry/exit line and a 15' LOA

Pleasure: 16' length, 34" beam, 1.5" rocker, 12" center depth. A great canoe for casual use, especially at the cottage.

Cruiser: Same as the Pleasure, but built 2" deeper. The depth is the only limiter of the Pleasure for more ambitious excursions, and this is addressed with the Cruiser. This particular example has a center seat added for solo paddling comfort.

Boreal: 16' length, 36" beam, 3" rocker, 15" center depth. This canoe is my other most popular canoe. If I had to have only one canoe, ever, this would be it as it matches perfectly my paddling interests. This canoe is very capable in all kinds of water and can carry as much gear as you need. During the summer of 2010 a Boreal was taken on a 60 day trip from northern Saskatchewan to Baker Lake, Nunavut, and was described as the best canoe on the trip. Good for trips, or day paddled empty if you don't mind paying attention to your course corrections, and makes a great "Style" solo paddling canoe.

Kildonan "Timber Cruiser": 17'6" length, 39" beam (flared sides), 17" center depth. The dimensions of this canoe would imply a real pig of a boat, but in reality it is a fine lined, easy paddling canoe. The width comes from the combination of the flared sides and the depth. This canoe can take a LOT of gear and still paddle well.

Legacy: 17'6" length, 36" beam, 1.5" rocker. A variation of the Maine guide Canoe patterened after the 18'6" E.M. White guide canoe, just shorter, deeper, and with some rocker.

NRC "Northern Racing Canoe": 18'6", 36" beam, 20" center depth, "Y" stern, and built off of the Legacy mold. These canoes are custom built for a series of races that are popular in northern Manitoba, especially in the communities of Cross Lake and Norway House. The bow crew rows and the stern paddles, and the crew switch places during the race. Many races are 30km per day for 3 days. I have learned through my research that other races are set up this way, too. The Adirondack boats are often raced this way, and there is a version in Finland called the "Shift Boat", raced the same way.

2011-05-12T08:41:00.000-05:00

The L-00 now has all of the bindings glued on. Scraping them flush is next. Few things set off the guitar better than nice bindings and purfling, but it is easy for some builders to really overdo it. I am not a fan of bling just for bling's sake on a guitar. If you're going to over do it you really need to commit to it.

The work on the rowboat has been pretty intense lately, just so much to do! I needed a little mental break, and I want to get this done and out of the shop before some tragedy befalls it.

The neck is only in place temporarily right now, just to see how it is all going to look together, I still have to do the final fitting to ensure that it lines up precisely with the center line. I'm liking it.

2011-05-11T18:27:00.000-05:00

I finally got the inside of the rowboat varnished four coats! This is always and excruciating process as there are so many opportunities for things to go not so well. No pictures of the interior, you'll have to wait.

Today I turned the boat back over and prepped...

and primed the outside.

I have to get used to seeing the hull with colour on it. One more coat of primer, a bunch of sanding, and then I can get the finish coats on.

THEN I can get the last coats of varnish on the trim and get all the pieces back together.

2011-05-06T00:02:00.000-05:00

It was suggested to me that I should show a photos of one of my guitars being built actually IN one of the boats that I am building.

So here goes.

2011-05-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

Got all of the parts made, fitted, and sanded. Some days it felt like it would never end! Got the first coat of varnish on today. Tomorrow I get to sand everything again and put on another coat of varnish. And again on Monday. And again on Tuesday.

2011-05-01T13:58:00.000-05:00

Now is the time to make some decisions about the trim. One of those decisions which really affects the character of the boat is the deck. Large, small, wood, etc. all have to be considered. In the end, for this boat, I chose to be influenced by the decks of traditional cedarstrip canoes built in the Peterborough style.

This style has single large panels of wood with the straight grain oriented to the gunnel and joined along he center. This center seam is capped with a tapered piece of wood, and there is a subtle coaming over the end grain. Due to the size of these panels I decided to add some cross grain reinforcements...just in case.

This is the coaming being laminated. I could have used steam bent wood, but it would take more time to get the steam box set up and up to steam than it would take to simply rip a few thin strips and glue them up.

Lots of clamps ensure that the clamping pressure is evenly distributed.

Main deck sections are installed. The outer gunnels are also clamped in place at this point.

An overview of the boat with the trim being installed. There are a lot of pieces and the each need to be fabricated and fitted individually.

Rear seat slats in place. The original Bailey Whitehall has the side slats very long and resting in the first thwart/bench seat. I assume that is for sailing, it looks great that way but makes a much more complicated build. Most boats have the stern seat slats of more or less equal length. The solution that I decided to use gets the best of both worlds.

2011-04-23T09:51:00.002-05:00

Had to decide on what to use for floorboards. I should have planned out the floor placements based upon the length of available stock. Alas, what I had planned to use was just on the short side. Long enough, but just. Luckily, I had some other stock that was longer, and nicer, too.

It took awhile to plan out how to lay out the floorboards for best fit, etc. It took quite awhile, too, to cut and mill it. Imagine holding a 2" x 3", 15 foot long piece of Fir and feeding it into the bandsaw cutting off very precise 1/2" thick slices. I had no room for error and the long end sticking out from the saw is awkward and heavy!

I had to adjust the floors, too, to get everything to lay our just right. While I was at it, I adjusted my floor patterns so next time this will all go easier. I took notes of the floorboard dimensions for the same reason.

2011-04-23T09:46:00.002-05:00

I've been asked to reproduce this Bill Brigden paddle. Bill was an absolute pragmatist. This paddles is a simple plate of fiberglass screwed to a Spruce paddle shaft with grip. I've repaired this particular paddle before, but its now time to make a replacement for long term use. The client really likes it, so who am I to argue?

2011-04-21T09:22:00.003-05:00

The floors are sawn out of Mahogany and are epoxied in place. With the changing shapes of the boats interior, it is a real challenge to get a good fit everywhere and fitting took a lot of time.

Here you can also see the seat risers being epoxied in place. They are screwed to blocks which are bonded to the hull, this way the riser can be removed to facilitate future maintenance work. The spreaders are to apply clamping pressure, the short vertical sticks are to maintain proper positioning.

In order to not get epoxy smeared everywhere on the interior I placed packing tape around the glue area. Once the squeeze out is cleaned up, the tape is removed. I thought of this technique after the floors were epoxied in, I should have thought of it before!

The stern seat is supported on these blocks. Bars will rest on these and run athwartships.

And a small molding is put on along the edge of the sheerstrake. I used the small cut off from the rabbet of the outside gunnel. I will be using a canoe style outer gunnel which will cap the exposed edge of the plywood planking. The inside gunnel is installed with the screws visible, and the outer gunnel will be screwed to the inside gunnel spaced between these screws, effectively doubling up the number of fasteners for the inner gunnel.

2011-04-16T08:29:00.002-05:00

It seemed to take forever to scrape the inside of the boat clean along the planking seams! But now, finally done, I can get on with the task of fitting the inside gunnels, the floors, and the rest of the interior trim.

Even though this is a glued lapstrake plywood boat, and the gunnels are often fixed using epoxy, I am going to fasten the gunnels on using only screws. I have worked on enough boats with glued on gunnels to know how much I hate not being able to remove them! So I give the sheerstrake a sealer coat of varnish, as well as the back and under side of the interior gunnel.

Then I set about the task of developing patterns for the floors. These tie the flat sections of the boats bottom together and give the floor boards something to rest on. In a traditionally built boat, one with ribs, the ribs themselves do that task. At this point the tops are still flat all the way across, I will be shaping them finer later. While a flat floor is nice, the "V" shape of the boat at the ends would cause the floor boards to rise significantly.

Here you can see the inner gunnels clamped in place awaiting screws, as well as the floors cut out, shaped to fit the changing shape of the boat interior, and epoxied in place. Next step is to screw the gunnels in place and start fitting the riser for the seat/thwarts.

2011-04-09T13:56:00.001-05:00

Nothing like spring time puddle splashing for the young. A few shots of my youngest daughter in on of the "lakes" in the front yard.

2011-04-09T13:39:00.003-05:00

The new rowboat is off of the mold! Looks like a boat, and a pretty one at that. The structure is actually very stable even without the gunnels and thwart/seats in. Time to clean up all the joints and surfaces, and to seal all of the plywood edges. Then I can make the interior parts.

Now I need to get the mold out of the way until I need it next. I am going to leave it together to avoid all of the work of setting it up again. The open structure is actually not all that heavy, but it is bulky.

One of the necessary steps is to build an internal strongback. Just setting up the stations required only that they be on the strongback. Taking them off means that there has to be something to keep everything together. Now, where to put it...?

2011-04-05T09:45:00.002-05:00

Planking on the rowboat is finished! At only one strake per side per day, max, it does take awhile, bu the hull is finished and now I can get onto the skeg, keel, outer bow stem, and bilge keels.

Then I can turn her over and start the interior work.

A view from the stem, prior to skeg and keel.

Skeg being fitted. the end grain of the end of it is being capped with another piece of the mahogany being used. It looks a little short as the keel is yet to go over it.

Keel being glued up with a scarph joint. While I have such a nice surface, I am gluing up the binding and purflings for the L-00 guitar, that is what all those clamps at the near eand are all about.

One more view looking towards the bow.

2011-04-05T09:20:00.003-05:00

Few things make you think about summer than Strawberries! These were last seasons pickings put out to thaw and sprinkled with sugar for making freezer jam.

2011-03-25T09:19:00.002-05:00

I've taken the canopy off of the shop aquarium as it seems to get a more generous amount of natural sunlight this way. I must admit that there is something very appealing about this kind of light in an aquarium.

It goes against all of the traditional advice, but it seems to work! I have not had an algae break out in this tank, the glass is clean, the plants are not covered in algae, and the filter is running at barely a trickle. I have not had to scrape the glass clean for as long as I can remember. The only algae issue that I have are these clumps of thread algae but they come out really easy, you just grab them and lift.

2011-03-25T09:13:00.002-05:00

Four planks hung. Its not just the time that it takes for the epoxy to set that limits the pace, but its the time to trim the plank to correct shape, to fit it to the boat, and to prepare the next plank. Working efficiently it takes about one day to get it all done. As much as I was looking forward to getting to this stage, I'll be glad to be moving on.

Anyway, its starting to look like a boat now!

2011-03-22T09:12:00.001-05:00

Icon for St. Benedict's Priory in Middlechurch, just north of Winnipeg. Scal is about 60" tall.

2011-03-22T09:09:00.000-05:00

There's just something about stiletto shoes...

2011-03-22T09:05:00.002-05:00

I thought it time to put up some images of my paintings. I haven't been able to paint for awhile and its really getting to me, kind of like water backing up behind a dam. Don't fool around with the dam unless you're prepared for the flood waters!

"Lovers Over the City"

"Lovers Fleeing the Storm"