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...

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.

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.

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!

Two planks per side are now on.

At the stems the the planks need to be fitted to lay flush at the very ends.

They are also very difficult to clamp at the stem as the clamps keep wanting to slip off, so I drilled a few holes and stitched them together. Some people get around this by just screwing them to the stem.

A view from the end.

You can see how my compression clamps are working to keep the laps tight while the epoxy cures. This is one of the limitations to how may planks can be hung in a day.

Finally! The work that I'm doing is now part of the actual boat!

First plank on. From here on I can prepare and hang about one plank per side per day.

Time to make planking patterns. Finally!

A 20' panel of 1/4" thick by 4' wide plywood is ungainly, at best. So I made up some basic patterns from long strips of cardboard, transferred the shape to the plywood, then cut the plywood out oversize.

As you can see, I have plenty of room to work in. Its a real luxury.

Clamped in place I can trace the actual shaped from the ribbands, then refine them.

Second stage of rib repair, which includes the shattered sections of the ribs near the stern stem. One might say "Why not just replace the rib?" I did replace some, but I could have replaced half of the ribs on this canoe.

Actually, by the time that I removed the planking and put it back on, and repaired all of those broken ribs, I could have built a whole new canoe. The big challenge is to determine just where that line is for you and the project.

I have a lot of clamps...now. It wasn't always the case. It is often said that a woodworker can never have too many clamps. I have almost enough!

All those clamps are removed and we can start to see the shape of the canoe returning.

Repairs are shaped back to the original rib shape. Now I can start to get the last of the planking back one. In case you are wondering, yes, it is a challenge to get the planks back in the proper order!

Planking all done, hull faired, and a coat of linseed oil is applied. Once the oil dries the canoe is ready for canvas.

The old racing canoe is now ready for tackling the broken ribs. There were so many broken ribs, all over the place that a lot of planking had to be removed. So much planking would have to be removed in order to do all of the rib repairs that there wouldn't be much left and the canoe shape could deform, so I am doing the repairs in two sessions.




Some of the old planking is still good enough to go back on, but some if it is falling apart. As it takes the same amount of time to put on new planking as it takes to replace the old planking, I put on new planking as needed.

Before I can replank the MPC canoe there are still several broken ribs to repair. For these I will use the back of the rib repair technique.

All planked up. In some spots there is still some of the original wood left!

A friend and neighbour has dropped by today to learn some things about planking a canoe. He is preparing to build a Red Fox for himself. From time to time I rent out a canoe mold, in this case, I traded the canoe rental for a Besler 4 x 5 photo enlarger. I am pleased with the deal!

Prior to installation, the planking needs to be pre-sanded on the inside face. This make a nicer varnish job. running the dust collector on the sander takes the dust away so well that a dust mask in not needed. The sander being used is just "ok", not even good enough for capital letters! I could really use a more substantial unit.


Here is the result of an afternoon's worth of planking effort.