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 by Dimar. This is THE best countersink that I have ever used. It uses carbide cutters that last and last and last. The whole unit is made in two parts that clamp around the drill bit. This allows the depth of cut to be easily adjusted and it allows for the cutter to bit used on many sizes of drill bits.

The filler needs to cure only a few days before it is hard enough for me to continue working. The first step to do is to give a quick sanding to the filler along the gunnel line before trimming the excess canvas down. Its a lot easier to do this now before the gunnels go on.

The gunnels are made from stock 1" tall by 3/4" wide. This allows for a 3/16" rabbet along the backside and for a 1/2" radius round-over router bit to shape the outer corners.

The ends of the gunnels are tapered for about 18"-24", depending upon the particular canoe. It doesn't really matter how long the taper is as long as all four of the ends are shaped the same.
For me, this also allows the 1/2" radius to reduce to a 1/4" radius, a detail which will be important later on. Stay tuned!

There's an old saying that "You can never have too many clamps!" It's true, and its taken me a long time to have almost enough clamps. I don't need this many just to clamp the gunnels in place but I do need them closely spaced in order to hold the gunnel snug while I get the screws set exactly where I want them..

What is not seen is that I establish the screw spacing and mark each rib/screw position with a pencil mark. I usually put the screws on every other rib, some canoes are every rib, and often you will see them on every third rib. What matters more is that you don't mess up your pattern! That just looks sloppy.

Here you can see how the tapered rib ends allow the gunnels to fit flush at the stem. The gunnel ends are cut with a little extra room for refining the fit.

Now that the Esprit is under control its time to get started on this old Kildonan canoe. I've never seen one as old as this one. You can tell that it is older because the decks are crowned and the rest of the trim is obviously "nicer" in detailing.

It really is in pretty good condition, one gunnel break and basic re-canvassing. The owner will be taking care of the paint and varnish.

I am working with my son as he builds a pair of Hi-Fi speakers. These Saburo models are folded horn designs using a single 4" full range driver each. The box is 6' tall, 18" front to back, and a mere 6" wide.

I decided that I would really like another thwart behind the paddler position, so I pull out some more Walnut stock and cut out a thwart blank

It tapers down from the center to the ends like this:

And then the corners are beveled. The bottom corners will be simply rounded over with a 1/4" radius router bit.

The filler goes on without incident, one of the benefits of practice I guess. Filling such a small canoe is almost a pleasure, it goes so fast!

And then it is put on a rack to dry enough to work on some more. In case you can't tell which one it is, it is the grey one on the bottom rack.

Who says that the only people who want traditional wooden canoes are over 50?

Not so. The new owner of the Esprit is well under 30 and wanted to be present for the canvassing of his new canoe. Here he is setting the screws for the seat risers. This has to be done prior to getting the canvas on - the screws go through the planking at each rib.

A piece of canvas is rolled out and cut to size.

After getting the canoe into its canvas sling, it is fastened with stainless steel staples along the gunnel, at each rib. Once it is cut free it is also fastened along the stem.

Finally the fine nap of the fabric is burnt off prior to applying the filler.