Planing and Final Cutting

The next step was to run the strips through the planer. It worked best to run two strips at a time. Both sides were planed and we created a lifetime supply of hamster cage liner. Alas, we don't have a hamster. Like usual, I get the painful jobs. I had to PULL the strips smoothly out of the end of the planer.

Then the strips were cut in two lengthwise. Notice Randy is using his safety tool.

After cutting and planing, the finished strips were very flimsy. It is hard to believe a canoe is made of these. But we know better. The finished strips were hard to stack so we tamed them with some painter's tape.

Cutting The Cedar

Our task for this lovely day was to turn these six 18ft clear western red cedar 2X4s into 96 3/4" by 1/4" 18 foot strips.

First, which way to cut the boards had to be decided. As you can see, our setup for the project is quite makeshift. Randy is usually making furniture in his spare time.
Each board was cut lengthwise into strips the height of the board (1 1/2") and slightly wider than 3/4", to allow for planing.

Notice the finger board holding the board snug against the fence.
Each board was cut 8 times, the final cut leaving only a piece of cedar ribbon. Using a thin saw blade made for very little waste.

My job was to pull the cut piece away from the saw blade, and stack the strips outside for running through the planer.

Background Story

In January 2008, we inherited a 25 year old cedar strip canoe made by Randy's uncle. It had been left to the elements since the uncle's death 10 years ago. The condition was sad, but the body of the canoe was sound. We decided the old girl deserved a new life. We stripped the body down to bare wood and built the rest ourselves.

Two and a half months and 125 hours later, "One True Love" received the finishing touches. She was lovely. She went for her maiden voyage in May 2008 at Canisbay Lake in Algonquin Park. She floated! Not only did she float, she handled like a dream.

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The seed was planted. We decided to build another canoe, from scratch this time. We had already figured out through trial and error how to do most of it.

We have ordered plans for a 15 foot Hiawatha and have found the clear red cedar in the required lengths. Unfortunately, we have some furniture to finish building first, so we can clear the shop for the big project. We can't wait!