The Mold

The pattern pieces are numbered with zero being the centre, and six being the bow and stern pieces. The two number six pieces were attached to the strongback first. The centerline of the mold had to line up with the centerline of the strongback.
The mold pieces were attached to the strongback at 12" intervals which were previously carefully marked out. The stem molds were attached at the bow and stern and will form the shape of the front and back of the canoe. A string line was run between the stem molds, up high, to line up the center of the tops of the mold pieces. Again, it is crucial that all markings be perfectly matched up.

All the pieces were attached to the strongback.

A strip of wood was attached to the top of the molds to hold them perfectly horizontal to the strongback. Parawax was applied to the edges of the molds so glue would not stick to them during construction. The form is now complete and the next step will be to apply the cedar strips.

Marking Out the Strongback for the Molds

The center point of each end of the strongback was carefully measured and marked. Fishing line was stretched taut end to end between the marks. Pencil marks were made 12" apart along the length of the line. The marks were joined to make a perfect centre line down the strongback.

Starting from the centre of the strongback lengthwise, 12" centre marks were made for positioning the molds.

It is imperative that this marking be square to the centre line, and all measurements be exact, as these are where the forms for the canoe will be placed. Marks that are off centre, etc, will result in a canoe that is not perfect in shape.

The Strongback

The strongback is the backbone of this operation. The molds are attached to it and the canoe is built on the molds. It is 170" long and 12" wide and about 28'' high. It is constructed of 3/4" plywood.


This is the underside of the strongback.
It is crucial that the strongback be level end to end and side to side. Once it was leveled with shims, it was attached to the concrete floor with Tapcon screws.

Cutting the Pattern

The paper templates were made by photocopying the supplied pattern 13 times, for each of the 7 mold pieces. The halves were taped together and taped to 1/4 hardboard to make permanent patterns.
Since our last post, we got a new helper in the shop. She is a 6 month old lab puppy named Ebby. She helps clean up by eating the sawdust!

The hardboard pieces were cut out on the bandsaw. These are now permanent patterns for the mold stations which can be used over and over.

This is just one of the patterns. Once these were cut out, they were transferred to 5/8' MDF and routered out.