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.

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!