Canoe Project
May 20, 2024
About the Canoe project
- We are just starting to build a 20′ Freight Canoe in the workshop. This is a kit project made from 5mm marine ply.
- This page will follow the project and will include pictures as well as commentary on issues that arise as we progress.
- At the moment I have taken delivery of seven sheets of 8′ X 4′ pre cut marine ply.
- The plans shown below were obtained through Selway Fisher Design in Scotland.
Basic plan and elevation of 20′ marine ply Canadian Canoe
20′ Freight Canoe in sheets of 8 X 4 Marine ply
20′ Marine ply Canadian Canoe
Feb 5thWith all the boards now cut out and the edges cleaned we can begin the assembly. We could at this stage make a decision to assemble the Canoe in two halves making it easier to transport. (In this case you would bolt the two halves together at the side of the river). This would involve cutting in half the 4 center boards. However we have decided to proceed with a full boat build defer that decision to a later stage. Now then the next thing is join all the timbers in their entire length, end to end. This will involve butting the ends together and taping the joints on both sides and fixing with either polyester or epoxy resin. Time to call in an expert.
Feb 10thWith much thanks to Joe and Chris we got going on the assemby. we had set up a 20ft work bench so we could lay out one full half of the canoe. Now we had to glue and tape the timbers together end to end.
Building a Canoe. Assembly starts with joining timbers end to end
Canoe building. Completed joint. Glued and taped
Canoe building project. Joe and Chris
Made a lot of progress today. With all the planks glued together it was time to start stitching. We started with the two base planks. Once we had those two together it was drill and stitch with the other planks. We made steady progress and put in the centre seat support and several other seat supports along the length of the canoe. We quickly noticed some great shape taking place.Feb 20th
Centre seat support being stitched in place
Canoe build. Centre seat supports being stitched in place
Canoe build. Starting to take shape
Canoe build. 3 out of 4 planks now in place
We now have all the planks stitched together. The bow and stern are left open. We will bring them together last.March 4th
Taking shape
Bow and stern now tied together
The next step is to start the glueing process. We will begin on the inside by applying glue between the cable ties. we will make the glue quite soft so it can be forced between the planks. To avoid waste we will first tape the outside to stop the glue from running through too much.Canoe build project – Taping the outside before we apply the glue between the planks on the inside
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