building a freedom 15° cedar strip canoe

[finrod]

just new on this forum and thought to keep this tread to show my process and share my experiences

i'm building a cedar strip canoe (freedom 15° bear mountain)
for the stems and detail i use redwood, i found it very difficult to steam bend this redwood because of the fibers but it worked out afterall (after 10 steaming sessions i got my 6 pieces )
to steambend the wood i used a steamer to take down wallpaper and connected it to a tube.

so now i'm moving on to glueing and shaping the stems before i can put the ceder planks on..


this is the first time i build this so any tips or tricks are always welcome

some pics to show you where i'm headed:

[Ike]

Looks good. Good Luck.

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by Ike

Looks good. Good Luck.

Ditto. What glue will you use?

[finrod]

i'm using water resistant woodglue (pattex) and epoxy

more pics as soon as my spokeshave arrives from the shop

[hoytedow]

I couldn't find much info on pattex. It must be highly water resistant, so I would rely more on the epoxy, using the pattex for less critical applications(above the water line). The building frame is very well conceived.

[finrod]

my video of the wood being steamed for bending the stems, just a video to show what system i'm using..

link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e86GfUpC62w

[finrod]

Originally Posted by hoytedow

I couldn't find much info on pattex. It must be highly water resistant, so I would rely more on the epoxy, using the pattex for less critical applications(above the water line). The building frame is very well conceived.

well the pattex is very good for gluing the cedar strips together, but realy doesnt matter because i will fiberglaas everything and that will be water resistant for sure, i put the fiberglass on it using the epoxy glue..

some more pics:

[hoytedow]

It will be great. You are off to a fine start.

[cthippo]

FWIW, I'm a big fan of Gorilla glue. While I agree epoxy is generally superior in every respect, it's expensive and a pain in the rear to work with. GG has it's moments too, but overall it;s the only thing I trust anymore.

[hoytedow]

I also use GG for a lot of things. This would be one of them, but with the epoxy/glass this should turn out fine.

[cthippo]

One lesson I learned the hard way is that the Titebond polyurethane glue is a poor imitation of Gorilla glue. It has about half the strength and forms a much more brittle bond, Bad stuff, stay from it.

[finrod]

this is the one i am using, same one we use at our shop to glue windows, doors, etc.. all waterresistant

pattex woodglue:

[finrod]

this gorrila glue you use looks damn good also! shame they dont sell it here

[rwatson]

I put a bit of my canoe build at

http://greencanoe.weebly.com/buildin...beginning.html

There are a few hints that might be useful.

If I were ever to do it again, I would make a fibreglass inner end piece for both ends, and plank over the top of them, leaving a finished, waterproof inner bow and stern.

Trying to clean up and lay glass in the tight spaces at each end is such a pain.

eg

http://greencanoe.weebly.com/turning...new-canoe.html

[finrod]

nice looking canoe, what type is that?

realy great work! thax for the info!