Custom Wood Millwork

Would anyone know of a supplier of 16' wood strips or wood boards in North Florida for a skin on frame canoe? I'm looking for ash or oak for ribs and spruce, pine or douglas fir for stringers.

Dino

 

I don't know of any suppliers for you, but I used to make fiberglass canoes with all wood trim, seats etc. For the gunnels I used to get lumber from a local business that made laminated trusses. I explained what I needed it for and that it was not available. They used Douglas Fir 1x4" x 24' and would let me pick what I needed (clear wood).

The shorter pieces of wood can be shipped. If you're a scrounger, wood pallets are often made of oak. Yamaha motorcycles and snowmobiles used to come in crates framed from lower grades of mahogany that yielded plenty of wood of the smaller sizes used in canoes.

Otherwise Old Town Canoe Company used to sell wood to repair their old wood canoes. You could order any certain board on any model, as they were all cut to standard shapes. Like, you could order the eighth rib back from the bow on the xx model canoe, or the third plank from the keel on the port side of the xxx model, etc. They also sold gunnels of different types of wood in long clear lengths and were pretty reasonable in the prices.

 

Have a look at woodfinder to see who is in your area

http://www.woodfinder.com/

 

Won't be long before you realize that milled wood costs far more than a cheap table saw. Buy a cheap one--- it will last with low usage. I've seen them for only $100.00 new (ryobi is cheap but okay for small jobs).
Learn to mill your own stuff. A saw that can rip is always a bargain.

 

Drop me an email (click on my icon), I can mill up small orders and I'm in central Florida.

 

Cypress is readily available. Heavy but well suited for stringers.

 

I hate cypress for much of anything. Checks, splits, swells like a pregnant woman at the mere mentioning of moisture, etc. Good for out of site structural elements if out of the bilge.

 

Cypress makes good planking for sharpies bottoms though.

 

You can even use a hand held circular saw to rip stringers from larger planks. either with a saw guild and hand holding it (not recommend but it can be done), or my mounting the saw to a 3 ft square sheet a plywood that you cut a slot in it. Use a good quality blade (fine curf) and clamp it to a bench or pair of heavy saw horses, and than create a guide with wood blocks. Inexpensive and it works well if you make a sturdy set-up. I have done it before, cheap and effective. You can buy circular saws for $30, or get them used for as little as $10 from second hand stores or swap meets, garage sales, etc.

Cutting your own stringers is the best way because it no only saves you money but you can also choose what part of the plank to get the stringers. You use the best ones for the gunwales and/or keel. You can cut them to any size you want and even make special shapes. A table saw is the best way to go, but you can use a circular saw to create a make shift table saw with a

 

Best and cheaper to pay the money to contract a professional to mill timber .

I can go to the lumberyard now...explain what the component is for and the sawyer will choose a suitable piece from the pile, plane it, saw it , mold it then deliver it. A pro knows his stock..knows what grain runout means, knows the difference between kiln and air dried, works with timber everyday and will give best value.

A band saw, table saw, joiner , planer and sharp blades ae a shop full of expensive tools that will rarely be used . Foolish for a small builder.

Find a good Lumber Mill locally and use them.

 

Michael, You may be right about the expense of a shop full of expensive tools but I have to say that the 12" planer that I spent $600.00 on a few years ago has been on of the most useful machines that I've ever owned.

Between my table saw, the planer, jig saw and a decent router I find I can make just about anything I need now. Figuring out what I need to make and how to actually do it, well that keeps me from getting dementia!

You're certainly right when you advise caution when spending money but for some of us those tools open up a new world of possibilities.

Regards,

MIA

 

It's certainly not cheaper, but as Michael points out can solve a number of problems for the novice builder (Dino, I'll have your quote in a day or two). The novice may not know what a good steam bending piece looks like, or might not have the tools, though I think a table saw should be the second tool, a small shop purchases after a compound miter saw. Resources are the biggest drawback to the novice builder. They just don't know where to find good materials. I'm fortunate to have a number of mills within just a few miles of me, many are friends and I can pick a choose stock that customers wouldn't touch, knowing I can get good stock out of it. This culls them down on stuff they couldn't sell anyway and gets me a deal.

 

How much time is wasted milling your own stock ?

Before Christmas I had to fabricate a crowned teak caprail. 80ft of it.

Because of the Christmas holiday I was unable to have the local shop finish the timber to my schedule.

It took me one week, on a custom made extra long work table using a table edge router bit and much hand sanding to remove the router chatter to fabricate these caps.

The lumber yard could have done it in the same day.

I didnt make a penny on the job.

 

Well, I am retired, so my labor is free. I don't charge myself for doing the millwork.

I keep two routers. One mounted in a table for doing short pieces and a hand held lightweight router for running long boards.

 

I have a table saw and a circular saw for the same reasons.