Wood Strip Canoe Supplies

I am going to start building my first boat. I have chosen a wood strip canoe and am going to buy the bead and cove strips to make my project easier. I am torn whether to use Bear Mountain boats supplies or purchase my wood strips from Noah's. Noah's is much cheaper for the western red cedar strips but the customer service at Bear Mountain Boats has been very good. Anyone that has dealt with these two companies that can assist me in my decision would be greatly appreciated. I am planning on purchasing my wood this week.
Thanks,
LAMichael

 

You may consider that Noahs may be in U.S. and Bear Mtn is in Can. funds.

 

I am currently trying too decide if I want to go with Bear Mountain. I'd be interested in knowing what you decided and how it worked out. I'm familiar with Bear Mountain but have had no experience with Noah's.
Your input would be appreciated.

 

I actually went with Tendercraft boats and to be honest I am not happy with the results. I was trying to cut costs and ended up spending just as much money with less choice (could not get accent strips). My other problem with Tendercraft is that they recommend using Canoe Craft (written by bear mountain) and some small differences in what materials I received and what the book calls out has caused me untold stress. I am a first time boatbuilder and having differences like thinner stem pieces a smaller keel, poorly packaged and now creased fiberglass on top of a damaged yoke have all added up to a less than fun experience. I don't know if I expecting too much but I can tell you next time I am going with bear mountain boats.

 

I took a class with Ted Moores (Bear Mountain) at WoodenBoat School (Maine) and I can tell you he's a class guy and provides excellent materials. I also believe he'll stand behind his product. Bear Mountain seems a little more expensive than some of the other suppliers, but Bear Mountain provides a quality product that is based on years of building experience. I've been trying to save a few bucks but your response has convinced me to spend the extra $ and go with Bear Mountain, rather than buy from someone I have no experience with. Good luck with your project, and thanks.

 

is it that hard to make your own strips? I am just asking becuse I am new to this and it seems to me it wouldnt be that hard to do and it would be a heck of allot cheaper.

 

You would certainly need a good bench saw and finisher equipment. Not a power saw and power hand planer job unless you are very patient.

That is the case on canoes and smallish strip boats for sure, for larger ones, not so finicky

 

It may not be cheaper in the long-run for a beginner. If you're thinking "bead and cove" construction, you would need the right equipment, a source of the appropriate material, and a lot of patience. I'm making a 17' Endeavor kayak and do not want to butt-join short strips to make the 18' western red cedar I would need for a lot of the strips. Also, machining bead and cove strips is a critical step (if you want a good looking finished product). If the cove is not machined, i.e. centered accurately, you will find that the fragile edges break off very easily and you will be applying a lot of filler. My recommendation for a first-time builder would be to purchase the full-length strips from a reputable source. Once you go through the process and decide you might like to make another one,, then you might consider making your own strips.
Alternately, if you just want to make a kayak for yourself and aren't too keen on aesthetics, you might consider a plywood "stitch and glue". The construction process is a lot less complicated. They now also offer hybrid kits - "stitch & glue" hull wit a "bead and cove" deck.

 

A modern portable table saw is powerful enough to make strips, though a big Delta or similar machine is better and easier.
I will always make my own strips. A 10" saw would use a 60 tooth blade (an 80 is okay too, smoother, but needs a more powerful saw to run it).
The way to do it is to make a rig that supports long pieces and keeps them lightly sprung against the fence.
The rig can use a roller (small castor, e.g.) on a pivoting arm that has a counterweight or a spring that presses the board against the fence.
The table/fence that is used to support the length of the board can be as much as 16 ft long. It is L-shaped and clamped to the saw fence with the blade peeking through at a disance from thefence equal to the strip thiickness desired. The vertical part is clamped to the fence. Then support legs are used at the ends of the long L fence.
Using a hanging weight, you can easily add weight to adjust the tension of the roller. Add a person at the other end pulling, and you should have a pretty speedy operation. The pieces should be very uniform and smooth.

 

I use a wooden "shake" as a spring clamped on the side of the table...

 

I think the thing to remember is that you can do pretty much anything, it is just a matter of how willing you are to mess around and make some mistakes on the way.

I cut ~11 long strips on an old, second hand Beaver brand contractor's saw that I bought for $60 CND. I put a nice blade in it (cost more than the saw) and built a zero-tolerance plate. With a nice long run-off table it worked acceptably. Really, the only problem was that the saw stalled when cutting the full 2" thickness of the planks at once. So, I had to flip them over end to end and cut a second time. It meant more sanding in the end, but there ya go.

I can't saw it was the best idea, but it worked for my needs. If solving these kinds of problems/challenges sound like fun - try it out and make some of your own strips. If they sound like a headache you'd rather avoid, buy them and start the boat.

If you are bead and coving it, there is of course another step and machine required.

 

Accurately machining long (e.g.17') "bead and cove" strips is not as simple as it seems. If you've never done it before I would suggest practicing on some scrap wood first. Once you feel comfortable with the process, and the end result, go for it. You should make more strips than required because some will not be usableunless you plan to remove the "bad" sections and butt join sections to get the long pieces you need.
It would be helpful to future builders to let us know what you decided and how you made out. Good Luck.

 

I forget not everyone has the tools I do. I also have access to a very nice shop on base. I think I might try something like this as soon as I am back on shore duty I am to busy right now getting ready for deployment I only get home on the weekend and spending all day on a boat build wouldnt be fair to the family. I have a whole list of boats I want to build now that I found this site I have a lake in the backyard and some nice kayaks would be great.

 

For those who can't afford a table saw to build a boat, you can spend $300 and buy a good used table saw, then clean it up and spiff it out and sell it for more when the job is done. In the case of strip construction, the cost of purchased strips is probably high enough to cover half the cost of the saw. In other words, you profit selling the saw after (or keep it! you ought to have one for your next project!).

 

One other thing that hasnt had enough airplay - is that if you order ALL coved timber, you are wasting a fair bit.

Strip plank requires a lot of shaved angles, so at least a third of the timber ought to be square edged. If you have to plane coved timber for a join, then you reduce the thickness of the plank considerably. This could look weird in a show boat.

I have attached a sample of a typical scenario, where you do not want coving on one plank at least.