Building a Cedar-Strip Canoe: The Basics

How I Built My Own Canoe

I love the adventure and experience of canoe camping—packing food and camping gear into a canoe and paddling to a wilderness campsite. I’ve taken many week-long trips to Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park, a large wilderness area with many lakes connected by portage trails. No motors are allowed in the park, fishing is great, and the solitude and scenery are addicting. I had usually rented Kevlar canoes from a local outfitter, but I thought I would enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of building my own boat and using it to make a trip.

I originally thought I’d try to build a Kevlar canoe, but I liked the looks of the cedar canoe, so that was my choice. The final cost of materials and tools probably ended up being higher than the cost of just purchasing a used or lower-end canoe, but the satisfaction from using my canoe is worth it.

Materials needed:

• Cedar planking. You can rip your own from 3/4-wide boards or purchase it already cut and milled.
• Hardwood (preferred) for making the seats, stems, gunnels, and decks
• Woven 6-ounce fiberglass cloth
• Epoxy resin and hardener
• Wood glue
• Staples
• Masking tape
• Packing tape
• Strapping or caning for the seats
• Marine varnish
• Stainless or brass bolts for the seats
• Stainless or brass wood screws

Tools needed:

• Table saw or circular saw with a jig
• A thin kerf saw blade(if cutting your own strips)
• Router table with a ¼ in. bead and cove bit (if using bead and cove strips)
• Staple gun
• Block plane
• Paint scraper
• Sandpaper (a lot)
• Sharp knife
• Random orbital sander
• Spokeshave (nice to have)
• Drill
• C-Clamps (a lot)
• Homemade steam box
• Plastic spreaders and chip brushes for the epoxy and varnish
• Disposable latex or plastic gloves

What follows is a very general description of how I built my cedar strip canoe. It is not intended to be your sole detailed guide to follow for the construction of a canoe. Details are available from the books I mention here (I recommend purchasing a book) and from other articles of mine (see links at the end of this article).

Gathering Information—Getting Started

Read books about cedar-strip construction techniques: Canoecraft by Ted Moores, Kayak Craft by Ted Moores, Building a Strip Canoe by Gil Gilpatrick. I read Canoe Craft twice before I started the project. Also, visit www.bearmountainboats.com fo valuable information.

The reference book I used

Select a Design

Determine what the boat will be used for, a canoe for the cottage, a canoe for camping and tripping, or a work of art just to look at hanging in the garage. Choose a design that is practical but also pleasing to your eye. Other things to consider are length, weight, stability (some designs may require an experienced paddler), load-carrying capacity, symmetry, speed, and, last but not least, ease of construction. A design with a high bow and stern may require more effort to bend wood for the stems, and one where the hull wraps around the paddler more sharply (called "tumblehome") can be more difficult to strip.

Plans

These can be purchased from Bear Mountain, Chesapeake Light Craft (www.clcboats.com), or a number of other sources. They can also be created from tables of offsets, using a process called lofting. The books mentioned above contain offset tables for several designs. I purchased plans for my canoe and lofted them for my kayak from tables in Kayak Craft. If you purchase plans you can expect a drawing with cross-sectional hull outlines and stem form outlines that can be traced to make the molds. Other than a condensed instruction manual covering the build process, don’t expect too much. Follow the books you read.

Build a Construction Platform

You need to build a long thin table, sturdy and level, on which the canoe can be assembled. This is called a strong back. Attached to it are 1' x 1' mold station blocks spaced at typically 1-inch intervals. The molds (or forms) are then attached to the blocks to form a sort of skeleton onto which the strips are temporarily attached and glued together.

Cut Out the Forms

Draw outlines of the hull cross-sections on sheets of plywood, particleboard, or MDF. You can trace them using carbon paper between the plan and the board. They need to include a pedestal feature so that the forms are held an appropriate distance above the strongback. They end up having a mushroom-shaped profile. Alternately, a separate piece of wood can be attached.

Scroll to Continue

Is Medium on the Bubble? - Disturbing Bubblews and Medium Parallels

The Real Reason Republicans Banned TikTok

Review of the BFOUR Wireless Meat Thermometer

Attaching the Forms to the Strong Back

The forms are attached to the station blocks on the strongback with drywall screws, taking care to line up the centerline of the forms with the centerline of the strongback. A string stretched from the bow to the stern stem forms will help with alignment. Once all the forms are attached, eyeball the shape from each end, looking for forms that are off a little. A long thin strip of wood held against the edge of the forms and slid up and down along the hull can also help to identify forms that need correction. Small shims are used for minor adjustments.

Cover the Form Edges

The strips will be glued along their edges and stapled to the forms. Some protection for the forms is needed to keep dripping glue from permanently sticking the hull to the forms. Edges of all the forms should be covered including the stem molds. Plastic packaging tape works well for this.

Use the table saw with feather boards clamped to the guide and table to keep the strip thickness uniform. A circular saw with a guide jig for cutting the strips is shown in the photo. Make a few test cuts and adjust your setup.

Measure the circumference of the widest form and divide that number by 1/2 inch to estimate the number of full-length strips you will need. Using a thin kerf blade like the Diablo, cut more than enough strips, since some will break or have large knots or other problems. They do not need to be the total length of the boat; they can be scarf jointed or butt jointed on the hull. The strength of the hull comes from the wood core laminated with fiberglass, not from using continuous strips.

Once all the strips are cut, use a router table with a ¼” bead and cove bit to mill the edges. Cut the bead first since the cove is more delicate. Once again make some test runs to adjust your setup. Cut shorter strips of softwood and hardwood to laminate for the stems.

The strips used for the stems need to be steamed and clamped onto the stem forms and then allowed to dry before being gluing together. Typically 3 or 4 strips are used for each inner and outer stem. I used a 6-foot piece of PVC drain pipe plugged at each end with a piece of wood. One end had a large hole drilled in it. An old percolator-style coffee pot on a camp stove was used to create the steam. A short piece of copper pipe replaced the glass bubbler on the coffee pot. The PVC pipe was hung above the stove. The secret to good bending is HOT steam. Use epoxy thickened with sanding dust for glue. When gluing the stem strips together, do not glue the inner stem to the outer stem.

Attach the Inner Stems

Once the glue for the inner stems has firmly set up, they can be attached to the stem mold with a screw through the last hull form into the end of the stem and a screw through the other end of the stem into the stem from.

Now comes the fun part. Start attaching strips to the forms at the part of the form closest to the strong back and work towards the center of the hull. Attach with the cove side up to hold a bead of glue. Glue and staple the ends of the strip to the stems, allowing the strip to run past the stem a little.

Press the bead of the next strip firmly into the cove of the previous strip and staple through both strips into the form. About three or four strips per side can be attached. Let the glue set before attaching more.

Where the strips seem to pull apart between the forms, masking tape can be used to hold them together. Once the hull is stripped up to the flatter bottom section the strips will have to be cut and fitted neatly together.

Trim Strips at the Stems, and Attach Outer Stems

Once the hull is completely stripped, it is time to trim the strips flush with the bow and stern stems. The outer stem is then mortised into the hull bottom and glued to the inner stem with thickened epoxy. Screws coated with wax are used to hold the outer stem in place. They will be removed when the glue sets and the holes will be plugged.

Remove the Staples

Now pull all the staples, being careful not to dent the soft cedar. If a few staples are forgotten they will be found in the next step for sure.

Plane and Sand (Sand and Sand!) the Outer Hull

The joint where strips meet at curves in the hull is a little squared off. These joints need to be planed to make the hull smooth. The hull can then be sanded with coarse, medium, and then fine sandpaper to achieve a smooth or “fair” hull. The Random Orbital Sander works well for this step.

Sanding seems like an endless activity; you will finally get to a point where you say “Well, I think that is good enough.” Before the final sanding, the hull should be wetted down and allowed to dry to raise the wood grain.

Fiberglass cloth is laid over the hull so that it extends just past the stems, then smoothed with a soft bristle brush. Epoxy resin and hardener are then applied to the cloth in small batches, working from side to side, in about 2- to 3-foot long sections. It is important that the temperature of the workshop is warm enough as that will affect the curing time and the rate of flow. Three coatings of resin/hardener are applied, the first to wet out the cloth and soak into the wood hull, the second to fill the weave of the cloth, and the third to finish and protect the cloth. Each coating should be carefully squeegeed with a plastic scraper and only applied once the previous coat has become tacky. This step is intimidating but not really difficult if you are careful. Proper mixing of the resin and hardener is very important.

Remove the Hull From the Molds and Flip

A cradle must be constructed to hold the upright hull. Carpet scraps suspended from brackets attached to the strongback will work. The screws holding the stems to the last form should now be removed, and then the hull can be lifted from the forms. It may be necessary to loosen some of the forms and tap them, as some glue residue may be holding them to the hull.

Sand, Sand, Sand the Inner Hull

Now it is time for more sanding and scraping. Glue beads can be scraped away. Wrapping the sandpaper around a plastic bottle will help fit it into the curves of the hull. Here again, start with coarse and finish with fine and sand until you are done….at least until you don’t want to sand anymore. Just a note: Don’t be tempted to use a belt sander. You could eat right through the soft cedar.

Lay fiberglass cloth inside the hull and hold it in place with clothespins, then smooth it with a soft bristle brush. The cloth is just short of the inside stems. Epoxy is applied the same as was done on the exterior. Any runs on either side of the hull can be taken down with a paint scraper once the epoxy has firmed up sufficiently.

Gunnels are long strips of wood that are attached inside and outside to the top edge of the hull to give it rigidity when combined with the thwart. They are typically ¾-in. by 7/8-in. strips running the entire length of the canoe. Scuppers or slots can be cut into the inside gunnels to allow water drainage when the canoe is turned over. The gunnels can be attached with thickened epoxy and screws or thickened epoxy alone. The decks are then attached between the gunnels at the bow and stern. The thwart is attached between the gunnels in the center of the canoe.

Seat frames are usually made of hardwood. Ash is typical since it is flexible, but other wood varieties will work. The seat pad can be made with chair caning, strapping or webbing, leftover cedar strips, or plywood. Caned seats are beautiful but require a little more work. I made seats from polypropylene webbing. The seat frames are hung from the gunnels with long bolts through dowels which act as spacers. Care must be taken to optimally locate the seats for proper trim, so that when loaded, the canoe will not sink more deeply on one end than the other.

Now you have a beautiful shiny new canoe! It is time to get out the sander one more time and make it look dull. Use 220 grit sandpaper to rough up the surface, both inside and out. Varnish is required over the epoxy to protect it from being degraded by UV radiation in sunlight. The shine will come right back once the varnish is applied.

Varnish the Hull Inside and Out

All of the wood components, like the gunnels, seats, decks, and thwart, need to be sealed with a 50/50 mix of mineral spirits and varnish before the final varnish is applied. A minimum of three coats of marine varnish need to be applied. The varnish should have components that block UV light.

1 / 4

Paddle your canoe.

More Articles With Details on the Canoe-Building Process

• Building a Cedar Strip Canoe: The Details: Applying a Graphite Bottom Coating
  A black graphite bottom is attactive, durable and functional.
• Canoe Flotation Chambers
  One of the things I fear is having my canoe sink or scuttle if I ever capsize. So, as an extra measure of caution I decided to add floatation chambers to the bow and stern.

One of My Favorite Sites on Canoeing

• http://www.quietjourney.com/
  Loaded with information and dedicated to canoeing the Boundary Waters and Quetico

Canoe Weight Calculator

• Canoe Weight Calculator for Cedar Strip Construction
  No more guessing. Use this comprehensive weight calculator to automatically determine how much your canoe will weigh. Inputs include a complete array of wood types, hull shapes, fittings and finishes.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2010 jimmar

Comments

jimmar (author) from Michigan on February 22, 2020:

@Kim Kinkel I don’t currently teach classes but I’ve thought about it. Not sure how I would start. Is that something you’re interested in?

Kim Kinkel on February 21, 2020:

Do you teach classes?

jimmar (author) from Michigan on May 22, 2019:

Thanks for reading.

Persia on May 21, 2019:

Nice boat jimmar

jequaves on December 07, 2018:

Thanks

Dale Anderson from The High Seas on June 12, 2018:

Love it. As a liveaboard sailor I never get tired of reading about boats or how they are made. Thanks for sharing this with us.

jimmar (author) from Michigan on March 11, 2018:

@LundyLife - this design, a 15 ft. Ranger Prospector is designed for a 450 LB load capacity according to "CanoeCraft". That includes the weight of the canoe which is almost 65 lb. That is heavy for a 15 ft. canoe, but I went a little over board when I built it, since it was my first one. I used two layers of 6 oz. fiberglass on the inside bottom which makes it very stiff and durable but added probably 10 -15 pounds. The gunnels, decks and seat frames were a bit beefy. My second canoe weighed about 52 lbs and was a foot longer.

My son and I took this Ranger canoe on a week long trip in Quetico Provincial Park. Our weight combined was about 325, plus about 120 lbs. of gear, plus the canoe. We had no problems it carried the load just fine.

LundyLife on March 11, 2018:

Also, how much did this whole canoe end up weighing?

LundyLife on March 11, 2018:

how do you know it’s weight capacity when it comes to having a couple guys and gear loaded into it? Such a beautiful post. I have been dreaming about doing this and this has definitely sparked the interest even further!

jimmar (author) from Michigan on March 07, 2018:

@Hannah - you are welcome, thanks for reading and commening

Hannah Hird on March 06, 2018:

This helped me with my math project so thank you!

Richard Francis Fleck from Denver, Colorado on August 08, 2016:

A fascinating hub and what great pictures!

jimmar (author) from Michigan on August 11, 2015:

Thanks Chris.

Chris on August 09, 2015:

Nicely done!

jimmar (author) from Michigan on February 20, 2014:

Torbjörn Lundmarkn - sure you can ask - email me at jimmar57@gmail.com or ask here

Torbjörn Lundmark on February 20, 2014:

Really beautyful, may I ask you some questions if (when) I start my building project?

jimmar (author) from Michigan on February 11, 2014:

Started in October and finished in May, working maybe 10 -15 hours a week, some weeks more some less. I would guess it cost me in the $500-$700 range for materials. I didn't keep track of costs precisely, but you can find some detail to estimate costs in my other hubs:

https://discover.hubpages.com/sports/Building-a-Ce...

https://discover.hubpages.com/sports/Building-a-Ce...

Thanks for reading.

pATRICK on February 11, 2014:

What was your overall cost and time on this?

jimmar (author) from Michigan on January 12, 2014:

thanks for reading and commenting. I may build another woodstrip kayak and write a hub about that.

boat restoration on January 11, 2014:

I was looking for something like this ,Thank you for posting the great content about boat resroration I found it quiet interesting, hopefully you will keep posting such blogs here.

www.marinefiberglassrepair.com

Brendan on August 30, 2013:

Nice Job! I really like the decks. What is the blue/black material covering the tip of the decks and the bottom of the hull?

Chris Glad on July 21, 2013:

Nice job!

jimmar (author) from Michigan on September 27, 2012:

Peggy thanks for commenting. The indians used birch bark and pine pitch which is naturally waterproof (to some extent anyway). There is an interesting place to visit in Peterborough Ontario called the Canadian Canoe Museum, if you ever travel to that part of our continent.

Peggy Woods from Houston, Texas on September 27, 2012:

What a feeling of accomplishment you must have had in building that beautiful canoe! It is so pretty! Wonder how the native Indians kept theirs waterproofed? They would not have had the fiberglass cloth back in those days. Many up votes and will share with followers + tweet.

Chris Andrews from Norwalk, Ohio on August 03, 2012:

Awesome, I have been wanting to make a canoe for awhile now. Thanks for some of the resources.

Guest on June 15, 2011:

Gorgeous canoe and a masterful work of art, Jimmy!

jimmar (author) from Michigan on October 08, 2010:

in my profile pic? YES a tiny one

Granny's House from Older and Hopefully Wiser Time on October 08, 2010:

Is that a Walleye in your hand

Granny's House from Older and Hopefully Wiser Time on October 02, 2010:

Great hub. Well done. My husband and I go camping every chance we get. Fishing is my favorite pass time. Did you see my hub on building your own boat?

https://hubpages.com/sports/PLANS-ON-HOW-TO-BUILD-...

4wardthinker from Sierra Nevada CA on August 14, 2010:

What a beautiful job you did! That's a lot of work.