Considering my 1st build.

[Gamma1214]

Life got in the way a little but I'm still planning. There are SO many decisions to be made before even starting and I am hopeful someone else may benefit from reading what decisions I make and, eventually, how they turn out...

At this point, I am still planning on using locally sourced wood and will likely build with yellow poplar using butternut or sassafras for the accent strip(s), gunnels and trim. I'll be getting samples of each to determine how they sand relative to one another and which colors appeal to me. Poplar, in particular, is easily replaceable in my lifetime so I think I prefer that to cedar and the weight difference can be made up by using 3/16 strips rather than 1/4 inch.

I don't have a router so I think I'm going to skip bead and cove and plane each strip in place to provide a tight fit on the strip above (below) it. I was trying to figure out the best way to do that when I ran across this: https://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/gu...&utm_campaign=RoboBevel&utm_content=endscreen Seems someone else already did the engineering which will save me a lot of time.

If I am correct, the biggest advantage of bead & cove is that you don't see light between the strips while portaging but the biggest detriment is that the beads pull out of the bottom of the cove on tighter turns. I'm thinking that this tool might be a good solution and it seems cheaper than a router table.

Has anyone tried this tool/method?

 

[stripperguy]

Steve,
The main advantage with bead and cove is that it maintains alignment between the strips. This greatly reduces the amount of sanding required (you may want to use 3/16" or even 5/32" strips) and produces a much fairer hull.
Bulimia, I used square edged strips for 30 years, and even though I had few gaps, the hulls were not nearly as fair as those I've done with bead and cove strips. And, of course, there was much more sanding without bead and cove strips. I searched casually for a deal on a used shaper, eventually finding a Delta 43-110 for $80, all it needed was a $4 starting capacitor. Either shaper or router and router table will make short work of the beading and coving. By the time you buy the tool from Guillemot and the mini shoulder plane, you'll already have $100 invested. You should be able to find a used router and table for those same dollars.

I just looked at Pittsburg Craigslist and there are 10 or so used routers (some nearly new) for $50-$100. You could make your own table...

Feel free to ignore all of the above, I tend to be rather biased...

 

[Jim Dodd]

Bruce Kunz, built all his canoes without bead and cove. When he got to the bilge, and the football area stripping, he went to a Herringbone pattern. This was common with the Minnesota canoe builders ! Their reasoning was that it took the stress out of the strips, and they could use shorter strips !
Bruce would look done on you with Favor, if you build the 38 in this fashion !

I have emailed Dan at North West Canoe. He states they own the rights to the Merlin, and the 38. He promised to dig it out ! If he doesn't put the 38 plan out. We will see that you get one.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Just a quick note, as Dan Meer at North West canoe, will have the Original Bruce Kunz plans available !

If interested contact https://northwestcanoe.com/

I have no connection with NW Canoe, I would just like to see Bruce Kunz'z canoes plans made available again !

Jim

 

[Holmes375]

Nice job, Jim. Good on ya for that.

 

[Gamma1214]

Thank you Jim, I will certainly contact them for a set of plans.

Mike, I had hoped that the bead & cove was purely for aesthetics (apparently not) and I had not thought to check craigslist for used routers but I'll work on it. I DO like the idea of a rolling bevel for better contact though...

Right now, I'm leaning toward doing the first without bead & cove and routering the second so I can experience both. (Maybe that's optimistic... I read someplace that it is estimated that only 1 in 4 strippers started actually reaches completion.)

Perhaps I should defer to public consensus if one method is clearly superior... After all, I CAN make my own horseshoes but I don't... Kerckhaert and St Croix make them cheaper & more uniformly than I do.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Bead and cove in My book is far superior ! I built my first three beveling strips. When I finally wised up to B&C, I slapped myself !

No day light between the strips. A third of the time spent sanding. Soo much easier to assemble ! Strips aligned, and splicing strips was a breeze !

But learning to bevel is good. Everyone needs walk in Knee deep Snow, before they walk a Snow plowed road !

Nick Schade has a neat tool, for beveling ! It does need cleaning often, and you need strips cut from planks that have been Planed ! Square on all for edges.

Uniformity is important ! Maybe more with strip building than with Horse Shoes !

Jim

 

[Holmes375]

If my strips are B&Cd I can always shave and bevel a few if I have the need. Most of the errors you will have with beveling will be on the inside. And you will have errors unless you're going to go at a furniture-build pace. Errors (small gaps) on the inside are not a big issue for kayaks given their enclosed structure. Not so on a canoe where you will be looking at it all. Small gaps on the inside need to be identified and filled prior to your 'glass work or you'll be chasing voids. Hard not to get a void or two on your first build regardless of strip method but the beveling method often exacerbates the issue.

Both styles have their pros and cons at different points of the build process. Its not hard to square off B&Cd strips when the build is underway but going the other way is a problem unless you're already set up to B&C.

Nick Schade is a heck of a builder and designer. He was my guru on my first build years ago, a low deck Night Heron kayak design he had just released back then. Nick could probably bevel build a boat in his sleep. He has a Night Heron kayak on display at the Museum of Modern Art. We mere mortals may not bevel as well as he does I have to admit, that beveling jig he has come up with looks nice and would certainly be a great aid for a builder so inclined.

I did one of his Great Auk kayaks using 3/16" beveled strips. The thinner strips are more friendly to that method and the Great Auk is a very easy design to strip.

I've used 1/4" B&C on everything else and will switch to beveling at some areas where strips are "tortured" into place. I'm often heat twisting/bending these strips and the bevel method works better for me.

I'd surely start off with B&C for your first build and then you'll have enough experience under your belt to decide how you want to do your second...

 

[Gamma1214]

Well I guess that settles it. I also hadn't thought about the b&c helping hold splices and I am figuring on using 8 & 10 ft boards so I'll have one beveled splice per strip (staggered). As soon as the current real estate deal ceases to sap my cash I'll look for a good deal on a used router and attempt to learn how to use it. I'm hopeful I'll actually get to make use of the heated garage my friend offered but that seems likely as winter may have finally arrived in earnest here. Thanks again for all the input.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I made my first router table out of a kitchen sink cut out ! I actually mounted two routers, one with the Beading bit, and the other with the Coving bit !

It saved readjusting the bit height all the time. Just had to reposition the fence ! I still have it ! Boy it B&Ced a lot of strips !

Bits are cheap on Ebay now days.

 

[Cruiser]

Gamma, you may consider saving yourself some work by skarfing your planks, before you cut your strips. Join the boards to give the appropriate longer lengths ( I just use the strongback for the glue up).

That way you won't have very many joints to do on the boat, just a couple larger ones off the boat before you even cut strips.

Brian

 

[Gamma1214]

skarfing your planks, before you cut your strips

Interesting idea... I was figuring on using 10 foot boards (for a 16 foot hull) so the joints would be scattered throughout by using the "scap" from the last strip as the starter piece of the next strip up. In that manner, I should have 2 scarf joints in the same strip every 3 or 4 strips but they shouldn't line up with each other and I thought I'd end up with very little waste. Also, if I scarf both pieces at the same time in the miter box, I should get the best fit possible.

Seem reasonable or am I overthinking it?

 

[Jim Dodd]

Scarfing the planks, before cutting strips, is a good idea. The scarfs won't match up to butt joints, that you might also make. The scarf will also waste some wood, a butt joint, very little waste.

Staggering the splices will likely produce more waste. I'd scarf a few extra planks to insure you have enough !

Another option is to put all the scarfs together, all at the same place? It could be a neat look ? I believe the canoe would be just as strong, as it's really dependent on the glass.

As the builder, this is the place where you have the most options !

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

It's Great to Envision your build, Before you start !
You are doing Great ! It's a series of steps, you take to get to the finish product !
Hang in there !

Jim

 

[Zac]

I'm rooting for you, Gamma. There's a million ways to build it, just gotta start doing it! A couple of years in and I am still planning and collecting materials. I haven't actually started cutting any wood yet but I am following your planning process and, especially after Jim's words earlier in this post regarding how easy it is to enlarge plans, getting closer to starting myself.

Zac

 

[Gamma1214]

[QUOTEThere's a million ways to build it, just gotta start doing it][/QUOTE]

No worries Zac, I'll build it. I tend to be a "ready, fire, aim" kinda guy by nature so, over the years, I've found that trying to think everything through before having the materials handy keeps me from making stupid, preventable errors. (yes, many times I wonder if I've gone too far the other way but such is life...)

Next up, I'm acquiring small samples of poplar, sassafras and butternut. I'll glue them together, sand them smooth and see how the colors contrast. Also should have a good idea how each sands out so I don't get one that gouges by the time the other is smooth. Test piece will hopefully make a fine cutting board for in the kitchen.

 

[alsg]

I scarfed up the sheer line strips and continued scarfing the first few after. But I soon started using butt joints. Next time I'll only scarf the sheer line strips.

 

[Cruiser]

Gamma .... If you skarf up more than one piece of source lumber, you just make it different, i.e. if you skarf a 12' and 8' .... the joints are along a slope already, but you can reverse the strip and move the joint down to the other end. If you do another piece and move the joint some where else ( make it a 10' + 10" for example), it can also be reversed. This gives you quite a few options for moving the joints around, so having all the skarfs in one place isn't an issue.

 

[Cruiser]

Another thing about NWC is that you know you are going to have a lot of skarfs, you have 2 choices, try and hide them or make them pop and make them a design feature. When I did mine I used epoxy on the skarfs and used wood flour to really darken the epoxy up to make the shark joint show ..... not for everyone, but I like it. The joints really staggered easily

 

[Holmes375]

Nicely done, Cruiser.