Se YS Pree wr ag you can build PSeae ie tree (iy CLL aad Wou'can build this 74-pound, 16-foot canoe for $84. For a new canoe, that's a real bargain. You use redwood strips, an CTE STi ra Cra nT Come ce et Plas core ca eN a eeeto tho crosspieces, Nail a strip down the cen- forte hatd the stems and Yoniplates in positien. prototspe canoe took abiont three weekends to build, She's bread of beans and flatbot- tomed-amidship: Two persons can sit side by side-in the: center; with one=person at each end and plenty-of room for gear. This canoe is formed around plywood templaies using 3”-by-%” redwood strips, glued edge to edge, You hiy up the’ strips, remove. the form, and the canoe’ is cam- plete, escept for fiberghssing and putting in the seats. How to start. First, lay out. the patterss full size on lange shedts of heavy brown wrapping popes. Since a éamoe is sym- metrical front to back and side: to side, you teed draw full-scale patterns of only half of each template, forming half of the cance. The pattems are flopped to draw the othor half of cach template: duplicate templates are mede from these for the othier half of the cance. Draww the template patterns using a 18” grid as shown in: the blueprint. Build the fonn from four two-by-fours. Make it square, solid, and Jovel; the finished canoe will be no better than the-form is made on, If built as shown, it cus be con- verted into a bench for working on the canoe ight side up. Cut the templates from 8” plyword and sorow them to the building form. Make sure they are centered and vertical. Put on templates 1 and 9 fist; then shieteh a string over the center of these between the ends. This lets you line up theother tem- plates, Next, make the caoe’s sterapleces 172 | Poruian soietice 4D) ‘egmood sti ara tacked to the templates, and edgegiued, Drive brads through into the templates before putting on fiberglass cloth. and sétithom in, place om the frame: Glue theo pieces'of white pine together for each stem, and trace the Jines from the full-size drawing on exch, Bevel each plece ta ac- copt the redwood side strips. ‘Tie together the stempieces and the tomplates with a 1” -sauuaro strip of wood. Nex! rip. the longer steaightgrain red ‘wood plonks (see Materials List) into'strips XY Wide. Yon need about 70 of these Strips to make the canoe hill, Tefore phinking the hull, put smacking tape alone the edge of exch template. to keep ghie from sticking tot. Start planking at the gunwales, using 1” No. 18 brads to 5 Reinforcing strips are:put on each stem after the hull gets: ie fst coat of resin. Hull is with two layers of glass and resin,Bevel strips so they mest in front of stem. A tight fit is not necessary, since the stems Bre covered with two layers of clot ana resin, nail each strip to the templates, Place the strips so thet the 2” width forms the thick- ness of the hall. Don't nail the strips to the endpieces yer. After each strip is nailed in place, put Elmer's Glue-All along its edge. As you lay each strip in place, hold it firmly axainst the strip below aud nail it to each plywood template. Do this until you have three or four strips on each side in place. Then eut cack strip aff ¥” beyond the stempieces. With a sharp knife, cut the inside of the strips to an angle that lets them meet in a point {See lie-flat Blueprint on the following Hull is placed in tilted position on the bulld Ing fornt for easy working of inside. Only one layer of cloth and resin is needac on inside, Se ze ‘Clamping jfgs hold the strips in place when you reach the point where twist gets bad. Scraps trom the beveled stem make good clamping pads. heyond the stempieces, Glue them with resorcinol and nail them with X” copper nails. A little ingenuity is needed to clamp the ends of the strips tight. A large mbber band {cut from an old inner tube} tightened with a stick through one end does a good job. When you have added about 19 strips on each side, the twist at each end gets pretty bad. Clamps, shown in photos, hold them, When about 25 are on, the strips meet along the keel. Gut them to meet in a staggered line along the keel two pager. Test continued an page 200] Finishing touches inchide adding gunwales, inmates, seats, yoke, and breast plates. You weave seats with webbing ss shown in blueprint.Wp duanes? * prot foe : 8 J FRAMES tal aNNWOED stem Sa%s@ snip SUPFROWLNND (TEMPORARY) pas Ie ae x EY ‘gies mL BA | Wiese aD" wooochange byte ott AuMiNuM otWheu all strips are in place, sand. the hull and give the outside ‘a af poly ester or epoxy resin. When this has. set, thin-point nail set and punch all sch strip through, into the farm, ‘over the outside with glass cloth and another coat of resin, Start at the center and work the cloth toward each ead, A few staples hold it while you apply the resin. Use inexpensive painthrashes to apply the resin, Wear rubber gloves, and use a squeegee to work the resin through fiber- After the voat of resin, fit an “stip of fiberglass ut éach end to over- lap about 2” on each side. ‘When the resin is set, sand the rough spats amd apply the secund coal. Two coats of cloth and resin should be enongh. Removing the templates. After the out- side is finished, take out the sevews that hold the templates to the form, and care- fully remove the templates. ‘To de this, push them toward the larger part of the hull. ‘Turn die canoe right side up on the Intiding form to work on the inside, Sand the inside. and coat it with re Shape and attach the keel before glass ng and finishing the ititerior, The blueprint shows how to change the building form to hold the caine at an angle; it makes work- ing inside easier. Cover only: half of the inside at a time. ‘This lets you overlap the glass-at the center for more strength, Before putting. in the fulllength glass cloth, work some left-over pieves in at the stems. You can cut GO”-vide cloth in half and staple Ue _selv about 8” over the center ling so that the keel, serews are: cov ered. Work it up the sides and toward cach end. A few staples may be needed slong the top edge unlil the resin is on; they may then be pulled ont. Que liyer of resin and cloth ds enough inside. When the resin is set, trim off the excess glass cloth, Attach fhe gumwales and in- wales with cither serews or bolts Build-and varnish the seats, breast plates, 12 yoke. und fasten them in place. These phinis [et you build x 13° canoe, too, You build it the same way, but you oliminate templates {-and 5, making tem- plate G the center of the hull. Nothing else necd be changed. De