Here’s an excellent example of a tandem canoe in progress using our building system. Giovanni has just finished steam bending the ribs and tying the stringers on.
I generally encourage people using our canoe building system for the first time to build a small pack canoe first just to get a solid foundation before going onto something bigger, but in this case, Giovanni decided to start with a tandem so I told him the same thing I tell everyone:
“Success depends on getting the best quality bending wood, and following the instructions exactly.”
Giovanni started with bending oak from J.W. Swan and Sons which can seem a bit pricey, until you’ve wasted a month of your time breaking low-quality wood, after which it starts to seem like a bargain!
Next he follow the instruction videos, exactly and sent me a text anytime he wasn’t clear on an instruction. The second photo shows his test ribs where he was double checking the rib length formula, the steambox temperature, the optimal, bending time for his particular batch of wood, and his shaping abilities.
He sent me that photo the day before and we had a brief discussion, and I suggested a couple changes to his technique. (I’m always available to my students via text for quick feedback).
The next day he fired up the steam box and did the entire bend. Getting the stringers on quickly after that to help even out the shaping.
Nice work, Giovanni.
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This post was originally featured on our Instagram feed.
See the original post and discussion here.
