And here are all three solo canoes, complete, unnested, with the removable thwarts in place. From left to right: 10′-6″ long, 25″ wide, 9″ deep, 14lbs, 11′-2″ long, 27.5″ wide, 10″ deep, 16lbs, 30″ wide, 10.5″ deep, 19lbs. There’s so much to say about these designs- you saw the nesting, and I had a...
"And here are all three solo canoes, complete, unnested"Continue readingBlog
Reason #2 for a removable thwart: the ability to nest the canoes
Reason #2 for a removable thwart: the ability to store three boats in the space of one. Part of the design challenge for these was to design a measurement system that would not only scale, but also allow different size boats to easily nest for storage and transport. And the weight of all three...
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First canoe on the water
On the water. Lots of adjustments to make to dial this design in, but ultimately this first round of boats is a success. Working on another video on this portion of the build, and then we’ll take the larger two on a river trip to put them through their paces before starting the build...
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Skinned and coated
Skinned and coated. We'll let these sit up and cure for another day, and then get them on the water tomorrow to see how they paddle....
Skinning action shot
Skinning action shot. After the ends are stitched, the skin is wetted down and the sides are stretched and stapled to the gunwales. Here, we're clamping ash strips over the staples. These strips will be screwed down, clamping the skin, and the skin will be cut flush with the top edge....
Gluing wedges on the canoe ends
Gluing wedges on the ends to continue the line of the gunwales. Lots of little details get cleaned up before the skin goes on. New video posting to our YouTube later today showing part 2 of the build and lessons learned....
Finishing touches on the canoe frames today
Canoes are lashed; finishing touches on the frames today and then skin goes on tomorrow. I can already see a hundred changes I want to make to these designs – particularly changes to the stronger locations to better strengthen now and stern. But it’s worth finishing out these boats for some field testing next...
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Ready for lashing
Ready for lashing!...
Three boats ribbed!
Three boats ribbed. These three will be fully built this week and tested on the water. It will be interesting to see how these sizes align to my intent for paddler size / paddler + gear. Already thinking there will be some intermediate sizes as well, likely 5 total....
Ribbing canoes: round 2
Ribbing canoes: Round 2. Today the challenge is applying the same rib measuring system to three different size to see if it scales reliably....
New gunwales ready to rib
New gunwales ready to rib. Returning to white oak for this round of ribbing after mixed success with ash and bamboo. While the ribs don't require the same steep V bends as my kayaks, they do require sharper bends than expected to hold their shape....
Halfway through the canoe prototype, new videos up on YouTube
Ribbing explorations aside, I'm about halfway through the design development on the new canoes. Check out our YouTube channel for two new videos in our canoe series on planning the boats, constructing the prototypes, and the lessons learned so far....
Ribs, ribs, ribs.
Ribs, ribs, ribs. This is just a small portion of the growing rib graveyard as I develop the new canoes. Oak, bamboo and ash, and milling another set of oak today. It’s a small glimpse of the time, money and material that goes into prototyping. If this was just about getting the shape down,...
"Ribs, ribs, ribs."Continue reading
New gunwales mortised and ready for canoe round 2
New gunwales mortised and ready for canoe round 2. Modified the shear - we'll see how they look ribbed this afternoon....
Progress on the mockup canoes
Learned what I needed from these mockup canoes, now it's time to tear them apart and start over with modifications. The gunwales will be set aside for a future variant, the ribs to the growing rib graveyard in the corner......