Skin on frame solo canoe build, Day 4, part 1

Skin on frame solo canoe, Day 4) 7hrs.
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I’m gonna have to break this one into a couple posts. I started the morning realizing that I had totally screwed up in recording the measurements that form the foundation for my rib length formula. In some ways it’s kind of comical that I developed a mathematically-based canoe shaping system, considering that I am incredibly prone to numerical errors. One of the reasons that I work for myself is because I literally can’t even run a cash register. Just like always, though, I was forced to find a different way to solve the problem which will be really helpful when somebody calls me up one of these days and says that they just made the same mistake.
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Once I got all the numbers sorted out (and by I, I mean Liz and I), I sliced up a couple sticks of gorgeous bending oak and set up the rib making station.
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There’s a couple different ways to do this: One is to pre-cut all the lengths and do all the prep work on the ribs and then steam them at one minute intervals, stacking a revolving number in the steam box to get each rib up to the overall steaming time. The other is to cut and shape each rib while the one before it is steaming. For me, at least, the time it takes to measure, cut and shape a rib is exactly equivalent to the amount of time the previous one needed to steam for.
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It definitely takes a lot more concentration to work this way, but it does have the advantage that if you need to stop you can stop at any point in the process. The steamer does run for a lot longer though so it’s important to have a back up source of boiling water so it doesn’t run dry.
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Skin on frame solo canoe, Day 4. Build time: 7hrs.

I’m gonna have to break this one into a couple posts. I started the morning realizing that I had totally screwed up in recording the measurements that form the foundation for my rib length formula. In some ways it’s kind of comical that I developed a mathematically-based canoe shaping system, considering that I am incredibly prone to numerical errors. One of the reasons that I work for myself is because I literally can’t even run a cash register. Just like always, though, I was forced to find a different way to solve the problem which will be really helpful when somebody calls me up one of these days and says that they just made the same mistake.

Once I got all the numbers sorted out (and by I, I mean Liz and I), I sliced up a couple sticks of gorgeous bending oak and set up the rib making station.

There’s a couple different ways to do this: One is to pre-cut all the lengths and do all the prep work on the ribs and then steam them at one minute intervals, stacking a revolving number in the steam box to get each rib up to the overall steaming time. The other is to cut and shape each rib while the one before it is steaming. For me, at least, the time it takes to measure, cut and shape a rib is exactly equivalent to the amount of time the previous one needed to steam for.

It definitely takes a lot more concentration to work this way, but it does have the advantage that if you need to stop you can stop at any point in the process. The steamer does run for a lot longer though so it’s important to have a back up source of boiling water so it doesn’t run dry.