cedar strip canoe
In the summer of 2024 i have build a cedar strip canoe. A few years ago I 've been with some friends on a canoe trip in France. This was when i decided to build one for myself someday. And last summer it was time to do so.
I started the build by collecting information. This book called 'canoecraft' seemed to be a good start. Also there a many videos on youtube which are very helpful to watch. In the end i also made a video myself about the build which can be seen here below and on youtube. Have fun watching it!
Of course you need wood for the canoe. In this case i used mainly yellow cedar, some red cedar and ash wood. On the picture you see all the wood i bought for this canoe just before i started the build.
For every canoeshape you need a mould. I choose to build the 'northwest river canoe' which mould containes out of 17 different mouldparts mounted on a straight table.
I also needed a paddle and i used the same materials as for the canoe itself. A clever sandwich of three materials; to be strong but light at the same time.
When the hull is ready and sanded smooth, few layers of glass and epoxy can be added to make the canoe watertight and durable.
The canoe needs some extra stiffness on the edges which is achieved by adding long strips of ash called the inner and the outer gunwales.
Last but not least....i build the seats and hang them in position.
The weaving of the seats took me a whole day per seat. But the result is beautiful and i really gained respect for this old profession.
