How to Make a Cedar Canoe

The traditional cedar canoe is complex and difficult to build. Fortunately, modern techniques and materials, let you capture the beauty of a traditional canoe while retaining the durability and simplicity of modern construction materials and techniques. A cedar strip epoxy (CSE) canoe builds around a simple cedar strip core and encases it in an epoxy-based fiberglass shell. Lighter and less expensive to build, CSE canoes are as beautiful as their ancestors.

Things You'll Need

  • Canoe mold
  • 3 inch phillips screws, 1/2 lb.
  • Cedar strips, 62 board feet for 17 foot canoe
  • Ash or other hardwood, 1 x 2 inch planks, for thwarts
  • Two ash planks, 4 feet x 8 inch x 3/8 inch, for seat bottoms
  • Rubber mallet
  • 35 small clamps
  • Cove molding, 24 feet
  • Epoxy fiberglass resin
  • 6 oz. E-glass fiberglass fabric, plain weave, 140 sq. ft.
  • Fiberglass spreader
  • Mixing bucket
  • Stirring stick
  • Table saw
  • Saber saw
  • Router and cove bits
  • Orbital sander
  • Respirator
  • Drill and bit set
  • Tape measure
  • Chalk line
  • Sandpaper grades, fine to coarse
  • Steel wool, fine to extra fine
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Instructions

  1. The Core

    • 1

      Set the canoe mold upside down on sawhorses in your working area. The wooden form provides a framework to which to attach the cedar strips, to form the hull shape.

    • 2

      Buy or rip ¾ inch to 5/16 inch wide strips from ¼ inch thick cedar plywood or solid boards. Vary the width and the colors of the strips to create a decorative pattern as you lay the strips. Use a router to bead and cove the edges of the cedar strips so they will fit together.

    • 3

      Tack the first strip, starting at the bottom edge of the inverted hull form. Predrill all nail holes so the cedar strips don't crack or split. Don't drive the thin tacking nails all the way in. You will have to pull the nails out after the glue sets and before you apply the fiberglass mats.

    • 4

      Tack the second row of strips above the first row. Apply glue to the top edge of the first row of strips. As you set the second row in place, tap them with the rubber mallet to push them together tight. Cut the strips in different lengths so that the strips do not end beside each other.

    • 5

      Wipe excess glue with a wet cloth. Add new rows of strips. Nearing the top, do the other side of the boat, matching the pattern in terms of wood types, grains, colors and widths. Trim the ends along the keel. The top rows will make a decreasing oval at the center. Trim the final piece to fit the last oval shape at the top.

    • 6

      Soak cove moldings in water and steam in a hot oven. Glue one molding end to the lower end of the prow and bend it around the end of the boat. As you bend it, glue the molding and predrill the tack holes. Clamp where needed.

    • 7

      Let the strips set till glue hardens. Remove tacks and sand the hull with coarse sandpaper, then medium, fine and extra fine sandpaper. Fill the tack holes and surface irregularities in the hull with wood filler. Let it set hard and sand again.

    The Shell

    • 8

      Cut a single sheet of six ounce fiberglass mat to cover the hull. Trim the edges and clamp it at the edges of the cedar canoe shell.

    • 9

      Mix a batch of epoxy fiberglass resin large enough for a two feet x two feet section of the hull. Paint the resin onto the hull, then press a section of the mat down over the resin. Roll resin over the top of the mat and press down with the spreader, until the white color of the fiberglass disappears, bubbles go away and the mat is perfectly clear. Go section by section until the mat is sealed over the top of the outside of the hull. Start the adjacent sections before the first section sets. The entire hull will have to be done in one session to avoid gaps and irregular seams between sections. Let the fiberglass set overnight.

    • 10

      Take the canoe off the mold and flip it over. Trim any overlap along the edges with a saber saw and sand them smooth. Clean the inside of the hull with soap, water, and a rag, dampened with acetone. Cut three to five cedar strips the width of the canoe and epoxy them to the bottom of the canoe, to act as ribs. When set, lay a strip of fiberglass mat over the top of the ribs and brush with epoxy resin. Press down with the spreader to remove bubbles and white color in the mat. Fiberglass the inside of the hull as you did the outside, using the six ounce mat. Overlap the edges by an inch to allow for shrinkage. Let the fiberglass cure and then trim it with a saber saw. Finish with two coats of clear epoxy-based fiberglass gelcoat on the inside of the hull. Let it cure and then apply two gelcoats on the outside of the hull. Leave the gelcoat clear and do not add pigment.

    • 11

      Predrill screw holes in the edges of the hull. Attach cove molding to the edges to create gunwales. Measure the v-shaped space at the ends of the canoe and create a template for two triangular deck plates for the bow and stern. Screw them into place. Cut three hardwood 2x2's the width of the canoe at the center and four feet from either end. Use a draw knife and orbital sander to round the 2x2's to form thwarts. Predrill holes in the hull and screw the ends of the thwarts to the hull, just below the gunwales. Glue the top edge of the thwarts to the gunwales for extra support.

    • 12

      Cut two supports for each seat you are installing from hardwood 2x 2's. Set the thwarts two to five inches below the gunwale, depending on what you find comfortable. Cut seat bottoms from hardwood about eight inches x 2/3 of the width of canoe, at the seat station. Screw the seat bottoms to the supports. To finish the boat, sand and varnish the gunwales, thwarts and seats that are not covered by gelcoat. Finally apply two coats of epoxy clearcoat to the entire boat, preferably with a sprayer. Sand between coats.