How to Make a Hand Carved Wooden Canoe

Dugout canoes have been used for thousands of years in different cultures around the world. The oldest specimen, found in Europe, is estimated at 9,000 years old. Archeologists suspect, however, that people were using dugouts as far back as 50,000 years ago. They made canoes out of birch, bald cypress, white pine and cedar, depending on the area and how wide the tree trunk grew.

Things You'll Need

  • 17-foot (or shorter) dried tree truck, stripped of bark
  • Wood chisels in varying size tips
  • Wide, flat blade
  • Pitch or rosin for burning the wood
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Instructions

    • 1
      Narrow keel of canoe with more of a cutting edge.

      Plan your design length based on intended usage, such as how many people and what else is to be carried. Design your front and rear rockers, the fore and aft upper lift out of the keels, depending on what type of water you want to travel and cut through. Longer boats need more of a rocker to keep the boat's direction forward. Shorter boats need less of a rocker unless you are doing whitewater canoe runs.

    • 2

      Strip off the bark with a wide flat blade, similar to an axe blade. Flatten one side of the log for the seating area, then begin chiseling out a small groove, from end to end, down the center of the flat side. Leave about one foot on either end without the groove.

    • 3

      Set a little bit of rosin or pitch in the groove and burn it. Do this along the center groove in separate sections. When the fire goes out, or is put out, let it cool. Begin scraping out the resulting charred sections. Continue this process until the center is deep enough to sit in. Do a final scrape and chisel run to finish out the interior.

    • 4

      Turn the log over and begin chiseling the sides and bottom. Plane out the center of the bottom to keep equilibrium for the boat. Begin flaring out the sides upwards to the rim of the boat. Keep the same strokes on both sides of the boat bottom so the canoe sits properly in the water.

    • 5

      Create a rim, if you wish, that sticks out on the sides to help with keeping water out. Cut in further on the underside as you get to the top so you leave a rim edge. Sand the boat down once you have the shape you want. Smooth the hull to help with speed in the water.

    • 6

      Test the boat in a lake to see how it sits and how it maneuvers through the water while rowing. Make adjustments to the hull if it does not cut well through the water. You may need to sharpen the front keel further in on either side.