How to Make Canoes From a Pile of Plywood

The historical evidence for canoe use dates back to 7000 to 5000 B.C. Early canoes were carved out of solid trees and called dugout canoes. Without carving a canoe out of a tree, it's hard to experience how one would handle. Some styles of dugouts, like the South American pipante, lend themselves to semi-replication in plywood. With just one sheet of plywood from a pile, you can build a pipante-style canoe.

Things You'll Need

  • Plywood sheet
  • Saw
  • Epoxy
  • Fiberglass tape
  • Squeegee
  • 2- by 8-inch board
  • Deck screws
  • Screwdriver
  • Drill
  • 1/4-inch drill bit
  • Copper wire
  • Paint or varnish
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut a sheet of plywood into three 8-foot by 16-inch pieces.

    • 2

      Mark a point at the center of two of the plywood pieces. Pick one of the short sides of each board and draw a line from each corner to the center point to form a triangle. Draw a line from the center point to the center of the other short side. Cut along the lines.

    • 3

      Line up the plywood pieces on the ground. The 8-foot by 16-inch piece sits in the center. The two triangle pieces line up at each of its ends. This is the canoe's bottom. The four remaining pieces compose the canoe's sides.

    • 4

      Mix a batch of epoxy according to its instructions and glue the triangles to the center bottom piece. Glue the side pieces together at their 8-inch edges. To glue, lay a piece of fiberglass tape over the seam and pour epoxy over the tape. Move the epoxy around with a squeegee until the tape turns completely clear. Wait 30 minutes and remove the excess epoxy with a squeegee. Cure overnight.

    • 5

      Cut three frame pieces from a 2- by 8-inch board. They should be 16 inches wide, with 60-degree angle sides. Screw one frame across the center of the canoe and the other two, one on each side, 20 inches away from the center frame.

    • 6

      Screw the center of the side pieces to the center frame. Align the bottom of the sides flush with the canoe's bottom piece. Screw the sides to the remaining frames.

    • 7

      Drill 1/4-inch holes 6 inches apart into the side pieces. Start the holes 6 inches away from the frames and continue to the canoe's ends. Drill a matching hole in the bottom of the canoe.

    • 8

      Insert a 6-inch piece of copper wire into a set of holes. Twist the wire until the side meets the bottom. Repeat for all the holes until the sides of the canoe touch the bottom everywhere.

    • 9

      Lay a piece of fiberglass tape along the inside seam formed where the side meets the bottom. Wet the tape using the same procedure for joining the edges. Leave the frame in until the tape and epoxy dries, then remove the frames and add fiberglass tape to the gaps.

    • 10

      Cut 2 inches off the ends of the canoe with a handsaw. This removes the dangerous pointy ends.

    • 11

      Screw one of the frames back into the canoe 12 inches stern of center. This becomes a backrest. For a higher backrest, use a slightly longer frame. Measure the actual distance between the boat's sides and use that distance for your new longer frame.

    • 12

      Apply fiberglass tape to the outside edges of the canoe. Use the same techniques you used for the inside seams.

    • 13

      Paint or varnish the canoe.