| First off one needs to decide what size and style of canoe to build. I have in mind a small solo canoe for one paddler of no more then 150 pounds similar in size of the Wee Lassie or slightly larger. For style I picked the 2 Fathom Algonkin Hunter's Canoe, the old style, as pictured in Addney & Chapelle "The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America" page 116, figure 108; pictured above. Length to be around 10' - 11', width about 28", and depth perhaps 10 - 11". Most wooden parts from basswood, the manboards (a.k.a headboards) are made of pine. Thwarts and ribs will be from ash. |
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Hauling basswood home by toboggan. Wife was steering and I was brakeman keeping the toboggan from running away down a steep slope. |
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Here basswood from the recently felled tree is being split into manageable sections; the 4.5' lengths will be for sheathing (a.k.a. lining or planking). The longer lengths are for gunnels. I found basswood to be difficult to split; it tears out sections leaving gouges and ridges in the split sections. Basswood is also very wet when green; do not leave it, even over night, on machine surfaces! A sample of basswood that weighed 9.4 ozs (265 gs) wet only weighed 4.5 ozs (122 gs) dry. It requires steaming to make even moderate bends else it fractures on bending. |
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In later February I returned to the woods to get ash for the ribs. I found the basswood to difficult to bend for ribs. |