Wooden Canoe

Issue 134, April 2006 Volume 29, No. 2

Building a One-Off Ray Arcand:

Wood & Canvas Canoe A Living Link to the Past

Courses, Classes, Early Summer WCHA Annual Report

 Off the form! Alex
Comb removes a new
canoe from a rather
spare form. If you want
a form that takes up a
fraction of the space of a
normal form, read on.

Building a One-Off Wood & Canvas Canoe

by Alex Comb

A
few years ago, I received a call requesting a custom easily modified in such a way that it totally changed the
canoe. Since there is a considerable expense in appearance of the canoe. I quickly realized I could just as
constructing the solid form for what would likely easily change the length of the boat simply by increasing
be a “one-off ” production, I was not initially very recep- or condensing the space between station molds. The real
tive. With an evening to mull it over, however, I began to thrill, however, was when I looked up to see the “form”
consider an alternative to the time-consuming solid form for this canoe hanging on nails driven into the wall, while
customarily used to build a wood and canvas canoes. my eight stock model forms fairly well filled a large shed
Several years earlier, I had glanced at a 1938 article attached to my boat building shop.
published in Popular Mechanics about building a rib-and- While I had begun by looking for a way to build a “one-
plank-style canoe with a form that was much simpler than off ” canoe, I ended up discovering a process that could be
the solid form used by production canoe builders.* My used as an important tool for canoe design.
impressions from that article were that the method seemed
a bit cumbersome, so on a second evening I began to think Building the “Form”
through a new “open form” construction process. I begin the construction of the form the same way I
The long and short of it is that I built the canoe for would if I were building a solid form. The major differ-
this project and liked it so ence is that instead of
much I went on to build one completely sheathing the
for myself. With this second station molds, as is done
version, however, I changed in constructing a solid
the sheer line and stem pro- form, I use horizontal
file. That absolutely thrilled ribbands spaced three to
me—the “form” could be four inches apart (Figure
1). With some changes in
*Twenty-five years ago, Jack the technique for bending
Davis’s article, “Building the ribs, these bands pro-
Popular Mechanics Canoe” vide sufficient support for
appeared in Wooden Canoe steam bending the ribs.
(Issue 7, Summer 1981). The I start by setting up a
article is available at www. building platform that is
WCHA.org. Editor Figure 1. Screwing the ribbands to the last station. straight and level. I make it

4 Wooden Canoe
 The horizontal ribbands should
run full length, from stem mold to
stem mold, and screwed to the
last station mold. (See Figure 1.) I
make the ribbands of ash because
it bends well and is strong enough
to span the 16 inches between sta-
tions. These strips of wood should
Figure 2. Steam bending be to the dimension your plans call
a rib in place. Note plastic
for (on my plans they are 9/16 inch
electrical ties that are used
thick). They should be made from
to hold the ribbands to the
stations. (See detail above.) good straight-grained material and
made up of shorter pieces scarf-
joined together if full length stock
is unavailable. The spacing of the
ribbands will vary with location,
being closest together at the bilges
from two 2x6s that are sawed straight and set on edge with where the curve of the hull is tightest.
pieces of 16-inch wide 1/4-inch plywood nailed to the top The ribbands will be taken off the form after the ribs
edge for the length of the 2 x 6s. A center line is snapped are bent and before the planking is applied, so the fasten-
down the length of the platform, and station section lines ings need to be removed easily. To attach the ribbands to
are drawn at right angles to the center line. I screw 2x2s to the molds, I choose plastic electrical banding. It is readily
one side of each of these section lines. Three-quarter-inch available, inexpensive, and easy to use. In the areas where
plywood station molds are then screwed to the 2x2s. this proves not strong enough to withstand the stresses of
With the station molds secured to the platform, the bending and twisting, I resort to steel wire. Once the rib-
stem backer molds are fitted to the last station molds and band locations are laid out on the form, I drill a 1/4-inch
sited true before being screwed in place through the last hole through the plywood station mold beneath each rib-
station and through the platform bed’s 1/4-inch plywood. I band intersection. The ribband is notched diagonally at
also find it helpful to install a keel backer into slots I have each station with a round rasp to accept the electrical tie
cut in each station mold. The keel backer is made of 1x4, so that it can be tied to the station mold with the electrical
which I lay out on the bench, and I transfer the keel line tie countersunk below the surface of the ribband, or it can
by plotting points for each station. I then saw the 1x4 to be threaded through a hole drilled through the ribband at
the line I have plotted and use the keel backer to bring all this location. (See detail in Figure 2.)
the station molds into proper justification at the keel. With all the ribbands in place, their outer edges should
Once the station molds appear to be set up straight be knocked down by using a sanding board or rasp. This
and true on the building platform, I install the gunwale will help prevent the ribs from being “crimped” as they
backer in the notches previously cut into the station are bent over the ribbands.
molds. (This gunwale backer is visible in the introductory
photograph on page 4.) For this I use a hardwood with Steam Bending the Ribs
few imperfections since the backer will end up being the At this point, I lay out the path of the steam-bent ribs.
guide for the inwale and will describe the sheer line of First, I mark on the keel ribband, which runs from stem
the finished boat. I often make up the backer of shorter to stem down the middle of the canoe, the location of
pieces, scarf jointed together. (A scarf joint is made by the center rib. This is centered on the center station
cutting matching tapers into the ends of the pieces to be mold at the canoe’s “midships.” From the edges of this
joined. The taper should be about twelve times longer rib, I mark off a consistent spacing (usually 3 1/2 to 4
than it is wide to make a good glue joint.) I screw the inches from one edge to the same edge of the next rib)
backer pieces at each station mold through pre-drilled for all the remaining ribs. Because of the changing
and counter-bored pilot holes so that the screw heads shape of a canoe—being narrower in the ends than at
are counter sunk and will not touch the inwale when it midships—the ribs will tend to cock back toward the
is clamped to the backer. Blocks may also be screwed to midships as they are bent over the form. To find this
the stem molds to hold the inwales in place at the ends. natural path, I take a strip of sheet metal or flexible
(The blocks are visible in Figure 7.)

Issue 134 April 2006 5

Figure 3. Sanding down the high spots on the ribs before sealing Figure 4. To clench the tacks, an iron is held under each rib.

plastic, cut to the width of the rib, and lay it across

the form at each rib location. The piece of metal or
plastic will naturally follow the path the rib wants
to take. Check it from one side to the other side and
adjust the spacing at the inwale so that it is the same
on both sides, and for the corresponding rib on the
other end of the canoe.
The ribs are made of northern white cedar (Thuja
occidentalis) planed to 1/4-inch thickness, and tapering
from 21/4-inches wide at the center to 11/4-inches at the
ends. A finished edge can be applied to the ribs with a
1/2-inch radius router bit. The prepared ribs are soaked

several days before they are steam-bent. The amount of

time needed to steam the ribs will depend on how hot Figure 5. The planking nail pattern.
the steam is and how much steam is routed to the steam absorption when the canoe is in use. The planking, which
box. These thin ribs should bend very easily, though some is normally 3 inches wide and 5/32-inch thick, is finished
care will be needed to avoid “crimping” them over the rib- similarly, so that the surfaces under each rib are sealed
bands. I find that it’s possible to bend the ribs “above” the against moisture intrusion.
ribbands by placing a gloved hand underneath the rib as
I am bending, rather than forcing the rib down directly
on the ribbands. Another method that has worked well
Planking the Canoe
is to slip a thin plastic band under the rib being bent to For planking stock, I normally use white cedar as well,
give some support between ribbands. (The plastic will selecting the vertical grain (as close to quarter sawn as
help the rib make a fair curve between the ribbands and possible) pieces for the bottom areas of the boat and the
can be removed once the rib is bent.) Each bent rib can bilges. Vertical grain stock is stiffer and more stable than
be held in place with spring clamps at the inwales (Figure flat sawn stock, and it usually bends more readily.
2), checked for conformance to the form, and then nailed With the planking sanded on one side and sealed, it
to the inwale with two bronze ring-shank nails. can now be fastened to the ribs with sharp brass canoe
With all the ribs bent and fastened in place, I let tacks driven through the planking and ribs and clenched
them dry overnight before checking for final fairness and by an iron held directly under the rib (Figure 4). An auto-
planning or sanding any high spots (Figure 3). Once I’ve motive dolly intended for body work or an iron especially
checked for fairness using a thin batten and am satisfied made for clenching canoe tacks can be used as a clenching
all is true, I seal the back sides of the ribs to prevent water iron. I use three tacks to fasten each plank where it lands

6 Wooden Canoe
Figure 6. The garboards are wetted to make the twist at the stems. Figure 7. Installing second plank. At this point the ribbands have
been removed. Note the blocks on the stem backer molds holding
on each rib (Figure 5). To prevent the edges of the plank- the inwale in place.
ing from curling up when they are saturated in water, the
tack heads should be held within 1/8 inch from the edge
of each plank. The first course of planking, or “garboard”
in boatbuilding terms, can usually be nearly completely
tacked off without needing to move the first ribband.
Where it does get in the way, simply reach under and snip
the tie and slide the ribband up or down. This “garboard”
plank can also be nailed to the stems using appropriately
sized bronze ring shank nails. At the stems you will find
the plank needs to twist from the bottom to near vertical
at the ends. This may require applying boiling water to
the planking to soften the fibers and encourage the bend
(Figures 6 and 7).
The rest of the planks will not be nailed to the stem
pieces while on the form (Figure 7). This allows the boat Figure 8. Using a spring clamp to hold the plank in place.
to be removed from the form when complete. Once the
garboard is in place, I cut all ties, release the inwales, and to ease the process of getting each plank to fit tight against
pull all but the keel ribband straight out one end of the the previous one (Figure 8).
form. Having placed registration marks on the inwale to Once the planking is installed to within four inches or
gunwale backer, I then re-clamp the inwale to its backer. so from the inwale, the canoe can be taken off the form.
The planking can be made of varying lengths of stock. From here on the procedure is exactly the same as for a
Generally, the longer the stock the better, although join- solid form.
ing behind a rib is not a problem as long as the joints are This open-form method does add a bit of time to
staggered generously. building a canoe, but for one-off construction, the sav-
The planking arrangement varies from builder to ings in time spent on the form by far conpensates. If you
builder. I will not go into the details here of how to lay out decide to build several canoes of the same model you
planks. You can find information on this elsewhere or by might want to go on to build a solid form, though before
studying historic canoes. The arrangement can be the same you do you can choose to make minor changes to the
for this method as it is on a solid form. The main differ- design and, of course, make use of the station molds you
ence with this method is an iron will be needed to clench now already have.
the tacks. One advantage to this method is that the plank
Alex Comb has operated Stewart River Boatworks for over
can be easily clamped to the ribbands with a spring clamp
twenty-five years. This article is based on his forthcoming
book The Art and Craft of Canoe Construction. He will

Issue 134 April 2006 7

 Wooden Canoe
The journal of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association

© 2006 WCHA This article is reprinted here with permission.

To learn more about the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association, visit our Web page,
www.wcha.org.