Progress thus far
February 18, 2013 § 3 Comments
The picture below contains a couple of items that I want to touch on.
The first is the inset of the bird, done in a darker cedar than the surrounding strips. Besides being an attractive feature, the inset effectively integrates joints into an overall design. The fact that grain and color don’t match (a concern when joining strips) becomes desirable. In this way, I’ve been able to do most of the sides of the canoe without obsessing about how good the joins look.
The picture below also shows the use of 1/4″ dowels to protect the coves of the strips when clamping, and the use of both clamps and bungee cords to press the strips together. As the stripping continues, the clamps eventually become too short (or the curve of the hull makes their use impossible). At this point, I use bungees and either wind them around the assembled strips or hook them from the newly-installed strip to the base of the strongback.
The Bird is a good touch. Nice work.
Thanks, Bill. I’ll be doing something a little different for the bottom as well. Stay tuned. Hope all is well.
I’m hooked on your sight now! Just starting my Cedar Strip Canoe, and I’m really researching feature strips. I love this bird inset. Mind giving a little more detail on how you did this? I’d love to incorporate something like that (wolf) in my boat. The bottom is awesome as well!