If you don’t buy a kit to make your canoe, one of the biggest challenges you will face is simply finding all the stuff you’ll need along the way. Here’s a list of the suppliers I found. My priorities were quality first, cost second, and I have to say that I was happy with all my suppliers and I will use them all again. The only one in question might be the cedar. The wood I bought was excellent quality, but you can buy finished strips for around the same price. Still, I got awesome wood, nice thin strips and I could pick through the boards to select grain and color.
Advice: Canoecraft, by Ted Moores,
This is a truly great book. I didn’t so much read it as study it. Just be sure you get the version which says ‘Revised and Expanded’ on the cover. That shouldn’t be a problem, as I’m sure I bought the last available first edition. I also studied the ‘Building Bob’s Special’ notes which came with the plans I ordered from Bear Mountain. Where those two sources didn’t include enough detail (be prepared, you will have to read between the lines in a few places) the Bear Mountain Builder’s Forum was an excellent source of ideas. Here again, you have to be prepared to ignore the advice of some ‘experts’. There are always many possible solutions; in most cases more than one of them is right. Overall, the entire process was easier to get through than I’d expected. Just tackle things one a time.
Plans: Bear Mountain Boat Shop
I broke down and bought the full-size set of plans for the Chestnut Prospector. I’m sure I could have drawn up the plans from the tables in the book, but it would be a hassle, and it would be one more opportunity to make mistakes. The builder’s notes that came with the plans nicely complimented the book (this is probably less of an issue if you have the second edition Canoecraft).
Lumber:
Here’s where most people should resort to local sources. I found both of my sources by starting from a map-based search engine with my home address. I then phoned local suppliers and, when they didn’t have what I was looking for, I asked them to refer me to another source. When more than one source referred me to these locations, I called them to check on stock and then went to pick it up.
Cedar: Fingerle Lumber Co., Ann Arbor, MI
I used select western red cedar in one-by dimension. Because it’s S4S, the finished dimension was actually a bit less than ¾ in. With bead and cove, the finished strips were about 5/8 in. I actually like the thin strips. They were easy to form on the mold, there’s less fairing of the hull and the aesthetics of the fine strips please me. This was beautiful wood, but not cheap. I used five 17 ft 1x8s (total cost, $320) and I had a few strips left over. These long boards come at a premium, so next time I’d spread out the lengths a bit. Next time I’ll take more care picking through the boards to get flat-grain boards that yield edge-grain strips. I got one board that was almost perfectly quartersawn, and the flat-grain strips that resulted required care during fairing or I pulled up the grain.
This is woodworker’s paradise in a less-than-desirable neighborhood. They have a great selection of hardwoods. Still, I couldn’t get full-length ash boards, and I had to scarf my gunwales.
Epoxy/Fiberglass:
There seems to be lots of debate as to the best epoxy, and everyone seems loyal to the brand they use. To me, this makes it likely that they’re all pretty good. For the most detailed treatment on the subject that I found, refer to the epoxy test at One Ocean Kayaks.
Here I’ll offer my enthusiastic endorsement for Raka. Larry was very helpful, shipping was extremely quick, prices were very affordable as compared with the most popular alternatives, and I was very happy with the performance of the epoxy. I found it convenient to order all my glassing supplies from Raka, including: 12 yards of 6 oz by 60 in. cloth, the three-gallon kit of 127 resin/350 hardener (I had some left over), two squeegees, pumps, mixing pots (four 250ml pots were adequate), one pair of tyvek arm sleeves, latex gloves, stir sticks, and 2 oz. silica.
The only concern some have mentioned with Raka is the pumps they ship have a reputation for squirting air at the end up the pump, which can result in an imperfect hardener/resin ratio. To be sure, use the graduated mixing pots.
I used Z-spar Captains, which I also ordered from Raka. I wanted to use the Flagship, but I compromised to keep the cost down… funny how I was more concerned about cost near the end of the project…
Hardware:
I had to mail order both seat hanging bolts and stem band, since I couldn’t find local suppliers.
Seat Bolts: Chesapeake Marine Fasteners. I bought ¼-20 carriage bolts in silicon bronze. Not cheap, but they’re the real deal. Shipping was quick.
Stem Band and Painter Rings: Noah’s Marine. Don’t buy the screws from Noah’s as you can get them at your local hardware store, and the ones from Noah’s require a small Robertson (square head) driver that most people won’t have. Shipping was very quick and the guy on the phone was helpful.
Tools:
Saw Blade: I couldn’t resist and forked out around $100 at Amazon for a Forrest Woodworker II thin-kerf blade. I must say it’s an awesome blade, but it probably wasn’t justified for ripping strips. Since you have to fair and sand the hull anyway, you really don’t need the planer-quality cut surface that this blade leaves. Oh well, I had to splurge somewhere.
Router Bits and Misc. Tools: I’m blessed with living one mile from a Woodcraft store. For those who don’t, you can order online from Woodcraft or Lee Valley. I have ordered online from Lee Valley and had good luck. They once shipped the wrong size of drill/countersink. When I called they were courteous and apologetic and immediately shipped me the correct size. The bonus was they let me keep the first one they sent for my trouble.
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