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A canoe is a boat that is usually pointed at both ends and very long relative to beam, propelled while facing forward with either
a single or double paddle, and easily transported over land by one or two people (As usual, there are exceptions).
A wood canoe is a canoe that is, well, made out of wood... Here are descriptions of several types of wood canoes.
Traditionally Built Wood Canoes
- Wood & Canvas - Also sometimes called cedar canvas or simply canvas canoe. This is the type of canoe owned
by the majority of WCHA members. The canvas canoe is constructed of wide, flat white cedar ribs and wide, thin cedar (white or red)
planking. Gunwales and trim parts (thwarts, seats) are usually made of hardwoods. The hull is covered with canvas that is stretched
tight and filled with a waterproofing filler that hides the weave of the canvas.
- Cedar Strip - "The canoe that made Peterborough famous". These are all-wood canoes that are made of cedar strips
fastened to closely spaced half-round hardwood ribs. The strips are usually ship-lapped and are tapered along their length
so that there is no need for goring planks as found on canvas canoes. As built, these canoes are usually varnished inside and out.
There is no additional external covering.
- Lapstrake - These canoes have wider planking (2-3") fastened to steam-bent hardwood ribs. The planks
overlap each other by about 1/2". The planking is fastened to ribs with either clinched tacks or rivets, and to the adjacent
plank with clinched tacks. A variation of this type of boat is the smoothskin lapstrake, which is built the same, but adjoining
planks are both beveled at the lap yielding a smooth surface.
- Bark - The original North American canoe, they were usually made of birch bark but sometimes elm bark was also
used in areas where suitable birch doesn't grow. Birchbark canoes are built by shaping the bark to the shape of a canoe,
laying in split cedar planking, and inserting tightly fitting split and bent cedar ribs. The parts are lashed together
with split spruce root, and seams are sealed with pitch.
- Wide-Board - This type of canoe was the predecessor of the cedar strip canoe. Usually built of painted basswood,
but varnished cedar canoes are sometimes found. They are constructed of three or four wide planks per side, fastened to half
round ribs spaced approximately 6". The seams between planks were usually covered with half round bits of ribstock fitted between the
ribs. Other forms of covering the seams, including inset wood battens and metal battens are sometimes seen as well.
- Cedar Rib - This unusual construction methods also originated in Peterborough, Ontario. The canoe is constructed
entirely of tongue-and-groove ribs fitted tightly together. There are only a few longitudinal members - the gunwales and usually
two pairs of battens - mounted on the canoe. These were difficult to construct, and are not often found.
- "Herald Patent" - This is a construction technique invented by Dan Herald and also used by Willits Brothers. Here,
a layer of planking on the interior of canoe runs across the canoe from gunwale to gunwale. A thin layer of white lead soaked
linen is applied to the outside of this layer, and then an outside layer of planking is applied that runs the length of the canoe.
No ribs are used.
- Canvas-over-Stringer - These canoes are constructed of a series of battens (4 or 5 per side) mounted to
stiff frames. This framework is then covered with canvas. Construction plans for canoes of this type were often published in
how-to magazines such as Popular Mechanics and offered as kits.
- Dugout - Another native watercraft style, these are made by taking a log, and removing all the bits
that don't look like a canoe.
- Paper - Well, paper is wood pulp, after all... These were made by gluing layers of paper together over
a plug using (hopefully) waterproof glue. There was a good deal of experimenting with the construction of paper canoes around
1900, and today there is still the occasional experiment made.
- Molded Plywood - "Veneer Canoes". While seemingly modern, these go back to the late 1800's. They are constructed
by gluing together thin layers of wood (usually three) with the grain running in alternating directions. They may or may not
require heat treatment for the glue to cure (hot-molded and cold-molded, respectively).
Wood Canoes built with "Modern" Techniques
- Stripper - These are the most popular among home-builders. Some professional builders also offered both
kits and finished boats. The canoes are constructed by gluing together 1/4" x 3/4" strips of wood over a building jig
consisting of station molds that define the shape of the hull. The strips may be square cut, or for a better fit, they
are shaped with bead and cove router bits. Once the strips are glued together, the inside and outside are
sanded fair, and a fiberglass and epoxy covering is applied to the canoe inside and out. The fiberglass covering is
transparent, allowing the wood strips to be seen. The strips are usually cedar, though sometimes pine is also used.
Walnut or other contrasting woods are sometimes used as accent strips.
- Glued Plywood Lapstrake - These canoes are made by cutting planks to shape out of marine grade plywood. The
planks are positioned on a building jig, and are glued together with epoxy at the laps along the length of the canoe. This yields
a stiff hull that requires few ribs or bulkheads. The result is a traditional-looking canoe that won't leak even after long-term
storage.
- Stitch-and-Glue - Sometimes also called "tortured plywood" construction. Here, panels are cut to pattern from
plywood. The panels are brought together and temporarily fastened with wire or plastic ties. During this process, the plywood is forced
into the shape of a canoe dictated by the shape of the panels. The seams are then reinforced with fiberglass tape and thickened
epoxy.
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