Skin-On-Frame Canoe - Part II

After I assembled the station mold together, and cut the slit in the two end pieces for the stems to rest in. I needed to attach an extension to either end so I could clamp the tips of the stems to it. Once the stems were in place and lined up properly I cut down the keelson to the required length and lashed it to the stems.

The lashing (string) is artificial sinew (waxed nylon) and is very strong and durable. Take your time when lashing the parts of the canoe together, not just for the strength but because it will look really nice when it is complete. This will be more noticable when lashing the ribs and the stringers together.

Now I take all my stringers and the gunwales, and I cable tie them down to the station mold. Pretty simple so far, and it is nice to see a shape so soon into the project.

After I assembled the station mold together, and cut the slit in the two end pieces for the stems to rest in. I needed to attach an extension to either end so I could clamp the tips of the stems to it. Once the stems were in place and lined up properly I cut down the keelson to the required length and lashed it to the stems.

The lashing (string) is artificial sinew (waxed nylon) and is very strong and durable. Take your time when lashing the parts of the canoe together, not just for the strength but because it will look really nice when it is complete. This will be more noticable when lashing the ribs and the stringers together.

Now I take all my stringers and the gunwales, and I cable tie them down to the station mold. Pretty simple so far, and it is nice to see a shape so soon into the project.

This is my homemade wood steamer that Brian shows on his DVD. An electric kettle that doesn't automatically shut off when it hits boiling point. A 6 foot piece of PVC pipe with a rag stuffed in the top and voila.

To bend the ribs you stick one of them inside, put it over the spout of the kettle and let it sit for 3-5 minutes.

I definitely recommend wearing gloves as the woods is quite hot when you pull it out of the steam tube.

The idea here is to bend them, tucking either end inside of the gunwales but leaving the rest of it over top of the stringers. This is just to get its shape and let it dry. Afterwards they will be pulled out and fed up underneath the stringers and lashed into place.

Thankfully I had some extra rib pieces cut out as some of them broke or didn't quite bend the way I would've liked them to have. As you can see I have double up on one of them in this picture. I made the mistake of cheaping out a bit on the wood selection for my ribs and there were a fair number of knots in the wood. Rookie mistake and I won't do that again, considering the cost difference wasn't really much.

Now comes the process of lashing all of the ribs to the stringers, not to the gunwales yet. As I mentioned earlier, take your time here as this can make the canoe look really nice. Play around with it until you are able to come up with a good pattern. Also it is the underside that will be visible, not the top side you can see now as that will be the bottom and covered by the skin.

Now it is really starting to take some shape. After I attach the stringers and the gunwales to the stems, which is next I should be able to take it off the mold.