Skin on Frame Canoe with Cedar

  Weekly Reflection  This week has been super cool. I started off really nervous, you know what they say about mixing family and work (don’t.) but working with my dad has been awesome so far and I can tell that he is pumped that I’m interested in his work which is really sweet.The first day i was lost and had no idea what I was doing or but jumped right in hand planing things, it was tricky at first and I kind of hated it but I have actually grown to really like block planes, they’re pretty neat. Once we got the horizontal pieces on the frames I was hesitant once again about steaming the ribs, I was sure that something would go wrong and I might have to restart; I was already stressed about the timeframe. However, (!) everything went super smoothly and I was able to start tying lashings way sooner than I had been expecting. It was really exciting to be able to bring some of my Ocean Classroom knot tying knowledge into it and even teach my dad a little something. The lashings t...

 Lashings. Today I started nice and early at eight with more lashings, I knew that my brother and his homeschool group would also be in the space today to work on their canoe so I prepared myself for their shenanigans. I started my lashing right away and taped my fingers with hockey tape so that pulling the knots tight would not be as painful. My dad attached the other two sets of stringers with my help throughout the day which was nice. Near the end of the morning the three boys jumped in on tying lashings which helped me a ton and sped me along. (They enjoy  tying knots a lot more than I do.) Today was super monotonous but I made good headway in the 8hours that I worked. (8-12:30 and 1:30-4:30)

 Ribs, Intermediate Ribs, Stringers, and Knots  Today I we finished steaming in the ribs, steamed in all of the intermediate ribs, and were able to attach the first two pairs of stringers. Once the last fourteen ribs were in we decided to also steam the intermediate ribs considering that we already had the steam box up and running. The intermediates were much easier to bend because that do not end up in a full U shape. After everything was steamed we attached the first stringer and I lashing the ribs to the stringer with imitation sinew.  (worked 8-12 1-4:30)

Sanding, Frames, and Ribs Today felt very productive despite being a shorter day. I finished sanding quickly and we got to setting up the frames for the boat, after matching the frames to their spots we attached them and began the stem assemblies. This part has to be quite exact with angles and measurements, the two out wale attach to the decks first which require them to be perfectly centered. we attached them with screws first before glueing them one side at at time. We also attached the stems to the keel in the same order (screws and then add glue). Afterward, we connected the stem and keel piece to the decks and outwales combo, this required more perfect centering and some shaving down of the stems in order to get there right angle. After this we zipped everything to the frames along with the temporary stringers. When we finished this we I was in for a treat, we steamed our first ribs to bend into the frame. We steamed the first ten out of twenty-five ribs and I am happy to report ...

 Sanding Galore Day two was full of sawdust and nothing else. Starting at eight we made our way to the shop with coffee in hand and I was blissfully oblivious to the amount of hand sanding I would be doing. I started the day by finishing shaping my seat back and proceeded to sand it along with the two decks. After that we milled some of our other pieces; stringers, inwales, outwales, rub rails, and the keel. I began rounding the edges of the inwales and stringers (of course using the special technique given to me). We took a lunch break and when we returned we proceeded to mill the rest of our pieces; ribs and floorboards. I continued my sanding before eventually heading to campus at three for drama tech. I worked six hours today (8:00-12:00 and 1:00-3:00)

Seat Backs, Decks, and Stems  Today my day started with hunting for nice wood in my basement. My dad and I found some really nice pieces of walnut to make my seat backs and decks out of. While I worked on the front and rear stem, my dad worked on the decks, and book-matched the seat backs. I was in charge of planing the front and rear stems to be smooth along with beveling the edges so that the canoe will have a nice shape when we attach the stringers. After I beveled the stems I sanded them making sure that the sides were softened as well so that the cloth on the outside will not chafe once I apply it. After a lunch break I was back at it and my dad had completed shaping the decks and began book matching the walnut for the seat backs and shaping those when I joined in. We finished shaping the seat backs and it was time to call it a day after a total of five hours (9:00-12:00 and 1:00-3:00).