Stripper canoe design and build

[John Bowen]

Arne, that's a heck of a nice build and so is your site. Nice work, how did the bits hold up after all that shaping?

[Bill Edmundson]

Nice Work!

Just to let newbies know... You don't have to have a a big nice shop with lot of equipment. A stripper can be built with only a table saw, a good jig saw, and a sander. I HATE Sanding! And LOTS of clamps.

Bill

[stonehollow]

I agree (don't need a fancy shop). My first stripper was built in 1972 with a hammer, hand saw, coping saw and sanding attachment for a drill (and not much else!). The strips were cut from redwood by the local lumber store (no table saw).

The bits held up just fine - still cut as well as they did in the beginning. I'm finally getting around to finishing the Wee Lassie II. Gunwales are on now and fitting in the decks next.

[leakcheck]

Arne,

PICTURES please !!! Guys are visual kinda people !!

Steve

[stonehollow]

You can see the project at http://www.myrabo.com/k-canoe/wlii.htm

[Bill Edmundson]

You just can't have too many Clamps!

Bill

[SammyRye]

Hi, all -

When it comes to strippers, I agree that cove and bead, or flute and bead, is the best method to use. It provides the most surface for glueing the strips, making for a much stronger hull.

Graham - You mentioned the high cost of router bits. When I was searching for bits, I came across a company called MLCS. http://www.mlcswoodworking.com They have flute and bead 2-bit sets in 1/4 & 1/2-inch shank, and 1/4", 5/16" & 3/8" profiles. Prices run $40 - $42 USD. That seems pretty reasonable to me. Might want to check them out!

Anyway, best of luck with the project! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it!
Rich

[Graham Knight]

1/4", 5/16" & 3/8" profiles. Prices run $40 - $42 USD. That seems pretty reasonable to me. Might want to check them out!

That does seem quite cheap, mind you I've found cutters in similar sizes for not a lot more, unfortunately though if you look at bead and cove strip you'll see the edge radius is usually greater than the thickness of the strip, so to machine 1/4" strip for instance you need a cutter bigger than 1/4" radius.
Now my strip will be over 1/2" thick, so the cutters I'd require would be bigger than that, and they are expensive.
The more I think this through the more tempted I am to just use square edge strip, either cutting it myself (now considering doing it with a circular saw instead of a table saw) or paying the timber yard to cut it for me if the cost is not too high.
The gaps on the outer face don't concern me, they won't actually be that big, and the whole hull will be double planked with 2.5mm Mahogany over the strip anyway, so the gaps will get filled with epoxy and will disappear under the Mahogany.

[stienthor]

K. Very much want to build a Canoe. but like every thing budget matter's. Now What I would like to know is about how much does it cost to build a stripper. would like to do this one but may have to settle for a plywood version

[steve crawford]

I came across this strip building process and it is a beautiful boat.
I deal with 1/4''x 3/4'' strips all the time (in cabinets we call it scribe).
I just put the power feeder on the table saw fence and rip that stuff like nothing.
I also have a 1/4'' bead bit for beading these strips and mitering them to fit all door and drawer openings and having a custome look with flush mount doors and drawers.

So all I need is a matching cove bit. Oh and I have a router that mounts in the table off to the rt. of the saw so I can use the feeder to route the strips.

Question: what do you do to the frame edges to keep the inside of the strips from sticking? Silicone the edge,wax it? I gues you could tape it then sand off the tape when you pull out the frames.

And what about making you're own frames from another canoe.


This is my canoe I modified the back for a troling motor, it is verry stable .