Building A Small Pack Canoe: Part 7 - Trim Work

Finally, we had a hull. All we had to do was turn that hull into a boat. There was still a lot of woodworking to do at this point, most of it more exacting than anything we had already done.

We had to fashion and secure two sets of gunwales (pronounced "gunnels"). Gunwales are the rails that run along the opening of the canoe. Each set is composed of an inwale and an outwale (curiously, pronounced "in-whale" and "out-whale") that work together to strengthen and stiffen the fragile and flexible top edge of the canoe (called the "sheer").

Since we had purchased plenty of extra basswood, we only used the lightest color boards for the stripping of the hull. We had one darker board that was knot and check free for its entire 12' length. When we ran that board through the surface planer, we received a very pleasant surprise. The entire board had a faint but very beautiful curl to it, almost like a fiddle back. We cut four strips out of it and planed them to 1/2" x 3/4" x 12' long. We knew right away that they would provide a stunning accoutrement to our little boat.

Here's a shot of the gunwales being planed to a taper at both ends. By tapering the ends, we would lighten up the looks of the boat (as well as dropping about 3/4 of a pound), adding a touch of elegance without weakening it in the slightest.










We found a bunch of very robust spring clamps (green grips) for $1 each at Home Depot. As they say, you can never have too many clamps.

The plans called for the gunwales to be glued with epoxy about 1/8" down from the top, and then to trim off the excess planking once the glue had cured. Previous experience (and lots of reading) told me to allow the natural curve of the bent wood define the line of the sheer, but Lady BK and I got into a bit of a disagreement about this. As usual in these cases, the little lady came out victorious. I allowed her to set the gunwales exactly 1/8" below the top along their entire length. The result was that they followed every irregularity along the sheer. This was not in the least apparent since all the spring clamps obscured the line until they were removed after the glue had cured.

If you ask a hundred boat builders what's the most important line to get right, every last one of them will say it's the sheer line. We had just completely blown the most important line in the canoe! A lot of work with sharp block and shoulder planes, together with some very careful observation while re-cutting the tapers in situ, would eventually resolve 95% of the irregularity. At this point, however, I was sure we'd have to cut the gorgeous gunwales off and replace them with wood that was much more boring.

Next on the list were the outer stems. These were laminated ahead of time and fitted to the end of the boat. They were glued in place with epoxy resin thickened with sawdust. Fitting them to perfection wasn't a big deal for me, but carving them to shape so they were harmonious with the rest of the lines of the canoe was a bit of a challenge. The first stem took almost two hours to figure out and shape. The second one took about a third of that time.













Lady BK is shown sanding the edges of the gunwales with a small concave sanding block. I had used a small block plane to cut a nice, even 45º chamfer on each edge beforehand, so all she had to do was to blend the facets into smooth curves.











Now it was time to make and install the breasthooks. No, breasthooks aren't those little fasteners that hold a bra strap together. They are small, triangular pieces of wood that tie in the inwales and the stems. Their shape and placement adds significantly to the looks and strength of the ends, so their construction and installation are important.

We had on hand about a dozen fancy black cherry burls that I had salvaged from my firewood pile. We chose one and cut a couple of slabs out of it about 1/2" thick.




The rough breasthook slab is worked in my small patternmaker's vice to put a slight crown into it, both to shed water better and to add a certain sexiness to it that only curves can do.











A breasthook is trial fitted before gluing. Even though we would use thickened epoxy to glue it in with, I made sure that the sides fit perfectly with the rails. Little details like this only take about five extra minutes and will be there forever to remind you and everyone else how refined your sensibilities are.









Spring clamps and a few clamping pads were all we needed to get the top perfectly aligned while we clamped the breasthooks in place with a small bar clamp.












A bleary-eyed Lady BK laminates yet another strip of bias-cut glass cloth over the gunwales. This will ensure that the relatively soft basswood won't wear through anytime soon. Even if it does eventually wear, a new strip of glass could always be added to the worn area at a future date.










A detail shot of the breasthook and rails under three layers of resin.













Two support thwarts were fashioned to fit at the quarter positions. Here I am using one of my favorite power tools, the oscillating spindle sander. It goes up and down as well as spinning around, leaving a very even finish with no grooves or burn spots. With an 80 grit drum, it's fast as hell, too.














We cut chamfers on the edges of the thwarts to lighten them, but mostly to make them more elegant looking.














Here they are with two coats of epoxy on them. All that's left now is to apply five coats of varnish to everything and fit the seat and backrest. Then off to the water with her for her maiden voyage.