Cedar Strip Canoe - Jackson

Cedar Strip Canoe - Jackson

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During my semester at Propel, I built a Cedar Strip Canoe. This boat is made up of light to medium coloured thin, long and flexible Cedar strips that were glued together over a skeleton workstation called a strongback table. Once it was sanded down flush, a layer of fiberglass sheeting and epoxy was applied to create a sturdy waterproof casing to protect it. While the bulk of the Canoe is made of the soft wood Cedar, the top edge piece that is added on called the Gunnel is made from a very hard wood called Ash. The piece at the very front and back is also Ash because this is where most bumps and hits occur, so you want wood that can take a hit (whereas Cedar would dent very easily). Additionally, seats woven with polypropylene strapping were hung from the gunnels with Stainless steel bolts, and a deck on each end was made from jointed Ash and Poplar wood, with a handle spot for easy carrying with two people. If only one person were to be present to carry the Canoe, it would be made possible with the Yoke piece, which is a curved slab of Ash that supports the middle of the canoe and doubles as a carved piece to sit on the back of someone's neck for portaging between water sources. Moving the Canoe is made easy since it weighs only 65lb to 70lb while being able to carry three people comfortably with a carrying capacity of over 600lbs. Although these Cedar Strip Canoes are recognized to be pieces of art, they are very sturdy, fast, and agile boats. I decided to take on this project because a Cedar Strip Canoe guarantees a fun time regardless of if you take it for a lone paddle in a pond, or for an intense canoe trip with your friends!

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During the long and rewarding process of building my Cedar Strip Canoe, there have been many opportunities to solve problems that have come up in creative ways. One of the examples of which I am proud would be attaching the stems. As seen in the photos, the stems are an edge cap to the front and back of the Canoe. The stem has two parts: an inner and an outer stem. You can see the inner stem in the first photo, and you can see the outer stem in the second photo. They are made from a hardwood called Ash because the front and back edges are the most common point of contact when bumping into terrain. During my research process, I found that my sources had their stem built on a specific mold type, and since mine was different, I experienced an uncommon issue when building it. There was a large gap from the top of the Cedarwood to the inner stem, so I had to make a custom outer stem piece fit exactly onto the inner stem. When building the stems, they do not come bent, so you have to soak the wood in water to make it malleable and clamp it around a mold before gluing it. It is a long process, and the solution to my issue involved bending a second iteration that was wider and thicker so that it could fill the gap completely. I used an array of sanders, block planes, and chisels to make the outer stem fit flush with the inner stem. I then glued, screwed, and epoxied the edges to fill any seams. Many other processes such as fiberglassing required the stems to be finished, so I was very relieved to have successfully completed the task of finishing the stems.

There were many times where steps went according to plan, and many other times where I and others had to think creatively to overcome obstacles. One of the parts of my project that went particularly well would be the planning and collecting resources stage. I had many ideas for projects at the beginning of the semester, and woodworking was not originally part of it. I had the idea one day and did a deep dive of research to see if it would even be possible. There were some amazing resources online, and there was one YouTube series made by a channel called “A Guy Doing Stuff” that I often went back to during the entire process. His videos made it very easy to understand the process and he was very specific about each step. After understanding that building a Canoe would be within my abilities, I had to get prices and material plans. I put together a budget plan by using many websites and other resources to know exactly how much I would need for each material. While calling Star Lumber about a quoted price for cedar wood, they put me in touch with an employee, Paul, who was also building a Cedar Strip Canoe. He gave me his personal phone number and invited my Dad and me over to pick up some materials that he had leftover and showed me his process of building his Canoe. It came as an amazing surprise to me when he gave me a 150$ gift card for the Cedar! It covered nearly half the cost of the wood. He also gave me his strong back table, which is the workstation the Canoe is built on. Without his donation, it would have been a month extra to build it myself since I would need to ship in plans from across Canada, as well as I would have needed time to find plywood and put it all together. With a lot of luck in meeting Paul, and many hours of research, I can safely call the research and material stage a huge success.

While many steps went according to plan, others did not go as expected. The biggest issue for me was caused by Covid. In mid-May, all students were sent home for remote learning. This meant I had to move the 17-foot long canoe home on a trailer. Thankfully, I had a coach from football that I knew personally who offered to help. I know him as Coach Glen, and he was happy to take time from his work to help me bring the Canoe home. Unfortunately, a part of the stem came off during the travel, but thankfully it was an easy fix of some epoxy and dry time. The real issue that arose was the lack of Environmental control in my garage. My workspace was in the school had a consistent temperature and dust was not an issue. However, in my garage the temperature often fluctuated, which extended the epoxy curing times by many days. During the fiberglass and epoxy stage, a cloth is laid out on the Canoe and the epoxy is spread over it. It soaks into the fiberglass and hardens to a clear, hard glassy finishing layer. While the epoxy was supposed to have been set within a few days, the colder nights caused it to take over a week to be fully set. The state of the epoxy caused issues during the sanding stage, and I had to do extra layers of epoxy to fix it and spent a lot longer sanding. It was frustrating that it didn’t go as planned, but I am thankful I had Mr. Patrician, Paul, and my Father to help me overcome these problems as they arose.

My experience at Propel was even better than I could have imagined. My time spent at Nelson Mac was very important for a few reasons. Firstly, it gave me confidence that if I put my mind, effort, and resources into something I can make great projects. Prior to Propel, I would get discouraged when hitting a bump in the road of a project and things would often stall out, but during this semester I learned that with enough consistent work on a problem, obstacles can be overcome. Secondly, the program offered support from my peers and teachers. This support taught me the importance of feedback and how having people to rely on makes it so much easier to work on a project. A fantastic example of this was how I could ask the class to help me move the Canoe and several people would always drop their work to come help. Lastly, my organizational abilities improved drastically. Before Propel I would often figure out the steps to a project, and then just wing it as the days went on. I learned this semester the value of using a large-scale steps binder, as well as a day-to-day organizational binder to keep track of what I need to do and when.

With the skills I have gained in Propel, both in woodworking and in life skills, I plan on continuing to do projects as I move through the rest of high school. As my years in high school wrap up there will be a large focus on preparing for post-secondary, but I look forward to doing smaller scale projects in the many years to come. During my fantastic time at Propel, I have seen improvements in my woodworking skills, general work ethic, and character building. If I were to offer a few takeaways of what I learned in Propel I would say find a community of good-hearted people to support you in whatever you do, work hard when working on tasks that you are passionate about, and make sure to have fun while doing it. The lessons and skills learned in Propel will stay with me for the rest of my life, and I can’t wait to see what I can make of it!