Once you've knocked off the blocks, make a pass with a foot adze to start smoothing out the surface
handmade or deja vu all over again
- Thread starter seedtick
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nope, you're not swinging the adze overhead like an axe or a splitting maul. Just short strokes letting the weight of the head do the work, removing small pieces of wood each time.
Also my feet are pretty far apart - that's why I look so short.
Also my feet are pretty far apart - that's why I look so short.
when you finish with the adze, make a pass over the surface with a hand plane. It doesn't have to be perfect, most of the surface area will be chopped out. Just get it flat enough so the top can be drawn on it.
Do you paint or wax the end grain to keep it from drying out to fast and splitting? In other words, what's the blue stuff on the end grain?
you are correct, it's paint and it's there to prevent the ends from drying too quickly and splitting
a couple hundred years ago, dugouts were left in the water after they were built, so they didn't have to worry about drying out and splitting
a couple hundred years ago, dugouts were left in the water after they were built, so they didn't have to worry about drying out and splitting
it left a sticky waxy residue on the surface, no doubt it will hold moisture in but i thought it would clog up sandpaper
we're trying shellac on this log and so far it seems to be working good
we're trying shellac on this log and so far it seems to be working good
The wax coating would cause a problem for sanding. Not an issue for tuning blanks or wood to be re-sawed. I have some Gustav logs that have not checked. Some woodworking techniques don't always apply to boat building. Thanks for the information.
beekeeper
beekeeper
with the top flat, flip it over and do the same thing to flatten the bottom
we couldn't pop an accurate chalk line along the curved bottom so we tacked up parallel boards at the correct elevation and cut to the tops of the boards
we couldn't pop an accurate chalk line along the curved bottom so we tacked up parallel boards at the correct elevation and cut to the tops of the boards
I sure hope you guys are passing your skills along to some young fellas. Would be a shame for your skills and knowledge to be lost.
I'm really enjoying this thread, thank you
I'm really enjoying this thread, thank you
Seedtick,
Are you flattening the bottom to soften roll characteristics of the completed hull? I had expected more of a vee or semi-rounded bottomed canoe shape to the exterior. Doesn't look like you're headed in that direction with this one.
Are you flattening the bottom to soften roll characteristics of the completed hull? I had expected more of a vee or semi-rounded bottomed canoe shape to the exterior. Doesn't look like you're headed in that direction with this one.
Belly, there's not enough money to be made building boats - at least around here - for a young fella to be much interested. Old farts like friend Keith and me have to be retired to afford to do what we do. That's why we jumped at the chance at making a documentary of this build. If we had the resources, we'd film all of our builds. There're some folks from LSU that are extremely interested in our drawings and photos but they and others will have to wait -a long while I hope.
Jack, we like to have at least 12 to 14 inches of flat on the bottom of the dugout then round up to the sides from there. If you make the bottom round, then you pretty much have to sit on the bottom to keep you center of gravity low to keep from tipping. Imagine how unstable it would be if it were a pipe and you tried to sit with the center of gravity much above the waterline. Once it started rolling - if say you leaned over too far or ran up on a stump - there would be nothing to stop it. Also a round bottom would draw more water than a flat bottom. I think this dugout will only be about 26" or 28" wide at it widest. Most canoes that I've been around are significantly wider than that
Jack, we like to have at least 12 to 14 inches of flat on the bottom of the dugout then round up to the sides from there. If you make the bottom round, then you pretty much have to sit on the bottom to keep you center of gravity low to keep from tipping. Imagine how unstable it would be if it were a pipe and you tried to sit with the center of gravity much above the waterline. Once it started rolling - if say you leaned over too far or ran up on a stump - there would be nothing to stop it. Also a round bottom would draw more water than a flat bottom. I think this dugout will only be about 26" or 28" wide at it widest. Most canoes that I've been around are significantly wider than that
I understand the fully round bottom and rolling. Nice job there. Will the sides flare then, for that added stability? I'm interested in watching as this progresses.
Log wasn;t big enough to put much flare in the sides.
Building with a log, you can't do the twisting and turning that you can with planks. So you're pretty much stuck with the log as is. We could flare the sides but only at the expense of losing some of the flat bottom area. Traditionally the old boat builders opted to keep the flatter bottom over side flare. Check out "The Pirogue Maker" movie than was posted a couple of weeks ago.
We could have gotten a larger log, but you end up throwing away about 80% of the log in the process of digging one out. So if you start with a log that's got $2000 worth of sawn lumber ,then you have a pile of chips on the floor that are equivalent to $1600 worth of good lumber. As you already know, the board feet in a log increases by the square of the radius, so incrementally larger logs means you throw away more wood a lot quicker.
Building with a log, you can't do the twisting and turning that you can with planks. So you're pretty much stuck with the log as is. We could flare the sides but only at the expense of losing some of the flat bottom area. Traditionally the old boat builders opted to keep the flatter bottom over side flare. Check out "The Pirogue Maker" movie than was posted a couple of weeks ago.
We could have gotten a larger log, but you end up throwing away about 80% of the log in the process of digging one out. So if you start with a log that's got $2000 worth of sawn lumber ,then you have a pile of chips on the floor that are equivalent to $1600 worth of good lumber. As you already know, the board feet in a log increases by the square of the radius, so incrementally larger logs means you throw away more wood a lot quicker.
Flattening the bottom is the same procedure as flattening the top. When it's all done you have a more or less rectangular cant
with the top facing up, get a couple of thin battens and layout the top profile.
This will be more of an indian style, more rounded at the ends. When the Europeans showed up with iron tools, the boats became more pointed. We're also going to make it slightly assymetrical. It's only 12' long so if we spread it out a bit in the back half, it'll give us a slightly larger footprint.
with the top facing up, get a couple of thin battens and layout the top profile.
This will be more of an indian style, more rounded at the ends. When the Europeans showed up with iron tools, the boats became more pointed. We're also going to make it slightly assymetrical. It's only 12' long so if we spread it out a bit in the back half, it'll give us a slightly larger footprint.
Jules, that blue chalk line seems to be centered by width, not on the grain? Am I seeing that right through the blue stuff? I'd have thought you would center on the grain.
check out some of the earlier pictures
old growth logs are rarely symmetrical around the center of the tree - too many other giants crowding them over
this log was no exception, we could build for greater width or symmetrical rings -we chose the width
as long as you don't try to include the very center of the log in your cant, your cant can be canted
old growth logs are rarely symmetrical around the center of the tree - too many other giants crowding them over
this log was no exception, we could build for greater width or symmetrical rings -we chose the width
as long as you don't try to include the very center of the log in your cant, your cant can be canted
With the top laid out, start trimming the sides to get the shape of the boat
just like getting the log to the right size cant, cut down to the line - you can use a saw kerf to the line or just chop to the line with an axe
knock off the blocks and flatten down with a hatchet and/or drawknife
finish up the side with a plane, use a square to keep the sides perpendicular to top face
just like getting the log to the right size cant, cut down to the line - you can use a saw kerf to the line or just chop to the line with an axe
knock off the blocks and flatten down with a hatchet and/or drawknife
finish up the side with a plane, use a square to keep the sides perpendicular to top face
Why did you chop out around that knot on the top? Is that just "exploratory surgery" ? I used rough cut cypress on our boats, fairly freshly cut, and water would weep out of it when we cut it (re-saw), is that cant like that? How do you tell when it is about right to start working on a project like this? I know the short answer is, "practice and experience", but you mentioned they used to go find a big tree and cut it down, did they start the dugout right away at that point? Thanks again for including use in this process.