Canoe cedar strips - Machine your own vs. buying pre-machined

Apologies if this is opening up a recent thread, but I'm mulling a decision on whether to buy pre-machined bead-and-cove cedar strips or machining my own. I don't own a router or a table saw so I would have to buy or rent these to make my own.

The pre-machined strips for a Bear Mountain Boats version of the Chestnut Prospector run from $600-$900 cdn. depending the source and on whether I pick them up or have them shipped. I haven't yet priced the cedar lumber that would be needed to make my own, but I imagine that the lumber would be considerably cheaper than the pre-machined strips.

Does anyone have any experience with this? What would you recommend; buy pre-machined or make your own? Considering I don't own the required power tools and the potential PITA (pain in the a**) factor I'm leaning toward the pre-machined strips despite the added cost. That is unless the lumber costs and tool purchase/rental costs is significantly lower than the cost of the pre-machined strips.

The best prices I've seen on strips are from Classic. Check them out at http://www.cyberus.ca/~canoe/index.html . I probably would not use their 'pregnant' strips in a canoe, since it would make fairing the inside a chore, but they also sell flat strips.

BTW, cove and bead is not a necessity, particularly on a canoe where the curves are generally broad compared to kayaks.

Well let's think about this now. If you buy a medium quality table saw and router for say....$400.00 (try used) Then buy the wood for ...lets say $140.(thats what I paid)...thats a total of $540.00 compared to about $750.00 to just buy the strips. Thats a difference of $210. Is it worth $210 in labor to rip and profile the strips? You bet it is. Especially since you will now have the tools for your second boat.( There is always a second boat) If you don't want the tools you can always sell them.

And by the way, it is not absolutely necessary to bead and cove the strips. It works better but I have done both and there really isnt that much of a difference in the finished boat.

You can see two of the boats that I made this way by visiting my site. Good luck Steve

I think the tool costs are a bit underestimated. A medium quality table saw, particularly with a good fence, would be a bargain at $400. I'd budget twice that. A good fence is $300 new. Add a new thin kerf blade from Dave Carnell. ($30?) Any router worth having will cost you $100. Add $40 for the cove & bead bits. For an 18' canoe, it'll be 45+ BF of cedar. Can you buy clear 18' stock for $3/BF? If so, tell me where. That said, there are other benefits to milling your own strips. If you select the stock carefully, you'll get more consistent color than you're likely to get in commercial strips and the boat will look better.

Yeah, but you must keep in mind that the only logical reason for building a boat in the first place is to have an excuse to buy more tools!

Glad you opened up this topic. I have gone step further and milled my own cedar. A friend had a 80' red cedar go down in a wind storm and offered the wood. As I already had the shop tools I only needed some way to mill the cedar. I was able to buy a used chain saw (Stihl 075) for $180 and a used Alaska chain saw mill for $35. Spent another $100 on a rip chain and a carb overhaul kit for the saw. So my total is $315. It took me 3 days to mill the lumber. It is drying right now. Cedar will air dry during the summer in about 2 months. I was able to select my cuts and get the best lumber for the job. Yes - I do have a lot of cedar. More than enough for several kayaks actually. Well - lots more. I have already built several Adirondack chairs for the yard and still have stacks of lumber.

There is something very gratifying in getting that close to the tree and building a watercraft. I realize that not everyone lives in an area that is as heavily wooded as here (Washington State), however, if you do you should consider milling your own wood as an option. It is not for those wanting instant gratification.

The kayak will be my winter project. I live a few miles from the southernmost tip of Puget Sound on a small lake (where I will be learning to kayak). I look forward to kayaking this spring!

Jack Zeigler

Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

One of the responses mentioned a 'thin kerf blade from Dave Carnell. ($30?)'. What are the advantages of this blade.

Other questions I have as follows:

1. What kind of strong back? T or U shape 2. For a 16' prospector how long should the strong back be? 3. Can you re-use the same strong back to make a smaller canoe? 4. Make your own forms/stations out of particle board? Pre made ones are about $100 for a set. 5. From whom can you buy the cedar, someone in Manotick I believe?

Hans Brouwer Cumberland, Ontario

Dave Carnell (who lurks here) sells thin kerf Matsushita saw blades. I don't own one, have used one. Many positive comments on 'em.

1 Either a T or a U isn't torsionally rigid and can be twisted. Make a box beam. Mine is 12' x 12' with 1/2' ply top & bottom and 2x4 sides. There's a plug-in 4' extension of the same construction (9' wide) for longer boats. Use glue and drywall screws.

2 The stem molds can overhang the ends if needed, so 15' would be fine.

3 See above comment re plug-in ends. If I were to do it again, i'd do a 8' x 15' box-beam with two 4'x12' plug-in extensions.

4 If the design comes with full-size mold patterns, it's not hard to mark, cut and smooth a set of molds. Use 1/2' MDF. $100 sounds very reasonable.

I won't argue the cost of tools since there is a lot of variability in the cost and quality. I suggested he try buying USED tools. They are always for sale in the paper here for a fraction of the cost of new. A good fence is 300.00? I used a straight hardwood 2x4

clamped to my sears 10 inch saw to build my last boat. Worked fine if you use a hand cut featherboard rather than one of those springy wheel things to hold the wood next to the fence. I bought 4/4 western red cedar for 3.75 a bd ft. from McQueskins Wood products in Milton Vermont. I would not recommend paying the premium price for 18ft lumber. Scarfing planks is not that hard and I cannot see them from 8 feet away on my boat. Of course if you are building a boat that is more of an exhibition showpiece rather than a real useable boat, then mabey the full length strips are the way to go. I prefer to

actually use my boats and the overall finish is somewhat lower quality than a showpiece. Here in Vermont, northern white cedar, green, at the mill where it is sawn is is about 1.25/bdft but the quality is poor and you have to scarf quite a bit and cut arount knots. Makes a nice hull though if you are going to paint it. If cost is no object, then by all means, go the ultimate tool route with digital controls vacuum hold downs and precision power feeds. For the rest of us, there is always a way to make do just fine.