What Grain Boards Needed For Cedar Canoe?

A grain board is a crucial component for building a cedar canoe, as it creates a smooth, consistent surface on the inside of the canoe hull. The kit includes pre-cut and drilled cedar strips, epoxy, fiberglass cloth, and plans. To build a cedar strip canoe, basic woodworking skills, patience, and a budget for materials and tools are required.

The best rule of thumb when building a strip-built kayak is to make 2 board feet of western red cedar or other softwood per foot of boat length. The materials needed include cedar planking, hardwood (preferred for seats, stems, gunnels, and decks), and other materials.

When building a cedar strip canoe, consider factors such as time and space. Flat grain wood is harder to work but more interesting than edge grain sawn strips. Northern white cedar is the best wood for canoe ribs and planking due to its light weight, strength, flexibility, and rot resistance.

For a standard tandem canoe, two 1×6 full-length cedar boards are needed. The first step in building a canoe is to assemble a strongback, which is a long, straight table on top of which the canoe will be built. The length board should be made of lightweight, straight grained red or white cedar.

While western red cedar can be obtained in lengths up to 20 feet, milling such long planks provides more excitement than is really needed for building a boat. Cedar and cypress are popular choices for building wood strip canoes due to their lightweight nature, rot resistance, and ease of bending.

What is the best finish for a cedar strip canoe?

The only varnish that I would avoid is Schooner Varnish. There have been occasional problems reported over a couple of decades with Schooner not hardening-up properly over WEST. It doesn’t happen every time, but there does seem to be enough evidence of problems to be cautious. I generally use Captain’s Varnish over WEST epoxy. It is high quality stuff with a good UV absorber and I’ve used it for a long time with excellent results. I usually apply it to hulls in thin layers using a yellow Gougeon roller, followed by tipping it out immediately with a soft brush. I seem to get much better thickness control and far fewer drips or sags that way than I do with a brush.

If you’d asked about System 3 epoxies, I’d tell you to go buy their spar urethane – That and Interlux spar varnish are the only things I’ve found that cures over this particular epoxy. Has anyone else found something that works with System 3?

How thick is the wood on a cedar strip canoe?

Strip Thickness It’s possible to reduce final weight of your canoe or kayak by using strips as thin as 3/16″. While suitable kayaks or canoes with narrower beam, we don’t recommend strips this thin for boats with a beam over 30 inches or with a shallow-arch midships profile. Standard strip thickness is 1/4 inch.

Canoe Weight Calculater. In order to achieve an accurate result please ensure that all fields are filled out. If something seems odd in the final total, check your entries. Sub weights and total weights are calculated as entries are made. Enjoy!

Using the Calculator. This calculator is designed to help canoe builders to determine the final weight of their canoe. It allows the user to make decisions about what canoe design to choose, which materials to use, and how much weight certain elements add to or subtract from the total.

Our objective is provide a useful and accurate tool. That said, keep in mind that we can’t control the accuracy of what you do in your shop or the qualities and weights of the materials you purchase.

How many cedar strips do I need for a canoe?

Strips. For a strip-built kayak a good rule of thumb is 2 board feet of western red cedar or other softwood for each foot of boat length. A board foot is a volume of wood 12″ long x 12″ wide by a nominal 1″ thickness. Most wood you will buy is planed down to 3/4″ thick or even 11/16″ for some cedar and redwood.

To get a little bit more specific it takes just under 18 strips to cover a 12 inch wide area. In other words to completely cover one square foot of surface area on a boat you will need 18 linear feet of strips. If you are looking at a design with a surface area of 50 square feet you will need approximately 900 linear feet of strips. This does not leave much room for errors so you will want to include some extra.

Use our Online Strip Calculator. You can typically get three 1/4″ thick strips out of each inch of board width for a yield of 36 linear feet of strips per board foot. This works out to 1/2 a board foot of lumber per square foot of boat surface area. So for 50 square feet of surface area you would need a minimum of 25 board feet of lumber.

Notice that the surface area of a boat varies widely for boats of the same length; the Petrel has a surface area of 46 sq ft and the Great Auk is 59 sq ft. The rule of thumb would suggest 34 board feet where the Petrel only needs 23, but the Great Auk needs almost 30, so the rule generally over estimates, but you will probably happier to have too much wood instead of too little. Don’t try to get exactly the right amount forcing you to use tiny scraps to finish covering the boat.

What is the best finish for cedar?

For optimum surface durability, the first coat may be of high gloss lacquer followed by one or two coats of matte or satin lacquer. On smooth cedar, a final coat of wax will impart a rich sheen to the wood. Clear varnish is recommended only for smooth surfaces. It will inevitably add a richer, darker tone to cedar.

Among all the softwood species, Western Red Cedar is considered to have the very best finish- retention features.

Guide To FinishingWestern Red Cedar. The most important characteristics of Western Red Cedar (hereinafter abbreviated to ‘cedar‘) that contribute to its exceptional ability to accept and retain many different types of finishes are its outstanding dimensional stability, fine texture, a pattern of growth that results in narrow bands of summerwood, and freedom from pitch and resin.

Dimensional stability is related to the wood’s density. The less dense the wood, the less it tends to shrink and swell in response to changes in moisture content. Cedar is a low density wood exhibiting excellent dimensional stability.

What is the most durable cedar wood?

Properties of Cedar Wood. Western Red Cedar is one of the world’s most durable woods, as it has a natural resistance to moisture, decay and insect damage. It has twice the stability of most commonly available softwoods due to its low density and shrinkage factors. It produces long, lightweight lengths of timber with a fine straight grain and uniform texture.

This makes it easy to cut, saw and nail with common tools. It also can be planed to a smooth surface or machined to any pattern. It can hold glue bonds and also provides a good base for many types of paints and stains since it lacks pitch and resin.

It is also valued for its distinct aroma that is commonly believed to discourage moth and carpet beetle larvae infestations. All of these factors make it the premier choice for either interior or exterior home use.

What wood is as good as cedar?

Douglas fir and cedar are both durable, strong choices of wood that will last a lifetime when properly treated. Cedar can be more resilient to outside elements but that often comes at an increased cost. Where Douglas fir shines is when used as structural support in an interior setting.

Key Takeaway: Douglas fir and Cedar are both popular woods with similar physical characteristics, yet their durability against moisture and rot vary depending on the type of application they are used for.

Both Douglas fir and cedar feature a range of advantageous characteristics that make them suitable for a wide variety of projects. But before settling on either one, it’s vital to carefully weigh the pros and cons of each. Appearance, usage, and pricing can differ a lot depending on your application.

What are the disadvantages of cedar wood?

Deterioration Concerns. Although cedar lasts a long time under ideal conditions and treatment, it tends to degrade more quickly when it’s used for ground-level decks, and if it’s shaded, it will slowly dry out. Again, simple maintenance and re-sealing solves these problems.

Choices, Choices. Cedar decking has a great weathered look (and smell), it can be less expensive than composite, and requires less work than pressure-treated lumber. We can help you consider all your priorities when choosing the decking material that’s best for you.

Learn more on our Decking Department page, then visit us at the store. Ask one of our experts any question to get started.

Is cedar a good wood for canoe paddle?

Canoe Paddle Shaft Wood Options. Western red cedar and basswood are the woods that I most often use in paddle making. I like them both. Cedar, in particular, is just about the perfect wood for paddling. But that does not mean it is the only wood. If you have made your first few paddles or you have a clear vision of what you want, I might be able to help supply the wood for that special paddle.

First of all is the combination of Peruvian walnut and poplar. This makes for a blackish and creamish striped looking paddle shaft. Ebony and Ivory from Stevie Wonder (??) is the earbug going through my head when I look at this combo. Redwood is also in stock in scarce quantities. Old spruce likewise in small quantities.

Old Spruce with Side Knot for Top of Shaft. Here’s my one piece of spruce. So far. I’ve not had the occasion, until I found this piece, to venture into the spruce world, but it is a wood with a long history in both boat and plane building. Howard Hughes had his behemoth “Spruce Goose” back in the day right? Anyway, this old piece of spruce that I stumbled across has the unique option of being cut in such a way that an old branch, now a knot, comes out of the side of the wood rather than the top. This might just be the most unique piece of lumber I have ever come across. So if you are looking for a unique center shaft strip or a shaft top strip, a piece of this might fit your plan!

Should I put polyurethane on cedar?

Caution. Transparent, non-flexible, film-forming finishes such as lacquer, shellac, urethane, and varnish are not recommended for exterior use on cedar. Ultraviolet radiation can penetrate the transparent film and degrade the wood.

Tips on Finishing Western Red Cedar Outdoor Applications. How to Apply Finishing to Real Cedar. How a finish is applied to cedar is as important for durability and good performance as is the finish-substrate combination chosen for the job. Finishes can be brushed, rolled, sprayed or applied by dipping. The application technique, the quality and quantity of finish applied, the surface condition of the substrate, and the weather conditions at the time of application can substantially influence the life expectancy of the finish. The application guidelines suggested here should be followed in concert with the manufacturer’s directions for the product.

Paints. Paints of all types such as vinyl-acrylic, modified-acrylic, and oil-based top coats are all suitable for cedar but test results show that good-quality 100%-acrylic formulations perform best. To achieve maximum paint life, follow these steps:

• On bare new or restored cedar, apply one coat only of water-repellent preservative (1% or less of wax by volume and content). Allow it to dry for the period of time recommended by the manufacturer. If the wood has been dip treated, a longer drying time may be needed. Do not paint before the solvent from the water-repellent preservative has evaporated because the paint may then be slow to dry, may discolor, or dry with a rough surface.
• Apply a good quality stain-blocking primer as soon as possible after the water-repellent has dried. The primer coat is very important because it forms a base for all succeeding paint coats and should be used whether the top coat is oil-based or latex-based. Application rates recommended by the manufacturer should be followed.
• Apply the top coat over the primer. If two top coats are to be applied, allow the first to cure for the period recommended by the manufacturer before applying the second. In cold or damp weather, allow extra time between coats.

What is the best wood for a cedar strip canoe?

Northern white cedar is absolutely the best wood for canoe ribs and planking. Its light weight, strength, flexibility and rot resistance can not be matched by any other wood. Although Maine has vast quantities of white cedar, it is still very difficult to find, select and sort out the knot- and defect-free lumber that is required for canoe construction.

The rough stock, ribs, and planking offered by Northwoods Canoe Company are from plain-sawn lumber, which means most of the pieces will have flat grain patterns. All wood is of the best premium canoe grade. A one inch thick board is normally thick enough to produce two ribs or thee pieces of planking. The edges of lumber are rough, so to produce a 3″-wide plank, it needs to start with a 4″-wide board to smooth up the sides to the 3″.

Northwoods Canoe Company has been able to obtain a treasured amount of quarter-sawn white cedar which is available ONLY as pre-cut planking, 3″ wide, 5/32″ thick, in six- to eight-foot lengths.

How many hours to build a cedar strip canoe?

“It’s a very rewarding experience to build a canoe. It takes a lot of time—around 120 hours on average. So when it’s finished and you’ve created something as beautiful as a cedar strip canoe, you should be proud of what you’ve done.

“I think it’s really worth the experience. I hope you try it!”

(At the end of the film is a list of resources for building your own cedar strip canoe. Photos courtesy of Trailguide Pictures.)

What paddling questions can we help you with? Call or email our Wisconsin-based customer service team today: 715-755-3405 • (emailprotected). More for you…

Are cedar strip canoes strong?

Although water soaking into the wood can make some wooden canoes heavy over the years, cedar canoes have a better overall track record when it comes to that. You’ll find that they can withstand the test of time better than other wooden canoes, and they won’t really disappoint even when they start to deteriorate.