Milling small strips economically

[John Bush]

A friend used my shop to build a "strip" canoe and found it cheaper and easier to have it milled for him. Cope and cove were milled in and all surfaces had a nice finish. He alternated cedar and spruce and did some interesting glue-ups, then ripped to make gunwale border trim decorative. Nice result and saved him a lot of time.

[Ed Falis]

Yeah, cutting and milling the strips for the one I still have in progress (just hibernating presently) was pretty challenging. I used a thin-kerf blade on the tablesaw, and bead and cove bits on the router table. Need to make some more strips when I resume this winter.

[Mike Vettori]

Chuck,

I recently built a 16 ft canoe and I followed Rob's method above (table saw with thin kerf blade). the strips turned out just fine. Also, I found the following forum priceless in terms of information:

http://www.bearmountainboats.com/phpbb2/index.php

Here's a picture of mine. It's a 16ft Chestnut (Bob's) Special.

Good Luck, but be careful. It's like eating potato chips...you can't build just one! :-)

Mike Vettori
Philadelphia, Pa

[Chuck Saunders]

Mike,
That is beautiful. I am also a sucker to caned seats. What were the woods you used?