Building a stitched lapstrake canoe

July 26, 2007
Stitching the planks -- 2:41 hours


Yesterday I borrowed some lumber from my friend John Grill (above left) so I could build 2 sturdy saw horses. I made them 36" high as I am over 6ft tall and that makes a comfortable working height for me. John and I set right to work today to get the thing in shape. While he cut 4" lengths of 18 gage copper wire, I began by stitching the center seam.

We worked our way out from the center of each plank, drilling holes and adding a stitch at a time. With each plank the canoe shape is beginning to emerge as we both wonder how the ends will pull together to form the final shape. We'll find out tomorrow!

Here's a stitch detail on the outside of the hull, and the hull so far.

Here's a movie made from images taken every minute as we stitched the hull together,
time invested today 2:41

HOME	1. laying out the planks	2. cutting planks	3. gluing planks	4. rabbeting edges	5. stitching seams	6. shaping hull	7. filleting stems	8. gluing seams
	9. removing stitches	10. filling holes	11. gluing inwhales	12. gluing outwhales	13. glassing outside	14. glassing inside	15. glassing keel	16. decks and seat mounts
	17. installing seats	18. epoxy coat	19. sanding	20. varnishing	21. finishing up	22. launching	storage	BILL OF MATERIALS
	This canoe was built from plans in the book "The Canoe Shop"