Post #229110 by Benzart on Thu, Apr 27, 2006 9:16 PM

Well did you make your canoe yet???
First you shape the outside of the log to get your bow and stern shaped.
Then shape the bottom and then the top.
Now what you are going to do is cut out a square piece from the middle of the boat.
Lay it on its side and lay your saw on the top side to figgure where you have to cut'You want the boddom to be 2" thick and you want to cut throuhg 1 side all the way through to the Inside of the other side, If it is 20" across, you put a clamp on 20" of saw bar and chain so it won't go deeper. you want your cut to leave the bottom of the canoe flat and 2" thick for the whole length of the cut or canoe bottom. With the canow still on its side and at the line you have marked 2" paralell to the bottom of the canoe yo Plunge your saw the depth of that 20" and keeping the saw at right angles to the side of the canoe make that cut from front to back stopping before the canoe begins to tapir to a point.
Now you have cut the bottom slice of the rectangle you will remove from the canoe in a few minutes.Stand the canoe up so it is in Normalfloating situation. The cut you made should be on the bottom.
Now just cut a 2" right side wall and the same for the left. Now go for the bow end and cut across ther where you stopped the bottom cut.
Now the same for the stern and when you turn the canoe upside down the perfect rectangle should just fall out whan you lift up the canoe.
The canoe will have a box shaped hole dug into it. You will have to cut a piece off the rectangle to wedge and glue into the first cut you made on the bottom of the canoe because you left itwith a slice through one side wall at the bottom.
Next, finish shaping the bow and stern and get the grinder out for sanding and then add whatever detail you would like on your canoe. The piece that came out of the middle of the cnoe can be used for small tikis, or pontoons and opoles or a park bench for all I care. Basically your canoe is done and it has only taken 8 hours and the people are already asking you if it will float and are you going fishing in it and all that crap.If you are lucky you won't have to make another one.