Cedar Strip Canoes

Don't let building a cedar strip canoe intimidate you. Using epoxy, fibreglass cloth and cedar strips makes it fun and easy. A quick and simple description of the building process, tools used and costs involved will stimulate enough interest to overcome fears.



Building a cedar strip canoe requires very simple techniques and tools. Building a cedar strip canoe out of cedar strips, epoxy and fiberglass cloth is a 6 step process. As long as you are familiar with basic woodworking and have access to some tools and some space you can do it..

Step One

Building the strongback is the first step. You'll need two 2x6s that are dry, straight, and 2 feet shorter than your desired length. Fix the two pieces of wood together in a T-shape. Put some legs on the T so that it stands on it's own.

Step 2

Cut up plywood into molds that will form the shape of the canoe. You can use eitehr a jig saw or a bandsaw to do it. Cut out the stem pieces (for the bow and stern). Assemble everything in the correct order on the strongback (the spacing will be in the plans).

Step Three

Now is the time to make or buy the cedar strips that form the hull. With a bandsaw, table saw or radial arm saw you can rip your own strips. Then bead and cove the edges of the strips using a router. You can also purchase finished bead & cove strips from a number of different sources listed elsewhere on this site.

Step Four

Bend the strips in place around the molds. Cedar strips don;t need steaming to bend. They bend quite well. The strips get glued to each other and nailed or tacked to the molds. You can use various types of glue.

Step Five

Once all the strips are glued in place you must pull the nails or staples. Clean the hull of the big glue globs. Sand the hull until it is completely smooth and clean. Lay the fibreglass cloth on the hull and trim it to make it lie flat. Apply the epoxy resin to the cloth. Put the outer gunwales on the hull to stiffen it up. Remove the hull from the molds and clean and sand the inside of the hull. Sand the inside and epoxy it. Install the inner gunwales and decks.

Step 6

Make and install the thwarts and the seats. Install any hardware that you plan to use. Slap on some spar varnish to protect the hull from UV rays. You've just finished your first canoe.