Prospector Ranger 15?

ChetPunisher

Curious about Wooden Canoes
I just signed up so take it easy on me. I have basic wood working skills. I would like to attemp thus project. I've seen posts that suggest kits, others that suggest buying materials separately, which one do people favor?

I'm eyeballing the Prospector Ranger 15 for my first boat. Is that a good starting point?

I'm reading through Canoecraft. Are there other resources you would suggest?

Thanks.
 
Welcome.
First off you can do it ! A lot of fancy tools aren't required ! For power tools, a drill, a router, a skilsaw, a random orbital sander. Is about all you need. Clamps ! You need clamps!! Over the years I've latched on to every clamp bargain I could find !

A kit, or roll your own ? If you plan on building more, definitely roll your own !! The cost savings, of machining your own strips is the biggest difference. And it is a difference! I haven't priced strip kits, but guessing it's at least the $1,000 mark.. A skilsaw, router, and bits and lumber would be no more than $350. And you still have the tools when done !
To me, it's a No- brainer to machine your own strips !

Grab books from Nick Shade, Gil Gilpatrick, Suzan Van Leuven, David Hazen, and Mac McCarhty, all are in my library. Suzan's is the newest one I have, and it looks like a good one !

Looking forward to your build ! Please post, and share pics !
Jim
 
Canoecraft is the bible and the only book you need–or should follow. The others Jim mentions are great for inspiration, but use Ted Moores' techniques when you build.

Don't get hung up on using hard-to-find 16' strips for the Ranger. Full-length clear boards are incredibly expensive and limits you to only a very few wood species. Visit a couple small local sawmills within driving distance and see what they have. Use whatever local reasonably clear softwood you can get in 8 and 10 foot lengths and have it planed it to 7/8" thick. If you match the grain and color at the joints, you won't even see joints in the finished boat. A well-done cedarstrip canoe has such an overwhelming WOW factor that spectators won't even notice some inconspicuous joints.

Definitely do your own cove-and-bead strips. Find a friend with a good table saw with a thin-kerf blade and help him cut your 7/8" boards into nominal 1/4" strips that are about .020 oversize. Then run those oversize strips through a planer to get the strips exactly to .250 inch. Precision at this stage will make life much easier when you start building with the strips. Then order a set of 1/4" cove-and-bead cutters online and find a friend with a router table or buy an inexpensive one. Mill the bead side first, then the cove. Again, be precise and get the beads and coves exactly centered or problems will multiply at later stages.

The rest of the building is straightforward and logical if you start with precision strips and follow Canoecraft exactly.

And it will be one of the most satisfying things you'll ever undertake and complete. The Greek philosopher Plato said that a man has four goals to accomplish in Life to leave a better world: sire a son, plant a tree, write a book, and build a boat. If he'd known about them, he'd have substituted canoe for boat.
 
Canoecraft is the bible and the only book you need–or should follow. The others Jim mentions are great for inspiration, but use Ted Moores' techniques when you build.

Don't get hung up on using hard-to-find 16' strips for the Ranger. Full-length clear boards are incredibly expensive and limits you to only a very few wood species. Visit a couple small local sawmills within driving distance and see what they have. Use whatever local reasonably clear softwood you can get in 8 and 10 foot lengths and have it planed it to 7/8" thick. If you match the grain and color at the joints, you won't even see joints in the finished boat. A well-done cedarstrip canoe has such an overwhelming WOW factor that spectators won't even notice some inconspicuous joints.

Definitely do your own cove-and-bead strips. Find a friend with a good table saw with a thin-kerf blade and help him cut your 7/8" boards into nominal 1/4" strips that are about .020 oversize. Then run those oversize strips through a planer to get the strips exactly to .250 inch. Precision at this stage will make life much easier when you start building with the strips. Then order a set of 1/4" cove-and-bead cutters online and find a friend with a router table or buy an inexpensive one. Mill the bead side first, then the cove. Again, be precise and get the beads and coves exactly centered or problems will multiply at later stages.

The rest of the building is straightforward and logical if you start with precision strips and follow Canoecraft exactly.

And it will be one of the most satisfying things you'll ever undertake and complete. The Greek philosopher Plato said that a man has four goals to accomplish in Life to leave a better world: sire a son, plant a tree, write a book, and build a boat. If he'd known about them, he'd have substituted canoe for boat.
 
Again the Skilsaw method, cuts strips uniformly enough, you don't need to waste time with a planer !!!

I've built nearly 25 strippers, and haven't planed one strip. When the fence is properly set on the skilsaw, planing isn't necessary !!!
Uniformity of your strips IS very important !!



IMG_0281_zpsoxusqebj.jpgIMG_0610_zps87mszztc.jpg
Jim
 
I'm impressed with your accurate skilsaw rig, Jim. Seems to use the same principle as an Alaskan Sawmill which moves a chainsaw along the log rather than feeding the log into the saw. If you can get good uniformity of width with your set up, you're all set.

I used what was available to me in milling these white cedar strips, and was was available was truly awesome. Power feeders on the table saw and router tables and a super-accurate planer wide enough to run through 12 strips at a time. We planed over 300 slightly oversize strips in about 10 minutes to .260" plus or minus .003". Double shapers with power feeders milled the coves and beads in a couple hours.

If you can tell me how to post pictures, Jim, I'll do another post with pictures of the milling operations.

I've built many strippers also and always made all the strips by hand in my small shop, so this was a real treat for me to very accurately mill strips for three canoes in a single day..

I was responding to ChetPunisher's original post about how to proceed on his first cedarstrip. He claims good woodworking skills so probably has some acquaintances with good table saws with thin-kerf blades, planers, and accurate router tables. If so, and if he can enlist their help and equipment, he's halfway home.
 
Hi Gary

The Skilsaw method has been around for years. I learned it from the Minnesota Canoe Assc's Builders book. An excellent pamphlet type book.

Even if I had a lot of high dollar equipment, I'd still use the skilsaw method. It's so easy to set up. I do it outside, when the weather is dry. Wearing a good dust mask is critical !

I have a Photo Bucket account. But you can also import pics from your computer, if you have them stored. I believe you can also import from an SD camera card.
It involves Copy and Pasting an image from Photo bucket, and pasting it in the thread, through a URL..

Hopefully you can get a younger family member to aid you ! That's what I did !
Good Luck !

Jim
 
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