Dave,
I watched all three videos; thanks for the pointer to them.
As someone who just finished building a traditional closed form, and have yet to start bending ribs on it, I found the open form this fellow used fascinating. Bending the ribs inside one another (ala birchbark canoes) was interesting to see. I kept wondering how the ribs would stay fair with the method he used. Even a few stringers on the form to bend over would have helped, I should think.
He also kept taking the inwhales on and off, and I expected the shape of the canoe to be all out of fair, but it looked ok as far as I could tell. Also, using all those little splices of planking was different.
Other things I particularly found interesting were his little stovepipe steam box (I've yet to make my steambox), the axe as a backing iron, and the stencil on his deck.
He certainly saved effort making the form, but I think he paid for it in the difficulty he had planking the canoe. But, hey, in the end he's got a canoe already, and I don't, so, although it's not a method I'd chose, good for him!
Regards,
Charlie
