Question: Which ones are 'cant ribs'?

[Howie]

Are cant ribs all the ribs that are at or under the stems?, or just the short half ribs (riblets) that do not go under the stems? And if the latter, is there a name for the whole ribs that fit under the stems? I call 'em little bastards as I find them to be hard to replace.

 

[MGC]

Howie, it seems you have expanded the wooden canoe hobbyist's lexicon. Little bastards seem like a perfect description for those ribs. The cants are as you suggest, the ones that fill in the "cheeks" of the bow and stern that do not wrap all the way around the stem.
The first full ribs on a hull are easy enough to install on a new build and yet a total bugger to replace on a repair.
What are you working on?

 

[Howie]

I've had to replace 2/3+ of the ribs on an 11' 50 Pounder - including all the cant & little bastards. All were chewed away half by squirrels. All were especially tough to do since there was too little of the original ribs to use as a form for bending new ribs. The only good news was that because I also had to replace nearly half of the full ribs that I had plenty of rib material of the right thickness for the new cant ribs. Builds character I suppose...

 

[Mud Bug]

And you kept the hull's shape. Wow. Impressive work, Howie.

 

[Howie]

Mr Bug: I appreciate the compliment! No way is it perfect though: the curve of the inner rails has a few little kinks in it; some of the new ribs are spaced a little too close at the tips; and the 1st stem I laid turns out to be a tad too deep, so I'll need to add extra caulk to the keel in that area to hide the transition; and the inner rails had a bit too steep of an upward bend near the tips so the decks rise higher than normal. But all & all I'm pleased! Yesterday I steam bent half of the new new outer rail blanks - today I'll bend the other half. Lots of hand carpentry work to come...