Shortening the Form

[greatlakes]

I have a 16' Chestnut Pal form I built from scratch and has served very well for a few years and a couple of canoes. Now I'd like to shorten it to build some shorter (14'), lighter canoe(s) off of it.

I'm contemplating cutting the form on the inside (towards the center) of mating cross-sections -- say, at section #1 on each side of "0"center, removing the 2' segment and bringing the two #1s together. Then bolt them together face to face. It should be less work than building a new shorter form -- also less stuff to store. The beam at section #1 corresponds to what the 14' plans call for at center, so the new width will not be out of proportion.

Has anyone done anything similar to what I am considering? Any major drawbacks to this line of thinking?

Thank you advance and Happy New Year.

 

[Mike Darga]

I built a 16 ft. strip canoe 30 years ago, then built my brother a 13ft. strip canoe using the same form but took 3 ft. out of the middle. It turned out great. Good luck with your project. I will post some pictures for you soon.