Don't feel too bad Paul, I've also been milling canoe planking and ribs. I spent the earlier part of the week milling about 160, 8' slices of planking, and yesterday I got all the rib stock planed to width and starte ripping ribs off. Its enjoyable enough for awhile, but then it just gets boring, which is a danger when you are using power tools.
I spent Wednesday picking through a lift of Birch looking for pieces that weren't too wobbly! Thursday I laid out the paddle patterns on the wood and rough cut the paddles out. Yesterday they were resting while I continued on the canoe stock.
Using paddle patterns allows me to lay out on the rough lumber to get the best use of the wood. They are nothing fancy, just plywood cutouts.
On stock like this, I rough cut with a wide margin. Wood will oftne move quite abit once it is released from the large dimension stock, so you want some wiggle room. Nice thing about Birch is that it does not move much, its pretty stable so you can usually trust your line.
After the wood sits a little, allowing any movement that is going to happen to actually happen, then strike a stright line down the center and lay out the final pattern, then cut it accurately.
I have 20 paddles to make in this batch, plus on for me and one for a friend.
I'll be continuing on them next week with the final patterns and cutting. I have to get this canoe stock done, too, so I'll be back and forth on the work.
