Chopping out a dugout canoe

S

Steve Tall

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Aug 28, 2010
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A couple sites with some interesting axework:


http://www.willghormley-maker.com/MakinADugoutCanoe.html
http://www.willghormley-maker.com/MakingADugoutCanoe2.html

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From Digging into Dugout History by Jim Low, Missouri Department of Conservation
http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2004/01/digging-dugout-history




The Basics of Crafting a Dugout Canoe

1. Remove bark from a log that is no smaller than 10-12 feet long.

2. Place the log bottom up, and chalk the lines for the top and bottom cuts.

3. Drill three-fourths inch holes at three inch intervals about two inches deep along the center of the bottom of the log as depth gauge holes.

4. After the bottom is cut, roll the log over and cut the top of the log.

5. Mark and cut diagonal lines for the bow and stern.

6. Chop a notch with an adze the width of the log, leaving space on each side for the gunwales.

7. Turn and stand opposite of the first cut, using an adze make a second cut 4-6 inches away from the first cut. A wood chip about 1 inch thick should pop out.

TIP: With the adze sunk on second cut, apply pressure downward on the adze handle to pop out chip.

8. Continue to chip out layers of log until the depth gauge holes are reached.

9. Using wooden, tapered pegs, fill the depth gauge holes. Cut off excess peg.

10. The canoe interior can be finished or smoothed with draw knives and gouging adzes.
 
I've wanted to do that myself for sometime. I also wanna try the additional step of filling it with boiling water and bending the sides out to give it a wider beam. I could probably get a poplar or cottonwood log pretty easily around here. As much as I hate poplar for firewood its crazy interlocking grain would probably be an advantage for a canoe.
 
Wow! That's a heck of a pile of work and I notice that he didn't splurge on fancy tools to do it either. Double bit axe, hammer/chisel and an adze!
 
Very impressive.
If I ever grow a new back which doesn't spasm, I'll have to give it a go. :)
 
That is frickin' awesome!!! Did you use an adze? I don't see an adze. Amazing, hard work, there.
 
BG_Farmer said:
Yet many need the entire line of GFB's to make a spoon :)!
Click to expand...

The irony of this is not wasted on me! There's an old tradesman's saw regarding responsibility for shoddy or messed-up work: "a good carpenter never blames his tools". Old European tradesmen that built houses from scratch in Ottawa during the late 1950s-early 60s (that I was a witness to) carried everything they needed in a one-handed wood carry tray. Today's tradesman travels with enough gear and electric power, specialty and novelty tools to sag the springs on his truck.
This particular boat carver fellow knew exactly what he was doing, kept it simple and left nothing to chance; depth reference auger holes and various other guide tricks he used tell me that.
 
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