Building a Strip Canoe, Second Edition, Revised & Expanded: Full-Sized Plans and Instructions for 8 Easy-To-Build, Field-Tested Canoes (Fox Chapel Publishing) Step-by-Step; 100+ Photos & Illustrations

If you have any interest at all, in building, or even just finding out about strip canoe construction, this book is an absolute gem and "must have!" The style of writing is easy to follow, direct and casual - as one would expect fro a former H.S. shop teacher who worked on a daily basis with high school students who were more kinesthetic than "cerebral." Any classroom handouts for these students had to be simple, direct and getting to the heart of things quickly - which is exactly what this book is about! The author explains in simple language why he does things the way he does (decades of guiding canoe river trips during the summer, when not teaching H.S.) and why it matters to do it that way. For example he does not use the very rich looking and elegant bent hardwood bow and stern stem pieces in his designs since they are very frigidity and time consuming to get right while adding little to no durability to his designs (assuming you sheath them in fiberglass or Kevlar and epoxy). He also explains why it is not necessary to use epoxy to glue the strips to each other during construction, and why it is best to run a "cove & bead" on all your strips before starting construction. In addition to being a "how to" book, there are plans for eight different strip canoe plans which the author has built in his HS and Adult Ed. courses. He even includes details and suggestions on how to lengthen or shorten a particular canoe design, so if you consider you can build any of the eight canoes "as designed," longer, or shorter you're actually getting plans for 24 different canoes. It also seems that the author's whole system is set up to allow you to build a strip canoe about as quickly as is possible. Having built both "stitch-and-glue" plywood kayaks, as well as "canvas over frame" canoes, frequently one of the major obstacles for building a small boat/canoe is that once you construct the building frame/jig for that design, you can only reuse it to build another one exactly like the one you just built. The beauty of the author's designs and unitized strongback for those eight designs is that once you build one strongback then there is very little to be done to change it and use the same strongback to build one of his other designs. In between building strip canoes the strongback can be hung in the garage/shed until you decide which design you'll build next. Another major innovation the author makes in his system is that he tells the reader up front that while they can spend as much money as they want on getting only Northern White Cedar, or Western Red Cedar and various hardwoods, there are actually a variety of locally available softwoods and hardwoods (which he names) than can be used to build strip canoes. Finally, in addition to giving the reader/"perspective builder" eight different designs to choose from, the author includes patterns for the yoke and a "go to" paddle design which can be custom built to fit to any paddler. Regarding the paddle design, the author then goes a step beyond to show how to make a simple addition to the blade that will protect it and make it last much longer than you've ever experienced before with canoe paddles. Considering that this book is one of the least expensive in the market about strip canoes, it is worth the price for the canoe plans alone. When also considering the clear writing style and ingenuity incorporated in the author's building system and other areas of construction, this book is an absolute steal! I had another (more expensive) strip canoe building book (which has yet to arrive) ordered along with this one, but am so confident in the information/designs presented in this book I have already chosen the design I'll build and have begun building the strongback so I can get started as soon as I strip out the white pine I'll be using to build my canoe. Buy this book!

Takes the reader from ignorant to expert quickly and concisely. Well detailed steps with pictures as it progresses. I bought this book on a whim after looking at what most places want for their plans. I was just trying to get a better understanding of what was involved in the process of building one of these boats before shelling out the $50-$100 for a single set of plans. I was impressed enough to dismiss my original idea and just build one of the eight designs in this book. All the full-size plans are included - no lofting required! Gil Gilpatrick covers every step from building the strongback and forms, sawing the strips, machining the strip profiles, scarf joining the strips, epoxy coating and fiberglass cloth, gunwales, decks, thwarts, and seats. There is an extensive section on caning seats as well as making paddles and even damage repairs if you happen to crash into a rock. One thing that popped out during the construction of the boat is that wetting out fiberglass cloth for an amateur is a 2-3 man job - which he forewarned about. The other information to be aware of is the amount of machinery needed if you plan to make your own strips. At a minimum you need a good table saw with thin kerf blade, a router table with feather boards, a cove and bead bit set, a lot of patience, and a very understanding spouse. For the remaining construction you will also need a table saw, a good RO sander, a stationary disc/belt sander, and a truck load of sanding discs. I highly recommend this book even if you don't plan on building one of these designs. Sixteen buck is cheap if you don't know what your getting yourself into.

I bought two books from Amazon before building my Canoe. This one and "CanoeCraft" by Ted Moores. This one has color pictures and very detailed descriptions. They are both good books but this one is better. Gil explains in detail why he makes some of the decisions that he makes. Since everyone has an opinion on how to do things it is nice to hear why you would make certain decisions. Included is a discussion on how to modify the designs that he includes. I should mention there are about a dozen sets of Canoe plans included in this book. I used the one that closest fit my needs and using his excellent instructions I modified it to perfectly suit my needs. I never made a Canoe or any other type of boat before and I found it quite fun to make my changes. One part that this book excels at is the making of the seats. CanoeCraft has little on the subject.

I have read the book from cover to cover and have learned a lot. The most challenging part of the build for me would be the glassing of the hull (especially the inside) and here is where I felt the explanation a little sketchy. I feel I need to more research on that before attempting to build one. I don't like the prospect of a gooey mess and wrinkled epoxy hardened glass. I would really have enjoyed finding a DVD in the back cover; for me it would be more helpful than the full size station plans. All that said, the book is really a good place to start and I have no doubt it would suffice to let someone successfully build a canoe.

I used the first edition to build an 18' Whitewater canoe. The canoe is now deteriorating and I needed a new one and don't have the book any longer. This one takes a bit of a different approach, but as expected is very expertly written. What's more, in addition to canoe building, it has the best instructions for caning a seat that I have ever found and I have caned more than a few.

Wer ein Kanu (einen Kanadier) selber bauen möchte, kann dies nach der Lektüre dieses Buches machen. Mittelmäßige Englischkenntnisse und eine ausreichend große Werkstatt vorausgesetzt. Die Texze und Bilder vermitteln einen sehr guten Eindruck vom Ablauf der Arbeiten. Die weiteren Hinweise sind sehr hilfreich. Die beigelegten Pläne für die acht unterschiedlichen Kanu-Typen sind 1:1 "halber Spant". Damit lässt sich gut arbeiten. Weiterhin gibt's Hinweise darauf, die Kanus zu variieren, hier vor allem in der Länge. So kriegt man mit dem Buch Kanus zwischen etwa 4 m bis 6 m hin. Was will man mehr. Die Typenvielfalt hält für jeden Einsatz und persönlichen Stil was bereit. Zudem ist der Bau eines Paddels beschrieben. Das werde ich nun umsetzen, da ich persönlich aus Zeitmangel den Eigenbau eines Kanus in diesem Winter nicht umsetzen konnte. Fazit: Wer sich ein Kanu bauen will und aus verschiedenen Typen auswählen möchte, findet hier sicherlich was und kann sofort loslegen. Wer sich einfach mal über den Bau eines Holzleistenkanus eingehend informieren möchte, findet hier ein sehr informatives und gut bebildertes Buch. Dieses macht Lust, gibt gute Ideen, viele Tipps und Erfahrungen. Für den Preis muss man da gar nicht mehr drüber nachdenken. Alles drin, alles dran. Empfehlung! btw: ab 500 € Gesamtkosten für ein Kanu geht das wohl los - nach oben sind je nach gewählter Holzart keine Grenzen gesetzt. Eine ausrechend große Werkstatt/Garage ab mindestens 5 m (und das ist dann wirklich knapp) sollte man zum Bauen schon haben.

Good pictures, explanations step by step clearly described. A very nice book for these who approach strip planking the first time. Congratulations

Interesting book. Hope to build one of the canoes

Great book. Can’t wait to start building a canoe.

This book is clearly written by an expert in his field. The text is easy to follow, and the book is well illustrated. Anybody with a modicum of woodworking experience should be able to build a canoe using this book alone. The author explains how different hull shapes are appropriate for different conditions of use, and this provides valuable information for the first-time builder who may be uncertain about which style of canoe to build. A number of full size templates are included, which provide a choice of canoe designs ranging between 16 - 20ft. A word of warning though. The templates are slightly distorted, probably due to errors in the printing process, so it is important not to follow them religiously, but to use the time honoured method of laying a batten through the points to ensure that you are getting a fair curve. Gilpatrick builds his canoes without inner stems, which is a bone of contention between different canoe designers. Some insist that inner stems are important, some do not. Gilpatrick is obviously of the latter school. There is an excellent section on making cane seats, and all the information you might need to make your own paddles. All in all, I would say that this book is well worth the money, but it would probably benefit the first-time canoe builder to aquire a few other books, in addition to this one, in order to learn about the various building styles currently in use.