Rushton strip plank canoe

[Richard Jones]

I've built about a dozen boats over my amateur lifetime. I've used all methods except strip planking. My last two projects were Rushton canoes that I adapted to glued-lapstrake using 4mm okuome. Beautiful boats, but you can't be clumsy with them. My daughter wants one that she can bump a rock now and then without damage. I'm thinking that strip planking with it's fiberglass covering could be the answer. I've noticed, though, that in all the strip plank canoes I've ever seen that the strips run parallel to the waterline and don't follow the sweep of the sheer. To my eye, this looks odd and is not eye-sweet. Is there a good construction reason for this? Does following the sheer produce too much stress or torque on the strips? Rushton canoes have a quite pronounced sheer. And, do I us bead and cove, or just regular strips.? Thanks to all for any help.

[Tom Robb]

Unless the strips taper they'll look odd somewhere.
I've heard that starting at the turn of the bilge and working both up and down is a workable compromise.
Perhaps if you start at the sheer and work down to the turn of the bilge and then from the keel up the admittedly ugly transition can be hidden with botom paint.
Experienced "strippers" will undoubtedly weigh in with better advice.

[Canoez]

I'm sure that many will be along later with their recommendations. Personally, I teach a class using cove-and-bead strips that we manufacture. I find that for beginners on short boats it makes life easier.

This subject has been discussed both here and at the WCHA website ad nauseum. It is as contentious an issue as you'll choose to bring up. (Including staples/staple-less hulls and marine grade versus other plywoods...) I suggest you look at this thread that was recently posted here : http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93291&highlight=cove+bead

You can choose to follow the sheer or to have "horizontal" strips on your canoe - as you say, this is a personal preference. I go for the horizontal stripping, particularly on shorter boats as I personally feel following the sheer on a short hull makes it look "bent". Here's a Wee Lassie stripped "horizontally" for reference:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MlvfQTkG04Q/SL3m1JaBccI/AAAAAAAAAXw/aAViA9DZ1Mk/s400/missm+sm.jpg

Depending on the hull shape, you will probably require some "cheater strips" which are short (12"-18" long) that are tapered wedges - this is more likely if you follow the sheer, BTW as it will help make stripping a bit easier. Keep in mind that the amount of curvature and bending in strips on a shorter hull is much greater than in a longer boat.

On the issue of durability, strippers with a fiberglass coating hold their own pretty well, and are fairly strong, but you will damage them hitting rocks and such - usually just a scratch, but sometimes a bit more seriously.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

On the cover of Ted Moores' "Canoecraft", ISBN 0-920656-24-2,(the most widely distributed book on the subject) there are two strippers. One of Moores' modern glass over WRC versions and an old shiplapped stripper with strips nailed to steam bent ribs. Both boats have strips that follow the sweep of the central section of the sheer. Since the book has been around since 1983 and sold a gazillion copies somebody must have stripped their hulls the way you prefer.
Because wood is not homogeneous strips are inclined to have a mind of their own. Using B&C strips helps tame those strips which exhibit peculiar habits and makes that part of the process go faster. Since the strips are only ¼" thick the last thing you want are strips that sit high and low near each other. Once they are glued up the only answer is to grind the high ones down. B&C can give you fairer surfaces without a lot hassle. Anything that gets you thru' the sanding stage quicker is a blessing not to be rejected, in my view.

[ShagRock]

Posted by Cuyahoga Chuck:
On the cover of Ted Moores' "Canoecraft", ISBN 0-920656-24-2,(the most widely distributed book on the subject) there are two strippers. One of Moores' modern glass over WRC versions and an old shiplapped stripper with strips nailed to steam bent ribs. Both boats have strips that follow the sweep of the central section of the sheer.

I notice that many strip builders, in following the line of the central sheer, add a decorative strip of different wood and/or color which adds much visual appeal to the lines of the canoe.

How do the two Moores versions compare in durability?
Richard..you noted adapting a Rushton design to lapstrake..how does it's durability compare to one done in wood and canvas?

And is fiberglass the most durable material to sheath a stripper?

[Steve Lansdowne]

Fiberglass is often used as it finishes clear. I'll let others chime in on use of other fabrics. Some folks coat the bottom with graphite in their epoxy, which I'm told makes it much more slippery and prevents hull damage that might otherwise occur. I think the West epoxy catalog or other literature of theirs talks about this.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

I notice that many strip builders, in following the line of the central sheer, add a decorative strip of different wood and/or color which adds much visual appeal to the lines of the canoe.

How do the two Moores versions compare in durability?
Richard..you noted adapting a Rushton design to lapstrake..how does it's durability compare to one done in wood and canvas?

And is fiberglass the most durable material to sheath a stripper?

Strippers can be as durable or more so than any other type of hull.
If you want to bang some rocks on the local class 3 all you have to do is add sufficient glass to the bottom. That will increase the weight but make the hull much stronger.
Fiberglass is plenty strong in tension and has the added benefit of wetting out clear so the wood shows thru'. Any substitute will eliminate the wood look.
Lapstrake isn't necessarily weaker. It's the bare wood bottom that is susceptible to gouges and scrapes. Glassing isn't a viable option because it's near impossible to get fiberglass to follow the undulations of the laps.
W&Cs are pretty boats, especially when new, but painted canvas is never going endure the gouges and hits as well as a stripper with about 12 ounces of glass on the bottom. Also, I doubt anyone with a nice old W&C canoe is going to scarifice it to the gods on some snag filled whitewater.
Last weekend I ran a local river and one of the oldtimers there showed me a photo album of about 5 W&Cs he'd restored over the years. But, on top his van was an old fiberglass beater that was just the ticket for banging on the boulders and scraping the bottom.

[Richard Jones]

ShagRock,

The Rushtons I built were originally designed as smooth skin all wood canoes. Built like lapstrake, but each strake beveled to its mate. Rushton didn't design his W&C Indian Girl canoes until later in his career. See plans at website for Adirondack Museum.

[James McMullen]

I've built stripper canoes. You're right that they're just not as eye-sweet. I think the lapstrake is undeniably prettier on this shape hull, but it's good to try something different once in a while. By all means, bead and cove--makes everything easier. I'll be interested to hear which method you enjoy more after you've tried both. For me, strip-planking is pretty much my least favorite because of much longer it takes and how sandpaper and epoxy intensive it is, but I have other friends who like it the best for their own reasons.

If you want to fiberglass the bottom of a glued lapstrake canoe to add abrasion resistance, the time to do it is before you glue the strakes together. Each strake can get a pretty much finished coat of epoxy and glass either before or after you've spiled your plank if you wanna. I usually just do the garboards myself, if anything.

[Todd Bradshaw]

You can also mark a horizontal line on your forms about half-way up the canoe's sides and strip from the sheer line to a bit past the marks (with the forms in their upside-down position on the strongback, you would be stripping upward from the gunwale line) following the curve of the sheer. Once past the horizontal markers, you lay a batten following the markers and cut off the stripped portion in a horizontal line. Then you resume stripping with level strips, proceeding toward the turn of the bilge and either close in the bottom with a football panel or the beveled method where the strips eventually meet along the keel line. It sounds more complex than it is, but just takes a little bit of measuring. We did one once with dark redwood for the upper sides and light spruce below the horizontal, but I never got photos of it. It was similar in appearance to some of the two-tone paint jobs that were used on wood/canvas boats, only done with two colors of wood instead. Here is a lovely Morris built by Rollin Thurlow. What I'm talking about would look similar, except the top would be dark wood and the bottom light wood.

http://www.wooden-canoes.com/gallery/bnmorris17/images/Copy%20of%20111.jpg

You do need to be aware though, that when you mix a nice sweeping sheer line with a horizontal divider, half-way up the sides, there is often an optical illusion that happens. If you make the divider dead straight and level, it will usually look like it's ends curve downward, once the boat is finished. The straight line just can't hold its own, visually, against that strong curve. For this reason, it's usually a good idea to make your divider a slightly sweeping curve (either full length or swept up on the ends) and its ends maybe 1.5" to 2" higher than its middle. This will usually look more "level" on the finished boat than an actual level line. It's worth drawing an accurate profile to get a preview and again, it takes some measuring to plan out your stripping, but it's not very hard work.

For a traditional shape with a sweeping sheer, it works pretty nicely and at least mimics the traditional look in spirit. It can be done with either B&C or straight-edges strips, though your cut line will be a straight-edge joint. It's also a neat place to toss in a nice feature strip for the first horizontal, similar to the look of the rubrails that were often used at the color dividing line on w/c boats.