Thread: Reclaimed Timber Canoe

G'day Paul
Certainly could be done, but any canoe made from hardwood will be heavier than it should be.
Heavy to car-top.
Heavy to carry between car & water.
Heavy to push around on the water.
Every extra kg is an extra kg of water you have to displace & return for every boat length you travel.
For ever, and ever.

Now, if you could reclaim some celery-top floor boards or the like...
Another possibility might be to get some paulonia - light & cheaper than many alternatives.
cheers
Alan J

If you are planning the normal strip built construction process, then you don't need to be concerned about the strength of the timber, but you do need to be concerned about the weight. Tas Oak is much too heavy for the reasons already explained. The strength is in the fibreglass on both sides of the timber.

I have built several kayaks using Paulownia, but I have also used quite a bit of recycled, often free timber.

The deck of the kayak I made for my son-in-law was made from the WRC lining boards I pulled off his bathroom wall when I helped him renovate. I am almost finished a child's racing kayak made from free reject venetian blind slats, although they would be a bit thin for an adult sized canoe. I have also used free Redwood skirting boards and very cheap scraps trimmed from large WRC boards. I have some WRC lining boards salvaged from a kitchen being renovated by the neighbour of a friend of a friend that will be part of a kayak one day.

I like the idea of using free and recycled timber, but you should look for something quite light.

Thanks for the responses guys.

I was initially interested in using Tas. Oak because I can pick up truck loads of wall studs and beams etc for next to nothing.

I've been grabbing WRC and Oregon whenever I spot it. The collection is slowly building but I don't have anything over 2metres in length.

I do have some Celery Top boards but they are only 900mm in length. There's about 40metres of them but obviously not enough for a canoe.

Looks like this will become an even longer long term project.

Thanks again!

Paul

Don't assume that you need strips as long as the canoe. Scarfing is quick and easy and can be quite neat. I find it less of a problem than trying to handle long strips and trying to get them held in place before the glue begins to dry.

My 5 metre kayak is made from 1.8 metre strips and no-one has ever noticed how many joins there are in the strips.

I just sand the ends by leaning the strip at an angle against a belt sander and glue them together on the forms.

With typical strip planked building methods (there's about a dozen different ones) you don't need to scarf the strips together. A butt joint will be fine, though I admit to cutting the butt joints at a 45 degree angle to help align them.