Building your canoe without staples

First, let me say that building with staples has been done many thousands of times and makes for a beautiful boat. In fact if done carefully and the staples are aligned neatly, it can be very appealing. Boat plans for canoes do not generally specify how to attach your strips as either method will work just fine. That said, if you are of the opinion that those darn little staple holes detract from the beauty of the boat then read on. The actual act of stripping without staples is a fairly easy straight forward process. There are a number of ways to accomplish it but we will get to that in a minute. The actual rub to building without staples lies in the shape of the hull. In general, if the hull has smooth curves which aren't too severe then it is a very straight forward process. When the curves get sharp, then it becomes time to really use some creativity.

There are two basic ways to strip without staples. The first is by using grooves cut into the forms with allow you to clamp the freshly glued strips to the forms. Although this is a fool proof way of getting the job done, it is not one that I often use or recomend. It simply takes too long to get the job done this way. When you have one strip clamped to the hull, it makes it imposible to put another one on. So if it is your intention to put on two strips a day or to wait an hour between strips then this method works. If you are cut from the same cloth that I am then this will simply not do the trick. I typically want my hulls stripped in 3 to 5 sessions and if I am going to work on the boat then I want it to be for more than 20 minutes a day. Stripping the hull will vary from hull shape to hull shape, however in general, I can strip a canoe in about 5 session of about 4 hours or so each.

So consider the following method as a faster alternitive to get the same job done.

You will have to staple in the first strip along the sheer which is not a problem as it is covered up by the gunwale anyway. In fact, go ahead and staple the first couple of strips as they will both be covered by the gunwales. Stapling these into place will also give you a good solid platform to work from.

Stapless constuciton is a like having a bag of tools to use depending on the job at hand. In your toolbag you should have a wide assortment of bungee chords, a hot glue gun with glue sticks, a box full of scrap strips cut into 1" to 1 1/2" lengths a screw gun and some screws. It is important to only use crafters glue sticks. They make wood working hot glue sticks which are too powerful for what we are doing here and they will give you heart ache when it is time to take the blocks off. Using the less powerful glue makes it a snap to pop the temporary blocks off where the more powerful glue will tend to take part of the hull off.

Put glue on the strips just as you would if you were going to staple them down and place them on the boat. Instead of stapling them on, hot glue the strip at or about each form from the strip you are laying down to the previous strip. Don’t use gobs of glue, just a small dab on each end of the block spanning the last strip and the strip being laid will do the trick. Squeeze the strips together making sure that any carpenters glue joining the two strips is cleaned off first so that you don’t end up permanently gluing the block to the strips. You will be amazed at how well this works. Don't be impatient. Hold the block and strip in place for about 45 seconds or so to give the hot glue time to harden. Proceed up and down the strip untill you get to the stem and go ahead and staple the strip to the stem. Now just keep on stripping.

If you want to keep stripping...

There are three reasons to stop stripping. You are tired and making mistakes, the wife and kids are nagging to do something or you have a half dozen new strips on each side and need to let the boat set up a bit before continuing. When any of these happen it is important to set the boat up to dry. When the glue between the strips sets that is all she wrote and the shape is the shape, so it is important to make sure when you put her to bed to dry it is in the shape you want it to be.

The pictures you see here should give you a good idea of different ways to strap here down to dry. You will find that different situations require different strategies. The first and easiest option is shown to the left. It is a simple block with a notch cut into it and a spring clamp to hold down the block. When there are easy going curves and the strips are laying flat against the forms, this method takes seconds to do and works well. If you find that as you come to the turn of the hull the strips want to pull away from the hull, don't panic, this is normal. the key here is to not overdo it.

If the last three strips you laid want to pull away, then it is time to tie her down and give it a chance to dry in place. When this happens, you will need more than just a clamping block. If you look to the right you can see a series of bungee chords tightly wrapped around the hull. This is easier with another set of hands but it is not necesary. Because you don't know when you will be stopping it is unlikely you will have the perfect length bungee at hand. A box of screws and an electric screw gun will make quick work of making whatever size bungee you have work. Notice in the picture the criss cross pattern of the bungees. This ensures the strips follow along the shape of the forms. It is very (very) important to make sure that the bungees are set at the forms. If you set the bungees between the forms, there is a high probability that you will draw the hull in farther than it should be and mishapen the boat. You want the forms pushing back on the bungees to prevent this from happening. Simply set one screw on the bottom of the form or on the strongback, wrap the bungee around the form and pull tight to a location where another screw can go. If you are working alone you will have to mark it with a pencil and set a screw. If you have and extra pair of hands your helper can set a screw while you hold the bungee.

When the boat fights back...

There are times when the strips will not want to sit down without you holding them down. The trick here is to hold it down without having to use your hand. I have found that the best way to do this is with a strategically placed block. In the picture to the left you can see that bungees have been placed around the form and a block is placed under the bungee over the top of a very uncooperative strip. the applied pressure of the block directly over the strip will act as a finger holding the strip in place.

In a very uncooperative place there is a last resort. It is not often that you need to do this but it may occur a couple of times during the stripping of a hull. Take one of your glue blocks and drill a small hole in it to accept a paneling nail and nail the strip into place untill the glue dries. Althought this sounds like it defeats the entire purpose of what we are doing here you need to keep perspective. Your boat likely has anywhere from 1200 to 3000 feet of strips on it and a couple of pin holes are only going to be noticed by you. And trust me, you won't notice them after the hull is done. The reson for having the block to nail into is for ease of taking the nail out. simply split the block with a chisel and pop out the exposed the nail.

When you want to keep working...

There will be times when the strips start to wander from the hull a bit but you want to keep stripping. In this event you have a decision to make. Evaluate how much presure it would take to keep the strips down. If light pressure takes care of the problem then this is an easy one to take care of. Take a look at the picture on the right. This is just a 1" cutting off of a 2 by 4 with a dab of hot glue on the end and pressed up against the strips from the inside of the hull. Once the glue takes hold, push the strips tight to the form and screw the block to the form. This will pull the strips tight to the form and give you a chance to keep on stirpping. Just remember to take these out before you pop the forms out to keep from tearing at the wood. In fact if you use this method, it is likely that you will only be putting a few more strips on before you stop for the day, so the next time you come back to the shop and pull off the bungees, that would be a good time to get this block as well.