Construction - Gathering The Bark
When It can be found, bark for canoes is taken from the trees in huge pieces. This is very rare, and always has been. The tree must be taken down in a case like this.
For smaller pieces of bark, the tree is climbed and the pieces are taken down as required. This is the more traditional way.
The part of the tree the bark is taken from must be perfectly straight and free of weakening defects.
Splitting The Cedar
Cedar trees are cut down and split by hand into the wooden components of the canoe. Here we are splitting out ribs (above), and planking.
Gathering & Working The Root
Bark canoes are held together using two things, the first being simply friction, the other being root. Either from the spruce, balsam or cedar, these roots are found in long clear lengths. Once they are gathered from the swamps they are stripped of their bark and split to form two halves.
Forming
The bark is laid down on the table. From there, a frame in the shape of the bottom of the canoe is place on top of it and weighted down. It is then folded up around the frame and held in place by gunwales, which form the top of the canoe, and the L-brackets.
The gunwales are lashed together using the root gathered in the swamps. Work proceeds from the center of the canoe out, until all four quartersare complete. The picture below shows the difference between a regular side binding and a thwart binding, which requires more strength.
The root is used for sewing up the different pieces of bark, as well as for binding the gunwales of the canoe together. The picture above and below here show a stem prior to and after binding.
Planking & Ribbing
Once the canoe is completely bound, it is ready for ribbing and planking. Planking and ribbing is normally done in one day and it is the most satisfying part of the process, since it's the day all your preparatins finally come together and the progress really shows.
Planking is laid into the canoe in sections called tiers. Each tier is plaked and ribbed seperately. The picture below shows a tier planked and ready for ribs.
Ribs are boiled in a steel tube to make them pliable. They are then forced into place by hand and marked for length, at which point they are taken out, cut and shaped to fit under the gunwale.
Once they are shaped the ribs are held under the guwales at an angle and driven into place using a maul and driving stake. The tier completed; and a fully planked and ribbed canoe. Finished!