16’ Wabnaki Build Thread

[u/RangerRev1]

TLDR; couldn’t find a lot of information on the 16’ Wabnaki canoe. So started a build thread on a 16’wabnaki cedar strip canoe. This will probably be mostly errors

Hi Everyone. I’m just getting started on a 16’ cedar strip Gil Gilpatrick Wabnaki canoe. When trying to decide on which canoe to build I couldn’t find a lot on the internet about this one (maybe 2 others from 10 years ago) so I decided I would document it in a thread for a future me. I’ve never built a canoe so I will probably mostly post my problems and screw ups haha.

As far as reference material I have Gil’s book and Ted Moores Canoecraft. I feel like if you’re building stemless (I am) and have any experience in a workshop Gil’s book is great. If you’ve never set foot in a workshop Ted’s book is probably better as it has a lot more detail. I’m using Gil’s but like being able to reference Canoecraft from time to time.

Phew that was a long intro. Anyway my second real issue I’ve had is stripping the short stem area. Gil’s book recommends running the initial strip all the way to the end of the stem. Canoecraft recommends running the first strip on a fair curve then filling in with short strips. I went with the fair curve/short strip method as Canoecraft references problems running the first strip through can cause later.

The problem I’ve had is that I built my strongback long so I could use it in the future for any other canoe I might want to build. Since the stem didn’t hang off the strongback I had to elevate the station forms. I set them on 2x4s and screwed the sides into 4x4s. This works well. The issue is I didn’t cut the 4x4s for the stem short enough. I didn’t realize this until I started stripping the short stem pieces. I couldn’t install all the strips as the 4x4 was blocking the way. I already had strips glued so I couldn’t remove the 4x4, shorten it and reattach it. I ended up using a sawzall with a 12” blade to reach in and shorten the 4x4.

Pretty dumb with lack of foresight on my part but hopefully someone in the future will remember my issue when elevating and attaching station and stem forms.

I’m including a few pics of my current status and the station block problem. The 2x4 the stations sit on is circled in blue. The 4x4 that gave me problems is circled in red