De Pan

After the canoe's ribs were done, I set out to shape another of the canoe's key structural components - the stem pieces. In my model, I purposely chose a very simple stem piece style with a slight curve in the bottom and a nearly upright vertical rise. This is in contrast to a lot of old style Algonquin, Ojibway, and Fur Trade canoes which had elaborate stem pieces and required much more skilled craftmanship. Both Jim Millers's DVD and César's Bark Canoe film show old school Algonquin recurved stems and seemed a bit too intimidating.

Instead, I elected to go for an Abenaki syle that was quite similar to the stems of modern touring canoes. A nearly vertical stem profile would mean better tracking ability and the limited curve of the stem would mean less likely breakage - a concern after my disappointment in attempting to carve the gunwales. Adney's sketch for this stem also revealed that it is inverted compared to most others. In otherwords, the solid end of the stem (white part) protudes slightly above the gunwales with the split end (dark part) of the stem is embedded on the bottom of the boat all supported with a thin headboard under tension squeezes below the gunwales. Most stem pieces feature the solid portion on the bottom, with the laminated part of the stem at the top, cut flush with the gunwale cap.

The process started by using my poster-sized, quarter scale bluprint from Adney's book and crudely tracing the image of the stem piece on paper. This was then transfered to a corner of the building bed with transer paper and ¼" holes were drilled around the shape to fit some spare dowels provided by the kit. This would be the "form" around which the stem pieces were bent into shape.


Marking the dowel holes; Completed bending form
The stem pieces were scavenged from strips of broken gunwale stock that snaped during the early carving process. I was able to use a piece of appropriate dimension & horizontal grain to make 4 stem pieces in case any broke during bending. Each would be split nearly 2/3rd of its length into 4 laminations to accomodate the curve. Once these were done they were soaked in boling water to soften the wood and begin the bending.


Scavenged gunwale piece; Near horizontal grain; Split stem pieces in boiling water
Carefully, a selected piece was bent around the frame and the bottom tied off. In a full sized model, the traditional material for this is basswood bark. Since this wasn't provided by the kit and I didn't want to use any split spruce root (in case I ran out for lashing), I ended up using non-traditional waxed linen thread from left over leather-craft projects. It worked perfectly and helds its knots easily without slippage.




Wrapping the stems and bending on the form
With the two stem pieces drying out I turned my attention to making other structure - the headboards (aka manboards, shoulderboards, struts). Various styles exist, some straight, some curved. I wanted to keep mine simple so carved a basic vertical structure similar to most old style Algonquin canoes. The bottom has a rectangular "legs" that fits over the stem piece tightly while the top has "shoulders" and a round "head" to squeeze under the inwales. The whole structure gives the ends a rigid structure while also helping to lift the gunwales at the ends. I decided to try a practice one first in case I had more cedar distasters. With that ok, two more quality blanks (1/8" thick) were prepared and carved out.


Practice headboard and two cedar blanks
I won't be able to insert the stems pieces or headboards for a while (at least until the bulk of the canoe a sewn up with spruce root), so in the meantime I'll be carving other parts like the permanent thwarts and sheathing.

An interesting part of a birchbark canoe's structure are the headboards. My understanding is that these components serve to strengthen the hull ends where ribs cannot be properly inserted. While some are attached to the stem pieces with horizontal struts, they can also be held in place by the tension of sitting them upon the stem piece and jamming carved "shoulders" under the inwales. It seems these end pieces come in varying designs, with thin bellied headboards in East Coast Abenaki canoes and thicker, vertical boards used in traditional Algonquin style boats. I opted for a design similar to one illustrated in James Dina's (out of print) book, Voyage of the Ant on the right

This part of the construction process is really trial and error as each custom made canoe tends to have its own unique measurements. To get a rough guide for the shape, some scrap cardboard was cut and loosely jammed it into the bow and stern. After bending the cardboard to fit the curvature of the hull, it was removed and cut to shape. The bark had dried out unevenly at the bow and stern creating a lopsided, irregular curvature. By pushing the bark out delicately with one hand, the hull stretched out sufficiently to form fairly symmetrical headboard templates (which got crushed again when I removed my hand to take the picture). Ultimately, the templates were traced onto cedar boards, shaped with an axe & saw and then cleaned up with the crooked knife.


Cardboard template; Tracing onto cedar plank; Shaping with axe


Crooked Knife work - don't know how my hat got covered in shavings!
Given the fact that the inwale tip at the stern broke during assembly resulting in an assymetrical hull, the stern headboard is slightly wider and shorter than the bow headboard. I also purposely left the headboards wider than actual so that they can by shaved down to proper size to compensate for the sheathing thickness as well when it comes to fitting them in later.


Stern & Bow headboards
Like Dina's headboards, I plan on decorating mine as well but haven't come up with any ideas yet.