Dugout Canoe

[jagjj]

i couldn't find any information on the detailed making of dugout canoes. Does anyone have any experience making them? and if so i have a few questions. what tree to use?
how thin should it be?
can you have a fire inside of it while on the water without it burning through? what do you use to seal the seams?
do you need to use modern materials or can you find primitive materials for it in NW Indiana?
How long can i make it last?

just F.Y.I. i'm asking for the purpose of making one myself so please try to be specific

[canid]

a dugout is a large project. since i have no experience, i thought i'd direct you to some people who do:

here are some links which might help:

http://vstr1.nebula.fi/?id=1785532-1...&r=640&a=1&p=1

http://www.primitiveways.com/dugout-canoe.html

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It...e-A-Canoe.aspx

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/rep...6#reply-228396

http://www.pathwayscrg.org/Project_P...out_Canoe.html

http://www.pathwayscrg.org/Project_P...ol_Dugout.html

[gryffynklm]

Its a big project indeed. Out of curiosity, why a dugout.

[NightShade]

He may be young... But he's a survival expert AND knows more than most.....

[gryffynklm]

Sure he does. I have helped work on a dugout for an hour at a rendezvous. Basically enough to help keep the burn going Its a great project. The cost is surprising and the labor involved is as big as the log you have to locate.

If Ja's reason is it sounds like a cool thing to do. I will offer what I can with in the reality of the incredible amount of work and recommended tool sources. If he says that he wants to build something he can paddle around on the lake or do something with his Scout group. I will suggest a less expensive and a more likely to actually finish project like a coracle or canvas covered canoe frame for flat water.

[NightShade]

Yup... Lots of work!.. My uncle had made a few... I was shocked at
1) how much work it really takes!
2) how heavy it was!

[canid]

for perspective, several builds i've seen information on where 3 year projects, when you factor in the reality of having to maintain your life between working on it.

don't let that discourage you. if you know it will be a long project with a lot of work and still want to do it, i would encourage you to do so.

i've wanted to try one myself, and plan, eventually to try a combination dugout/blank boat. i certainly don't have any immediate plans for it at present.

[DOGMAN]

I have made a couple of dugouts, and its a really fun, time-consuming and rewarding experience. The major factor your going to encounter in Indiana, is the lack of a big enough tree to turn into a dugout. Dugouts reached there highest art form by the Native Americans of the Northwest Coast- The Salish, The Haida, The Tlingit, etc...
typically dugouts are made out of red cedar, Sitka spruce, and redwood, I am not sure how available those are in your neck of the woods.
You need a big enough tree that you can make the canoe wide enough to be stable on the water. Thats why in most of the USA people haven't built dugouts for hundreds of years. There are no old growth forests that have big enough trees to lend themselves to the project.
When Lewis and Clark were making their return trip to St Louis, they had a tough time even then finding trees large enough to make into dugouts. In Montana they just made bull boats that were merely hides wrapped around a flexible wood skeleton. Many tribes made birchbark canoes in other parts of the country...that may be a better project for you, if you can't find a suitable tree.
If you can find a suitable tree- PM, and i will tell you everything I know on the project. It is relatively easy to get a basic trough styled canoe suitable for paddling across a pond using primitive tools, but if you want to truly get artisitc it is a long involved process. Find a tree, take a pic of it, measure it and get back to me

[canid]

in one of the builds i saw, and as i've heard described by others previously, the gunwales where spread by heating the wood with boiling water, and using leverage to insert thwarts.

i suspect that could be touchy, possibly leading to cracking if you wheren't carefull and lucky.

i think doug. fir is also a good candidate.

[hunter63]

Sure he does. I have helped work on a dugout for an hour at a rendezvous. Basically enough to help keep the burn going Its a great project. The cost is surprising and the labor involved is as big as the log you have to locate.

Might be the same one I saw being made at the Southport Rendezvous as a demonstration.
These boys have been working on the same one for a few years, but suspect that they only do it fro demonstrations.

Truly a lot of work, but it would be a cool thing to do (so many projects, so little time)
So if you do build one, please post pic of this project.

[gryffynklm]

North West Indiana is too far South to have stands of cedar or pine that are large enough unless its in some one's back yard. Indiana is mostly broad leaf trees. The transportation on a log that big would be cost prohibitive for me.

[gryffynklm]

Hunter, I think you are correct. They live in Wiggiups for the event.

[SARKY]

So mister survival expert wants to know how to seal the seams on a dugout canoe??? If you have seams on a dugout canoe, then you did it wrong! That is the whole idea of a dougout canoe. Think of a gourd, split it down the middle, hollow out the guts and you have a canoe. Now I just need to grow a gourd big enough to float me!

[canid]

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[Rick]

The only trees I've seen around here large enough for that are some old growth River Birch. I can point out about a half dozen wide enough but I sure would hate to see them cut down for that.

[Stony]

there must be cottonwoods next to a river large enough to make a doug-out.
to keep open fire in any boat, it is smart to keep it in a fire pan.

[Rick]

I've not seen any cottonwoods around here that big. In Indiana, a big cottonwood will be about 28" across. I would think you'd want to be wider than that. I've never built one but that's my impression.

[canid]

you could certainly do a combination dugout and plank strake boat like i've thought about, or even minimize the trouble and just do a plank boat.

i personally like the idea of a dugout for it's own sake, if also for the amount of work and skill i foresee it requiring.

[jagjj]

i have a nice big water birch tree to cut down and im going to build a dugout as a project this summer with 12 of my friends so we can canoe down my creek i have tried many other desighns but none worked on another forum i came across they said a dugout would work

[jagjj]

and i have a whole shop full of tools and materials my dad has collected throughout his lifetime