Birchbark Canoe Build - Part 2 - Establishing sheer of gunwales - Algonquin old model

Continuing to assemble the birch bark canoe. In this video I cut off some winter bark panels and start stitching them with spruce roots along the sides of the canoe. This brings the bark upwards to the height of the future gunwales.
I also remove the ''building frame'' from the bottom of the canoe and insert in my pre-made gunwale frame. I use blocks to put the gunwale frame at the appropriate heights.
Continuation de la construction du canot en écorce de bouleau.

[@nickscavenger]

The indigenous peoples of Siberia also made boats out of birch bark. Only the frame was made much simpler from willow branches.

[@timothylongmore7325]

Excellent video Steve. It really starts to look like a boat when that building frame is removed and the inner gunnels are set in place. How the hell did the ancestors figure this out?

[@mushercdn]

A few questions: Besides appearance due to the cadmium, is there a difference between winter and summer bark? Why did you put the top layer in the canoe instead of out (like shingles on a roof)? The bottom is row boat flat? And most importantly - what's with the helium dolphin balloon? The making of a canoe is one heck of a job (in a garage with help from modern tools.). I can't imagine how they did it in the bush. Thanks for the video. If anyone ever calls you lazy, show them this video.

[@NomadicWoodsman]

Great questions, some hard to answer I may not know all the answers .. i'm still learning ! haha. Most important question : The helium dolphin haha, it was my son's birthday early July and his chosen theme was dolphins and under the sea birthday party lol so he has been bringing that balloon all over. The bark goes this way with the winter bark panel inside as it is how I have always seen it done in my research. If the canoe is upside down and you would be sleeping under it, then I guess it would be like shingles on a roof the way it is. Either way it gets gummed on both sides of the bark. Also this way, I leave a length of winter bark on the inside so the overlapping bark protects the other bark somewhat at the curvature of the canoe. The boat will not be flat like it is right now on the platform, once the ribs go in it will take the rounded shape of the ribs, this will be in the next stages of the canoe construction, the canoe will take shape and come to life with the ribs and sheathing. Hope this answers somewhat, I don't know any other significant difference between the 2 barks. One is gathered earlier in the year and less sap flowing. The winter bark is generally more dry to the touch and less flexible as it isn't full of sap like the summer bark.

[@mushercdn]

@@NomadicWoodsman Thanks for taking the time. I feel a little foolish because I think I already asked about the dolphin. Your answer jogged my memory. I'm guessing that there are many variations of how to build a birch bark canoe. Some regional and others just tricks learned through experience by accomplished builders.

[@timothylongmore7325]

@@mushercdn I bet it's easier to get the sealant down into the seam and gravity would make it less likely to fall out when bumped and as Steve said less apted to be damaged. Also as He pointed out in the video on harvesting winter bark , it's MUCH harder to harvest. Especially maintaining that scratable layer.

[@musherstails]

@@timothylongmore7325 You "gravity" response makes one heck of a lot of sense. Thanks!

[@bonpecheur4565]

Quel travail incroyable ça demande ! Maintenant je commence à voir à quoi va ressembler le canot. Au début je ne comprenais pas trop avec la forme au fond , mais quand tu l'as enlever et remplacer par l'autre forme là j'ai compris , pas trop manuel moi 😁 . Je suis fasciné par ton travail . Mais la question je me pose, c'est comment une écorce mince de boulot peut supporter le poids d'une personne 🤔 . Je vais continuer à te suivre pour voir ça, merci !

[@NomadicWoodsman]

Merci beaucoup ! L'écorce ne supporte pas le poid, ce sera toute la structure qui va supporter le poid. Lorsque j'ajoutera le bordage (planche mince au fond) et les ribs (varangue) ça va devenir un canot.

[@charlesleblanc6638]

Could you use two long split roots instead of one doubled up ?

[@charlesleblanc6638]

This is great for reference on how to go about certain stages ... Looking good. Two questions, what would be the difference in thickness of your summer and winter bark on this particular Canoe ? And can you or have you split spruce roots that is to big in quarters or more ? Thanks

[@NomadicWoodsman]

Good bark for canoes is 1/8 of an inch to 1/4 of an inch roughly. Could be a little thinner. On this canoe both summer and winter barks were about 1/8 of an inch if I can recall. Both good and thick. I mostly target the pencil / pen size roots and split them in two. If they are really big massive roots that are too big I don't collect them or boil them / process them. If they are about thumb size I'll split them in half and then I'll keep them maybe for lashing other things if I need a bigger piece. I'm pretty picky on my roots, this is what makes the canoe so nice at the end, is having nice even roots, shows great craftmanship in my opinion. Hope that answers, Steve

[@charlesleblanc6638]

@@NomadicWoodsman If I'm not mistaken Steve, when you saddle stitch the panels in, aren't your roots going to look right going in one way but is going to look like the heart of the root when you go through again the other way ? You did answer my previous questions thanks.

[@NomadicWoodsman]

@@charlesleblanc6638 You need to flip / twist the one side that would show the heart. So on your first ''stitch'' you flip it on the inside of the canoe (where it won't show) so you use both halves of your roots to stitch. So I choose a nice root. Ex. 4 foot root.Put it in the hole and slide it to the middle so I have about 2 feet of root on each side (inside and outside of canoe) then start stitching and flip the root that's inside the canoe so it won't show the heart. Kind of hard to explain but you just twist it on the first point.

[@charlesleblanc6638]

@@NomadicWoodsman OK so you just twist the root as your stitching/pulling in through so the good side of the root is always showing on the outside of the canoe ? It wouldn't really matter since it's all being pitched I'm thinking. Just finished boiling a bunch of roots. Great material.

[@NomadicWoodsman]

@@charlesleblanc6638 yes exactly

[@dominickballard2698]

ᴘʀᴏᴍᴏsᴍ 👀