Because we needed a little more wood for ribs and floorboards, I got in touch with Miles Amerault who runs a one man bandsaw mill just north of Dover, N.H. He was willing to mill up a 10 foot ash log he'd gotten from a tree surgeon. Cut into 3/4" width planks, about fourteen of them, they made great ribs and floorboards.
I brought back the planks and set my rollers up and milled up both ribs and floorboards, cutting the floorboards to 1/4" x 5/4" x 10'. The floorboards are a bit narrower than those we have seen in the pictures of built canoes. Platt's plans call for three floorboards of 23/4" width, but the 5/4" width is easier to cut with a table saw running on 110 and they are easier to shape and bend to fit the interior.
I cut the ribs to 1/4"x5/5"x42" - a little stouter than the 3/16"x1/2" that Platt Monfort's plans call for. We'll see when we get the boats skinned up and in the water whether the extra weight will affect carrying and portaging.
The wood was so green that I was able to bend it into a semi-circle just after milling it up.
By the first week back from vacation at the beginning of April, we had all the ribs in and three of the boats turned over to work on the interiors. From the left, Jamie, Colton, Andrew, Chris, Mathias, and Pat next to their boats.
A week later we had all the boats turned over with starts on the inwales, breasthhooks, and floorboards. If you look at Chris's and Mathias's boat in the top right, you can see the system of stanchions and cross braces we used to steady the boats while working on the inwales.
