Hello
Just wondering why I don’t see many Lapstrake canoes. They are easy to build, use no fiberglass and have no staples You build a form the same way as a Stripper and add the horizontal ribbands. Here are some pictures of 3 canoes built in the early 90’s
http://lornelea.photoecoz.com/collection/845/

Best 20 bucks I ever spent.
Ultralight Boatbuilding by Thomas J. Hill
http://xrl.us/ovr49
Lorne

Building Scherzo

BTW, very nice canoes!

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“We can have great disparities of wealth or we can have democracy. But we cannot have both.” - Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Not intending to threadjack but, BK did you get your Lapstake in the water this year?

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Cheers,
Charlie
If it ain't broke, modify it!

Uh... well, she's back in the shop... which often gets filled with water.

Too little time left by summer's end. Trips took precedence. Soon she will be done... and then covered for the winter.

_________________
“We can have great disparities of wealth or we can have democracy. But we cannot have both.” - Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

You can find Thomas J. Hill stuff at his website.
http://www.thomasjhillboatdesigns.com/

Tom Hill just wrote an excellent article for WoodenBoat magazine about painting a boat. You should check it out. I've seen his paint work in person and it is flawless.

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“We can have great disparities of wealth or we can have democracy. But we cannot have both.” - Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Thanks. Actually I picked up my first copy of Wooden Boat just last week and read the article. Interesting.

It is funny that the Hill boats fall into the furniture catagory with some strippers. He actually learned the technique from a guy who's motivation was making ultralight tripping canoes for algonquin park. I think that is sorta the problem, no clear identity. Lapstrake canoes are traditional, but it's kinda a lapsed tadition. That style of building has a lot of credibility with with the small boat and yacht crowd, but not so much inland. One wouldn't build a performance boat that way (portaging performance maybe yes), and strippers sorta have the glam side covered. I always meant to build one but don't like any of the designs. I'm already backed up on my own deisigns with a variety of projects. I like solo canoes, and the guys who do lapstrake like the double paddle solo canoes, which are not my cup of tea.

I am thinking of using Hills' methods for a non-Hill design. They should be adaptable to anyones' design.

I wouldn't go that far, but I agree with you that they aren't limited to his own designs. One of the bad aspects of the Hill method is that he uses equal size laps on the ones I have seen. This means that if the canoe is made rather wide, the major portion of the submerged form is actually a kinda crude hard chine design, consisting of the ply panels, and the first lap. It might be worth investing some time into making a better plug for the stuff between the last laps than the plywood one. Strip could be used and faired right into the first lap. The other option is variable width laps.

Personally I would say that the fact it isn't glassed is not a feature I want on a wooden boat any more. I have so many they have to be able to live out of doors or in occasionally imperfect places. The shed queens just aren't boaty enough for me.

At the end of the day though, laps aren't structuraly or hydro optimal in a canoe.

Greetings to readers of this thread. Some very interesting comments.
I am a retired educator who moved to Carleton Place, ON almost four years ago from Halifax, NS and am building plywood canoes and skiffs. My method is a hybrid one using the stitch and tape approach on the bottom panels (eg. 1, 2, and 3 out of 5) and a lapstrake approach on the top panels (4 and 5 out of 5). I am also glassing the bottom panels for some abrasion resistance before installing the lapped strakes.
It seems to me that this approach offers some of the advantages of both methods - the fairly smooth and durable underwater surface of the former, the lightness and elegance of the latter, and the building ease of both.

Further to my message above of Feb 16, 2012, there is a picture of one of my hybrid construction stitchandtape/lapstrake canoes on the Selway-Fisher Design website. Search it at 'Selway Fisher Christine'
Tom