A year ago I got the notion in my head I needed a dugout canoe. So, I set out to make me one. Well, I hit a few snags along the way, but now I have three logs in my back yard and have started whittlin' away on the first of 'em.

I started a webpage at my website just for the dugout. If you are interested in seein' how it has progressed since I first started on it, and following current developments, follow the link to the page.

http://www.willghormley-maker....kinADugoutCanoe.html

Enjoy!
Will

Will...that sure is something to behold for sure. Very nice work indeed...with 3 logs I thought at first you might be making a Chesapeke bay type canoe...but the log you have in the works is plenty huge by the looks of it to float on its own accord....now, when its done will you arm it with a punt gun? (just kidding..)
TCA

Hey T. Albert,

If I armed it with a punt gun I'd need outriggers for sure! I'd pose a mighty formidable floatilla on the Raccoon river though.

Will

I have a 4 gage blunderbuss that would work great on a dugout like that for a swivel gun

You know boys, I think you're on to somethin' here. My vessels are part of my emergency evacuation and escape plan for when bein' me becomes illegal and my Suburban has been confiscated. A little fire power mounted on the prow could come in handy.

Will

speaking of fire power, I assume you will next build a long fire trough in the log to burn out the "dugout" passenger compartment?

Here is some graphic advice on what not to do

vsh1143l.jpg (24 KB, 83 downloads)

I'll probably use more fire to finish the inside than I will use on the exterior. It will still be more blade work that fire though. The museum example I'm workin' from had bulkheads in the interior. They had mostly been busted out over time, but to leave 'em in there, they had to have done some real precision burning, (and I'm not doubting an experienced builder could have done it), but there was a lot of evidence of blade work in the corners.

I will have three bulkheads in mine. One will be in the middle, and the other two near the ends. That should help to stabilize the sidewalls, since on the original, they were only 5/8" thick. I'm sure they started out thicker and wore thinner over decades of use, but that still seem fragile to me. But, one thing I've learned is, if somebody else has done it successfully, they know more than I do.

The bottom of the museum dugout was from 2 to 3 inches in varying thickness. I'm goin' to shoot for a uniform 2 1/2". If it's too heavy, I might take it down to 2". I plan on making a huge caliper when I've started the excavation of the interior, so I can tell how thick the walls and bottom are gettin'. That way I can avoid the cartoon above.

Will

Not sure if it was this forum or another, but when you go to burn out the interior, slap wet clay, an inch thick or more, on places you don't want burned. It should keep the fire where you want it. As the clay bakes, chip it off and add more wet stuff.

You want the bottom as flat as possible. There is some great outtake footage from rebels & redcoats of me loosing it all in a dugout rofl

I just added some of today's photos to the dugout page. I'll post the link here so if you haven't seen the update, you don't have to go lookin' for the link.

http://www.willghormley-maker....kinADugoutCanoe.html

Will

As my daughter would say, "kewl". I'm afraid if it were me, I would be tempted to use my chain saw. I can understand why you would want to do it with only hand tools though.

Thanks for the photo journal. I enjoyed it. Nice way to spend time with your kids too.

say will got a question for you , since i dont really know a whole lot about dug outs was wondering how do you avoid the wood cracking and spliting after it is done do you have to keep it wet all the time ?
was just wondering on that

Hey Firelock,

Crackin' is just part of ownin' a dugout as far as I can see. The museum dugout I'm patternin' this one after had several iron patches holdin' it together at different spots.

There are ways to minimize cracking. Pine tar is the resin cooked out of pine wood when you turn it into charcoal. Blacksmiths reduce wood to charcoal because charcoal burns hot enough to work the metal with. If you cook pine woods to charcoal, you can collect the pine tar from the bottom of your burn-barrel.

For centuries, pine tar has been used on boats as a preservative. Reducing the pine tar with boiled linseed oil and heating, allows application to wood with spectacular penetration. It hydrates and waterproofs the wood at the same time. Periodic re-applications are needed, but it is one of the best treatments for wood, and it's all natural.

Any cracks that appear will be treated with an additional coat of pine tar/linseed oil, then heated pine tar will be worked into the crack, followed by a string of oakum tamped in tight, and another application of pine tar. If that don't do it, I'll hammer out some thin metal and start tackin' it on.

That would'a been the traditional way for white folks to take care of the problem. I'm not sure how the first immigrants handled their dugout cracks.

Will

Started burnin' on the top of the dugout late yesterday afternoon. Updated and posted pictures on the webpage this morning.

http://www.willghormley-maker....kinADugoutCanoe.html

Will

Most cracks I saw came from freezing and thawing. But some did come from extreem dryness.

When I worked at a museum we had a store of rocks that we used to sink our dugouts in the winter, and those same rocks were used to hold the inner gunwales down when making birch and elm canoes in the summer

Dugout update.

http://www.willghormley-maker....kinADugoutCanoe.html

Will

Will...I was wondering, did the museum canoe you are basing yours on use little depth gauge hull pegs in its construction?

I think these were driven into holes of exact depths that had been drilled into the hull. When that depth was reached by adzing etc...on opposite side of where the pegs had been driven in, the peg heads were exposed and the builder knew he had acheived the thickness he wanted...this may not have been a universal technique, so im wondering if it was used on the one you saw?
TCA

Hey T. Albert,

The method I had read about was to drill holes in the hull, then when you got down to 'em, you could see how much wood was left. Then, they would drive pegs into 'em to seal 'em back up.

I looked all over the museum piece I'm basin' this one one, but could never find any indication it had been drilled and then plugged. But, that doesn't mean it wasn't. After so much time has passed, I'm sure if the plug hadn't failed, it looked just like the rest of the log. I did have my nose on the grain lookin' though.

Now, while I was a paratrooper and more than willing to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, I draw the line at drillin' holes in a perfectly good dugout. I spent a lot of time tryin' to figure out how I would know the remaining thickness of the hull.

While I've never read about the process I'm goin' to use, I think it will work just fine. Perhaps someone else, sometime in history, came up with the same solution. I'm goin' to make large wooden calipers that will reach over the gunwales to the bottom. I need at least 10" clearance from top to bottom, and at least 12" from front to back. It will have increments marked so I can tell how much wood I have left without drillin' and pluggin' holes.

I'm not sayin' this method is historically accurate, (or even a good idea), but it is within the technological ability of anyone on the frontier to make a similar instrument and get the same result. I know for sure the 4x4 and trailer used to haul the logs up to the house wasn't historically accurate, but I'm willin' to make a few minor compromises.

If anyone has any information on this topic, I'm open to suggestions.

Will

Just a quick note. Got the dugout done enough to get 'er wet. Still need to whittle on 'er some more come spring, but now I've got to scrape, patch, prime and paint the 110 year-old house.

But, I've got updated photos.

http://www.willghormley-maker....kinADugoutCanoe.html

Will