New Bow Tip

I finally glued up the new tip of the bow. This replace the ends of the inner gunwales and the tip of the deck.  The deck tip is cut thicker than the original with a bit extending aft underneath.  This was the first time I used the West system epoxy.  It is a much slower cure than the typical 5 minute epoxy I've used before.  I opted for the slow cure hardener, which is usable down to about 60F. 

Here it is all cured up.  The seams will be covered with the thin cap strips along the edges of the deck. 

Here's what the old pieces look like.  It looks like someone stored the canoe with the tips resting on the ground and the bugs burrowed into it.

I cut the bow stem for a scarf joint to build it up with the new steam bent pieces.  I need to go from here to the tip of the deck with the new stem.

At the tip of the deck I cut back the inner gunwales to splice in some new pieces. These look simple, but getting everything cut at the right angles and fit together is proving to be a real challenge. The old pieces were full of insect holes, including the tip of the deck, which I also cut off.  The deck has cover pieces that cap the inner gunwales and rib tips, so these joints won't show.

Here's the other side. I had to cut it back further to get to good wood. I used scraps of ash from my failed stem bending attempts to make these parts.

Mortise and tenon seat frame

This is the bow seat frame.  I'm keeping the original pieces that go from gunwale to gunwale. They were doweled together originally, but I'm going to use mortise and tenon joints. Below is the mortising bit drilling square holes.  Another one of the really great tools my father bought.

And this is one of the new side pieces in the tenon jig on the table saw.  This is a great tool for precise, safe cuts on small stock.

And here are all 4 pieces almost ready to assemble. I still need to do a bit of final fitting and then it's time to glue the frame together.