Canoe building

Where can I get clear white or red cedar lumber or logs to use in building a cedar strip canoe?

A lumber yard
A real lumber yard should have. You might need to spend some time picking through to get really clear boards with the grain in the right direction.

In Atlanta I found clear western red
cedar quite obtainable. The yard let me select individual boards.



But unless your finances are really tight, consider ordering precut strips from one of the various suppliers. I don’t know about you, but I lack the high quality saw and blade to rip a mass of strips.

Have all of the tools,
saws, etc. available. Need the wood. We are hoping to start with rough cut lumber or logs. The plans are on the drawing board for a 16ft. canoe. Looking for a good source for cedar. Thanks

If you start with rough cut lumber, do
you also have a jointer to get flat faces that will behave in the saws? Otherwise, take advantage of the availability of finished wood.

cedar
White cedar is tricky, it’s a northern wood that grows fairly small, so the wood is short and rarely clear. Will be very tricky to find in the south. Western red cedar is pretty common, check with the local yards selling hardwood, the big box stores don’t stock clear lumber of any kind and if they have any their prices are dumb, not what they specialize in.



Try www.woodfinder.com



Logs are easy, get in your truck (big truck), drive to the pacific northwest and buy one, then drive home. Logs are not shipped.



Bill H.

Decking
You should be able to find western red cedar decking at a good lumberyard near you. You may also find Atlantic white cedar at a good lumber yard. I am building a stripper right now with Atlantic white cedar.



You may have to go further north to find Northern white cedar, but finding any clear northern is a good trick anyway.

Western Red
http://www.wrcla.org/about_us/certifieddistributors/usdistributors/usdistributors.asp