I have almost finished building a new deck for Miss Nancy. I inlaid our Pathfinder Club’s logo with zebrawood.
Central New Hampshire Flames Logo on a canoe deck in zebrawood
First I drew the logo onto a couple of quarter-inch thick pieces of zebrawood. Then I cut it out with a coping saw and placed it on the deck (which I had previously glued up from maple and walnut). Then I hit it with a light layer of spray paint, because that seemed like a good way to trace it. Turns out, that’s not precise enough, so I ended up laying the zebrawood shapes on the deck again and tracing them with a sharp knife. Once I had the shape transferred, I deepened the cuts with a very sharp knife and scooped out the in-between with a chisel. That was the hard part. For whatever reason, the elbows on both arms took the brunt of the soreness. It took me all day yesterday to get it to where I could fit the pieces into the cavities.
Then I mixed up some epoxy, added a bit of ash sawdust (well… sanddust, since it was from sanding, not from sawing) and mixed that in. Having the sanddust in there gives the epoxy a more solid look, and I wanted that in case there were gaps between the zebrawood and its cavity (and there were).
With the epoxy mixed up and poured into the cavity, I set the zebrawood in place, and then poured more epoxy on top of it to fill in any voids. Then came a part that was even harder than scooping out the cavity – waiting for the epoxy to set!
I left it overnight. The zebrawood was about an eighth of an inch higher than the deck, but that was OK. I had borrowed Warran’s benchtop sander (he’s one of the Pathfinder staff members), so I turned the whole thing over on top of that and sanded it until the zebrawood was level with the deck and the spray paint was gone.
I still have to square off the bottom, and varnish the underside (that would be difficult to do if I waited until it were installed). I will varnish the top side after it’s installed, and I am tempted to cover it with a layer of fiberglass just to be sure that zebrawood stays in place forever (fiberglass is transparent when it sets up). Before I can install it, I have to measure the required bevels so that the edges are flat against the gunwales. It will be a rolling bevel, meaning that it is different up at the tips verses down at the base. That part is not easy either.
This deck is a bout 18″ long. It’s funny that something this small is even called a “deck,” but it is. The decks go between the gunwales at either end of the canoe. One normally thinks of a deck as being something that can be stood upon. I suppose you could stand on these, but unless your balance was exceptional, not for very long!
February 22, 2013 at 7:13 pm
I bought an antique table once that had a missing oval inlay in the center. Making a new one just the right thickness and gluing it into the existing pocket was tough, so I can sort of imagine what you went through. It looks great and was obviously worth the effort but I don’t think I’d attempt it, knowing what I know now.
February 22, 2013 at 7:18 pm
Since this was still very much under construction, I planned on leaving the inlay proud of the surface of the deck and then power sanding it down once the epoxy set. I think that made it tons easier.
I had originally intended to make both decks like this, but after doing one… I think one at the bow is plenty. An inlay on the stern deck would be too much, both visually as well as… effortly (to coin a new word).
February 22, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Wow, very nice work! That will be some canoe when completed!
February 22, 2013 at 10:57 pm
Thanks. I briefly considered putting the club’s name on the canoe too but decided against it. Sometimes clubs change their names, sometimes (gasp!) they even sell unneeded equipment. Having just the flame logo on there would not preclude either of those actions. Even though I will come out of this with a strong emotional attachment to these craft, and don’t want to think about anyone getting rid of them, I don’t think I should take any action that ties the club’s hands twenty years in the future.
February 22, 2013 at 11:04 pm
A good thought, but a very sad one!
February 22, 2013 at 11:28 pm
It is sad in a way, but we should always remember to keep material things in their proper place. I don’t want these boats to become my idols, and keeping their impermanence in mind is one way to check that.
February 23, 2013 at 4:32 am
I think this would be a symbol that will stick in a kids mind. Making a canoe adventure even more special. Imprinting a lifetime memory. Good Work.
February 23, 2013 at 7:25 am
Thanks Jim. If that is the result of this work, then it will have been more than worth it.