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Installation of seats on a wood strip/epoxy canoe

This set of instructions is designed to help the home builder install a pair of seats in his/her woodstrip-

epoxy canoe. If you purchased your seat and hardware from Bear Mountain Boat Shop or Canadian

Canoes, the items seen in the image above might look familiar. The only difference is that the seats

shown are hand caned seats whereas some customers might have purchased machine woven seats on

ash frames. The machine caned seats are identical in size whereas the hand caned seats have one

specifically for the bow and another for the stern.

Getting Ready

As a much younger man, a sore lower back seemed to be a constant source of aggravation when doing

canoe tripping; this I attributed to all sorts of conditions –none of which were accurate. It turned out

that my first canoes had the stern seat (where I generally sat) mounted directly under the inner gunwale

thus was ‘pitched’ forward and I was always leaning backward trying to correct this non-ergonomic

position.

In order that you might benefit from this, here is what we now do :*

*We have had customers who are most comfortable kneeling to paddle with their backside supported on the front edge of the seat . In such a situation, we

definitely go along with their request to cant the seat edge downward to make this paddling position work for them. These requests are more the exception

than the rule.

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Lay a long level in the bottom of the canoe in the centre area then move the canoe in its cradles until

the bubble in the tool indicates that the hull is sitting level (horizontally). Be sure to check this levelness

from time to time.

This installation also assumes that your inner and outer gunwales are completely installed, shaped

and sanded to perfection!

The image above shows the two caned seats, 4 suspension bridges and a bag of mounting hardware. We

ship standard sized bridges with all kits; you will be making some adjustments for your canoe model.

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The Process:

We begin with the installation of the bow seat; if your gunwales have scuppers cut by us, then the

location of the bow seat is written on the inwale and its position can be easily be found as the scupper

where the seat goes is the shortest (usually 3 inches long)—this allows our customers to move the seat

location forward and aft to help in achieving some balance when the paddlers are actually in the canoe.

For example, if the stern paddler outweighs the bow paddler, then the bow seat ought to be moved

forward to get the weight forward.

There is no perfect position for seat location. A well trimmed canoe (even distribution of weight fore

and aft) is the desired outcome but, one might not always be paddling with the same partner and the

weight in the canoe may well affect this trim factor.

In this case, we were finishing a 15 foot Ranger model where the front of the bow seat –measured along

the gunwale- was 52 inches from the bow and the back edge of the stern seat, measured on the

gunwale, was 33 inches from the stern. Distances on other canoe models will vary.

You will have noticed that the seat bridges (a) need some final sanding as we simply rough them out and

(b) there are two sizes. The pair with EQUAL length legs is for the bow seat where the gunwale line is

quite horizontal.

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In the image above, you can see that the bridge is clamped

under the inner gunwale and positioned around the 3”

scupper. If you look at the inner gunwale, a red line

(computer drawn) can be observed; this is the 52” distance

marked on earlier and indicates the position of the front end

of the bridge. On the bridge you can see two black lines

(computer drawn- do yours LIGHTLY in pencil) which

represent the location of the oversize drill holes in the

bridges. Note also that small protection pads are used so that

the clamp does not mark the wood. Do this on both sides of

the canoe. Check that the intended location of the drill hole

through the inwale then through the bridge is not in the

same area as the outwale screws on the outside.

The tool you can see here is an adjustable pair of T-squares made of aluminum and which we can use on

all models of canoe. The tool is used to get both the angle and width for the seat; this is close but one

has to deal the reality that canoes are curved not straight!

What you can do, as this is most likely a one time event, is to cobble together a pair of wood measuring

devices. Material can be as simple as pieces 1/4 “ thick x 2” wide; for the BOW seat 2 pieces 10” long

and 2 pieces 25” long. (For the stern, two pieces 10” and 2 pieces 18”).

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Nail or screw or glue the 10” pieces to the end of the 25” pieces so they are perpendicular (like a T-

square).

The two parts will be held temporarily with very small clamps once adjusted outward so that the 10” bar

is touching the hull of the canoe and the underside of the bridge. When both ends of this device are in

place, clamp them tightly so they cannot move in any direction. Carefully remove the whole unit and

rest it on the bow seat.

Next, the trick is to adjust the position of this measuring jig such that you will be cutting off the ends

being certain to be doing both sides equally.

Use a short ruler and measure then adjust the jig until the distance on both sides is equal.

In essence, the centre of the seat is to be centered on the midline of the canoe!

Hold all the parts firmly and draw a cut line ON THE OUTSIDE of the jig as this was the part of the jig

which was touching the hull when you did the measurement. We use a band saw to make the 4 cuts but

a hand saw will work just as well—cut right through the centre of the line.

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With a few clamps to help, do a trial fit. With some canoes, the curving shape of the hull will result in a

very tight fit-so tight that you might have to draw new lines and remove a bit of the ends of the seat

frame to get things to fit comfortably.

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There is no benefit to having the end of the seat jammed against the hull; a 1/8” gap will be quite good.

Given that you made the hull level when you began, it will become equally important to make the seat

level (horizontal) for comfortable paddling.

In this image, you can see that we have set a small torpedo level across the seat (front to back) only to

discover that the seat was out of level by 5/16”.

We removed the seat and the bridges and drew a line on the back edge of the bridge leg to allow us to

remove 5/16”.

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With this small amount removed on the band saw and a bit of sanding to smooth out the line, we could

then install the seat in its final location.

In an earlier picture, you will recall that we had shown black lines to indicate the location of the holes

which are drilled in the bridges. Here, we drew computer lines but in white and a punch awl is shown

tapping a starting point for the hole about to be drilled.

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The white arrow is directing your attention to a small wedge which has been tapped between the hull

and the bridge thus forcing the bridge away from the hull. Some canoes have considerable tumblehome

and it is possible that one could drill through the hull-what a bummer that would be!

The hole inside the bridge is oversize so using the wedge does not pose a problem. The drill bit (red

arrow) is 6” long and is 7/32” diameter.

Drill through the inner gunwale; as soon as the drill bit enters the oversize hole in the bridge, it will drop quickly.

Stop for a second and lean the whole drill toward the exterior of the canoe about 5 degrees.then drill through the

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seat frame. The leaning back is to ensure that enough space will exist under the seat frame to allow you to turn on

the nut and use a wrench to tighten it.

We are assuming here that you used a #8 counterbore to allow you to insert wood plugs (bungs) over

the screws which attached the outwales in place. That same #8 counterbore is used here as well.

You may need to loosen things up and blow out all the wood pieces from drilling and counterboring

before inserting the machine screw.

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Use a screwdriver and, for the moment, finger tighten the nut and washer-final tightening comes later.

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To make it easier, you might find it easiest to do one hole then do one on the opposite side and at the

other corner. Be sure to move the spacing wedge each time as you complete the remaining holes.

Now, use the screwdriver and a wrench (3/8”) to tighten the nut and washer beneath the seat frame.

With all four holes drilled and the stainless steel machine screws in place, it is time to do the stern seat.

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Check that the long level used at the outset shows that YOU STILL HAVE A LEVEL CANOE.

The stern seat follows the same procedure but …

The stern end bridge has one leg longer than the other. This longer leg goes at the STERN end; this is to

adjust for the fact that the gunwales are sweeping upward so more leg is needed at this point.

Follow the same procedure as you did for the bow seat; ensure that the bridges have been cut to a

length that creates a level (horizontal) position.

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Now, you can tap in 8 of the wood plugs to cover over the head of the machine screws.

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And, use a nice, sharp chisel to cut the plugs flush to the inwale and sand smooth.

If the ends of the machine

screws are visible, use a

pair of ViseGrip pliers to

hold then rock back and

forth to fatigue the metal

and break off the excess.

Use a metal file to smooth

off the sharp ends.

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With the seats in place, you can next proceed to determine the BALANCE POINT (which is NOT at the

centre) and then install your centre thwart or yoke. If your canoe is long (for example, the 17’ Nomad or

the Freedom or the Redbird, and you elect to have a second, narrow thwart behind the bow seat, install

it BEFORE finding the centre balance point.

March 2013