Birch bark canoes are the original canoe. They predate all other canoes except the dugout. They were built primarily around the great lakes region and down the eastern coast of North America. But there are many styles of birch bark canoes up into Alaska northern Canada. Employing birch bark for the hull, lightweight cedar for the gunwales, ribs and sheathing, spruce root for the lashings and spruce gum or pitch to seal the seams they are truly a engineering marvel.
I began building birch bark canoes after 12 plus years of professional woodworking. Starting with carpentry, and then moved into log building and timber framing. The latter introduced me to early ways of working wood. I began to gather hand tools and began forging my own tools as well. I was splitting long lengths of wood with wedges and using hand tools to shape them. Making baskets out of birch bark and splitting roots, and splitting cedar shingles. I also worked in a traditional wooden boat shop off and on for a few years learning to steam bend and helping to restore a few canvas canoes and build a traditional lap strake boat. All of this combined to inspire me to start building.
I built my first canoe in 2006 and have built one a year not including scale model canoes. In 2010 I built 2 canoes and plan on building many more. I build them in the traditional method by “eye”. The bark I gather from private land or land destined to be logged. The cedar and root I use is found locally as well. I use both hand split material and clear straight grained hand picked cedar lumber.
Also look at more photos in the gallery.