Installing your SHOE KEEL The shoe keel is there solely to protect the bottom of the hull. On a windy day, it will offer some resistance to a side or quartering wind and will help to avoid being blown sideways. For this keel to fit your canoe, the OUTER STEM must have been cut down to flow into the hull As described in Canoecraft, the sides of the outer stem are shaped to be a fair line flowing from the strips. The keel for your canoe is 18 inches shorter than the OVERALL length of the hull; it will be 9 short of either end. The ends are tapered over a 16 inch length. Note that the side tapers begin at the 16 inch mark and taper towards the ends finishing with a 3/8 wide dimension-this 3/8 is the same as the brass stem band which will go on later. Page 1
The first two cuts (easiest on a band saw) are marked on the keel piece. Cut wide of the line, clamp in a vice and then plane down to the line. With the piece still in the vise, take a long straight edge and draw on the top taper line (this is drawn on the side taper but is cut off the top side of the wood). The line to draw starts at the 16 mark and goes toward the end such that the 3/8 tip will be as thin as a sheet of paper. The red line, drawn by computer, represents the fish line to be strung between two small nails. Be sure this is an accurate line. Use a small hand plane and sandpaper to make the 16 sections slightly rounded on the TOP edges. The rest can be done later with the keel solidly in place on the canoe. Be sure the area where the keel is going to sit has been sanded, has all the dust removed and has been wiped with lacquer thinner. Next, take the fish line you used when drawing the centre line which you followed to cut that line when closing the bottom. Use small nails tapped into the outer stem somewhere on the Page 2
flat part of the stem. Be sure the fish line is tight and straight. Most of the keels we send are from 1 to 1 ¼ wide. Your keel needs to straddle the centre line (fish line for the moment). To do this take a piece of Bristol board or shoe box cardboard about 1 x 3 with one straight edge. Place this UNDER your keel but not in the taper area. Use a sharp pencil to trace the outer edges of the keel onto the marking gauge cardboard. If the keel were 1 1/8 wide, then the centre would be 18/32 (you want to be working in /32 s of an inch for this.). Mark this position with a red pen. The RED line on the gauge is the equivalent of the fish line. Stand up on a box or small ladder so you can look straight down at the fish line. With great care, set the gauge over the fish line with the red line on top of the fish line. With a pencil, make a very visible black line on either side if the mid line thus outlining the edges of the keel. Space these every 8 as shown. When the keel is laid in place, the black edge marks will be your guide to getting the keel straight on the hull. FISH LINE (shown here in red) You also need to mark the centre of the keel s length and this position sits on the 0 station position (or, the middle of the canoe s length if a non symmetrical canoe such as a Freedom 17). Simply stated, the keel is centered end to end and straddles the mid line. Leave the fish line in place for the present. So, the canoe is up side down for this operation. Insert a 1/8 drill bit into your drill and drill a series of sighting/positioning holes right under the fish line. I do one at every station mould position and half way between as far as the inner stems. And, at these two final positions stay 1 away fro the stem end to facilitate installing a screw in a few minutes. What will be happening is that one person will be standing on a box looking down at the black lines drawn earlier thus ensuring the keel is going on in a straight line. A second person will be kneeling under the over turned canoe and will be drilling holes through the sighting holes into the keel then installing screws. There are two ways to do the next step. If you don t mind the screws and cup washers (also called finishing washers) showing in the bottom of the canoe, you will need as many ¾ #8 brass screws and brass cup washers as you have holes. If you don t want the screws and cup Page 3
washers, then get ¾ #8 steel screws well waxed- and a small flat washers which, 24 hours after installation can be removed. Then, with GREAT CARE, you would use a sharp ¼ drill bit and drill a ¼ hole where the screw was and then insert-with thickened epoxy small lengths of ¼ dowel. After 24 hours, these can be sanded down so the floor of the canoe will be flat. So, on to the installation. The person who will be on top controlling the position of the keel needs to have disposable gloves, a small block of wood and needs to mix up a 2 batch of epoxy and hardener which is thickened with WEST #403 thickener and some wood flour for a natural colour. That person uses a putty knife to apply an even layer (1/8 thick) of the thickened mixture to the UNDERSIDE of the keel-end to end. The person under the canoe needs to place the cup washers or washers over the screw and to have one drill with a 9/64 bit and another with another drill with a power driver tip to suit the screw head. This can also be done with a hand screw driver. The person on top, with the thickened epoxy on the keel, turns it over and places it so it is centered end to end and straddles the mid line. Start at the middle station or position. When the top person indicates s/he has the keel in its place, the underneath person finds that positioning hole and drills only a ½ into the keel. To prevent the top person s hand getting accidentally drilled, have that block of wood on top of the keel! Once the pilot hole is drilled, turn the appropriate screw into place. The top person should see a bit of thickened epoxy ooze out. It is safer to turn the screws in mostly with power then finish with a hand screw driver. Over tightening will break the screw. Do 5 screws to the right of the first one then 5 to the left; continue this right up to the stems. Take time to allow the person on top to be real sure the keel is being aligned on the black marks. A crooked keel is not a desirable outcome. Once you have arrived at the stems, crawl out from underneath and then drill some 9/64 holes through the keel DOWN into the stem. If you have some fine 1 #6 brass screws, you can turn these down and leave them. Otherwise, use steel screws, well waxed so they will release later. At the very tip, where the keel is paper thin, use a couple pieces of good old duct tape to hold for 24 hours. Your helper can, at the same time, use the putty knife to clean up all the squeezed out epoxy and, if there are any voids between the hull and keel, use this material to fill the voids. Use a disposable rag and lacquer thinner to really clean up all the mess along the keel. After 24 hours, remove the duct tape,and do some sanding to clean up the hull. And, now is the time to use a small plane and sandpaper to slightly round to edges of the keel from end to end. Page 4
Here is an image of a canoe with the finished keel in place. It is entirely possible to stain the keel if you choose. Run masking tape along side to reduce smearing stain on you hull. The brass stem band will start on the deck, then follow the curve of the stem and onto the keel. I suggest you wait until there is varnish on the deck and hull before installing the brass. And, be sure to dip the screws (3/4 #4 size brass) in clear silicone. November 2012 Page 5