Artisan Bill Romness built his first canoe in 1992. It was a thing of beauty. Years went by before he had the chance to build another one, 2005 in fact. It took 4 to 5 canoes to get to the standards he has set for himself. He also started making paddles, trying to come up with arty designs he'd never seen done. Friends drove him crazy by saying you're too critical on your own craftsmanship. With Bills high standards and great care to detail, the stuff coming from his shop is only matched by few. Because of intensive research on the internet and seeing first hand the craftsmanship that was available to the canoeist/art lover, he decided to go with the true craftsmanship and time it takes to achieve something of wall hanging beauty as well as full function.

 Perfection in woodworking is next to impossible because wood in its self is imperfect. The challenge of trying to perfect his latest piece is something that will keep Bill coming back again and again to something so unachievable.

The process of building a cedar strip canoe is as follows.                  1by boards of cedar are cut into 1/4" strips, book matched, numbered, then cove and beaded. Strips are then glued together over a predetermined form using regular wood glue and a lot of clamps.   The strips are never nailed or stapled to the form.  Small blocks of wood are hot glued to the canoe strips, then screwed to the forms. There are no holes-although one hull was done using a lot of nails and staples, then  stained, bringing out all the holes. Kind of looked like an old barrel.When the hull is all striped its sanded fair by hand using a long board then fiberglassed with 6oz cloth. Mas epoxy is used on the entire canoe. A crew is also used for the wet out process to ensure  transparency of the cloth. The hull is then removed from the forms, inside is sanded and glassed the same as the outside was.Trim is  then  added, gunnel, seat,  thwart,  yoke,  decks. This is a good time for being creative...The entire canoe is encapsulated in epoxy, sanded fair, then finished with  multiple coats of Bristol Acrylic  Urethane. A variety of wood can be used for the hull and trim, most anything one has in mind. Canoes are built per order. To order, call or email below.  

These boats and paddles really must be seen and touched firsthand to appreciate the true craftsmanship and detail that are built into them.

The process of building a laminated paddle. 

     Special care is taken to achieve true craftsmanship matched by few.          

        Starting out with a 5 or 7 piece shaft, I cut off 2 pieces and glue them back on the end for the grip. A 14 deg. bend can be put in the shaft. The blade is about 6 strips re-sawed into two  5/16"  thick pieces (book-matched). Any arty design that might be in the blade is done by cutting the wood through and gluing back together. Jigs and a router are used to cut the shape to the blade and taper on the shaft.  The grip is carved to its final shape by hand and eyeball. An  1/8" band of hard wood is steam bent and glued around the perimeter of the blade. Then a taper  (5/16" to 3/16") is shaved from center to edge around the whole blade. 6oz fiberglass cloth is epoxied over both sides (for strength) and buried with multiple coats of epoxy so the cloth disappears.The rest of the paddle is sealed with epoxy and multiple coats of UV resistant varnish is applied. Each paddle comes with a sock. Paddles can be custom made to your spec.(length, grip size, wood species).

 THE TREE FARM