The butts of each piece have been whittled to a feather 

 edge, the bevel extending back about 2 inches. Also, 

 some pieces of basket ash have been split out of sap- 

 lings for temporary ribs to hold the sheathing in place. 

 A total of 50 or more ribs in five lengths, the longest 

 about 5 feet, have been made up from white cedar 

 heartwood and bent to the desired shape. 



In deciding the rough lengths of the ribs, the builder 

 can resort to various methods. He can prebend ribs 

 in pairs to a number of arbitrarily chosen shapes: 

 the first set of six pairs to the desired midsection form; 

 a second set of five pairs to the form of the section 

 between the middle and first pair of thwarts; a third, 

 of five pairs, to the section at the first thwarts each 

 way from the middle; a fourth, of four pairs, to the 

 section between the end and the first pair of thwarts 

 each way from the middle; a fifth, of three pairs, 

 to the section at the end thwarts; and a sixth, of two 

 or three pairs, for the section at or near the head- 

 boards. This makes from 50 to 52 frames in a canoe 

 measuring 18 or 19 feet overall. 



Each frame piece is treated with Ijoiling water and 

 then bent, over the knee or around a tree, to a slightly 

 greater degree than is needed. While thus bent, 

 each pair is wrapped lengthwise over the end with a 

 strip of basswood or cedar bark to hold the ribs in 

 shape. Sometimes a strut is placed under the bark 

 strips to maintain the desired form, or a cross-tie of 

 bark may be employed. The ribs are then allowed 

 to season in this position. 



Another method, which will be illustrated later 

 (p. 53), involves placing ribs of green spruce in their 

 approximate position and forcing them against the 

 bark. In this method, a number of long battens are 

 placed over the roughly bent ribs laid loosely ins'ide 

 the bark cover, and are spread by forcing a series of 

 short crosspieces, or stays, between them athwartships. 

 The bark is given a good wetting with boiling water to 

 make it flexible and elastic, so that the pressure 

 applied to the battens by the temporary crosspieces 

 brings the bark to the shape desired for the canoe. 

 The rough lengths of the ribs are determined by use 

 of a measuring stick or by measurements made 

 around the bark with a piece of flexible root or a 

 batten of basket ash. The ribs, in any case, are made 

 somewhat longer than required to allow a final fitting 

 when being placed over the sheathing. 



It can be seen that the exact form the canoe takes 

 is largely a matter of judgment and of the flexibility 

 and elasticity of the bark, rather than of precise 

 molding on a predetermined model, or lines. 



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Details of Ribs and method of shaping them in 

 pairs in a bark strap or thong so that they take a 

 "set" while drying out. 



In the Malecite canoe the ribs are wide amidships, 

 3 or 4 inches, and narrow to 2% or 2 inches toward the 

 ends. The thickness is an even J^ inch. Most birch- 

 bark canoes have ribs of even thickness their full 

 length, but in a few the thickness is tapered slightly 

 above the turn of the bilge, usually when the tumble- 

 home is high on the sides and rather great. The 

 width, as previously explained, is usually carried all 

 across the bottom; above the bilges there is a moderate 

 taper. 



The sheathing of the canoe is now first to be put in 

 place. In the Malecite canoe the center pieces are 

 the longest; they are tapered each way from their 

 butts, which overlap about 2 inches amidships. The 

 ends are made narrow enough to fit readily into the 

 sharp transverse curve of the bottom and are long 

 enough to pass under the heels of the stem pieces for 

 an inch or two. The pieces of sheathing on each side 

 of the center pieces are fitted in the same manner, and 

 by the time two or three courses are in place they 

 must be held in some manner at the ends. This is 

 accomplished by means of the rough temporary ribs 

 mentioned earlier. The sheathing is laid edge-to- 

 edge, with the butts overlapping, and, if there arc 

 not enough long pieces to complete the bottom amid- 

 ships, three or four lengths, with overlapped butts, 

 will be used. As the sheathing progresses, more 

 temporary ribs will have to be added. At the turn of 



51 



