Graceful lines, golden wood, swift and quiet, the boat you build with your hands redefines paddling.

If you can whittle a marshmallow stick, you can build a canoe. Building a wood strip canoe starts with canoe plans, and now you can get free canoe plans for any NorthWest canoe hull design. Check out our newest design, the NWC Cottager.

Make NorthWest Canoe your supplier of choice for strips, fiberglass, epoxy, components, etc... we stock all the stuff you need to build your cedar strip canoe. Sure, you can do the scavenger hunt routine and save a couple bucks. But, unlike Craig's List lumber or a gorilla-size internet retailer, we build canoes for our day job. We actually enjoy talking with our customers, too.

Canoe strips. That's easy. We stock boat-length plus shorter strips for FedEx/UPS ground shipment. Free shipping on shorts means you can start your canoe building project next weekend.

If you are not ready to take on the building yourself, and want us to build it for you, we would be happy to. Our finished canoe designs generally cost in the $4000-$5000 range depending on the model and type of components you choose.

Common Sense Canoe Building

Gather ten canoe builders in the same space and you get ten best methods to build a cedar strip canoe. You'd expect this amount of "shop logic" to provide definitive guidance. The quest for clarification often yields a confusing jumble of opinions and approaches to crafting a canoe that can be time consuming and unnecessary. We estimate one out of four first time builders get overwhelmed and frustrated with too much "shop logic" and the canoe never gets finished.

A handful of Minnesota racers pioneered rib-less cedar strip canoe building in the '50's. Their innovation soon attracted average paddlers looking for a canoe they could craft at home more easily...an alternative to the heavier and utilitarian options of the days gone by. We promote this "Minnesota Method". Start by choosing a proven hull design that fits your paddling style, then use these time-efficient & structurally sound building techniques to complete an aesthetically pleasing canoe.

Wood-art rafter ornaments are not NorthWest Canoe. We build true functional canoes with the beauty of wood. Canoe building is fun! Make building your canoe an escape from the stress and time-pressures of your daily routine. Finish your canoe. Then get it out and go paddling!

How much will it cost?

Cost of building is a common question and one that does not have an easy answer. Cost will vary from boat to boat and person to person. There are just too many variables to say with exact certainty. We have however compiled a sample materials list that can help you customize your own estimate.

Sample Materials List

Graceful lines, golden wood, swift and quiet, the boat you build with your hands redefines paddling.

Common Sense Canoe Building

How much will it cost?

Ready to build a wood strip canoe?