From Tree to Canoe Part 2 - Aches, Pains, and More Chopping 

Part 3 coming soon!

every hour you should be sharpening your axe. You'd be surprised at how much effort you save... and it gives you a breather.

Well it floats. Good job everyone. "I hereby dub thee ' The S.S. Nutmeg' " May she float for ever.

Some Native Americans would create a back end that was completely open and shape a block to fit perfectly. When they sank it for storage they would take the block out. This made it easier to sink and also acted like a key so no one could take their canoe. Just a fun fact.

What a GREAT living history project. This gives new meaning to the phrase 'chip carving!'

I'm glad nobody lost any toes during this project. You were swinging those ax pretty close to your feet.

My hat! My shirt! My underware off to the 18th century folks and you Jon and the guys! Very hard work! I back in 75 attempted to "IN MY MIND AT 15" after watching a disney movie was going to build a dugout! I talked my uncle into taking me down to the creek and cutting down a river birtch! We/He did! We drug it back home with his tractor. I had planned to fasion it the same as you all did. axe and fire.I had no help after I got the birtch home. Needless to say I did'nt get my dugout built! I then decided I would still build a canoe! I found and old rubber raft at the dump. It was not a cheapo from a toy store but a millitary grade extra thick rubber raft Army surplus!!!Nervona!!!!! I knew I could build a canoe shaped frame from saplings and tie them tight with twine. I did just that. I built my canoe frame and attached the rubber raft rapping it around the frame and fitting and trimming it properely! I also had a section of 4in. plastic pipe from a sewer line my dad had put in, "HE DIDN"T NOTICE IT MISSING"LOL I made an out rigger with it. I enjoyed many many hours paddling that outrigger canoe and catching fish from a local strip pit! I eventually made a 12v trolling motor out of a 12 volt fan that worked pretty well till my makeshift seal allowed water through the can that was housing the motor! No more motor!LOL. So I put a sail on this sturdy craft! I remember unferling this sail and it took the bow right under the water!!!! I did not drown but I did have to swim away. My canoe was safe! It still had my Dad's 4in. outrigger on it to keep it afloat!

Just think of how many fires you'll be able to start with all those wood chips once they dry! Good job with the canoe; I had a vague idea of what you were doing from books, but seeing it is different! I can't wait for the next video :) Thank you so much for all the hard work in your videos, and thank your friends and family from a grateful fan, too, please?

Well that's neat as heck.

Congratulations everyone, what a satisfying moment for all of you. It goes to show hard work does pay off. And the bonus wood chips great fire starters. Thank you for sharing this project with us. I show all your videos to the grandchildren, they need to learn what life was like and how easy they have it. A great video would be the part children played in the pioneering family, some of the games they played, teaching methods and shown the original lap top or iPad the slate and chalk. Once again thank you for taking us on this journey.

I love how everyone else is gone, the project's still not done, and you're the only one left working on it!! Sounds like one of my projects... 😉

nothing like working and working for hours to be told "okay now's the part where you keep working, but slower.."

Wow, brilliant I love recreating things from history. I've read about the steps to make a dugout, but to see it done is simply beyond belief!

i have been watching your videos for a little while now and i'm glad to see you're a hands on guy seeing how difficult it is to carve a wooden water craft, but i'm glad y'all actually demonstrated the whole process. props to you all, god bless.

making something like that has so be so satisfying at the end. riding in something you made with your own hands. lovely. we don't get that feeling enough these days, unfortunately. I wish more people my age and in my area (LA) got a chance to experience that.

it is so satisfying seeing all the wood chips come out to reveal your progress after a lot of chopping!

I had a friend of mine that found the oldest surviving intact dugout canoe ever found in the state of Georgia.... He thought it was an old cow trough and pulled it out of the creek with his truck and chain

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone @ Townsends .... she floats.... great work so far guys

Holy Ship, it sails! Good stuff guys. Made me think of "How it's made, mulch"

There's something ironic about drone footage of a dude in a dug-out canoe. It's beautiful to see, but nevertheless kind of funny.

On Friday maybe touch on expectations vs Reality on the canoe project! 😀

A big grin and a whispered "well done" as I watched you pole out onto open water. In my lifetime (thought by my children to have begun just after the last ice age) I have made two dugout canoes. Very satisfying work if not in a hurry. I relied a lot more on burning and it became a process of working back and forth with small burns as I hacked out a previous burn. Stayed shallow with each burning as I was more worried about overdoing it than speed. Other than finding a pile of hacked out wood still smoldering a day later when I thought it was out and some blisters it was just quiet time in the bush and balm for the soul. I put a stone axe to the test and proved to myself it could be done but understood why my ancestors came to appreciate steel tools. I can understand that making a canoe could be a quiet social time too though for me it was a solitary meditative kind of thing. For sure when it comes to hauling your creation to water you need a friend or ten if you don't want to have to resort to extraordinary solo mechanical pursuits.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! It's so interesting to see the past come alive. I remember in school, occasionally, we would look at an educational program. I think for classes like social studies, US History, and other related ones this channel would be a good idea to include the lessons every so often.

There was an old medieval log canoe in Worthing museum (South coast of the UK) that I had to make a model of years ago. That one had a hole approx. 3 inches diameter in the bottom. The purpose of this hole was twofold. Firstly it allowed the guys building it to accurately measure the thickness at the bottom of the canoe during construction. Secondly the completed canoe was ballasted and deliberately sunk until the timber was waterlogged....the hole allowed the water in and out.....The hole was finally sealed by driving a wooden peg in. My model was made from balsa using a sharpened teaspoon as an adze and took 3 or 4 hours to finish. Yours is a fine achievement. Thanks for the video.

It would be so sad if you chopped through the bottom accidentally

Another day of chopping sounds so awesome, I love chopping wood, swinging an axe, hacking away, it's so great just being outdoors breathing the fresh air getting a nice healthy bit of exercise.

It’s interesting to see you boys experimenting with wood-hewing tools. Some of them are definitely being used for other than their intended purposes, but hey, in the end, you go with whatever works, right?

The wife and I just want to say you're doing an amazing job. We love all your videos and draw inspiration from them. Yes, we get out and try things! 😀 keep up the good work Jon & crew!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone cheers

All the hard work really paid off. Thanks for taking the time to work on this Townsends. It's been a great series so far.

Great work on this amazing project! I would melt down some spruce gum and saturate that bad knot. That might seal it up a tad.

As a descendant of Davy Crockett myself, an old soul, and student of history. I have to say I love your channel! What you guys do and offer is amazing! The skills you teach and the tools you use should never be forgotten.

There is a trick to using fire to do this. 1. Flatten the canoe log to 1/3 the diameter. 2. Pile dry tinder up down the center along the length of the flat about 1/2 the width of the flat 3. Put three dry logs about about 1/3 the diameter of the canoe log in a pyramid (like a long log fire) on top of the tinder. 4. Light the tinder and manage the burn to keep the coals in the center of the canoe log. This will focus the coals and the heat where you want it, and it is a lot less work than chopping. The process has to be watched carefully, especially after the first burn to make sure the fire doesn't burn too deep at any one point. The first burn can get you 50% of the way without much chopping. Subsequent burns have to be shorter, with the dry top logs removed frequently to check progress. A folding military shovel, folded at a right angle and sharpened makes a good tool for removing the charred wood between burns. Only remove the charred wood that comes off easily. The point is to let the fire do the work. If a spot gets thinner than the rest, pour a bit of water on it before and during the burn to manage the progress. You can also coat thinner spots with wet clay, but it will dry out quickly, and can wood can burn under the clay so be careful with this. This works well on the sides as the burn gets deeper. If you want to sleep, or can't watch it carefully for a period, remove the top logs, and dowse it with water to make sure all the coals are out. It will dry out fast when you re-start the top logs. I fell asleep and burned through the bottom on my first attempt. Using this process, a log the size you are working with can be rough finished in 2 to 3 days (depending on how much you want to sleep) by one person without so much manual effort.

What an inspiration! You all have worked so hard at chopping away the inside. Congratulations on the float test!

That’s awesome I always wondered how canoes were made way back when. Can’t wait to see how it turns out. Keep up the great work :)

this series has been so magically cathartic, I feel so connected and humbled by these videos, thank you so much for putting in the hours to bring this series to life, it has been therapeutic to say the least!

Great video. I'd like to see you try and make a York boat in the future. That was used by the early settlers, traders and the Metis, in Canada, and in parts of America, long ago. Also, it would be cool to see episodes on glass making and pottery.

Mr Townsend, that boat is the sweetest thing ever! Congratulations to all the axe wielders! 🌲🛶

Hello pain daddy

This is wonderful! What an awesome project. I also love the aerial shots at the end. Spectacular! Thanks for sharing

My name is Richard thank you for including me in man it's wonderful to see you got the boat up and running wow so nice cruising down the lake

I like it! Good job! First time I've ever seen anything like this done!

What did you do with the original log that you cut down on your parent's property? It seems that maybe they'd have used oxen to pull such a log out of the woods originally.

A big fan of the journals. I am so stoked to see you make one of these!! Thanks so much for helping in keeping these skills living!!!

That has to be so rewarding to have made something that’s such a work of art and be able to ride the water. Truly following in the footsteps of those who lived the history.

So cool to see it come together

In Minnesota they would demand a license sticker. And you cannot get the sticker without a boat title.

The canopy is gorgeous. Your hard work paid off. Congratulations

Wow, the fresh chopped canoe is just gorgeous, a beautiful craft to be sure and has a really perfect fit with it's environment. Always hated the way modern plastic canoes and kayaks have that bright synthetic red, blue or yellow colour.

Thank you to everyone involved in this project. Today I'd have to run a chain saw several passes down the middle and break out long sections of the wood that way and then use the adz to reproduce the look.

Could you imagine doing all that without metal tools?

This is great! Looking forward to the next installment.

The maiden voyage of the SS Nutmeg!!

I love seeing you guys working on this project and how it is progressing along. Must have been a moving experience being out on the water for the first time. Something wrought with your own hands and using it is a spiritual experience indeed! Great work and I can't wait to see the next video. Thank You All so Much! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania

Great video! Can you do a video on processing acorns please?

These videos you make are so uplifting and peaceful, thank you very much Mr. Townsend for your work.

This shows what the saying "It takes hard work to....", and you can't expect to say 'I want a new canoe (or other) and have it the next day. There aren't hundreds of canoes or other things from history because it took so much work you would limit you requirements. Sort of like if you had to forge all of the parts and machine them and put them together if you wanted a new car.

Okay, getting your team to step away from the computer ...probably the greatest accomplishment of all! Made my heart warm to see everyone sore and blistered. On another note...that camera work was fantastic! Every chip was a swing of an ax and that was a lot of chips. Thank you guys! I wish I could be there to help

Where will you chop out the cooler and the bait box?

You guys are LEGENDS!!!! WOW!!! I am so impressed by your commitment to living history that you were willing to go through this. A MONUMENTAL achievement. Congratulations to all who worked on this. Love all of Townsends videos and use you guys for so many of our families living history needs. Thank you and keep up the great work!

Now you know why our ancestors used fire.

Congratulations guys! I really cant imagine how much effort went into that. Amazing job

did not fall in the water, unsubscribed ... :P

Congratulations! Lovely production / drone footage. 🌲🛶 🌞

it's only painful if you play at being an outdoorsman.. If you truly lived the outdoor life you would be in a lot better shape to chop for long periods of time.. and you would enjoy those tired muscles in the evening.. Good job fellas... Looks fun....your hard work is paying off there.. Wish I was young enough to have joined you... can't wait to see the finished product..

I admire your tenacity. I’m an old US Marine grunt and I’ve filled thousands of sand bags just to be filling them and I’d never take on this project!

Giving you a thumbs up for your dogged persistance.

Congrats Jon , Ryan and the rest We love it !!! Float trip time !!

Save all those wood chips for smoking meats!

How did I miss these canoe building videos when I first started watching Townsends? They're GREAT! I kinda want to see Jon and "the boys" portage this little beastie around a waterfall and rapids!

This was truly awesome Jon, watching you pole down the water. It looked so like those canoe's of yesteryear and seems to be coming along nicely. Well done! So how did you guys do with blisters? I use a cream with bees wax and olive oil. It seems to help dry and chapped hands, as well as blisters. It is called Badger Balm and can be purchased from the W.S. Badger Company, Inc. I don't normally link to other companies here, but this one is worth a look see, if you have never heard of them. They have a lot of good products, made in U.S.A. www.badgerbalm.com/

You’re doing a wonderful thing preserving the history of our beautiful country through these living examples of what our ancestors went through!

Erik magically appears with microphone already on... lol, so cheesy. All good, though.

I've been fascinated by dugout canoes since I was a little kid. This series is amazing! It makes me wonder, among the people who lived near water, what kinds of boats were more or less common in that period. Of course, I know there were several different kinds of small boats in common use , but I also imagine some were much more expensive or difficult to make than others.

Did u guys organicly start singing while chopping

Can't wait to see the finished product! I grew up on a river and always wanted to do this, but never got around to it. I wish I could like this one twice!

Christen it with nutmeg ale.

Outstanding- so glad she floated! Can't wait for the christening.

Fk this! They did it that way cause they had no other way. Hold my beer, where the fk is my chain saw.

This is an amazing project! Can't wait for part three!

Could you please do some quail and bear cooking?

Awesome project, thanks for attempting it & showing us how it’s done!

This is grate ! I’m originally from Florida and we use to use the Seminole dugout on the Loxahatchee river when I was a squirt !

Very cool -- can't wait for part 3! Happy Thanksgiving to those at Townsends!

Picking up the axe head was such an amazing and organic shot! It sent shivers done my spine!

What a treat Jon and the Townsends crew, Ryan too!

Very cool thanks for taking us along.

I have very much respect for the work you put in. It takes a lot of endurance and ambition, which is not easy to bring up. Thumb up!

It was so wonderful watching you finally paddle your new canoe with that serene music playing.

So Cool!!! You made an awesome canoe! Great job! Can't wait to see the finished canoe! Thanks for sharing!

Absolutely amazing! Good job! One of the most rewarding and satisfying youtube channels!

Great video, great work on the canoe!

You gentlemen are advocates for what it means to EMBRACE WHAT LIFE IS ABOUT SIMPLICITY

Great job......like you say really cool ride! Happy Thanksgiving to all. Looking forward to the next canoe video. Thanks for all you do, Jon and crew.

You guys are some workers and very determined. I'm impressed!

Being outdoors making something useful with your hands and simple tools. My idea of a great time.

Well done boys. My favorite two videos from you by far.

I am very happy for You John! What an awesome project...

I love your channel. I discovered your work about a year ago and have been digging through your back log and watching every new video. Still it seems everyday there is something more to watch. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to bring us these glimpses into this life. I was curious if you have ever made or plan to make any videos detailing Native American cuisine or having Native American guests to talk about their 18th century history too. I know you touch on these topics some times, but I would love a deeper look. Thank you so much!

Great looking boat, can't wait to see part 3