Last night on the discovery channel was a show called "Assemblie Required". They showed how a wooden canoe was being made. Very interesting, the braces are made from white cedar and the planking was made from western red cedar. They would steam the brace slats (white cedar) to around 260 degrees, and place them on a form and nail them down. The planking took 3500 brass tacks. The tacks would go into the wood and hit a steel mold and turn over. Next they covered with fiberglass that turned transparent and you would still see all the wood grain and pattern. Look's like a lot work but could be a lot of fun trying. Mark