Back on Feb 11th Fiftyfour asked if anyone had ever made a Wooden Canteen, I had not but thought I would give it a try, couldn't be but so hard. I have this thing that I can't start just one of anything so I decided to make Two, well that let to Three since I had some spare pieces. I basically followed the directions of a fellow who calls himself "The Cajun Cooper" on U-Tube. Sounds simple but these things were extremely time consuming based on the process and the steps involved, multiply that by Three.
They are made up of 18 Pine staves each, for the sides I split a piece of 6 X3/4" pine, glued up to make an 8" square, planned down to 1/4" and cut the sides from them. The staves each have a 10 deg bevel on each edge, a 1/4" Rabbet is cut in each end for the sides. The center of each stave was cut out with a band saw and sanded to lighten and make a bit more space. The Spout was rounded on the bottom to fit the outside curve of the canteen and is attached with glue and Four wooden pegs.
Two of them are fitted with Wooden bands, what a pain in the butt to make. I built a steamer and probably went through enough attempts to bend strips to fit 10 canteens, quite a learning experience. One set is made from Maple and the other from Hickory. Forty years or so ago I made dozens of Bentwood Boxes using Maple, Hickory and White Oak, the wider pieces bent easier than the narrow bands, the Oak was the best but I could not find any here, well I probably could have but I used what I had, didn't want to take more time. Anyway...I got some good bands (See a couple failures in last Pic) made and fitted they are held in place by the tacks that hold the strap keepers in place. I decided I would do one with metal bands but could not find the right material. Used to able to pick up strapping from any lumber yard but the all use plastic now it seems. So...I took a worn out 1/2" Band saw blade, cut it to size ground the teeth off, annealed it and it turned out pretty good. The bands are held together with One Copper rivet each and were tapped on and held with tacks as the Wooden one are.
Had a piece of Cotton webbing that I tried as a strap but am not happy with it, so I need to decide what to do about straps.
What really put the "Icing on the Cake" was when I looked them up and found them on Flea Bay for 42 bucks, 42 bucks, nobody in their right mind would make these and sell them for 42 bucks.
Oh and they are lined with a Two part resin, very time consuming but effective.
Tim C.
