There is a little blurb about the building of some traditional canoes and kayaks in Alaska, in the latest issue of Woodenboat. The dugout was built just as Paul states. The hollowed out log was left with a hog of a couple inches it's bottom and some flat spots along the run of the sides. The boat was filled about a third with water, then volvcanic rocks heated in a bonfire were dropped in to boil the water. As the sides were flared, the ends rose and the bottom straightend out.

: Well, first you would see if the log floated.

: Then you would remove some wood so it was lighter.

: When you were finished you would try to float it again.

: If you are seriously considering carving a log into a boat e-mail me and as
: soon as I get my home computer back online I'll send you a scan of an
: 1890's article on building dugout canoes. It is from Daniel Beard's
: "An American Boy's Handy Book". A facsimile copy of that title
: was published about a decade ago, and there may still be copies of that
: edition available. Try amazon.com

: The finished boat is considerably wider than the log it was cut from. The
: article explains the entire process, but basically, you fill the hollowed
: log with boiling water and steam the thing to soften the wood, then you
: force it wider by inserting thwarts and wedges. When it cools, the thwarts
: are in there solidly, and the width is whatever you want.

: If you don't flare the log, then the stability is lousy, and the opening is
: too small for you to sit in comfortably.

: Personally, I'd update this technique and use a hydraulic bottle jack, or
: maybe a screw-type automotive (tire changing) jack. Such tools are far
: more common these days than they were a century ago.

: For a deck you would probably need two logs, or perhaps you would be able to
: slice the log in half lengthwise and hollow out each section before
: steaming or boiling and bending them to shape.

: The old method used small fires to remove the wood in the interior of the
: log. The charcoal and ash were regularly scraped out over the week or so
: it took to burn the thing down to size. With a chainsaw and bit of luck
: you could remove a good deal of the center of the log in a few minutes,
: but the method of doing this is rather dangerous, as you are working with
: the tip of the chainsaw, and a lot of the chain is exposed. I mention it,
: but I don't recommend it. A lumber making rig might be adjusted to only
: cut part way into the log and remove a wedge of heartwood to speed the
: process.

: Any cracks that may form as the log dries (if you keep it in the water and
: wet the log won't dry), or other leaks, are chinked with thickend pitch
: and maybe some sawdust.

: Hope this helps.

: PGJ

: Oh, and I'm not going to waste my time trying to carve ironwood, either.

: hope this helps

: PGJ