Making Your Own Snowshoes
(Page 3 of 4)
November/December 1990
By C. Keith Wilbur
Rest the center of the box on the can. Pound in end supports to allow contact between can rim and the bottom of the box. An hour of steaming should do the trick. Bend the wood to shape on the snowshoe molds without delay.
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With the two forms prepared, search out several straight, knot-free ash or hickory saplings. A length of at least 7' for each frame is needed. Square down to 3/4" with a drawshave or crooked knife, or select a tree of 4" to 5" at the butt end. Split down the center with chisels.
With the drawshave or crooked knife, trim both split surfaces flat. Clamp a 3i4" strip of wood, and pencil each edge.
Cut cross fibers free.
This face will become the outer surface of the snowshoe frame. When squared, the stave will be 3/4" x 3/4" x 7'.
With two lengths of freshly cut ash or hickory, each 7' long and squared to 3/4"
Locate the frame's inner face (that nearest the bark and opposite to the split log faces). Mark the inner face as shown above and shave the two ends and center to give easier bending. Gradually bend the frame to rest inside the form blocks and drive in the wedges. (Steaming or soaking the staves may help the bending—see page 24.) The frame is now snug against the shoe form. Dry for several weeks.
Crossbars: Split out four pieces 1-3/8" wide and 5/16" thick. Place each is position behind the frame and mark. Add 1/4" to fit into frame. Make a series of drilled holes 3/16" in diameter and 1/4" deep. Gut away the wood between and fit the crossbars. When snug, drill holes at the tail and push through a finish nail that extends lib" on both sides. Bend both projections with a hammer for a secure closure.
Tidy up the shoe by sanding the frame and slightly rounding the edges. The crossbars should also be rounded. Apply several coats of a rugged spar varnish.
Steaming or soaking the staves may help the bending.
Lacing the Frame
FOR CENTURIES,rawhide lacing was the made-to-order filling for snowshoe frames. Strips from green dehaired hides were tough and durable enough to challenge the sturdiest snowstorms. Woven wet, the netting would shrink on drying to give a webbed support second to no other material-that is, until neoprene lacing upstaged the natural product. Made of synthetic rubber sandwiching tough nylon fibers, this modern substitute outwears the old rawhide three to one, takes less lacing know-how, refuses to ice up, will not rot and needs no varnish to prevent stretching and sagging.
