Bill Miller built his first canoe in the 1960s when he was 15
Bill Miller stands up his very first completed canoe. Built in the 1960s, and Mr. Miller being 15 at the time, he along with his grandfather William Victor Miller built the canoe as a project while the summer rain kept them inside from their chores.Cole Burston
Having so much scrap wood left over after building canoes, Bill Miller decided to build miniature canoes and convert them into coffee tables by placing them on a stand and a pane of glass to offer a table surface on top. The coffee tables are built the same way and with the same wood as a Miller canoe.Cole Burston
Bill Miller applies varnish to a smaller-scaled canoe that is made into a coffee table by placing a pane of glass over the boat's opening. Mr. Miller paints his canoes with three to four coats of varnish before revealing the vessel as a completed Miller canoe.Cole Burston
Seen through a band saw in his workshop, Bill Miller shaves a paddle into shape. As well as canoes, Mr. Miller makes paddles to fit the custom orders he receives.Cole Burston
Bill Miller sweeps the sawdust left on his workshop floor out a back door onto a mound from previous work. Although Mr. Miller's workshop looks scattered and disassembled, he knows exactly where everything is when he needs it.Cole Burston
Bill Miller pauses for a moment in his cluttered workshop and peers out the window.
From years of work, deep grooves are left in Bill Miller's hands. When Mr. Miller's uncle died in 1971, his father moved back to Nictau, N.B., to carry on the company business, and Mr. Miller followed shortly after.Cole Burston