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After 88 years, this burn-pile old canoe is getting a makeover!

Patrick Corry

Patrick Corry

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Reading Glenn's post re: site member activity, his comments reminded me that users need to post new threads to keep the site alive. In that vein, here's a current project.

This poor old canoe, a 1938 Old Town 50 pounder- that's the model name; the weight is greater but that's how OT marketed them- was originally shipped to Hunter College in the state of New York in early1939.

Image 5.jpeg

I obtained it along with a 1927 Old Town 50#er, originally shipped to Saranac Lake, NY. Following repairs (read: complete rebuild!), the 1938 canoe is now ready for canvas. Here are a couple of pictures along the way...

Repair in progress over Fall and Winter,
1777145653350.png
Repair complete, interior varnish begun. 4 coats of gloss Man O War to build coverage, with at least 1 coat of semi-gloss to knock down the sheen once the outwales are on.
IMG_3437.jpeg
New Ash seats & thwart were made and installed. Ready for canvas:
IMG_3506.jpeg
Canvas rolled out, and pre-stretched with a come-along overnight prior to stretching over the hull:
IMG_3510.jpegIMG_3511.jpegIMG_3512.jpeg
Ready to go tomorrow....IMG_3519.jpeg
 
Patrick Corry said:
Reading Glenn's post re: site member activity, his comments reminded me that users need to post new threads to keep the site alive. In that vein, here's a current project.

This poor old canoe, a 1938 Old Town 50 pounder- that's the model name; the weight is greater but that's how OT marketed them- was originally shipped to Hunter College in the state of New York in early1939.

View attachment 154173

I obtained it along with a 1927 Old Town 50#er, originally shipped to Saranac Lake, NY. Following repairs (read: complete rebuild!), the 1938 canoe is now ready for canvas. Here are a couple of pictures along the way...

Repair in progress over Fall and Winter,
View attachment 154276
Repair complete, interior varnish begun. 4 coats of gloss Man O War to build coverage, with at least 1 coat of semi-gloss to knock down the sheen once the outwales are on.
View attachment 154277
New Ash seats & thwart were made and installed. Ready for canvas:
View attachment 154278
Canvas rolled out, and pre-stretched with a come-along overnight prior to stretching over the hull:
View attachment 154279View attachment 154280View attachment 154281
Ready to go tomorrow....View attachment 154282
Click to expand...
Nice work!
 
Nice job Pat.
I’ve got one for the burn pile I tried to save but it has too much active galvanic corrosion going on that I just couldn’t stop. It’s free if anyone wants it.
Jim
 
Boatman53 said:
Nice job Pat.
I’ve got one for the burn pile I tried to save but it has too much active galvanic corrosion going on that I just couldn’t stop. It’s free if anyone wants it.
Jim
Click to expand...
Thanks Jim! Is yours an Old Town with diamond head bolts? I used 10 of them from my horde on this canoe, and I have 3 more Old Town canoes to restore. Please save them if you do have any! Seat frames too, regardless of cane condition.
 
Looks like it’s going to be a great restoration, new inwales really make an old canoe look sharp. Good luck with the canvassing process, you have a nice set up there.
 
Sadly Pat when I took the bow set out (it’s a sailing canoe with the whole rig and the bow seat is the mast partner) I think I broke three of the bolts. New diamond bolts can be had from Rollin Thurlow at North Woods Canoe Shop.
Jim
 
Robin said:
you have a nice set up there.
Click to expand...
Thank you Robin. I bought this property, farmhouse and barn, 47 years ago. My first house! As a builder/contractor it always served as storage for materials and tools, and only in the last 5 years or so has it become a shop. Previously I did nearly all my work on client's sites. Fortunately my interest in these old canoes has given me a new purpose and a reason to enjoy time in the old barn.
 
Boatman53 said:
New diamond bolts can be had from Rollin Thurlow at North Woods Canoe Shop.
Click to expand...
Yep, I have bought some from him, although my preference is for old bolts with patina for restoration. I'll have to look into a chemical process to mimic the old patina when I use the new ones!
 
Patrick Corry said:
Fortunately my interest in these old canoes has given me a new purpose and a reason to enjoy time in the old barn
Click to expand...

My barn in Connecticut was new, I built it shortly after retirement in 2010 but found spending time in there with old canoes to be about as good as life could get.
Here in Maine I’m lucky to have a heated one car garage added to the side of a full garage, I spend a lot of time in there during the winter.

DSC02300_Original.jpeg
 
Sorry Robin, I overlooked your reply. Yes, I applied Northwoods Canoe filler which as I'm sure you know, is a traditional oil based filler.

Here she is now, after 5 weeks curing, priming, and first coat of color this evening. 1st primer was a white primer tinted with red (it's what I had left over from another canoe), 2nd and 3rd coats gray primer with green tint, and final color is semi-gloss Kirby's #12 Bottle Green. I'm not really a fan of green canoes- there are so many of them, though I do like this particular very-dark green. This canoe is being restored for a gentleman who had it in a barn in Albany, NY for 30 years!


First time in natural light! Filler only on the canvas. Outwales are being varnished for installation after final paint.
IMG_3685.jpeg
1st primer
IMG_3689.jpeg
2nd & 3rd primerIMG_3700.jpeg
1st color coat tonight:
IMG_3713.jpeg

Last step following final paint; drill, countersink, and install brass stem bands.
 
Thanks for initiating and continuing this interesting and well-photographed thread, Pat. By the way, how is your physical recovery from your fall progressing?
 
Thanks Glenn for remembering and asking about my recovery. I am largely recovered and now caring for my wife who hasn't been well for some time. It limits both my working career, but that's OK - I just celebrated my 50th year self employed in the residential building business- so it's time to slow down anyway- and my canoe time.

I am finding it difficult to find time to paddle much because of her care, but I do find time to work out in the barn when time and climate allow! Somehow these canoes continue to find me, and I now have 13 in the barn. I gotta get this one out the door so I'm down to a dozen; 13 is an unlucky number!:oops:
 
Well, the canoe is done.... and gone! In the accompanying picture the 50#er is the one on the left. The other is the Chestnut Bobs Special I restored a couple of years ago. It went to a fellow in Buffalo.

IMG_3768.jpeg
And, a few more pictures out in daylight.
IMG_3776.jpegIMG_3786.jpegIMG_3784.jpeg
On the truck headed for Westchester County, NY.
IMG_3799.jpeg
And in her new home, with the owners.
IMG_3803.jpeg

This restoration really tested me. She fought me every step the way! Within a day, the next project (also an Old Town 50#er) resumes. I had replaced ALL the rib tips, and both stems repaired last Fall. She'll be 100 next summer when she makes her next splash, hopefully at the WCHA Assembly. Every plank is being removed and cleaned with heat and scraper, each rib scraped and cleaned, then planks are re-installed. It's a ton of hot work but the only way to remove 99 years of paint, dirt, varnish, and debris caught between ribs and planks.
IMG_3809.jpegIMG_3852.jpeg
 
Nicely done, those 50lbers are nice looking canoes, you really brought it back to life.
I have never heard of removing planks, clean and sanding, then replacing them unless when replacing ribs.
Do you do only one plank at a time as in remove, clean, then replace before you go to the next plank or maybe do a section of the hull at a time? Do you try and use the same nail holes and is saving every plank a priority?
That is a ton of work, especially clinching that many tacks with a clinching iron. I admire your skill and determination, that will be a truly restored canoe when finished.
Please continue to share your progress.
 
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