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1928 Old Town "HW" 16'

Hi All -

I finally made some significant progress on restoring this old canoe lately. Until I read back through this thread, looking at all the incremental steps with me learning something new or building a jig for each one, I lost track of how far I've come with this project. After a bit of sanding and comparing the old ribs to new, I decided to stain all the new ribs except for the 2 red cedar ribs, which are pretty close in color to the aged white cedar ribs. Why did I use red cedar? I had some nice air dried stuff that I thought would work well and it did. Even with all the tape, there was a little bleed of stain onto the planking, but I think I'm the only one who will notice. All that taping was a pain in the lower back.

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Here's the hull after oiling. Lots of new planking, at least half the boat, and it probably could have used some more in places.

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Here's a photo of the inside with 2 coats of varnish and new outwales installed. I was surprised and pleased at how close I got the new ribs to look like the old. The only difference is the dents and dark spots on the old ribs. The white cedar seemed to take the stain evenly. Of course I ended up finding a couple of more ribs that could have been replaced or at least repaired from the back. They weren't broken all the way through, just show a partial surface crack on the inside. These were invisible until I put that first coat of varnish on. Those repairs are for somebody else in 20 or 30 years when the canoe needs a new canvas.

A couple of the planks are way off in color, I should have chosen more carefully from what I made to get a better match. I steam bent the new outwales and shaped the profile on the boat with a plane, spokeshave and sandpaper.

Those Old Town outwales are a pain to get close to the originals. It would have been easier to use the router to match the profile and then bend the ends, but I was afraid the rails would twist if they were already rounded. Anyway, I learned a lot making them.

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Another inside shot.

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I repaired the rotted thwart ends with new wood. These will be hidden under the gunwales.

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I decided to make some new seats instead of using the few parts I had of the originals. It wasn't difficult to match the originals. Now, ready for canvas

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OK, bear with me for a few more pictures. I stretched the canvas 2 days ago.

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Canvas went on without a hitch. Getting the cut right on the stems was a little tricky, but I think it should all hold. This was probably the most enjoyable part of the restoration so far. Steam bending ribs is a close second.

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And yesterday the filler. It all went on well, but I was surprised how much elbow grease it took to get that stuff on the canvas. The color is not by design, just some left over rustoleum in red and gray. Of course I went out there a couple hours later and tried to smooth it out some more, a little too much in 2 spots, pulling some of the filler out of the canvas weave. I had to mix a mini batch of filler to re-do those spots which I hope will be OK in the long run. They looked OK this morning.

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OK, Now the canoe gets to sit out of the way for a month or so.

Mark
 
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That looks like a nice canvas job, those stems can be very stressful but rewarding also when all is said and done. My friend Bob and I have worked together on a few wood canvas canoes and he is very good at cutting the canvas in the right places when it comes to the stems.
The canoe looks good after the filler was applied, now the wait till it drys, 30-40 days?
I like your horses with the height adjusters, good idea.
 
I'm finally putting this project to bed. Of course I waited until freeze up to finish, so the Old Town most likely won't see the water 'til spring. All the remaining things like caning the seats, installing stem bands etc. went well. The paint was going well until I decided to "tip off" the final coat, which ended up leaving terrible streaks all over the whole boat. My painting skills aren't quite up to snuff for something like this. I want to get it out on the water before I sand and try to paint it again. I have a new deck decal that needs to go on too. Even after all this work I can't imagine I'll keep the canoe. I like to use boats hard and I really don't have the room to spare in the garage to store a canoe that wouldn't get much use. I'll post some pics of the maiden voyage in the spring.

Mark

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Gorgeous.. Never mind at a campsite.. You both sure need water.. As far as the tipping boo boos it might pay to post on the WCHA forums. I am no paint expert as I am of the blob and swish school ( no tipping) but from what I read some paints need some special treatment to avoid streaky or blobby.
 
Very nice, you did a nice job with the interior, the new ribs match nicely and I like the finish, not to glossy, looks like a real user. Your planking came out nicely too, looks real smooth. Congratulations on such a good looking restoration.
 
Very nice job, but they are like potato chips. You can't have just one!!!

Congrats on a nice rebuild.

Fitz
 
very nice work...and now you know why paying someone to rebuild them is so expensive. A lot of them get restored just like this one, by a dedicated owner who does it all themselves over a very long time.
I will be waiting for the smiling face when you test paddle this one. I dare you to try to sell it...lol.

Christy
 
Just a few photos to close out this thread. Yesterday I was able to meet the fellow who owned the canoe from 1962 to 2016 at a local pond for its maiden voyage. Although he didn't want to go for a paddle in the gusting wind and rain squalls, my friend Norm was game. The canoe has a bit of a rounded bottom, so I was prepared for a lively ride, but it didn't take long to get used to it. The boat paddles wonderfully and there were no leaks. Before we shoved off my friend Norm joked about the canvas filler bubbling off like an alka-seltzer tablet, but that didn't happen. We heard some good stories about the old canoe and the fellow was happy to see it as good as new. I had never really paddled a wood canvas canoe before, but I do like how quiet the boat is when you hit the gunwale with the paddle. The gentle creaking noise of the wood as the canoe flexes is very nice.


Here's a pic he sent of the canoe in 1965 on his dads 1955 ford. It still had canvas on it in this photo.

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That's him on the left holding the same paddle he has in the 1963 photo early in this thread.

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Battling a headwind on the pond.

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A little tippy to start out, but we quickly got used to it.

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Nice job, looks great on the water. Thanks for sharing your excellent work here, much appreciated. You live in a beautiful area of the country, looking forward to more pics of the canoe with those mountains in the background.
 
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