Wood Canoe Rebuild

My brother Bob had an old wood/fabric canoe stored in his barn in Wisconsin for years.  Every time I visited - usually once a year for our annual 4th of July party - I would go in the barn and look at that canoe.  What a sorry sight I thought.  These boats were once very popular at private cabins and resorts in the north woods, before the advent of fiberglass and other modern materials.  Their graceful lines formed by cedar ribs and planks have always impressed me in both form and function.  The design was invented by a fellow named Stephenson around the late 1800's.  Now, except for a few that are lucky enough to be restored by a handful of dedicated artisans, they sit derelict, abandoned and unappreciated.




Out of the barn and into the sunlight - ready to travel.

 All year long since the day I left the 4th of July party last year, I thought about that canoe.  Who was the builder?  How old is it?  Could it be rebuilt?  There must have been a hundred small factories in the U.S. and Canada building them up until the late '70s using the Stephenson disign.   The 20 or so larger factories usually had something unique about them to distinguish their brand from others - even after nameplates and labels had worn off or were left off in the repair/rebuild process.  It could be the shape of the decks, the seats, the inner stem strips, the layout of the planking - something that a trained eye could look at and identify the canoe builder in an instant.




US 50 along the Pony Express Trail near Austin, Nevada



I have another wood/fabric canoe that I bought brand new in 1970.  It's an Old Town Otca 16.  Old Town is one of the few canoe builders that has survived from the early days.  They built their first canoe in 1901, and the Otca was  introduced in 1908.  In fact, one can still purchase a wood/fabric Old Town Canoe made to order.  Any of the three models they make will set you back between 7 and 8 thousand dollars! 

I made up my mind to bring the barn canoe back to California and attempt to rebuild it.  I asked my brother Bob if I could take it and he said heck, I could have it because it would probably just sit there in the barn for another 30 years.




NV/CA 88 into California on the Kit Carson Route



At the 4th of July party this year, we dragged the thing out of the barn and dusted off the cobwebs.  I got a good look at it in the sunlight, and tried to find some identification or number stamped on it.  Nothing found, but I could plainly see that it was factory-built.  We took a tape and measured the length - 18 feet, and depth - 13, 1/2 inches.  With a round bottom and slender beam of only 36, 1/2 inches, this was a boat built for speed.

Then I noticed the decks.  Something was vaguely familiar about the decks, but I dismissed the thought after noticing the  weird narrow capped gunwale, and I never gave the decks a second thought.  There were numerous canoe builders in Wisconsin over the years, and I figured this must have been the product of one of them.



Home and intact in Placerville CA

 The hull was fiberglassed, and the interior was painted.  I thought about the work that would be involved in stripping the fiberglass and all that paint!  I tapped around on the wood, but found amazingly little rot.  The tips of the stem upsweeps, and one of the gunwales - that was it.  It wasn't until I got the fiberglass stripped that I noticed the three big holes in the hull.

To be continued...

________________________________________________________________

August 20, 2011

Work continues on the mystery canoe rebuild.  I identified the decks as an Old Town design dating back to the beginning of the company in 1901, http://dragonflycanoe.com/canoes/.  Once I got the paint stripped from the inside, I noticed to my delight that it had a serial number stamped on both inner stem strips!



Stripping the fiberglass

 
So I contacted the Old Town Canoe company, and found they have all their build records from day one.  Old Town sent me the build record for the serial number of my boat, but it does not match my specs.

  After I stripped the paint from the  decks and gunwales, I found them to be mahogany.  That was a premium grade of trim in the early days, and I don't think Old Town offered it.



Stripping the inside of paint and varnish

 I joined the Wood Canoe Heritage Association, http://www.wcha.org/ and have enlisted their expertise in identifying this canoe.  They told me that Carleton Canoe company was bought out by Old Town in the early 1900s, and had similarly shaped decks, but offered a higher grade of trim.  However, the earliest dated Carleton build record was serial number 4358 built in 1911.  My serial number is 4176, so until someone tells me otherwise, I am going to assume that my canoe is a Carleton built before 1911.

Stripping is almost complete.  I have now begun locating materials for the rebuild, and Old Town recommended Island Falls Canoe company in Atkinson, Maine: http://www.islandfallscanoe.com/old-town-canoe-materials-repairs.asp

A steam box is needed in order to steam the white cedar ribs before bending.  I located a huge Western Red Cedar log not far from my home, and will mill it with our Wood Miser mill for both planking for the boat, and lumber for the steam box.

To be continued...
_________________________________________________________________

September 14, 2011




Setting up the Wood Miser mill

 We set up the Wood Miser mill at a neighbors's empty lot.  I milled a couple of pine logs we had from a tree my neighbor felled.  After changing the blade on the saw, I was ready to mill the cedar.  The log we obtained from the forest was over 30 inches in diameter, and about ten feet long.  So big, we had to rip it into quarter sections just to get it moved.






Mill setup complete- ready to cut

 First, I milled some 1/4 inch planking to see if the saw was up to the task of planking that thin.  No problem.  I then milled five 2x8's for the steam box.  The second quarter section will be mostly 3 1/2" wide by 1/4 inch thick, then planed to 5/32" - standard planking size dating back to Stephenson's design.




Pine test log on Wood Miser mill




First cedar log being milled



Final cut of cedar 2x8's



Clear Cedar 3 1/2 X 1/4 inch planking ready for planing to 5/32 inch

 I got 20 choice nine foot planks of 3 1/2 by 1/4 inch from the second cedar quarter log - all clear heartwood.  This is probably enough to replace all the planking on the entire canoe.  Due to the tedious task of removing the original copper tacks however, I will only replace the planking that is damaged.



Roger helping to plane the 3 1/2 inch planks to 5/32 T


Plus, I have at least enough clear heartwood within the other 1/4 inch planks that have not yet been ripped to 3 1/2 width to do another entire canoe.  In fact, with all the cedar I have available, I would not hesitate to take on another wood canoe project in the future.

Next I milled about two dozen 9 foot by 2 1/8 inch rib stock from the Red Cedar sapwood.   I'm going to plane, taper and radius these for potential rib material.  They will be the test pieces for the steambox.  I can buy finished White Cedar ribs from Island Falls Canoe shop if I need them, along with the brass or copper tacks.

To be continued...

_________________________________________________________________

October 31, 2011

Just got back from MacBeath Hardwoods in San Francisco.  There, I bought a 1x7 inch African Mahogany board that is 17 feet long - enough to replace the four gunwale sections!

Some 5/32 Red Cedar planking - top, and 1 in. African Mahogany

Last Friday I called Island Falls Canoe in Atkinson Maine.  They are the subcontractors who now build all the wood/canvas canoes for Old Town.  I ordered a bunch of hardware - brass tacks, screws and stem bands, and some White Cedar rib stock.  I then asked about Mahogany decks.  The gal told me to send one of the old decks to them, and they will duplicate the shape and size - in Mahogany.  This Lady Carleton will be dressed out in Mahogany decks and gunwales, just as the 1910 original.



Cedar Planking - top, 17 feet of 1 inch African Mahogany, and 1 1/2 White Ash - standing



I now have all the lumber for this project, including two pieces of 1-1/2 inch White Ash (cut on my farm in Indiana) from Dave for the thwarts and yokes to match the seat frames, Western Red Cedar for the planking and White Cedar for the ribs.

The damaged planking will be replaced first.  Then the inner gunwale will be shaped and bent, and clamped in position to support the ribs that will be replaced.  This project will likely take me through this fall and winter.

To be continued...

_____________________________________________________________

November 9, 2011

I received my hardware from Island Falls Canoe in Maine.  What's interesting is the new hardware looks exactly like the original 1910 hardware that I removed, only the materials are different.  The original tacks were 11/16ths Copper, and screws removed from the gunwales were brass.  The new tacks are brass, and the screws are bronze.

Original hardware is on the left; new hardware is on the right

November 18, 2011.

I received the new Mahogany decks today, and they look great with a graceful curve.  I will next rip a pair of 7/8" inner gunwales from the 17 foot Mahogany board, then bend and shape them to fit around the decks.



New Decks from Island Falls Canoe in Maine perfectly matching the old ones.



To be continued...

_______________________________________________________________