I posted this on another thread but this worked so well I will devote a full description. Subject is a hundred year old (closed gunnel) 16 ft UFO. Canoe had a hard life. Over 30 rock damage points to planking. Gunnel was broken and last fix was Fiberglasing and instead of pulling gunnels into shape they just made a longer thwart. I started by stripping interior and fixing all the various breaks. Approaching the end of my repair work I realized the gunnels end to end were about 1 5/8" out of even. I chose to try and fix it. I built these stocks to fit at the first rib from the end. Just scrap pine flooring. Sheet rock screws hold stocks together. Note the inlet at the bottom for the stem piece. Outside the canoe ends are gripped by the above jigs/stocks and the one, either end, is fastened in place, again with 1 x 4 scrap, and the deck is set level. That is a 12 ft 2 x 12 on the ground. Now at the opposite end a single screw is put into the plank at bottom and into the bottom of one brace. The yellow level is set on the loose gunnel, (level supported to not be canted) and I pull the canoe into level or just about an estimated 1/8" past. Both braces are fastened to the plank at this end. Now that the canoe is straight, I wet it down thoroughly. It has been stripped and takes water easily. I even ran the lawn sprinkler for 30 minutes. Leaving it over night, in the morning I ran the lawn sprinkler again and even boiled water to wet and heat the hull. Meanwhile, I fixed a level set of saw horses in the shop. It had been in wet stocks for about 20 hours in 65 to 75 degree F. weather. When I loosen the stocks there was no movement. The canoe had taken a new set. Moving it into the shop to dry I fastened it to my level saw horses and "tweaked it a little with shims so the forward and rear thwarts were level. With clamps, I fastened it to dry overnight with fans at both ends. In the morning I had a dry canoe and released the clamps. The twist is gone and I am quite satisfied. Note please, this looks like a Peterborough canoe. It has the narrow ribs of the Peterborough and perhaps that made the difference. Someone can try a wide plank canoe and tell us all.
