Rotti123's Chestnut restore main thread. (lots of photos)

Why not cane the seat your self? It's easy and shouldn't take more than an evening to do a seat. I get my supplies from these guys http://www.franksupply.com/ but there are lots of good suppliers out there. Just type "caning supplies" into your browser.

There are lots of folks here (including myself) that can help you out with information if you need.
 
BTW the cane pattern on that seat does look like the six-stage weave pattern used by Chestnut....and others. Maybe another feather in the Chestnut camp.
 
Well if it's doable I should give it a try. It just looks intimidating at first glance.
 
Rotti -Chestnut used Robertson screws for the outwales and keel. Slotted screws were used on the brass stem bands. Unlike other manufactures they usually used 4 carriage bolts rather than 2 for the center thwart. Just finished a 16' cruiser guide special. See pictures. Note the close ribs as compared to yours. If you can restore the rest of the canoe you can cane the seat. I would do both as the other one will probably go soon too. That's the way it seems to happen. The bolts at each end are correct for this Chestnut model. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
 

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Canerodz said:
What are the bolts that hold the thwarts and seats made of, and do they have square nuts or hex?

I think they are steel. The bolts are seized in place prety good. Everything else I took off like the screws for the outwalls were brass and came out no problem. I also think the bolts have hex nuts. I'd have to double check but I'm prety sure.
 
davelanthier said:
Rotti -Chestnut used Robertson screws for the outwales and keel. Slotted screws were used on the brass stem bands. Unlike other manufactures they usually used 4 carriage bolts rather than 2 for the center thwart. Just finished a 16' cruiser guide special. See pictures. Note the close ribs as compared to yours. If you can restore the rest of the canoe you can cane the seat. I would do both as the other one will probably go soon too. That's the way it seems to happen. The bolts at each end are correct for this Chestnut model. Hope this helps. Enjoy!

Very nice canoe. If mine turns out half as nice I'll be happy. Those ribs are really close. Other than that it looks a lot like mine. So closer ribs would mean a stronger boat and a little more wight I suppose. And yes I think I will have a go at the seats myself and I may as well do both. Thats a good idea. Hopefully I will make some progress on the canoe this week and I'll post more pics.
 
Dave what is that color? Sea foam green maybe? It would be a good color for a fishing boat. Would look like the sky from below.
 
The only color that this model was available in was what Chestnut called "gray". It's really a a pea soup green and was a favorite color for many Chestnut purchasers. Wouldn't be my first choice. The WCHA home page shows a Chestnut in the same color.
 

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Did you replace the entire inwale?

Hey this is Jeff from Tennessee...did you replace the entire inwale or do a scarf joint and replace just the dry-rot and brken inwales? Also, did you or are you going to bend the inwale or leave it flat?
 
I just replaced the last three feet or so on each side. I did a scarf joint. Not as long as I would have liked. Probably around 6 to 1. I really don't know how people manage to do a really long scarf joint. (my wood working skills are very limited)
I didn't bend them but they seem to have taken the shape of the old ones prety well.
I'll be posting some more photos soon.
 
Well my canoe was in peril today and not just from my terrible wood working skills. We had a thunderstorm blow through and the winds knocked several trees down including this one.

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When I looked out the window of my house and saw this I thought she was a gonner for sure. Turns out just one branch was pressing down heavily on the canoe but it did no damage.
The project continues after some cleanup.
 
Whew! That was close.

One of my two 16' Greenwood Prospectors, awaiting restoration, suffered a simular fate except that the tree connected. Lucky for my heart it happened before I got it. It's got a half dozen or so broken ribs, two broken thwarts and maybe 6-8 feet of planking needs replacing. Plus canvas, varnish and paint of course. All in all not too bad. Just have to get around to it.

I've been enjoying this thread and all the photos so I'm very glad you and your boat didn't suffer a serious set back.
 
Me too!

I'm new to this forum, and new to wood and canvas canoes (the restoration and construction of them at least), and my wife and I restoring a chestnut right now too, so I just had to reply. Our canoe (We can call it that now. It looked more like kindling to us when we first got it) took a fateful flight from a car at 60 mph (needless to say canoes aren't designed for flight) and it's been sitting in my uncles garage for the past 30 years as a busted heap. It's our first canoe restoration and it's been quite a learning process, which has caused a few headaches and sleepless nights, but for the most part has been really rewarding and enjoyable. Seeing your pictures and questions makes us feel like we've got a partner out there, and that maybe we're not so crazy for tackling this project with no experience in the restoration of wooden canoes. Here are a few pictures of our project (if I can figure out how to post them). I hope I'm not stepping on any toes by posting pictures of my boat on your thread. I just wanted you to know that somebody else out there is sharing in your journey.

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Very cool. It looks like you did a great job. Thanks for posting. I'm hoping to get back to work on mine this week.
 
Wonderful job... but we need to see it on the water, too.

And isn't it interesting how helpful a cat can be?

Kathy
 
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