16' Old Town Yankee, 1939

[Howie]

Just completed this 16' 1939 Old Town Yankee. Only weighs 68#! Mostly original with just some repairs on the gunnels, planking, and stems.

 

[pklonowski]

Looks great, Howie!

 

[Treewater]

Beautiful! Interesting seats. Interesting caning pattern. Is that original?

 

[Howie]

Thanks. The seats (wood) are the original birch, the removable seat backs are mine.
As to the caning...

I call the weave the 'Old Town pattern' but I've modified it a bit. It's not the octagonal pattern you typically see on chairs - it's less octagonal in appearance. And actually, it's a bit easier to weave as the horizontal & vertical strands are not interwoven - it's the diagonal strands that lock the pattern together.
I've found differences in how Old Town did the weaving. I weave the diagonals in pairs just like the horizontal & vertical; but I've seen some Old Towns with just one left & right diagonal. So mine have 6 strands per hole, not counting the edging strand, where some Old Towns have just 4. Also I use 2.75mm cane - I believe Old Town used 2.5mm. Consequently I have to widen the seat holes to 1/4". I also take pains to try and continue the pattern all the way to the wood - All Old Town seats I've seen do a very skimpy job in this area IMHO. I remember Benson saying that the seats were jobbed out to people working at home, so I guess you'd expect some differences and shortcuts. Anyway, this means that my seats should appear a little 'denser' and be stronger than the original as there's more cane per square inch.

 

[Treewater]

Thanks, that explains it. I agree, some Old Town, and all canoe makes I guess, get thin on the caning. Obviously yours will last. Is there a web site for your pattern? I do mine from the cane suppliers pattern. It's okay but yours is better.

 

[Howie]

I don't know of a web site. I just looked at an old seat done the way I like it & figured it out.

 

[Treewater]

Good show.