1938 Old Town 16' Rowing Canoe

E

Ed Moses

LOVES Wooden Canoes
I will begin restoration and re-canvassing of a 1938 OT rowing canoe this winter and need to determine what the length of the oars were for these fine, stable craft. I plan to make them unless some good buys show up on ebay!! Also does anyone know if these boats used 8 weight or heavier canvas (if there is such a critter) ?? I will be rigging a boat trailer with rug covered slides and figured that the heavier canvas will probably hold up better to the wear of loading and off loading on the trailer slides than 10 weight canvas would. Hope to be ready, come spring for some fly fishing out of her. :D :D
 
Ed,

I am making an assumption that you mean the double ended Old Town model that could be rowed or paddled? There were a lot of Old Town models that could be called a rowing canoe. I have attached a specification sheet from the 1938 catalog to help you and discover that OT used 6 oz cloth on this model. Old Town also sold oars in three lengths but gave no specific length to boat recommendation. For that, jump over to this web site and they give a formula for proper fitting:

http//www.shawandtenney.com

If this is your model, I would think that the 6 1/2' oars would be good, given that the model is only 42" wide.

If this is not your boat, please send over the SN or a photo and we can help you identify it.

Thanks for stopping by the WCHA forum and please consider joining the WCHA to help support our services and provide valuable information for restoration and recanvassing.

Regards,

Ric Altfather
 

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Ric,

Many thanx for the information. I knew that folks on this wonderful forum would be a great source of info such as this.You assumed correctly, what I have is the double end rowing canoe. My boat is 44" wide and has seat supports that run continuous for the entire inside length of the canoe supporting all four seats unlike the photo of the double end boat in the 1938 OT catalog you provided where the seat supports are not a continuous piece, just a short strip a bit wider than the seat.

I haven't removed the old, darkened varnish on the stem to be able to reveal the S/N as yet. Will better be able to determine year of manufacture once we have that. Seller said he thought it was a '38 built boat.

6 oz. cloth - must be thick and heavv in physical weight as well as weave. Does anyone know if there any sources for 6 oz. cloth in southern NH/Mass. area? I note that Bill Clements doesn't carry 6 Oz. but Rolin Thurlow has it in Maine. Do you think that I would be OK with the 8 OZ. for my intended use? I would think 8 OZ would lessen the weight of the boat quite a bit,

The heavier weave on the 6 oz. canvas on a 16 footer will probably require well over one gallon of filler to adequately do the job, don't you think.

I've been a WCHA member for 2 years now.
 
Ed,

Thanks for supporting the WCHA through your membership! I saw the 1 post and thought that you were new.

You can get the canvas from a lot of sources but if Rollin has it, go with it. All canvas is not the same and buying from a known builder has a lot of merit. You can also try local art supply houses and make sure you specify grade "A". The boat was built with 6 oz for a reason but in my own opinion, 8 oz maybe OK. Some of the pro's around here may have a different opinion and probably better than mine. To fill a standard 16' canoe requires 1 gallon if you are careful. In most cases, it takes 1 gal and 1 qt to do the job right. Your boat is 18" wider than the average canoe so I don't believe you will get by with 1 gallon...in fact, I would order 2 gallons to be safe. As for weight, you stated that you have a trailer...recanvas the way it was built...not like you have to portage.

The smaller oars may have been for a child or just extra. I don't believe they are suggesting a proper length...that decision is up to you and your boat/body specifications.

Ric
 
Just a point of clarification on canvas weights - 6 oz canvas is not the same as #6 canvas. For a good, quick explanation of the difference between numbered canvas and weights see http://www.sizes.com/materls/duck.htm You'll see that if you order 6 oz canvas you'll be disappointed that you wind up with #13 canvas, which is very light (if such a weight is even manufactured).

A review of the specifications of the Old Town rowboat shows that it was canvassed with #6, not 6 oz canvas. Be sure you order correctly. I usually recanvas with the same weight as originally used. I figure the manufacturer knew what it was doing, and unless I have a really compelling reason to do something different, I stick with the original.

I agree with Ric about the volume of filler to use for this boat. Because this boat is bigger than the typical canoe, you'll need more than a gallon; at least a gallon and a half.

Good luck!
 
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Pat,

Thanx for the canvas terminology clarification. I've printed out your site suggestion for my canoe restoration file. My education continues!!
 
Hey Ed!....What are you gonna do with he rest of them? I was heading down to get one the day you tok them all!...If you have one available, I might still be interested...Thanks
 
Thanks Pat...

pat chapman said:
Just a point of clarification on canvas weights - 6 oz canvas is not the same as #6 canvas. For a good, quick explanation of the difference between numbered canvas and weights see http://www.sizes.com/materls/duck.htm You'll see that if you order 6 oz canvas you'll be disappointed that you wind up with #13 canvas, which is very light (if such a weight is even manufactured).

A review of the specifications of the Old Town rowboat shows that it was canvassed with #6, not 6 oz canvas. Be sure you order correctly. I usually recanvas with the same weight as originally used. I figure the manufacturer knew what it was doing, and unless I have a really compelling reason to do something different, I stick with the original.

I agree with Ric about the volume of filler to use for this boat. Because this boat is bigger than the typical canoe, you'll need more than a gallon; at least a gallon and a half.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the save on the # Vs oz issue. I knew it but didn't convey properly!

Ric
 
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