Gunwale Repair

[GrandLakerMitch]

I recently had a 70's vintage 17' Chestnut Prospector reconditioned. The canoe had spent a few winters upside down outdoors and was in desperate need of attention. It required new canvas/paint, outwales and a few new ribs all of which were done beautifully. However I have question regarding the way in which the inwales were mended at the deck.

As you can see in the attached photo they were scarphed (sp?) into the original inwale. Was this done simply to preserve a majority of the original inwale? Is this a common practice and does it appear that the job is well done?

Also, I dont know much about the canoe itself other than that it is a Chestnut Prosepctor from the original decal (which went missing during the reconditioning project). But I continue to see "heart-shaped" decks on similar Chestnuts throughout the forums. Was this replaced at one point? Any info would be great. Thanks!

MITCH

 

[JPembleton]

Looks like the original deck. Most of the Chestnuts I have seen have the same deck.

Here is a shot of the deck on the Chum I am working on.... it is identical in size to the deck of the 18' prospector I worked on last year.



I think the repair job on the inwales is pretty common for a simple fix but others may offer a better opinion if it is aceptable or not.

Jamie

 

[GrandLakerMitch]

thanks

Hey Jamie thanks for the info. I'm curious to find out what some other member's thoughts are on the commonality of the repair job. I'm certainly fine with it as long as it is the best for the longevity of the canoe.

I had it done at Great Spirit Canoe in Oromocto. You're probably familiar with them being from Fredericton. They did a beautiful job and I am very pleased.

So have you been re-pairing canoes for long? I have a cottage on Magaguadavic Lake outside of Macadam. Maybe I'll look you up for future services if they're "for sale". haha, thanks for the post!

MITCH

 

[JPembleton]

I had it done at Great Spirit Canoe in Oromocto. You're probably familiar with them being from Fredericton.

So have you been re-pairing canoes for long?

Maybe I'll look you up for future services if they're "for sale". haha, thanks for the post!

MITCH

I like the guys down at Great spirit... Steve is a wealth of information and has tolerated me poking around his shop more than a few time while i've been looking for supplies.


I've bought and sold a few canoes in the past few years. The 15' Chum I'm working on now is only the second canoe I "worked" on.

Stop on by anytime

Jamie

 

[Kathryn Klos]

heart shaped decks on Chestnuts

From what I've read here and elsewhere, the first Chestnuts were modeled after the BN Morris and had heart-shaped decks. These early Chestnuts looked very much like a Morris. I believe the change in deck-shape happened after a fire destroyed the Chestnut factory in 1921.

There's some good information about Chestnuts on Dan's site... www.dragonfly.com/id/

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Scarfing in new rail tips is fairly common when the rest of the rail is in good condition.

I prefer a longer scarf, in the range of 5-6 to 1 long for strength (this one looks closer to 1 to 1) and I also prefer to color and grain match the wood, so that the scarf and new wood doesn't stick out. (and in fact, I save old rails for use as raw material for scarfs.)

Dan

 

[Andy Hutyera]

I tend to agree with Dan. Most scarfs are much longer. This is done to make the joint as strong as possible. I've seen Chestnuts from the factory with scarfed gunwales. They are just as strong as one piece gunwales. However in this case, since the inwales are fastened to the deck I don't think you need to be concerned that the scarf is only about 1:1. The deck likely provides sufficient support to the existing inwale. Trying to make a longer scarf here was probably not necessary and might likely have been counterproductive. It would have been nice however to try to match up the woods better so it doesn't stand out so much.

 

[davelanthier]

A very common repair.