Howie
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
I'm sure some of you will think I've gone over to the dark side, but I decided to try using Dacron on the 13' Tremblay I picked up late last year. And I have to say I like the results so far.
As some of you might know, Tremblay's were covered in Verolite, which is/was a PVC-impregnated canvas. This stuff was quite a bit lighter in weight than traditional filled canvas - the canoe weighed 50# when I got it - but unfortunately it prematurely developed cracks, which allowed water to seep in, which promoted rot on the planking. Happily my canoe was (I was told) only used a few times then stored in an enclosed area for 30+ years, so although the Verolite had a ton of cracks there was zero wood rot. I wanted a very light weight canoe, so this Tremblay fit the bill. But given the problem with Verolite I figured I'd give Dacron a try to see if I could come close to the canoe's 50# weight.
I used 3.7oz Dacron. It's super thin - about 0.005" (vs ~0.028" for the #12 canvas I normally use), so there's no hiding imperfections in the hull or proud tack heads. I found the Dacron to be extremely strong - you can't rip it by hand, and rips don't propagate. I closely followed instructions provided by Worth Gretter in his write-up APPLYING DACRON TO A CANOE.
And I very much like the results: the canoe now weighs all of 45#. Looking over my notes I see I restored a 13' Old Town '50 Pounder' with #12 canvas a while back, and it weighed 65#. 20#. That's a 30% reduction in weight. And I don't think anybody could tell that the canoe isn't covered with canvas just by looking at (but remember, this canoe's hull was in pristine shape when I got it).
O - sharp eyes may note that I added a keel to the canoe. For obvious reasons.
Some notes:
* If you decide to use Dacron be sure you get the heat-shrinkable type and not 'sail-cloth'.
* I've been warned that paint may not stick well to Dacron, so I used Kilz Adhesion Interior Exterior Primer hoping it'd stick. It sure seemed to work. Time will tell...
* And apparently the UV in sunlight degrades Dacron, so some folks recommend using Rustoleum paint because it contains aluminum flakes. I didn't - I just used up whatever paint I had on hand as I'll be keeping the canoe stored in my garage.
* The stuff I used is extremely thin (~.005" vs ~.028" for #12 Duck) so any imperfections in the canoe's hull surface or proud tacks will be quite visible.
* And you have to be careful when sanding the primer and paint 'cause you don't want to damage the fibers. I hand-sanded with 250 & 400 grit.
* You have to be very careful not to exceed to exceed 375degF when shrinking the Dacron, else bad things will happen!
* I used heat activated tape to hold the Dacron in place prior to shrinking. But I also used stainless staples. I figure why not...
Here are some pics showing the wrinkles in the Dacron before I smoothed them out with a common cloths iron, and after.
As some of you might know, Tremblay's were covered in Verolite, which is/was a PVC-impregnated canvas. This stuff was quite a bit lighter in weight than traditional filled canvas - the canoe weighed 50# when I got it - but unfortunately it prematurely developed cracks, which allowed water to seep in, which promoted rot on the planking. Happily my canoe was (I was told) only used a few times then stored in an enclosed area for 30+ years, so although the Verolite had a ton of cracks there was zero wood rot. I wanted a very light weight canoe, so this Tremblay fit the bill. But given the problem with Verolite I figured I'd give Dacron a try to see if I could come close to the canoe's 50# weight.
I used 3.7oz Dacron. It's super thin - about 0.005" (vs ~0.028" for the #12 canvas I normally use), so there's no hiding imperfections in the hull or proud tack heads. I found the Dacron to be extremely strong - you can't rip it by hand, and rips don't propagate. I closely followed instructions provided by Worth Gretter in his write-up APPLYING DACRON TO A CANOE.
And I very much like the results: the canoe now weighs all of 45#. Looking over my notes I see I restored a 13' Old Town '50 Pounder' with #12 canvas a while back, and it weighed 65#. 20#. That's a 30% reduction in weight. And I don't think anybody could tell that the canoe isn't covered with canvas just by looking at (but remember, this canoe's hull was in pristine shape when I got it).
O - sharp eyes may note that I added a keel to the canoe. For obvious reasons.
Some notes:
* If you decide to use Dacron be sure you get the heat-shrinkable type and not 'sail-cloth'.
* I've been warned that paint may not stick well to Dacron, so I used Kilz Adhesion Interior Exterior Primer hoping it'd stick. It sure seemed to work. Time will tell...
* And apparently the UV in sunlight degrades Dacron, so some folks recommend using Rustoleum paint because it contains aluminum flakes. I didn't - I just used up whatever paint I had on hand as I'll be keeping the canoe stored in my garage.
* The stuff I used is extremely thin (~.005" vs ~.028" for #12 Duck) so any imperfections in the canoe's hull surface or proud tacks will be quite visible.
* And you have to be careful when sanding the primer and paint 'cause you don't want to damage the fibers. I hand-sanded with 250 & 400 grit.
* You have to be very careful not to exceed to exceed 375degF when shrinking the Dacron, else bad things will happen!
* I used heat activated tape to hold the Dacron in place prior to shrinking. But I also used stainless staples. I figure why not...
Here are some pics showing the wrinkles in the Dacron before I smoothed them out with a common cloths iron, and after.
