Steve Ambrose
Nut in a Canoe
Must be a war-years build. First time I've seen steel diamond-head bolts!
138689 16
- Thread starter Steve Ambrose
- Start date
The Old Town canoe with serial number 138689 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, HW (heavy water) model with open spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between October, 1943 and January, 1944. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on April 24th, 1944 to Shreveport, Louisiana. A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.
This scan and several hundred thousand others were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Have fun with the steel fastenings,
Benson
This scan and several hundred thousand others were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Have fun with the steel fastenings,
Benson
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Steve Ambrose
Nut in a Canoe
Thanks Benson. That appears to be the correct boat.
How common were the steel diamond-head bolts? Even the tacks are steel but they are oval head canoe tacks judging by a few I pulled along the rails. This is the first time I've come across these so I'm just wondering. The stem bands were flat steel although they may not have been original since they were installed after the boat was glassed. Luckily it was an older glass job and it came off rather easy.
How common were the steel diamond-head bolts? Even the tacks are steel but they are oval head canoe tacks judging by a few I pulled along the rails. This is the first time I've come across these so I'm just wondering. The stem bands were flat steel although they may not have been original since they were installed after the boat was glassed. Luckily it was an older glass job and it came off rather easy.
These are not common but I don't know of any research that has been done to determine exactly when they started and stopped using them. My guess would be during 1943 and 1944. A quick search of these forums will find references to several other similar canoes. I suspect that using brass tacks on the replacement ribs may not be obvious.
A canoe like this was sent back to the factory for repairs in the 1970s and they replaced the steel diamond headed bolts with brass ones as part of the process. The owner was upset by this change so they went digging through an old storage room to find some original steel diamond headed bolts to put back on.
Benson
