1938 Old Town 50# restoration

[patrick corry]

See original post on this canoe:

Thread 'Old Town 50# build record'

Jun 11, 2025

I recently acquired my first Old Town 50# canoe; actually two of them but more on that later. In the notes on the build record there is a reference to rubber bumpers around stem and rails. I have not seen this note before. Anyone know about this?

• patrick corry
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Wood and Canvas

I have been assessing the canoe, stabilizing the shape with some temporary battens in preparation for steam bending approximately 17 new ribs.

Rib stock is prepared and the steam rig updated with a new burner; I tried the electric wallpaper steamer unit but was disappointed with the results. Besides, it's not nearly as exciting as a loud, open flame for heating several gallons of water!

I came to the conclusion that I would remove the inwales as a unit, cutting all the rib tips at the base of the inwale. Most of the rib tips were damaged in some way, so in this way I avoid all the tip repairs while lowering the sheer only .75". The inwales have had several previous repairs with 'new' material scarfed in, numerous screws installed from the inside out, and other maladies such as this hard spot in the sweep of the inwale at one end. Here, looking at the inwale/deck unit upside down, with a white aluminum sheet placed to accentuate the hard spot: I'm unsure as to how to remedy that un-fair curve. I'll try steaming and attaching to a form. The opposite end has a break in the inwale at the back edge of the deck. That I'll fix with a scarfed-in repair. The previous inwale repairs were not done well, but they are sound for the most part and the screw holes in various places will be drilled out and plugged to strengthen potential weak spots. This canoe is not historically significant, and the owner wants simply to return it to the water for his family as a solid, useable canoe without weaknesses. It was originally equipped with thwarts only (now missing) and I will install seats and a center thwart for family use. I have several pressed-in cane seats, but I wonder when Old Town began using them? For the sake of appearance and my own appreciation for the craft, I will likely hand cane the seats.

 

[Benson Gray]

I have several pressed-in cane seats, but I wonder when Old Town began using them?

Hand caned seats were replaced with the pre-woven cane alternative at Old Town as a result of the introduction of minimum wage in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The transition was gradual as they used up old stock so there are some canoes with hand caned seats that shipped well after that date. The oldest original ones I've seen are in a canoe with serial number 128605 from 1940. The link below has pictures and more details.

Benson

Post in thread 'old town seats.'

Jun 8, 2023

When did old town canoe start using pressed in caned seats?

After 1938, see the link below for a previous discussion of this. The oldest original ones I've seen are in a canoe with serial number 128605 from 1940 as shown below. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question,

Benson

Old Town cane seats

I have an Old Town Yankee that needs canvas replacement and restoration. Per build record it was shipped in 1951 (#155168). Seats in it need repair. They have pressed cane. Is this accurate for that era Old Town seat? Should i replace with woven cane? When did Old Town begin using pressed cane...

forums.wcha.org

• Benson Gray

 

[patrick corry]

While working on this canoe I noticed that both stems are coved on the leading edges. I hope the pictures convey this. I haven't seen this before, though my experience is limited. I presume it may be a way of avoiding the built-up layer of canvas overlap at the stem. In spite of other failings, this is the first canoe that doesn't have stem tip rot! So, that's a plus!

 

[Dan Miller]

It's hard to tell without a ruler for reference, but those stems look fairly wide, and there is evidence of screw holes. I wonder if it had outside stems, even though they are not listed on the BR.

 

[Worth Gretter]

Do you think the stems were coved to allow easier attachment of the rubber bumpers?
If you have any pieces of the outwales, I wonder if they got the same treatment?

 

[Michael Grace]

I've also seen this stem treatment on Old Towns, but cannot remember the details - maybe on canoes with outside stems as Dan suggested. This would allow overlapping canvas and tacks to still provide a flat surface for attachment of the outside stem.

 

[MGC]

I carved out a pair of outside stems I made recently to match the damaged original ones.
As is noted, the carve out gives relief for the canvas fold, tacks and bedding compound.
Given a choice of digging out material from the stem, or from outside stems, I think I prefer to see it done on the outside stems.
I dislike the idea of removing wood from the stems.
The outside stems are a more easily replaceable part.

 

[Gil Cramer]

The stems look standard for Old Town .

 

[Gil Cramer]

I should have added " except for very early models".

 

[patrick corry]

You gents are wicked smart! Working on two 50# at the same time, I had forgotten that this one- as noted on the build sheet- had outside stems. Pictured are the stems; slightly coved inside the arc until the hull runs flat at the base of the stems.

Here the coved portion of the stem runs out to flat where I'm pointing.

Width of the stem at the top:

Outside stems"

Width at base:

Width at top:

I'm scarfing in a repair piece which joins the inwale to the rear deck which requires a sweep up to the deck plane, so the Spruce repair piece with scarf cut and deck joint angle already cut is steam bent here. I didn't need the full arc of the form (from a previous project) so the bend shown should be enough.

 

[Todd F]

Appreciate the detailed pics Patrick.

 

[patrick corry]

Inwale repairs continue...

Stern starboard repair rough shaped and glued in place on the inwale side; once fully shaped and sanded the other end will be screwed into the deck.

Looking over the entire inwale/deck assembly I discovered another fault at the bow/starboard side. The inwale is cracked through above the screw at the rear of the deck: only the wood fibers below the screw were intact.

New repair scarfed and glued in. It was made from the scrap left over from the previous repair and therefore had the correct upsweep. Just my luck- there was no advance planning there!

The final inwale repair (aside from drilling/pegging the unwanted old screw holes) will be straightening the 'unfair' sweep of the bow/port inwale pictured earlier.

 

[patrick corry]

Inwale scarfs complete. I have found this Japanese ryoba saw very handy for working on canoes. Very thin kerf and pull rather than push cutting seems to work better on hard to hold down parts.

Both end repairs:

 

[Todd F]

Nice!

 

[patrick corry]

I give up... or is it give in? I successfully steamed the irregular shape out of the inwale, then while stripping and sanding the inwale set I discovered yet two more significant faults! There are now so many repairs, and there would be still more to come in re-positioning thwarts and seat frames, that I've decided these inwales are too far gone. Chris Pearson, I've given it my best effort despite your impressive examples of scarfed inwale repair, and am now going to make entirely new inwales and start over! More to come...

 

[dtdcanoes]

I had to learn earlier than later: " he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day ! "
Dave

 

[Dan Miller]

I've given it my best effort despite your impressive examples of scarfed inwale repair, and am now going to make entirely new inwales and start over! More to come...

No shame in that.

 

[patrick corry]

A milestone has been reached! New inwales are complete after fighting them all the way! I have done this before, though I can count the number of times on one hand. Lessons learned each time. Today was like when you're on that tortuous portage and you finally sight the lake through the trees and think, "I know I can make it these last 50 yards without putting the canoe down!". You sit down, admire the lake, rinse the mud off shoes and pant legs, have a snack & drink while savoring the completion of a difficult task.

Now that she's got shape and a degree of rigidity, I can flip her over and begin steaming replacement ribs. All the bits of pink tape (and more unseen in this photo at the stems) are broken ribs. Someone had a temper tantrum beating this canoe years ago! The cross piece of lumber amidships, temporary keelson, and upright spacer between them restore a bit of round to the hull which without that help, would be flat as a pancake due to all the broken ribs- broken mostly at the bilge as though a tree had dropped across the hull.

 

[patrick corry]

Rib process begun. Just 10 in this phase. Once installed I'll work toward the center being diligent about maintaining the hull shape by not attempting to replace too many at one time-in one place. There are 8 more full ribs to form and install after this initial phase including a couple of very shapely ones under the stem foot at one end. Lastly 3 cant ribs and a couple of rib tips.

 

[Worth Gretter]

Great pix! Thanks!