1947 Old Town canoe

[frank_a]

I hope to start on a restoration of this canoe I've owned for more than two decades this weekend. When I got it, it was poorly covered with fiberglass from maybe the early 70's. It does not seem that the resin soaked into the wood, and if it did, not much. Over the years I slowly removed the fiberglass and now have a fairly decent canoe to renovate, and I believe the time to do it. It's not that I just retired, the Old Town simply moved up on the list.

I hope to pick up some water-based environmentally friendly varnish remover today and start on carefully stripping the interior varnish this weekend. then I need to decide on what I want to cover the interior with. Varnish or polyurethane?

I only have one broken rib that I intend to shoulder, but I'll take that on after the interior is stripped and before I coat it.

I emailed Old Town on Tuesday for a parts list (last one I had was dated 1990), but have not heard back from them as yet.

I've never canvassed a canoe, but believe that will be my major challenge. I'll take it one step at a time.

This is my first post, but I'll certainly keep y'all up to date, and will no doubt be asking lots of questions!

Thanks,

Frank

 

[Dave Osborn]

Frank,
The hull looks great on your canoe!!
In my experience with paint, varnish, and paint/varnish stripper,...you get what you pay for.
I like to use a high grade marine varnish (NOT polyurethane), a high grade marine enamel paint, and the most caustic, expensive stripper.
Short cutting only adds to more work. Most canoe restoration materials except canvas and tacks are available at Jamestown Distributors. Check out their website.
For Old Town parts, contact Island Falls Canoe Co. They are contracted by Old Town to build canoes and make parts.
Lean on the members of this forum. We are here to help.

 

[frank_a]

Thank you Dave, and yes, the hull is in decent shape. I have kept this garaged as long as I've owned it. It was only dragging it out of my pole barn to finish up a small expansion that I decided now is the time. I just sold a travel trailer that occupied a stall, so the Old Town will have it's own place and plenty of room for me to work on it. Also, I have power at the barn.

I recently restored an older fiberglass tunnel hulled speedboat, and am very familiar with Jamestown Distributors, but thanks for the tip. I should have thought of that myself!

There are still bits and pieces of fiberglass to remove, but they should come off easily as I remove pieces of the canoe. I am going to need to learn what all these various things are called, but have some good resources including a book entitled "The Wood & Canvas Canoe" by Stelmok & Thurlow, as well as a reprint of an article by Stelmok entitled "Rebuilding the Wood & Canvas Canoe." Reading these things is fine, but other than that, I have wood working and refinishing experience, but that's about it. Nevertheless I am an old dog who can learn new tricks. I think...

Here's a few more pics.

Take care and enjoy your day.

Frank