A question about the finish used on rail caps on old Old Towns...

[Howie]

Back in September I wrote about a 1906 OT HW I had picked up. It's mostly restored save for painting & attaching the keel, as well as attaching the outwales & and rail caps. Since it's too cold to work on that stuff (I have an unheated garage!) all I can do is prepare.

So I've stripped, sanded, cleaned & whitened the outwales & caps. When I got the canoe they were all painted the same shade of green as was used on the canoe's canvas, so I'm inclined to believe they were painted at the factory back in 1906. Is that true? Were the outwales & caps painted in 1906? or were they varnished? I saw no hint of them having been varnished. I note that the decks were not painted - if someone had painted the outwales & caps sometime after it came from the factory I feel sure they would have painted the decks too.

Anyway, since the decks are nicely figured mahogany, and since there's a lot of dark marks on the outwales & caps I can't seem to sand, clean, bleach away I'm thinking of staining them a walnut or mahogany shade before varnishing. But before I do I figured I'd ask questions...

 

[Benson Gray]

Anything is possible but most early Old Towns that I've seen have had varnished outwales and rail caps. Old Town would occasionally stain various mahogany woods for a better color match on AA grade canoes but this was not common. I would varnish them and not use any stain but it's your canoe so do what you like.

Benson

 

[Howie]

So they varnished them? Interesting... I assume they installed the caps before canvassing and varnished them at the same time as the interior of the canoe. And I guess I never thought on this before - when did they install the outwales? - before or after painting he canvas? My outwales are nailed in place, so I assume they were steam-bent & nailed in place & varnished while installed. No way they would have removed them - too many nails. I wonder: did they paint before or after the outwales were varnished? Or maybe the outwales were installed just before the final painting so any paint scratches could be covered up. Must have been a hell of a lot of masking done.

 

[Benson Gray]

There isn't anyone left alive to ask how they did this and very few original examples available to review. They may have used a jig to bend and varnish the outwales before being installed on the canoe. The best example may be the model canoe that Old Town gave to the Smithsonian Museum in 1907. The picture below shows that this has varnished rails. Good luck with the restoration,

Benson

 

[Howie]

Thanks again Benson. Yeah - wouldn't you love to talk with them to see what they did. Thanks for the pic. I note that the nails used on the outer rails have big heads while I can't see the nails securing the caps. All mine are just 1 1/8" silicone-bronze (?) nails. They look quite fragile - they look like they would bend right over if the hole wasn't pre-drilled. I'm missing a bunch - guess I'll have to use ring nails for the missing ones. Unless some kind person were to provide me with some!

Another question: Did Old Town varnish all sides of the caps & outer rails? or only the visible wood? All the canoes I've restored have been too far gone to tell. I always varnish the whole wood and install after all painting is complete.

 

[mccloud]

Howie & Benson, Since we are on the topic: The 1912 OT closed gunwale canoe that I am working on had obviously been recanvased at least once and painted over the outwales and caps. I found several different types/sizes of nails holding those on. Both outwales and caps were too far gone to save, so I'll be building new. But what kind of nails would Old Town have used for this in 1912. This is the canoe that is copper tack fastened, 20147, as I posted before. Tom McCloud

 

[Benson Gray]

Did Old Town varnish all sides of the caps & outer rails? or only the visible wood?

I don't know what Old Town did originally but I would encourage you to varnish all sides of your caps and rails.​

what kind of nails would Old Town have used for this in 1912.

My guess would be #15 copper nails since that is what Rollin found on a canoe of mine described at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/2780/ that is probably circa 1904. Many of these nails had lost their grip so he replaced them with a larger copper nails but ground the heads down to match the diameter and look of the originals.

Benson

 

[MGC]

Most of the boats from that period have had some repairs done and almost always a canvas. Canvasing requires the removal of the outside rails and caps. Unless the boat was repaired at the factory (records would show that) the hardware used to replace the rails and caps could be almost anything that someone had on hand. I've seen all kinds of strange brass and copper hardware used for repairs.
I would not assume that OT was still using copper tacks in 1912...
It's likely and possible that the 06 had the same hardware but that is also not a certainty. Consider that Morris was using brass pins, not nails for the rail caps. Carleton was also using brass nails.
So, if it were my boat I would probably use nails that match the rest of the boat. If it's copper tacked, use copper nails. If it's brass tacked, used brass nails. Don't use ring nails! The caps and rails should be easy to remove....

WRT order of assembly (Howie), don't over think it. No one would assemble a boat in an order that would add to the work to finish it. Assembling rails before painting would be a PITA. Logically you would canvas, fill, paint and then put the rails on. You could pre-varnish but there is no reason why this couldn't be done entirely on the boat. It's unlikely that the rails were varnished on all sides but it's certainly better practice to do that.
For your boat I would canvas, fill and then install the rails and caps. I would varnish the rails and caps before installing them (all surfaces) and then do a finish coat of varnish (satin of course to knock down the shine) on the boat.

 

[Howie]

Oh yeah Mike, rest assured I'll finish the caps & outwales separately & install as the last step just like I always do. I was just curious how OT did it. I've got all the time in the world but they were running a business, so I was curious about shortcuts they might have taken. Just idle curiosity until the garage warms up enough to start painting the 1906.

BYW, can you imagine something like a mahogany Chris-Craft with a satin finish on the wood? Ugh. Do you paint the canvas with satin too? High gloss is the way to go!

And I see that Jamestown Distributors has 1" #15 copper nails as suggested by Benson. JD's dimensions: 0.072 shank dia & 0.156 head dia vs OT's: 0.065 shank dia & 0.15 head dia. Thanks again Benson. Maybe I can find 'em on eBay...

 

[MGC]

OT's build sheets sort of tell you how they went about it...the cards are all dated and signed as each step is completed...
Coincidentally I actually did finish the decks of a Chris Craft with a satin finish quite a few (42) years ago. I did the hull and interior with high gloss. The owner asked for it to be done that way. It looked fabulous..as an old Chris Craft should...and yes, I do actually paint a low gloss on some hulls....the old ones call for it. You know me, I'm not keen on a 100 plus year old boat looking like it just got detailed by Joey BagoDonuts...

 

[Howie]

Ok, I give up. Let's call it a draw!

 

[JClearwater]

Howie, etal.

When i acquired my Old Town, serial number 1473, built 1903, it had it's original gunwale caps and sidecaps (outwales). They were attached with common nails. I don't recall if they were steel or bronze, but they were definitely not brass dome head escutcheon pins seen on most closed gunwale canoes restored or built now. They were not varnished on the back sides prior to being installed originally. When I restored the canoe I reinstalled the caps using nails in like manner to the original. Attached are a couple pics that sort of show the nails. The canoe is not available presently for additional pictures.

Good luck with your project,
Jim

 

[Howie]

Thank you Jim. Nice looking canoe!