Do you think this stem is made of Ash?

[Mule]

Forgive my wood ignorance. I'm a rookie.

Is it obvious to anyone what kind of wood this stem is? Ash? (The canoe is a Racine.)

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Paul

PS - I attached an overall shot for grins too.

PPS - If anyone knows best source for mahagony inwales and outwales (I'm in northern Illinois), I'd be mighty grateful. Otherwise the hunt begins soon.

 

[Dan Miller]

Racine catalogs specify white oak for stems, so that is probably what your stem is made of. White oak and ash have similar grain patterns, but it is possible to tell them apart with experience.

 

[Mule]

Thanks Dan!

Your answer reminded me to order catalog CD's.

I've been doing too many things at once; reading "The Wood & Canvas Canoe" by Stelmok/Thurlow, demolishing the canoe, and reading these forums. Can't keep track of mental lists of things to do. Grass didn't get cut either, but who cares about that.

With gratitude,
Paul

 

[Dave Osborn]

Paul,
Schmeling Lumber (815-963-6455) in Rockford may have mahogany in long lengths.....I haven't been there for a while and their stock changes. You may also try "The Hardwood Connection" in Sycamore (815-895-8733).
As I mentioned before you may neet to scarf a couple pieces to get the length you need.
Canoebuildermark or Paul Miller do you have a local source in our area?

 

[Mule]

Dave, thanks for the tips!

I am going to call you one of these days.....

I know I could (and probably should) scarf the gunwales. They're mostly messed up only on the ends.

But it just seems so wrong to scarf them. Perhaps I need to stifle purist leanings. I do have a talent for making projects like this infinitely more difficult in and effort to maintain originality.

But if I can make it really really like new without shortcutting too much, I'll be a lot happier with myself. Wood is out there, it must be, I just gotta find it (I hope).

There will be a titanic struggle with myself when it comes time to decide if copper rivets (as original) instead of screws (more sensible) will be used on the gunwales.

Cheers and thanks,
Paul

 

[Dan Miller]

But it just seems so wrong to scarf them. Perhaps I need to stifle purist leanings.

But that depends on what you call pure, I suppose. Some will think a scarf is unacceptable, others will think that by scarfing the ends, you are saving more of the original fabric of the canoe.

 

[Mule]

Dan

I never looked at it that way. Excellent point!

Confused, I will let it simmer for a while. Thanks to all for helping me out.

Regards,
Paul

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

After you've used copper rivets for a while, it's screws that don't seem so sensible. Rivets are stronger, easy to install, easy to tighten if ever needed, easy to remove if ever needed, they never sheer-off during installation and they make smaller perforations in long, expensive and somewhat fragile strips of wood. They lock the pieces of wood together while spreading the strain out over more area with the big head on one side and the rove on the other. The Norwegian ones even look kind of like diamond-headed bolts and can be decorative as well.

I've always wondered why the canoe industry largely ignored rivets and instead went primarily with brass screws - a product that the rest of the wooden boat industry wouldn't even consider using because of their weakness and low resistance to corrosion.

 

[Mule]

Todd,

I take your points. They make good sense.

The only downside I saw from the rivets was that the old rivets were sort of serpentine shaped shafts. So, drilling the heads off was tricky because I could not be real sure where the shaft was under the head. And the drill sometimes drifted off the copper and into the wood. This without any influence of beer, I might add.

I think I'll put her together with new copper rivets just like I took out. I think I'll give her new full length mahogany rails, if I can find some stock of that length.

The planking I took off was flared out at the stems to 5-1/2 inches in width and 9 ft long. Might need to modify the planking pattern if stock that wide can't be found.

I could reuse some of the planks, but haven't read about ANYBODY reusing planking that has been removed. The planking at the sheer was kind of short of the gunwales at the stems from new and has a little rot along the sheer. But the second teir down is not so bad. Is reusing removed planking not ever done?

 

[Dave Osborn]

Paul,
I've reused planking. In fact I have a derilect canoe that is beyond restoration that I occasionally rob planking from to use on other canoes. I've had problems staining sterile new wood to match the patina of old wood sometimes. To me, the old wood just looks better.
The other thing that I have done is to remove and replace with new planks, the first couple of planks under the decks at the bow and stern. Then use the planks that were removed to patch a spot that is more visually prominent in the hull.
Once new canvas is stretched ya can't see the new planks way up in the ends anyway.
Good luck...
Dave