Half Canoe Display Cases

[canoenut]

A couple of pictures of a 15' canoe (no brand) that I cut in half, to make a tv/
display case and the other a display case book shelf. The tv case has new canvas/gunwales and gunwale caps as well as new deck/ keel and stem band.
The other piece is the same except the outside is sanded with 3 coats of shellac.
Lowell Thurlow
#8757

 

[Andre Cloutier]

will be following this thread , who's first?

 

[garypete]

Got any '57 Corvettes Around?

If you have access to a nice '57 Chevy Corvette laying around, you might want to find a good acetylene torch to cut the car up and make a darling living-room couch from the seat. Throw away the rest of that now-useless antique.

 

[canoenut]

Half canoe Display Case

For your information, this was a very poorly home made piece of junk, that
I would have been embarrassed to carry on top of my vehicle,after restoration. So, instead of
putting a torch to it, as you so nicely mentioned in you snide comments, I opted to make it into a nice piece of furniture. If you are not happy with my
decision, so be it. Sometimes it's better not to comment at all. I am a new member to WCHA and if you are an example of the kind of people that make up this association than maybe I have made a huge mistake.

 

[garypete]

Duh

My apologies Lowell. I didn't read your description of the hull closely. I just saw the bookcases, saw red, and jumped to conclusions.

I'm just weary from seeing too many canoe bookcases in "cabin furniture" stores in my area with the now useless Old Town serial number still visible in the stem. I even saw the splayed stem and brass plate of a BN Morris in one bookcase.

You've done a great job of making a marginal hull into good-looking furniture with your additions.

Hey, why don't some of our builders use their molds to build a slew of bookcases and saturate the market? It's a great use for 7' planking and they can be sold for nearly the price of a complete canoe.

Build a bookcase and save a classic!

 

[Fitz]

Good decision

Don't go away mad canoenut. Poke around on the forum, go to an Assembly, join the Maine chapter or paddle with a few of these folks and I'm sure you will find out very soon you made a good decision to join.

Cheers.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

like Fitz said

Dont put too much stock in the replies, usually when I bring home another "find" my wife asks if I am just stopping by on my way to the dump. So you cut a canoe? good for you. its yours, do what you want with it and be happy. Pick up the Dragonly Canoe pamphlet "gtest" - Guide to Effective Sawzall Techniques"
(I know Dan loves acronyms.)

 

[MikeCav]

Lowell,
As you can probably tell there are two primary characteristics of the WCHA members...

1) We all love canoes and prefer to see them in their natural habitat - water
2) As Andre' alluded to in his first post, the subject of canoe bookcases has generated conflict of near biblical proportion.
3) We love to kibbitz, but I think all still hold to a fundamental principle that whatever our own opinion is, it's your canoe and you can and should do what you want with it. Obviously, the rarer the canoe, the more careful your decision should be.
4) We can't count.
5) We are, above all, a fun and welcoming group of people. Come to Assembly and find out!

 

[fred capenos]

Besides, you can't cut a Corvette in half with a torch....it'll catch on fire
(grin)

 

[canoenut]

Mike,
Thanks for your explanation. My biggest problem with this whole situation is that I was judged without any questions being asked. How can you logically
judge a person or situation if you haven't first asked a question. This canoe is a no brand,built with no finesse. Up to 3/16" wide gaps in the planking and butt joints that a 3 yr. old could have done better. Contour of hull was another matter. Humps bumps and hollows like you wouldn't believe. These are not for sale and are or will be in our cottage for our enjoyment.
Lowell #8757

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Trust

Seems we should trust each other's judgment and not be quick to judge: another WCHA member isn't like the eBay seller, who may not have any respect for an old boat. You made a good choice for your canoe's life-work, Lowell... nice work, too.

Many here have seen interesting old half-canoes on eBay, and wished they could buy both halves to restore the boat... hence, the knee-jerk reaction. But, as has been said, WCHA people are the main reason for being part of this organization... glad you are part of it, too.

WCHA folks are even better in-person... if you can't make it to the Assembly, check out your local chapter. WCHA folks also welcome phone calls and drop-byes!

Kathy

 

[Howard Caplan]

There is a yard here in town with one half of the 196? Caddlillac buried with the front end up in the air and the other half buried with the rear in the air. They also have half a VW Beetle monuted on the fence and an old, old half a pick-up truck.
It is kinda cool but no Vettes, yet.
I do, one day, want to build half a canoe - longitudally, to mount on an inside wall.
howard

 

[canoenut]

Better Things Coming

Seems we should trust each other's judgment and not be quick to judge: another WCHA member isn't like the eBay seller, who may not have any respect for an old boat. You made a good choice for your canoe's life-work, Lowell... nice work, too.

Many here have seen interesting old half-canoes on eBay, and wished they could buy both halves to restore the boat... hence, the knee-jerk reaction. But, as has been said, WCHA people are the main reason for being part of this organization... glad you are part of it, too.

WCHA folks are even better in-person... if you can't make it to the Assembly, check out your local chapter. WCHA folks also welcome phone calls and drop-byes!

Kathy

Thanks for your kind words and understanding. My grandfather had a 16' E.M. White when I was Just a child. I'm now almost 70. I've never forgotten that canoe and now wish that someone hadn't hauled it to the dump just because it needed new canvas.At that time, late 40's/early 50's, the ordinary
person in our area wouldn't even think of recanvassing and certainly couldn't afford to send it back to the factory. So many of the canoes had a very dismal fate. My next project (not display cases) is a 1936 OT Yankee 16'.I think it has beautiful lines and I expect that it WILL FLOAT.I will say though,
that I gained invaluable experience from the previous two projects.

 

[Michael Grace]

Hi Lowell,

Let me follow up all these replies with complete agreement and a bit more. Garypete is a great guy, and I'm confident that he wasn't poking at the poster (you), but rather at the concept of cutting canoes in half. We discuss all the time on these forums the "right" and "correct" ways of doing things, and there are nearly as many correct ways as there are members. So as others put it, "it's yours; do what you want to with it". Your bookshelf canoe appears to be one of the quickly-built Huron canoes, not a historic antique from a celebrated builder (but please know that it's not my intention to disparage the Huron builders).

Re-read Andre's first post in this thread- you can see that he predicted someone would react to half canoes. Garypete was probably one of many people who were initially shocked, but I took his response to be at least partly tongue-in-cheek. As with any electronic medium, it's difficult for us to really understand the tone of a statement from a forum posting. Give the WCHA and the forums a chance; you'll enjoy it, and you'll find both good-natured ribbing and critical but considerate discussion.

That 16' E.M. White was probably a sweet canoe! I have one and it is a thing of beauty. Enjoy the '36 Yankee!

Michael