Internal copper wire ribs. What is this? No rib canoe??

[TC Taasen]

Please hjelp me identify this canoe. I have never seen this type of construction before. Its a ribless canoe. The «ribs» are copper wire treaded inside the planks, with a nut at each end under the inwale. It is spaced about every 3 inces. The thwarts, decks and the outwale are made of mahogany! The planks are cedar strips.
According to the previous owner, this is originally an all wood canoe, and you had to leave it in the water so it would swell to be tight. Later on it was canvassed, for convenience… This seems a bit strange to me. Who would make a canoe that wasn´t watertight? Or was it supposed to be retightened every now and then?
Before I start restoration on this I need to know what this is. All I know is it is an old Canadian or American canoe.
Any hjelp would be much appreciated!

 

[John Sand]

It certainly is unusual. Welcome aboard!

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

I dont know for your canoe , never seen before (I'm french )... maybe a path to reseach the patent for this build
with good key words (sorry english is not my native language )

 

[Todd F]

I am with Alcedo, whose english is far better than my french. Looks like an interesting project to research.

 

[TC Taasen]

Believe me, I have tried, with no luck.
I´m from Norway, parden my french, so I was hoping someone on this forum had seen something similar, because over here no one has a clue.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Very interesting - anytime I see narrow planking I think Canadian,
waiting for someone who knows Canadian canoes to stop by.

 

[Benson Gray]

I agree with Dan that it is probably Canadian. I don't ever recall seeing another made that was built that way so it may have been an experiment. Please reply here if you ever get a more positive identification.

Benson

 

[TC Taasen]

I was told it was a canadian «Indian» canoe. Maybe it´s a one off? And how it´s made is beyond me..

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

so if you are swedish on an américan forum and me frenchie .... more path for your enigma
the measure ...in feets or metters , and also for the bolts and nuts in thumb or millimetters
before searching the patent , we must be shure from the land

 

[Benson Gray]

Maybe it´s a one off?

That is my guess. This style of building seems much too labor intensive for a production canoe.

Benson

 

[Worth Gretter]

Basically, it is a stripper (cedar strip canoe) before they had the benefit of epoxy to hold the strips together!
I would be interested to know how far apart the copper wires are? I assume the adjuster nuts are under the closed gunwale, so maybe you can't see how they are spaced?

 

[TC Taasen]

Here are some more pictures. The wires and the nuts are spaced at every 2 inch. As You can see from the pictures, they are under the gunwale, and I dont find it likely that they are supposed to be readjusted. Ever. The one in the picture is the only one that is exposed, because of damaged wood.
I wonder if this was originally canvassed or not. I am thinking about restoring it, but there is no fun in a sinking canoe
I also attach pictures of the fittings. ( For sailing ) ?

 

[Rob Stevens]

I shared this thread with the Curator (Jeremy Ward) and Associate Curator (Beth Stanley) at the Canadian Canoe Museum, hoping they may know more about this build method.

 

[TC Taasen]

Thank You!

 

[Benson Gray]

I also attach pictures of the fittings. ( For sailing ) ?

The mast step on the floor of the canoe is clearly for sailing. The uses of the other parts are less obvious.

Benson

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

I was told it was a canadian «Indian» canoe. Maybe it´s a one off? And how it´s made is beyond me..

an idea pass , you want to do your cannoe like a barrel , outside it's not nice , inside no practice and it's no round like
so why not this way ??????

 

[Worth Gretter]

Dom, when you say "like a barrel" do you mean the iron hoops that hold the staves together? That's a good analogy for this canoe....

 

[Worth Gretter]

It's seems this canoe was not meant to be canvassed. Why go to such lengths to pull the planks together if you just achieve water tightness with filled and painted canvas?

In my humble opinion, a good path for restoration would be thorough stripping and repairing, tightening the nuts by removing the gunwale cap, and then apply Boat Soup, following the video that is often referenced on this site Boat Soup (but ignoring all the steps about clinching tacks since you don't have any!).

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

yes , it's exactly that I think, Worth

 

[TC Taasen]

Thank You for the link. I also think this is the way to go, to stabilize the wood and minimize swelling and shrinking. Also it is a much more interesting project compared to adding canvas, that probably was a band aid added later on.
The barrel analogy is interesting, though a canoe is just half a barrel. If you remove one plank in the barrel the construction would collapse.
I honestly dont´t understand how this canoe hold it´s shape, or was being built. Probably over a mold, just like in a modern strip building construction.
Very interesting I must say!