Kennebec gunnel strip

[Paul Miller]

Hi

Especially Gil,

I am almost done with a Kennebec and wonder if I really want to put those strips under the gunnels. I have them made but not sure I want to put them on.

IF I did what did they use to attach? I'm thinking you'd need a canoe tack at the rib top?

BTW, I have produced the Indian decal for the Kennebec canoe along with a decal you can put on the metal tag. I have a bunch so I may just donate to the WCHA and let them sell them.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[Dave Osborn]

I recall a couple that I removed were originally held on by escutcheon pins.
I didn't replace them, but if I were going to do it, I'd pre drill the trim piece and use an escutcheon pin just a hair longer than the thickness of the rib and trim and hit it with the clinching iron behind it.

I'll defer to Gil, the master to see how it is supposed to be done....
Dave

 

[Craig Johnson]

Hi Paul.
I have a couple of Kennebecs and put the strip under the gunwales on one of them. I just used stem band screws, not historically correct but worked great.
I would be interested in the decals either from you or through the store.

 

[VallierOutdoors]

Did you see this one from the Fall issue of The Rudder, ACBS journal? Same canoe as was in Wooden Canoe, but didn't have the decal yet in that story. The canoe was at a show back in Fall, and the decal looked great. He did a super job on it - scanned an original and cleaned it up on the computer, then made decals. Looked aged but in like-new condition. An earlier thread suggests that the decal may have been used only on the really small canoes with wide decks. It's a big decal, but it fit great on that Junior deck and it looked spectacular.

http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?9081-Kennebec-Indian-Decal

 

[rangerkevin]

I restored a 1931 Kennebec and used the strips under the gunnels. They were still attached and were held on with the same hardware that attached the caps (strips) on the sides of the decks on top of the gunnels. Not sure of how they were referred but basically pins with a rounded head.

 

[Paul Miller]

Hi,

I have attached a copy of the decal for both the deck plate and the Indian head.

The canoe I restored did have a Remanent of the decal on the front deck and it was about 4 1/2" wide so that is what I made them. They look new but you could distress them.

They are printed on clear label stock so they are thin but very strong.

The deck plate decal is could be attached to a distressed or stained piece of brass and also distressed. You can get 1" strips of brass .032 thick at Ace Hardware and cut 3" pieces.

Paul

 

[Gil Cramer]

As I recall, kennebec sometimes used very small copper nails to fasten both the under rails and the deck caps. The rail nails went through the ribs and were bent over. I'm sure that they used escutcheon pins if they were more readily available. I have two 4 digit Morris canoes in the shop now which both used escutcheon pins for rails and caps. Some later Morris canoes used small copper nails. They were just building canoes.

 

[Paul Miller]

Here are some pics of the decal on the deck of the finished canoe along with one of the deck plate.

I do believe the originals were on clean stock.

I would recommend punching the numbers and darkening them a bit before you attach the decal on the nameplate.

Paul

 

[Gil Cramer]

Nice canoe. The gunnel strips and deck caps look better than originals. I do think that the gunnel strips add to the overall appearance of the canoe. As usual, Good job. Gil