One good place to begin looking at w/c canoes is the classifieds on this website-- many of the sellers are WCHA members who can accurately describe the canoe and what was done during restoration, or what restoration might be needed... and, they can explain the terms.
I'll attach a page from the 1940 Old Town catalog which may explain some of the terms you need (Image courtesy of The Historic Wood Canoe and Boat Catalog Collection, version 2, edited by Dan Miller and Benson Gray, published by Dragonfly Canoe Works and available at
www.dragonflycanoe.com).
Generally, if you read old posts here you can get a sense of what things mean and how they fit into the Big Picture of this particular passion. You might try using the "search" function above to find old posts with references to things you're curious about.
There are a number of great books out there... generally, the best place to start is Stelmok and Thurlow's "The Wood and Canvas Canoe", which is available in the WCHA Store, Amazon, eBay, bookstores and libraries--- great info!
You might also check the main page of this website to find out if there's a WCHA chapter near you, because you'd have a chance to see what others are paddling. And these forums are a good place to ask specific questions.
Kathy
