grant the ant
New Member
I'm a little hesitant in posting this in that it doesn't adhere to the pure concept of a wood and canvas restoration.
Back in the mid 70's , I picked up an Old Town HW #97067up in New Hampshire for $200. A really nice boat , paddled well , and was easy to portage .
Through neglect over the years and having to store it outside though, everything started to fall apart . Canvas deteriorated , and I tried glassing it on existing planking , which was a mistake .
It was relegated to upper level on a canoe / lumber rack as I spent my time abusing ABS boats in whitewater and exploratory wilderness camping
About 10 years ago , actually made some inwales from spanish cedar which I fastened in to help the boat hold somewhat of a form , but this winter , a snow laden branch managed to find it's way right through the middle of the boat
I do custom woodwork professionally , but have no interior space to set it up and work on it . Decks were gone , stem ends were gone. outwales rotten 2/3 of the ribs were either broken or dry rotted at the ends . Every restorer I called or emailed said it sounded like a complete rebuild , Minimum 3- $4000 and 3-4 year backlog
So I decided on a modification . I built a temporary frame to true the boat up, and took out every other rib
After steam bending ash to make the interior stems, I used the ribs that were still in place as a form to build a cedar strip canoe . ( This is where most of the readers probably freak out and want to throttle me ).
Living in MD , generally the mid Atlntic winters are not too bad and I was able to get enough days where the temps were warm enough for the planking glue to set up . Now I am waiting for consistently warm weather for the fiber glassing.
Unfortunately , the only things I was able to salvage from the old boat were the interior stem ends with the serial # and the diamond head seat and thwart bolts . The stem ends are being used in the structure of the new boat and I will be able to use some of the brass bolts.
I am new to the forum and don't know if I can post pictures of the progress, but if not I can send to individual emails on request
Thnks, Grant the ant
Back in the mid 70's , I picked up an Old Town HW #97067up in New Hampshire for $200. A really nice boat , paddled well , and was easy to portage .
Through neglect over the years and having to store it outside though, everything started to fall apart . Canvas deteriorated , and I tried glassing it on existing planking , which was a mistake .
It was relegated to upper level on a canoe / lumber rack as I spent my time abusing ABS boats in whitewater and exploratory wilderness camping
About 10 years ago , actually made some inwales from spanish cedar which I fastened in to help the boat hold somewhat of a form , but this winter , a snow laden branch managed to find it's way right through the middle of the boat
I do custom woodwork professionally , but have no interior space to set it up and work on it . Decks were gone , stem ends were gone. outwales rotten 2/3 of the ribs were either broken or dry rotted at the ends . Every restorer I called or emailed said it sounded like a complete rebuild , Minimum 3- $4000 and 3-4 year backlog
So I decided on a modification . I built a temporary frame to true the boat up, and took out every other rib
After steam bending ash to make the interior stems, I used the ribs that were still in place as a form to build a cedar strip canoe . ( This is where most of the readers probably freak out and want to throttle me ).
Living in MD , generally the mid Atlntic winters are not too bad and I was able to get enough days where the temps were warm enough for the planking glue to set up . Now I am waiting for consistently warm weather for the fiber glassing.
Unfortunately , the only things I was able to salvage from the old boat were the interior stem ends with the serial # and the diamond head seat and thwart bolts . The stem ends are being used in the structure of the new boat and I will be able to use some of the brass bolts.
I am new to the forum and don't know if I can post pictures of the progress, but if not I can send to individual emails on request
Thnks, Grant the ant
