Morris floor rack?

[jchu]

I am going to varnish the interior of the morris this summer but wanted to build a floor rack for it before I sand off the remnants off where the previous was.

What kind of wood were they made of.?
How thick?

I can see other pics of the end profile, etc, but if anyone wants to provide details or close up pics that would help.

Thanks
Jeff

 

[Mark Adams]

Jeff, I'll call you this afternoon. The Morris I have has one.

 

[divedog]

Any pictures and dimensions would be much appreciated! Mine looks to be a replacement, and is rather crude. Thanks!

Mike Wootton

 

[jchu]

Nice canoe. From the pictures, it appears to me to be the original floor rack. Mine just no longer exists. I would strip it and keep it.

 

[Greg Nolan]

I will be able to take pictures of my original floor rack from an 18' Morris when I'm in Maine for the Memorial Day holiday, and will post them then.

 

[divedog]

Appreciate the advice! Looking forward to seeing the pictures, Greg. Thanks!

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

Morris floor rack

the Morris floor rack slats were just under 1/4" thick; most often spruce but sometimes mahogany. the mahogany slats are much more difficult to work with!
Attached are pictures a rack from a 17 ft Morris and a new floor rack.

 

[divedog]

Thanks for posting the pictures. It does look like mine may be original. The new one is outstanding! Nice work!

 

[Treewater]

two different racks

I'm showing two floor racks. One has 3/4" and nominal 3/8" slats. They seem to be spruce. The other has 1" by 1/4" nominal slats and seem to be cedar.
The wider boards come from a wider canoe though both are 17 footers.

 

[jchu]

The pictures are much help guys. I was wondering if they might of used Mahogany. It sure would look nice but not sure I want to spring the cost of it. I can see mine was of the skinny variety.

Thanks for the effort!
Jeff

 

[Rob Stevens]

When building be careful to attach the cross braces so they fit between the ribs.
DAMHIKT (Don't Ask Me How I Know This)

 

[Andre Cloutier]

When building be careful to attach the cross braces so they fit between the ribs.
DAMHIKT (Don't Ask Me How I Know This)

I KNOW I KNOW! ( Dont think i've ever thrown a hammer that far). Really, it was only off 1/4" but my wood stretcher is broken.

 

[Greg Nolan]

Morris 18' floor rack

I’m not sure these pictures add a whole lot to the pictures already posted, but since I said I would get them, here they are, in this and in a following post:

This rack seems to be spruce (it is not mahogany), very straight-grained, almost no run-out.



The lengthwise slats are 3/8” thick and ¾” wide

There are five cross-slats, with the following widths, from one end to the other:
8 3/4” -- 10 ½” -- 11” -- 10 ½” -- 9”



See following post for a few more pictures.

 

[Greg Nolan]

Morris 18' floor rack -- 2

The 8 ¾” slat is quite curved, to conform to the bottom of the canoe. The rack is not centered fore-and-aft in the canoe -- the curved end lies much closer to one (bow, I think) stem than to the other -- I am not sure that the curved end goes toward the bow, because the state of my Morris hull gives no indication of which end is which, but I assume it is for the bow end, to protect the canoe from the bow paddler's feet.



The cross-slats are 1 ¼” wide



The whole thing is fastened with thin, long brass escutcheon pins or nails that appear to be simply bent over (rather than clenched) on the bottom side.

 

[griffing]

I just about finished a rack for my Meramac and made it out of clear brown cedar to match the hull.Alot cheaper then mahogany. Grover PS Skeezix is completed ready to get wet.

 

[MackyM]

Will you have the Meramac at the Assembly?

 

[divedog]

Thanks Greg! Those pictures are exactly what I needed.

 

[jchu]

The rack that wasn't there seemed more like Gregs on mine. I had a real decent piece of western cedar so used it. It doesn't seem like a big job but it was. On to the next adventure on this beast.

Thanks for all the pictures.

 

[Greg Nolan]

jchu --

Very nice work.

Greg