Morris Veazie completed

Howie

Wooden Canoe Maniac
I thought you'd all like to see some eye candy. I've just completed a 1905-ish 16' Veazie I picked up in March 2019. Had no ID tags, plates, or stampings (the deck decal is new), but Kathy Klos tentatively dated it due to it having two pairs of cant ribs. It's had had a hard life, but looks much better now. I've got too many canoes - I restore 'em for fun - so it'll show up in the WCHA Classifieds sometime soon.
IMG_5190.jpg IMG_5194.jpg IMG_5191.jpg IMG_5193.jpgIMG_5186.jpgIMG_5202.jpg
 
You're right, it's not accurate. Guess I wouldn't have used a decal if there was some other identifier on the canoe. But there isn't, and I suspect the people I end up selling to will want some way of remembering what their canoe is. And if someone does care they can simply peel it off. Hey - give me a lot of credit: since I had to replace the old decks anyway it would have been far easier for me to make Morris types and claim the canoe was a true Morris which may have better name recognition!
 
Looking Good !.......Question for you....Iam applying some Ephinanes (sp) onto my 16 foot 1960 OCTA. I followed the can instructions....and just finished coat #3 .. The next coat will be 0-5% reduced. Question ....how many of those coats do you do ? Thanks !
 
Nessmuck: Truly, I'm a novice at painting. Sometimes I thin, sometimes I don't. And I'm terrible about reading manufacturer's recommendations. Best advice I can give you is apply the paint as thinly as possible as you'll end up with fewer drips/streaks. It's tempting to think that thick coats fill voids quicker, but they can drip something awful and take forever to dry. I thin when I find I can't get thin coats or if it takes a lot of work to get complete coverage. Thinning helps you get thinner coats, but with the paint being less viscous it can also be prone to dripping. I also always sand between painting. I figure sanding helps contain drips - it's like having little ridges to catch drips if you sand left-to-right. O, I sand about 24 hours after painting then let it sit for another day before I repaint. I figure by sanding I'm exposing paint inside the layer that hasn't see the air yet, so I wait to let it dry too.

O - most of my canoes have keels. So what I do is prop the canoe on its side at like a 30 degree angle (I rest an inner rail against my trash container) and paint only one side from the keel down. Then in a few hours when the paint is tacky enough not to drip I repeat on the other side. I figure that way the paint by the rails (the part most people see when the canoe is in the water) is on a less steep surface and gravity has less of an effect. It also makes it easier for me to see when I'm painting.

And kill all the #$%@ flying bugs before you paint! And don't paint on a windy dusty day!
 
Howie....my bad....I was trying to ask a question about how many coats on the ribs and planking (wood inside canoe). Thanks
 
Did the Veazie canoes have a decal? If you can find an example they could be reproduced. I went through a significant effort recently to get some decals made.

Nice looking canoe.

Fitz
 
Did the Veazie canoes have a decal? If you can find an example they could be reproduced. I went through a significant effort recently to get some decals made.

Nice looking canoe.

Fitz
This is the only one that I am aware of... it's off of Veazie #320 long deck combing, not from a short keyhole deck like the one Howie has restored.
It's possible that the decal is the same for both...but unless someone turns one up we may never know. Certainly no mention of Morris..... The word Veazie is at the top of the decal...the rest is amore legible, Veazie Canoe Co, Manufacturer, Bangor.
IMG_2700.JPG
 
Howie,
Original decks? Mine had maple. Dont believe yours are if they are original. I see you did some staining as well. Nice xtra effort! Ash caps as well. Originally hardwood?
Zack
 
Zack:
Right, the decks are not original. Here's a pic of the one original deck the canoe came with. Someone from WCHA sent me a jpeg of his deck - I made a scale printout and made tracings for mine. They are ash I believe.
20190829_224157.jpg20190829_224204.jpg
And yes, I did a ton of staining. The birch seats were easy to get a nice color, but staining the ash caps was a bitch for me. Ditto for staining planking - I stain to be much darker than the surrounding cedar, but as soon as varnish hits that old cedar seems all my color compensation fails. O well... Although I do note that there is one or two lengths of original planking (not visible in the pics) that's significantly lighter in color than the others, so maybe I can forgive myself.
 
Howie, If you are a "novice" at painting, I can't even imagine what that makes me!

Beautiful canoe.
 
Howie...what kind of brush do you use for the varnish.....that doesn’t leave brush hairs all ovah the place ? Thanks Ness
 
Ness: I use 2" foam brushes. I put them in paint thinner after use, then reuse for a few more coats. The foam does seem to generate bubbles in the varnish, but these go away.
 
Back
Top