'New' Langford - can anyone provide me .jpgs of Langford decals?

[Howie]

I picked up a 16' Langford last night - thanks to my buddy Mike Cyr for the heads-up. It has some unfortunate issues as it was left outside without protection for a while. Too bad since the owner says his father always used garage it.

Anyway, the two center planks are all rotted near the keel. And the rib notch at the end of one of the stems was cut improperly so that the end of the stem lies atop the rib rather than straddling it. Plus the stem area has some rot in this area as well. Got it for cheap $ so it's worth a gamble.

It has 2 numbers stamped on the stems: One stem has "108 30 96 55". The other # is mostly unreadable - all I can make out is "173 73". The owner says he remembers traveling with his father when he picked the canoe up. He was a kid then and he's in his 50s now... so maybe it was made in 1973.



Can anyone provide me with a decent resolution .jpg of Langford decals that are in decent shape? I'll make a decal from it when I'm done.

 

[MGC]

I picked up a 16' Langford last night

I like the lines on that boat.... should paddle really nicely with a couple pack baskets and gear in it... that would be a good one to take down the Allagash.
Nice grab.

 

[Benson Gray]

Can anyone provide me with a decent resolution .jpg of Langford decals that are in decent shape? I'll make a decal from it when I'm done.

The people at http://langfordcanoe.com/ may be able to provide one or an original along with some details about interpreting the numbers on the stems. Let us know what you find.

Benson

 

[KAT]

Howie

Yours is in much better shape than the one we are working on, although I think ours is older. We did contact Langford but they didn't offer anything decal wise for us but maybe you will have better luck.

So far I have replaced half the stems, inwale tips, the decks need to be replaced, have done 112 rib tips (all of them) with the cant ribs to go. It came without outer gunwales, no thwart or seats either. Bit of a fixer upper. Also having to replace a bunch of the planking but on ours it is only 1/8" thick, maybe on yours as well. We keep plugging away at it, hope to have it in canvas before the end of May.

Karin

 

[Howie]

Yeah, I did contact Langford about a decal. They said there were none available but that they could do some artwork for me for a fee. This was via an email note. Then I noticed that their email had the very image I needed for the decal as a sort of watermark for the note. I'm working with the image in Gimp to add in color - it's sort of a surfboarding beaver in the tundra.

Anyway, it's a work in progress...

 

[Andre Cloutier]

this is what you want for that era. they are notoriously difficult, and dont know or promote the heritage of their company. I wont work on them from that era, built and material quality is poor. The last one i did for a customer saw me pull most of my hair out. The originals made by Mr Langford were quite nice, but dont turn up much.

 

[Benson Gray]

they are notoriously difficult, and dont know or promote the heritage of their company.

This seems to be a recurring theme with most of the new owners of old canoe companies, unfortunately.

Benson

 

[MGC]

This seems to be a recurring theme with most of the new owners of old canoe companies, unfortunately.

Benson

In the case of Langford it's quasi understandable. If you look at their current offerings and their legacy there is very little alignment evident. They embraced the suck and in doing so became part of it....

 

[Howie]

Thank you for the jpeg Andre. In what years was this decal used? And was it placed on the front deck? I assume so since the background behind the decal seems to be wood - unless the decal was on a paddle...