My father in-law and I just received an old cedar and canvas canoe that has been in his family for a long time. We are going to try and restore it. I am pretty sure that we will need to re canvas it, but, I can't figure out where to get new canvas. Is it a special kind of canvas or is it just your everyday canvas? Also I was wondering if it looked like it was made by a certain builder? I'll include the pictures of it. it is about 147" (or 12.25') long and 41.5" wide. We looked around for some markings, but we couldn't find anything. Thanks for your input and wish us luck.
Newbie in need of Knowledge
- Thread starter Swag9801
- Start date
Greg Nolan
enthusiast
Welcome to the WCHA. That’s a very nice looking little canoe you have there, quite worth the effort to restore it.
In addition to asking questions here, there are two good sources of information about canoe restoration which you would do well to get, or at least look at -- "The Wood and Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to its History, Construction, Restoration, and Maintenance" by Rollin Thurlow and Jerry Stelmok, and/or "Building the Maine Guide Canoe" by Jerry Stelmok.
The first is often called the "bible" of canoe repair, restoration, and maintenance; the second is an excellent study of the wooden/canvas canoe and its construction.
The first is out of print, but can be had on eBay or used book sellers, or probably a lot cheaper, form your local library – if they don’t actually have it, they should be able to get it through the interlibrary loan service. The second is available through the WCHA on-line store.
Restoration/building supplies are sold by some of the WCHA member/builders -- see the directory at http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply/
-- no one in California sells supplies, but several in other states do, and with a phone call or email, you can have materials in hand in a few days. The builders that I know who sell supplies are knowledgeable and happy to talk with you about what would suit your needs.
Also, Wooden Canoe, our journal, has a wealth of information in its back issues. There is an index to the back issues -- http://www.wcha.org/journal/Index to Wooden Canoe.pdf -- and back issues are available for $4 through the online store, or the collection is available on a USB flash drive through the store -- http://store.wcha.org/Wooden-Canoe-Journal-Archive-on-CD-ROM.html
Don’t be bashful about asking questions here – we all do it, and those with knowledge are generous with their suggestions.
And don’t forget pictures as you go along – we love pictures.
Greg
In addition to asking questions here, there are two good sources of information about canoe restoration which you would do well to get, or at least look at -- "The Wood and Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to its History, Construction, Restoration, and Maintenance" by Rollin Thurlow and Jerry Stelmok, and/or "Building the Maine Guide Canoe" by Jerry Stelmok.
The first is often called the "bible" of canoe repair, restoration, and maintenance; the second is an excellent study of the wooden/canvas canoe and its construction.
The first is out of print, but can be had on eBay or used book sellers, or probably a lot cheaper, form your local library – if they don’t actually have it, they should be able to get it through the interlibrary loan service. The second is available through the WCHA on-line store.
Restoration/building supplies are sold by some of the WCHA member/builders -- see the directory at http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply/
-- no one in California sells supplies, but several in other states do, and with a phone call or email, you can have materials in hand in a few days. The builders that I know who sell supplies are knowledgeable and happy to talk with you about what would suit your needs.
Also, Wooden Canoe, our journal, has a wealth of information in its back issues. There is an index to the back issues -- http://www.wcha.org/journal/Index to Wooden Canoe.pdf -- and back issues are available for $4 through the online store, or the collection is available on a USB flash drive through the store -- http://store.wcha.org/Wooden-Canoe-Journal-Archive-on-CD-ROM.html
Don’t be bashful about asking questions here – we all do it, and those with knowledge are generous with their suggestions.
And don’t forget pictures as you go along – we love pictures.
Greg
