Old Town Restoration Question

[Macboats]

I'm learning while I restore a 1916 Charles River Old Town and have a quick question. What are the brass grommets located on every other rib for? None of the grommets on the canoe have screws with them and I cant figure out if they are for a keel or perhaps the optional deck feature. Any help would be appreciated as I am assembling a parts list and need to know what I am missing. Thanks you for the anticipated help!

Attached is a pic:

-Steve

 

[MGC]

I'm learning while I restore a 1916 Charles River Old Town and have a quick question. What are the brass grommets located on every other rib for? None of the grommets on the canoe have screws with them and I cant figure out if they are for a keel or perhaps the optional deck feature. Any help would be appreciated as I am assembling a parts list and need to know what I am missing. Thanks you for the anticipated help!

Attached is a pic:

-Steve

Steve,

I had some difficulty with that small image, even zoomed to the max.
Are you showing two of those washers in one rib? If yes then I would suggest that you check the build record to learn if there was a shoe keel installed or some other oddity,
The alternate rib spacing of the (single washers) is for a keel.

 

[Greg Nolan]

The build record shows that your canoe was originally equipped with a keel, which would have been screwed on from the inside through every-other rib. The grommets and extra holes are probably related to earlier repair/restoration efforts -- your canoe is nearly 100 years old, and has probably been worked on before. I imagine that your canoe no longer has its keel. Many people dislike keels and remove them, leaving holes (and apparently hardware, in your case) behind. The grommets were/are probably sunk into the soft cedar ribs enough that removing them would involve gouging the wood up a bit.

The double holes pictured are a bit of a puzzle, though. As mentioned above, the picture is not super clear -- do both holes have the grommets?

 

[Macboats]

Thanks for the information! Sorry the picture is not very clear; one of the grommets popped out so I was just placing it along side an imbedded one for the picture (sorry it isn't very good quality). Do you know what kind / size screw was used to secure the keel? Thanks again!!!

 

[JClearwater]

Steve,
On a couple of canoes that I have worked on the screws holding on the keel were so deeply imbeded into the rib that they nearly pulled all the way through. I elected to use brass finish washers and flathead screws which provided a better purchase on the rib than the original cone shaped washers. Brass finish washers are available anywhere including your local Home Depot, Lowes etc. The size (diameter) of the screw is not critical as long as its not too long. Originally they would have been slotted brass on an Old Town as opposed to a Phillips head or square drive.

Good luck. Pictures - we want pictures so we can watch the progress!

Jim

 

[Dave Wermuth]

As for size. 8 x 1" is what i usually find. But you don't have to put a keel on if you don't want to.

 

[Macboats]

Thank you everyone again for the information and advice; WCHA / members are always a helpful resource!

-Steve