Penn Yan with 'mahogany trim' - are inwales mahogany too?

[Howie]

I am in the middle of stripping a PY Rainbow and notice that when the finish is removed the inwales appear to be oak or ash. Definitely not mahogany. Yet the seats, thwarts, and outwales certainly are mahogany. Before I started stripping all the wood was quite dark, yet when stripped the wood is the normal cedar colors. This suggests that the woods weren't stained but instead the varnish had a 'mahogany' stain added to it - like today's Minwax Polyshade product. This stain might also help hide the difference between ash & mahogany grain appearance.

Have others noticed this on Penn Yans? Makes sense: They'd make all the canoes the same except for the trim woods. If someone ordered fancier woods they'd slap on the tinted varnish to make everything match (sort of).

 

[Dan Miller]

Prior to 1948, mahogany-trimmed Penn Yan canoes had mahogany gunwales. from 1948-1949 (at least, maybe also 1950), gunwales are spruce with mahogany trim (thwarts, seats, decks). By 1951 through end of production, gunwales are oak.

 

[Howie]

Thanks for the info Dan.