Planking questions Peterborough Muskrat

[Julien.P]

Hello everyone,

I’m the owner of a Peterborough Muskrat that I believe was built at the Chestnut factory in Fredericton in the early 1950s.
I have a few planks that need to be replaced, and I purchased Mike Elliott’s book to help with the restoration. However, I still have a couple of questions I’m hoping someone here can help me with.

1. What type of cedar was originally used for the planking?
I’m trying to determine whether my canoe was originally built with red cedar or white cedar. From what I understand, it should be white cedar since it was built on the East Coast of Canada, but I’d really like to confirm this before ordering the replacement planks.

2. What should I do about the difference in color between the cedar plank?
The canoe was stored outside for several years. Some areas were covered by the canvas while others were exposed to the elements, so the exposed cedar has become noticeably darker/tarnished.

Should I use a product or treatment to restore the cedar closer to its original color, or would it be better to leave the old wood as it is? Since the canoe will eventually be covered with canvas again, I’m wondering if the difference in color between the exposed and previously covered wood is something I should be concerned about.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Julien

 

[MGC]

Hello Julien.
That should be a fun project for you.
The cedar should be white cedar. It should be easy to tell. If you have any pieces to replace, you can cut into it. It's been my experience that none of my Canada built canoes were built with red cedar, but I have limited experience, owning only two and having owned only five.
With respect to the coloration of the hull. Frankly, I have never really cared much about it. Tighten up loose tacks, set raised tacks, even out raised planking and replace anything that is badly split. Then give the hull a bath. Don't get too fussy, Use a power washer (carefully) and a soft brush. After it is dry give it a couple coats of a blend of turpentine, mineral spirits and linseed oil. Heat that before applying it.
That mixture tends to darken the wood. Since it is covered by the canvas, don't worry about it.
The inside of the hull is a different story. If the canvas is off, strip the varnish from the hull, TSP, bleach, sand and then revarnish. The inside of the hull should be varnished (two coats) before you apply the warm blend to the outside. That way, any of the blend that seeps through will not color the inside of the hull.
On the inside of the hull use stripper and soft brushes. If there is paint, resort to scrapers and obscenities.
Once you have removed as much varnish and paint as you can, brush/clean the wood with TSP. Carefully use a power washer to clean up and then allow the hull to dry. Then, use Teke-Nu and the included brushes to clean up the wood. Teke-Nu always removes an amazing amount of crud from what looks like a clean hull. Rinse out the hull, let it dry and then sand it lightly to ready it for varnish. Use a good quality marine spar varnish. Dilute it for the first coats. Be careful about runs.
Once the varnish is dry, work on the outside. I generally put more coats of varnish on the inside before I canvas.