repair v. replace...

[nawatts]

im just getting into the restoration of a penn yan hunter canoe and would like thoughts on repairing versus replacing wood. i knew going into this project there were 2 ribs that had to go, beyond broken. but as i strip more and more varnish of the inside im finding more minor issues. im finding ribs that have be cracked since the boat was built some planking that seems to have the grain is lifting on the end of a growth ring. 2 ribs can be repaired instead of replacing. would it be smarter to replace all of the "damaged" wood. i trained under Dan Sutherland in hammondsport for years before his passing so i know how to do the work, but have always had issues when i came to replacing original wood. i love the look all of the wood and dont want to add too much new wood to an old boat. the boat has been around for some time now and the hull is as fair as you can imagine so i dont want to go and change things to make more work for myself.


thoughts?

nick watts

 

[Mark Adams]

Hi Nick,

I have always tried to keep as much original wood as possible in any given project, but I almost always replace things like ribs, and planking. The obvious exceptions would be if a repair can be done, without it looking repaired. I am allergic to splices on gunnels, but with the current project, a 25' war canoe, I did my first rib tip splices. There were just too many bad tips to replace the ribs entire.

It all boils down to what you feel the most comfortable with. If you can live with obvious repairs, go that route. Otherwise, put in new wood, and then use dyes to match the tones.

HTH.

 

[nawatts]

hi mark,

i think i will go the route of repairing what i can, if i had the shop to work in with all the tool needed ( which i dont ) i would just replace all "damaged" material. im not going for show quality (been there done that) i just want a nice respectable user. this project kinda fell into my lap, i hadnt planned on getting a free boat that really didnt need much, but i got lucky. i attached a picture of what 2 of the ribs look like...