Rib Replacement 1949 Penn Yan

[Ryan Scott]

Getting around to R & R ing a number of broken ribs. Would like to match existing and no mention other than '...canoe is ribbed and planked with cedar...' in the brochure. It is WRC planking. I am to guess (so as not to assume) the ribs are Northern White Cedar, Thuja occidentalis?

 

[smallboatshop]

Penn Yan's we've worked on: one boat, several canoes, all had red cedar ribs and planking.

 

[Ryan Scott]

Thanks, I was kinda wondering about that as the coloration is similar, just not as dark as the planking. I milled up some WRC yesterday and am happy with the color match.

 

[Howie]

I see no problem using the more common white cedar for ribs. You'll want to stain it to match the existing ribs, but even if you used red cedar you'd want to stain anyways. At least that's been my experience. I've observed that old woods get a deeper color when varnished than new wood - even with cleaned & bleached wood. So be careful not to try to match the new wood's color to unvarnished neighboring wood. ALWAYS apply a single light coat of varnish to some nearby old wood to use as a color guide before staining adjacent wood. Take into account that the new wood will darken slightly with the varnish, but nothing like the change seen with old wood.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

I thought the ones I have worked on were ribbed with White cedar. I think I should go out and look more closely. Is there a way to verify? I have some broken ones now that I can split open.

 

[Steve Ambrose]

I'm working on a Penn Yan Hunter and now that I'm finished (almost) with stripping, it appears that the ribs are vertical grain WRC. The canoe was worked on many years ago including several replacement ribs which also appear to be WRC and a couple of them didn't take the bend very well (as I would expect from WRC). Ryan, how did your bending go?

 

[Ryan Scott]

I have yet to bend the new ribs in. Just finished up scarfing in new stem uppers and fitting the inwales and decks. As I have limited time to devote to this project my research comes well ahead of the actual task itself. The ribs I did mill up are nice flat grain as are the originals. I would think (assume) that vertical grain is more likely to split with tacks running through them, separating the grain. Is this not something I should be concerned with?

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Yes, and sense I'm not in a hurry to complete a project (ie, make a living at it) I always predrill holes for the tacks. With a small battery drill on hand, it doesn't take long.

Dan

that vertical grain is more likely to split with tacks running through them, separating the grain. Is this not something I should be concerned with?

 

[Mark Adams]

The 2 Rainbows I have worked on, as well as a dinghy, were ALL CVG WRC. The trick is to presoak the hell out of the material. WRC (at least in my experience) is a beeeyatch to bend. with adequate presoaking it bends like butter though.

HTH!

 

[Steve Ambrose]

The 2 Rainbows I have worked on, as well as a dinghy, were ALL CVG WRC. The trick is to presoak the hell out of the material. WRC (at least in my experience) is a beeeyatch to bend. with adequate presoaking it bends like butter though.

HTH!

Thanks for the tip. One of the ribs that needs replacement is a replacement from the last time the canoe was repaired. It kinked creating hard spots.

Ryan, WRC tends to split more easily than NWC regardless of grain orientation but even more so with vertical grain. This will be the first time I've worked it as rib stock but my experience with it on planking is that it often requires pre-drilling.