Thompson: Indian, Hiawatha, Ranger?

[Carlton]

Attached are photos of my current project. I have the Thompson Catalog thumb drive Dan created but having a problem identifying the correct model.
I was leaning towards the Ranger, but the specs regarding ribs and spacing don't match. The gunwales curve up more like an Indian rather than a Ranger. In the end I guess it doesn't matter, but I'd like to get an idea the year it was manufactured?

A couple other questions. I've had to replace 8 broken full ribs. They match the unbroken, original ribs, white cedar, 5/16" thick, 1" width, and 2" spacing.
The original planking is 4" wide red cedar. I have plenty of is 3" wide white cedar. How dumb is it to use white cedar planking? I think I can come up with a good color. Plus, how bad of an idea is it to use 3" planking instead of 4" wide planking?

Any thoughts or comments are greatly

 

[Michael Grace]

I'm no expert on Thompson, but I think the Ranger has lower ends and circular stem profile more similar to Old Town and others, while the Indian and Hiawatha have higher ends and a different stem profile, not so circular. And I think the Indian lacks half ribs while the Hiawatha has them. None of your photos shows the bow or stern in profile, but if all of the above information is correct you may have a Hiawatha. I think that somewhere around 1940 the half ribs changed from filling the entire spaces between ribs to only partially filling them as in your canoe, so yours might be post-1940 or so.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

What Mike said - post a good image of the end profile to be sure. The Indian and Hiawatha will have a higher "pulled back" profile. Indian's rarely if ever have the 1/2 ribs.

 

[MGC]

With respect to mixing red and white cedar....
I have planked using both and I prefer to work with white. But, in this case, your canoe is built with red so that is what I would use. You might be able to color white to look like red, but I doubt you will be very successful matching grain. Most modern cedar is cut from fairly young trees. The red cedar you find tends to be older growth with very tight grain, at least what I have used. I haven't done this in quite few years, but I once managed to get enough red cedar to build two canoes using siding. Visit your local lumber yard. They may have some squirrelled away.
Regarding board width, I tend to be a bit OCD when I work. Years of working in 100ths and 1,000ths have that effect. I would not use 3 inch wood where 4 is required. You will see that from inside the canoe. Back when I first worked on planking a boat in about 1971, I tried to use wood that was not exactly sized on the dingy I rebuilt. It was a nightmare. If I faced this issue currently, I would probably join a few pieces together before ripping it to the correct width. It would be interesting to hear what some of these old pros would do?

 

[Dan Miller]

It would be interesting to hear what some of these old pros would do?

I'm not a pro, nor do I think of myself as that old, but I would take the time to match both the species and the width for the replacement planking.

The trick is to find a lumberyard that deals in the proper things (i.e. not a big box). As MGC suggested, red cedar clapboards are a good source of wider red cedar planking. My local yard also carries red cedar 4/4 and 5/4 boards in varying widths, and will let me sort through them to find enough clear and with appropriate grain showing (and I live in NY which is about as far from where red cedar grows, unless you are from Maine)

 

[Dave Osborn]

Carleton
I live and professionally restore vintage canoes and small boats in Northern Wisconsin. Thompson Brothers Boat Company was about 3 hours from me, and they actually had a retail outlet just 10 miles from where I live. So, I see a lot of Thompson canoes.
Michael Grace stated the difference between models perfectly. I researched the catalogs several years ago to try to figure out when the ribs and half ribs went thinner on the Hiawatha model. While we can’t give it a specific date, the catalog artwork changed in 1938 I think. So that’s all we really have to go on and call it good.
As far as planking goes, I used to joke that when red cedar was shipped to Old Town the good stuff was offloaded in Peshtigo Wisconsin before going to Maine.
In my experience with Thompson canoes and rowboats, the red cedar planking was superior to a large portion of any Maine built canoes. Quarter sawn, tight grained, and tight fitting. The same can’t be said for Maine built canoes in many cases. The bottom line is that many eastern canoes show up with cupped, flat sawn, gap ridden planks. Not so with Thompson in my experience.
All that said, I get red cedar from a “real lumber yard”, although big box stores may have what you need. A 4x4 won’t cut it.
I buy 6x6 timber with appropriate close grain and quarter sawn. Sometimes you need to search and sometimes it’s staring you in the face. Sometimes you have to walk away.
Don’t settle.

 

[Carlton]

Thank you everyone for the information and suggestions. Attached are additional photos highlighting the bow and stern.