samb
LOVES Wooden Canoes
I’ve got this canoe to repair. It’s a cedar rib of unknown manufacture.
It was purchased in the early 1960s for £1 (the original offer was 10 shillings but it was pointed out by the seller that it was worth more as firewood)
In 1967 it had quite major repairs:
I’m told it had
56 years on, it needs some TLC. If possible I’d like to do without the canvas, but I’ll need to get a proper look at it without the canvas first.
Trying to find who made it is a problem. There are no thwart tags, no numbers on the stems, and the tops of the thwart blocks have been cut off to allow fitting of the inner rails.
Going of size alone (17’5” x 37” x 13½ “), the nearest matches I’ve found are:
One thing I’ve noticed is the thwarts and blocks look more like a mahogany type timber. I can’t say what exactly until they are stripped. The shape of the blocks also looks slimmer than others I’ve seen. I wonder if these are also replacements?
Any thoughts or opinions?
Thanks
Sam
It was purchased in the early 1960s for £1 (the original offer was 10 shillings but it was pointed out by the seller that it was worth more as firewood)
In 1967 it had quite major repairs:
I’m told it had
- New Gunnels (and I think two more sets since)
- New decks and coamings
- New inner rails
- New keelson
- New keel and bilge keels
- Repairs to the inner and outer stems
- New stem/keel band
- A small section of new ribs
- Canvas on the outside to waterproof it because it leaked
56 years on, it needs some TLC. If possible I’d like to do without the canvas, but I’ll need to get a proper look at it without the canvas first.
Trying to find who made it is a problem. There are no thwart tags, no numbers on the stems, and the tops of the thwart blocks have been cut off to allow fitting of the inner rails.
Going of size alone (17’5” x 37” x 13½ “), the nearest matches I’ve found are:
- Ontario canoe company #7 patent rib 17½ x 37 x 14
- Peterborough canoe company #7 cedar rib 17 ½ x 36 x 13 ½
One thing I’ve noticed is the thwarts and blocks look more like a mahogany type timber. I can’t say what exactly until they are stripped. The shape of the blocks also looks slimmer than others I’ve seen. I wonder if these are also replacements?
Any thoughts or opinions?
Thanks
Sam
