Willits 229 Restoration

CraigP

New Member
Hi, I'm new to WCHA, but not to wood canoes. My Grandfather and Father operated a private boys camp for 35 years on Cass Lake, Minnesota. As a young boy (camp stopped operation in 1958), I have fond memories watching the camp maintenance man work on the fleet of 25+ Old Town canoes. My Grandfather purchased two Willits canoes in 1941, the subject of a separate post.

In February, I purchased Willits 229 from Patrick Chapman. 229 had no serious wood damage, but the varnish had not been maintained and nearly every tack, nail and screw on the craft was badly salt water corroded. I ended up removing everything (seats, thwarts, decks, coamings, king planks, outwales, keel) except the inner and outer stems and extracted and replaced all the corroded fasteners. I used clear epoxy to strengthen around worn areas and repair gouges and dings. Finished up with two coats of sealer and five coats of spar varnish and did maiden voyage on the water in early May. My thanks to Pat Chapman for answering my questions.

I kept a photo log of the work and progress, link below. There are comments for many of the pictures. Hit the Photo Detail icon to see the comments all the time.

https://cslutz.smugmug.com/Willits

Regards,
 
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Great job Documentation wow. Have you heard of oxalic acid? It will bleach out the black from oak. Makes it look really nice. I've restored a few Willits and the oak king planks always have the black. A stripper that I use is Total Boat Stripper you can buy it from Jamestown Distributors. Almost NO smell water based. I paint it on ( has the consistency of yogurt ) then cover it with wax paper this keeps it from drying out. Give it a few hours come back with a plastic spatula and the varnish just slides off. Phil
 
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