would like to ID this canoe. Title says Rushton

[Dave Wermuth]

Hi Jeff

I have been reading with interest. I have a 15' IG and will be tackling it when I get up the nerve. I am not sure how far you are along, but Auto supply stores have inexpensive irons in the fender repair section. I am lucky to have a bronze one from Bill Clements. He also sell tacks. A box will be around $25.00 or so. I've got some but the cost of transportation is offset so may as well get them from Bill or one of the other supliers. I have heard of a couple guys with long cherry, so it's out there. Fred C knows a guy in Pa. I know a of guy a bit over an hour from me. Let's see if I can attach a photo of mine with the outwale profile. Ignore the 'trim' under the outwale. it is a common repair designed to get one more year out of the canvas.

 

[jhepp]

more pics...

posting more pics of individual parts after stripping. I believe all of these to be original with the exception of the center thwart which is straight and plain and seems out of place but was on the canoe when I started, and the one deck which seems to be a retrofit. or maybe it was actually built that way? also one deck has heart shape and one not. I believe that this canoe was originally canvassed, and later repaired and fiberglassed. Could it possibly had short deck to tie the structure together, and long decks over them for a nicer finish, and the long decks lost over time or repair? and more to follow

 

[jhepp]

deck pics

here is the other deck which appears to have a repair? or anyone seen a two piece like that?

it is a JH Rushton, Inc. model. I believe to be very late...

don't have any metal pieces/badges that I have seen in other pics or threads. let me know if there are some out there for sale???

 

[jhepp]

gunwales

Dave - so cherry for the gunwales? do you know what year yours is? is there a trim piece on top of the gunwales that covers the top of the ribs?

 

[Dan Miller]

THe heart shaped deck is the original. The ends rotted, and someone spliced in new wood. Rushton did use bar thwarts in IG canoes (all of them early on, lower grades later), though I can't find any photos that show both types in the same canoe. It is certainly possible. Is the bar thwart the same wood as the shape?

 

[MGC]

I believe all of these to be original with the exception of the center thwart which is straight and plain the one deck which seems to be a retrofit. Could it possibly had short deck to tie the structure together, and long decks over them for a nicer finish, and the long decks lost over time or repair? and more to follow

I happen to have a long and short deck IG. The decks are identical except that those under the long deck canoe are not finished. They are just roughed out without any profiling in the "heart" area.
The gunwales will be a treat to make since they are tapered along their entire length and also rounded. I would not relish making these. That said, I'm not too much of a craftsman. Mine are oak.
My center thwarts are shaped, not straight like the one you have. With all of the massaging that has been done to your canoe, it is probably a replacment.
I think that I may have pictures of the gunwales that I can send you if I ever get back to the states
Actually, I think they are of the canoe in Dan's museum in Clayton. Maybe you need a road trip this fall. The boat show and auction is well worth the drive and by that time of year, the water is actually warm enough to touch.

 

[pklonowski]

would like to ID this canoe. Title says Rushton

You might want to do a search on this site for methods used to stain new wood to match the old wood. Several people have discussed their ways to approach this.

I haven't gotten that far yet, so I can't help directly...

 

[Dave Wermuth]

Hi Jeff

my thwart is the plain bar, unshaped other than slight softening of the edges. So, your bar may be original. As far as I know all rails were cherry. there is no top rail. the inwale is rabbetted so that the edge of the rabbet extends out to the outer edge of the canoe hull. it is then mortised for each rib top. You should be able to see it on the underside. The outwale is then not rabbetted at all. Screws fasten from the inside.The inwale/outwale joint is a tight line along the top. But I am just learning Rushton.

My canoe is 3xxx range and I don't have any tags or other hardware. Would love to find some tho. Does your front seat rest on a stringer? (aka cleat) It should. When I bought mine from Al Bratton he believed mine to be from about 1903. Or was it '06? He said it was Pre-inc anyway. I am very happy to have this canoe and look forward to the challenge. Mine is 15' and I think it will be a terrific solo canoe. I can send more photos if you like. This photo shows the fit of the in/out wales as well as the outwale profile somewhat. Disclaimer: As a new owner of an IG I know the least about these things.

 

[fred capenos]

Ig

Remember now. Rushton made open gunnels too. Fred

 

[Dave Wermuth]

Ah

yes, I think I have much to learn.

 

[MGC]

here is the other deck which appears to have a repair? or anyone seen a two piece like that?

it is a JH Rushton, Inc. model. I believe to be very late...

don't have any metal pieces/badges that I have seen in other pics or threads. let me know if there are some out there for sale???

I attached a few pictures that I just happened to have on my laptop. In one you can see the finished long deck and then in the other you can see the unfinished short deck and some of the frame that the long decks attach to. There are a few other little items that are probably not original, like the bolts through the inside rail from some lame attempt at a repair. Poor old girl needs some attention one of these days.

I guess that you can also get an idea of what the outside rails look like from this....

 

[Craig Johnson]

deck repair

I've seen that deck repair before, kill rotted deck and inwales with one stone and looks a little bit like the arrowhead deck that was standard on one canoe. I forget which.

 

[jhepp]

center thwart

THe heart shaped deck is the original. The ends rotted, and someone spliced in new wood. Rushton did use bar thwarts in IG canoes (all of them early on, lower grades later), though I can't find any photos that show both types in the same canoe. It is certainly possible. Is the bar thwart the same wood as the shape?

its a coin toss to say whether or not the center thwart is original. The canoe is 17' and pretty weak in the middle with it removed. The wood is a little thinner than the other thwarts, and the edges are not the same detail as seat pieces. I tend to think that the center was added to give a little more support in the middle, but I was curious if anyone had any definitive words on the subject.

I am learning that with Rushtons, there are a lot of unknowns. Which is nice because it will be harder to tell if I stray from original.

 

[jhepp]

going for it....

well I've checked out all the advice and pics that everyone has posted and come to the conclusion that there is no absolutely right answer, particulalry considering that a lot of my original pieces are missing or cut out after having rotted out or breaking. I think I am just going to replace both decks with 2 solid pieces, shortening each inwale to a consistent length rather the 4 different lengths I have now. I may try to add something under the connection of the end of the inwale and the beginning of the deck to strengthen the connection. I am going with the heart shape on both ends simply because I like it. I am going to skip the cherry and use up the white cedar I have. Its beautiful wood and should be easy to work with. I am going to have to have at least one, maybe two, joints in the outwales, so those are going to be the most time consuming to make, but I won't need those for awhile. Anyone have a dimension on the outwales? Looks like maybe an 1" or so wide in the middle of the boat, tapered to 1/2" on the ends? Do they typically die flush into the stem bands? If so the taper is probably to the thickness of the stem band. Looks flat on top, with a 1/4 round shape under? or is it a half round?

All in all the restoration goal here is to bring the boat back to the living and maybe paddle about the lake every couple of years. She's not going to see a whole lot of use.

 

[jhepp]

been awhile since I was on here...but have been working on the canoe. some recent pics for interested Rushton fans. I have most of the planking in place and one deck rebuilt out of cherry. spliced the inwales. lots of trial and error but starting to look like something again.