The Wooden Canoe Heritage Association is a non-profit membership organization devoted to preserving, studying, building, restoring, and using wooden and bark canoes, and to disseminating information about canoeing heritage throughout the world.
I restore old chestnut canoes some in terrible shape I tack them back to. Original condition I am 87 years old and I just started my 20 th one a prospector needs about a hundred hours of work new planking and canvas plus about every thing else.l buy all my cedar and maple wood locally I like you observations I did a huge canoe that was used in the north . Once owned by the royal canadian mounted police enjoy and like your talent.
00:31 - Canoodling Song 11:58 - A Little Birch Canoe and You 18:44 - Paddle Your Own Canoe 24:37 - Where the Dreamy Wabash Flows 30:28 - Blue River 35:13 - Out in My Old Town Canoe 39:46 - Paddling Madeline Home 42:33 - Instrumental version
Its all about the Birch Bark Canoe for me, but this was quite an interesting documentary with fantastic craftsmanship. Canoe building seems to be underrated.
It's a real treat to see this video, especially after having used Jerry's and Rollin's books and having ordered materials from Rollin for both a Cheemaun canoe and an Atkinson Traveler canoe, as well as construction materials for the permanent forms to build the canoes on. I've had many years of pleasure using the canoes and have passed the building forms on to other folks for them to have the same memorable experiences that I have had.
Sounds good Geoffrey. I have given this a lot of thought. You refer to a shrink, swell, shrink, swell which is inevitable. If that is the case, the only thing that will not yield to that "come and go" is the fastening. They remain as they were when installed. At that time they were adequate in applying the proper tension. I believe it would be best to bring the wood back to them if it shrinks. Applying the soup would do that, in good part. To reshape the fastening would put undue tension on the wood and possibly create a fatigue crack between fastenings. The paint on the outside would ideally seal the wood and keep water out. A varnish finish inside or just a soup finish will keep water from getting into the wood from the inside because to do so would mean that it would have to displace the soup which it will not do. If the wood swells from ambient moisture, it should just come back to the original construction content if sealed properly. I think I'd let any extra moisture dissipate under a canvas cover outside, replace the soup if necessary or as a matter of course, then paint the outside or the inside as necessary. Your comments on oily rags and spontaneous combustion was very much appreciated.
Geoffrey, I should say this. I am in favor of the complete denial of water penetration in canoe maintenance or construction. Sealed exterior wood under sealed canvas or fiberglass is adequate for the wood surface facing the water, virtually forever or until gouged . That can then be corrected successfully in numerous ways. So, without the ability for water to come in from the outside, the inside surface could be adequately treated using your method. The occasional question posed by some people "How do you keep the water out?" is too inclusive given the numerous construction variations. On a canoe we are dealing with a smooth outer surface generally.
Do you have a materials list . or should I go through Wooden Canoe Heritage Association for such referances? Very imformative! I am in the process of restoring my first Wood Canvase Canoe , 1938 Thompson Thanks
The basic materials are canvas and tacks. The books at www.woodencanoe.org/product-page/the-wood-canvas-canoe-a-complete-guide and www.amazon.com/This-Old-Canoe-Restore-Wood-Canvas/dp/0994863306/wcha03-20?&linkCode=sl1&tag=wcha03-20&linkId=7f1301123084a032c1c8f7ac6331c5ce&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl explain the process. The WCHA forum at forums.wcha.org/ is a good place for detailed questions like this. Good luck,
Hello Sir great informative showing ! I have an Old time 16ft (not sure what year or model yet ) with a steel keel. Would I be splitting my canvas the entire length ?
Great video and narration. I am in the middle of a somewhat similar guideboat project. Do you have any photos of the boat painted and in the water? I'd love to hear how it came out once totally completed. Thanks.
Thanks for your kind words. I do not have a photo of the boat on the water, but I do have one of the boat sitting onshore. Not sure how to post it and get it to you. The hull is dark blue outside, medium gray inside with black wales and deck. The seats and risers are curly maple made to grants pattern. Rows nicely although a bit more tender than my 16’ Hanmer.
Thanks for this video , took me back to when I first rowed on the Little Ouse, c1937. Also, thanks for no music . Good luck to your group. Paul .Lawoon.
This is stunning. The world of throwaway items should be returned to a world where we restore the treasures of the past as much as possible. You have done an incredible job.
Thank you! Very informative! Im actuallyin the process of recanvasing a Chestnut Prospector 14. Code name Fire. Im pretty sur it is that since it fits all the dimensions on the wooden canoe museum site. I wonder if its design was influenced by this design...? I believe the prospector series was developed later... Kind of similar design this boat and yours....without the rocker...this one being more in the order of 2 or 3 inches... a dream to paddle...and SO stable! Very reassuring but not a slog on flat water like the Vertige which I have owned and it had a flat bottom....
Wonderful, fascinating history! Thanks for making the video. I would have loved to see it being paddled. Question: What year is the catalog that the entry for the Bucktail at 9:17 is taken from? The dimensions are identical to the Bucktail entry from the 1907 catalog. It must have been quite a popular model. I have a fiberglass canoe made to nearly identical dimensions and I can attest that it's a fabulous design!
About how long did this whole process end up taking, in hours? This is a hugely helpful video for a similar restoration I am doing right now. Thanks for posting.
Most people simply use bedding compound under the keel and when overlapping the canvas on the stems. See www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/17895/ for more discussion on this topic.
What size tacks are you using for the Stem/Gunwale points? This video is hugely helpful. I'm about to recavas a Peterborough and this has helped immensely.
See the stem tack sizes near the bottom of the page at www.wooden-canoes.com/canoes/materials/hardware/ for the options. The depth of the stem will determine the size you need. Good luck,
I'm in the process of restoring my first canvas canoe. It's a 1960's Huron Canoe. Very detailed information that I was looking for, for this step of the process. Thank you.
Burch canoes are sewn together with items found in nature the seams are gummed together with gums found in nature there mystery solvedl save your money on the books
Lakeville Connecticut? I'm in Shelton, looks like fun, wish I had known. I've had my Otca on the truck for two weeks but only getting wet with rain....
Thanks for those detailed thoughts on your project. I did some strip build vessels with fiberglas epoxy and recently started to think about building an all wooden canoe. But as there is no material for canvasing availible in Germany, I thought I could use fiberglas and epoxy on the outside. But somehow this appeared to me like a sin. Now I know, this was made before, so this encourges me to go on. Even though this wouldn’t be an real all-Wood-canoe, it would be an evolutionary step in my boat-building. Thanks again!
Thank you everyone for your kind comments. I have often wondered what Old Man Rushton would have to say about what I did. I expect he would laugh at all the effort I put into bringing the old girl back and suggest it would have been less work to make a new one - and he might have been right! But on the other hand I gave a new lease on life to a grand old canoe that really did deserve it. It has been often said that there is magic in paddling a canoe but paddling an old wood/canvas canoe is total magic. If anyone is looking at restoring their own canoe the WCHA has a wealth of information and very helpful members who always chime in with advice. Paddles Up!!
I enjoyed seeing the juxtaposition of new/old tools, new/old techniques and your statements that sometimes the old methods are just better. I have been an aficionado of Adirondack guide boats since a boy and your video soothes my soul. thanks!
It looks fantastic and I appreciated you sharing your knowledge. It was great to see that you rescued this canoe in a nick of time and brought it back to better than original condition.
A man from New York state told me many years ago where to get powder for sealer. Don't remember name, thanks if it was you. Still fixing canoes in Nova Scotia. Keep up good work.
I'm interested in getting another canoe. I had a 14 ft canvas covered for years. I'm looking for a 16 ft wooden canoe for camping hunting and fishing trips
