The Stems

After the materials were ordered and received, the first step was to steam bend the stems. The inner stems are made up of pine. The outer stems are of African mahogany.

Once the stems were steamed and formed, the layers were epoxied together forming a very strong lamination. The planks will be glued to the inner stem and the outer stem will be attached later to protect the ends of the planks.

Once the stems were attached to the forms, they were shaped to allow a broad flat surface for the planks to be glued to.

16 Foot Cedar Strip Canoe

This project started when we received a call from Tom who said he and his wife Vicki had recently seen one of our canoes on display at the Eagle Nest Lodge on the Big Horn River in Hardin Montana. Tom said they would like to have a canoe built for use on the lake at their cottage. They wanted it to be about 16' long and have a traditional look to it.

The "Bob's Special" design was selected for the following reasons:

• Pleasant all around recreational boat
• Very light weight
• Good carrying capacity
• Width and flat bottom
• Low ends to minimize windage
• Good for both tandem and solo paddling
• Moderate rocker and soft bilges
• Stable to fish from
• Very steady

The plans were purchased from the very reputable Bear Mountain Boats (www.bearmountainboats.com).

New Life for an Old Town Boat

In Summary

Hours for Restoration:
     145

Supplies from Jamestown Distributors (jamestowndistributors.com):
     Foam Brushes and Rollers
     Epifanes Gloss Clear Varnish
     Interlux Pre-Kote Primer
     Interlux 4152 Brightside Yellow
     Silicon Bronze Screws

Supplies from Northwood's Canoe Company (wooden-canoes.com):
     Canvas Filler
     Brass Screws
     Brass Tacks
     Diamond Head Brass Bolts - Old Town Style
     #10 Standard Mildew Resistant Canvas

Other Supplies:

     Stripper
     Wood Bleach
     Cedar
     Wooden Scraper
     Sand Paper
     Bronze Wool
     Thinner

Literature:
     The Wood & Canvas Canoe by Rollin Thurlow and Jerry Stelmok http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Wood-Canvas-Canoe-Construction-Restoration

The Seats

The oak seat frames were sanded before applying three coats of Epifanes Gloss Clear Varnish. After re-caning the seats, one final coat of varnish was applied.

Before

After

Primer, Paint...Primer, Paint

After the filler was dry, the sanded and varnished gunnels were reattached. The keel and the brass half oval stem band/keel band were also sanded and installed on a layer of Dolfinite Bedding Compound.

The hull was then lightly sanded and primered with Interluxe Pre-Kote Primer for One-Part Finishes. The primer was applied on a warm day and the brush strokes didn't flow out as well as hoped. I thought that the following coats of Interlux Brightside Polyurethane paint would fill the imperfections in, but didn't. After three coats of Brightside paint, I decided to sand the hull down and smooth out the primer and start the painting process over again.

When the sanding was completed, some of the grey filler was showing through the white primer. In hind sight, I should have re-primered the grey areas because it took five coats of yellow paint to cover up the light and dark shadowing. I used almost three quarts of paint on this canoe and would have expected to use just one.

Canvassing the Canoe

Before stretching the #10 Standard Mildew Resistant Canvas onto the canoe, it was turned over and lightly sanded. After the exterior of the hull planking was cleaned up, a generous coat of boiled linseed oil was applied to limit its ability to absorb water. Over the years, the hull planks developed many highs and lows and aren't as fair as they once were. The multitude of clench nails prohibited me from doing much fairing of the hull. The highs and lows of the hull will be another part of the canoe's patina.

Before stretching the canvas, we had to build two clamps that would hold each end of the folded canvas. These clamps were hung from the ceiling about 17 feet from each other. One of the clamps was connected to a stud in the wall with a chain. The opposite end was connected to a wall with a come-a-long.

Once the canvas was folded in half and suspended by the homemade clamps, the canoe was nestled down into it. Sand bags were placed into the canoe to weigh it down and prevent the canoe from popping back out when the canvas was drawn tight by the come-a-long. Once everything was in place, the canvas was stretched tightly around the canoe longitudinally. Another set of brackets resembling large clothes pins were built to pull the canvas halves together at both stems.

Special canvas pliers were then used to stretch the canvas up to the gunwales where two copper tacks were used to hold the canvas taught. When the proper tension is achieved, a small fold of fabric forms above each tack.

At each end of the canoe, the canvas was cut so that each side could be folded over the stems. A small amount of bedding compound was applied to the stems before tacking one side of the canvas to it. A second light layer of bedding compound was applied before stretching and tacking the second side of the canvas over the first.

After the canvas was stretched and tacked in place, the traditional alkyd oil and silica-base filler was applied. Filler protects and waterproofs the canvas. It is applied by hand rubbing several coats into the canvas. The filler can take four to six weeks to completely dry.