Old town canoe rebuild

[The Sea Slug]

Hey every one. I am looking for some good information on rebuilding a canvas covered Old Town Canoe which was built in 1919. Any tips or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.;of

[George Roberts]

You might get more help by posting in the build/repair forum.

[Wild Dingo]

Ive found that good help comes after a viewing... show the canoe!! people will come out of the woodwork shouting from the rooftops to help out after you show a pic or two... :cool:

got pics??? ;) Those old town canoes are sweetas!

[George Roberts]

Wild Dingo ---

Down here they come with pitchforks ...

[alteran]

Do a search for canoe building forums. There are a couple good ones. One in particular has a bunch of guys that know how to do exactly what you want to do.

Go here first:

http://www.wcha.org/index.html

Good luck, a fun project.

Al.

[Bruce Hooke]

First off, get your hands on a copy of The Wood and Canvas Canoe, A Complete Guide to Its History, Construction, Restoration, and Maintenance by Jerry Stelmok, Rollin Thurlow. To the best of my knowledge this is THE book on the subject. You can get it from the WCHA Bookstore (http://merchandise.wcha.org/index.php?cPath=21&sort=1a&page=2)

You will also find lots of helpful people over at the WCHA (http://www.wcha.org) -- The Wooden Canoe Heritage Association. As the name suggests, they are a group dedicated to wood canoes, which mostly means wood and canvas canoes. There is a forum on their website. It's not as active as the WoodenBoat forum but its a good place to "talk to" people who know a lot about wood and canvas canoes.

What sort of condition is your canoe in? How much work does it need? There are not that many parts to a canoe -- planks, ribs, inwale, outwale, stem, thwarts, seats, end decks, and that's about it (plus the canvas of course). Pretty much any rebuild will involve removing and replacing the canvas. Having to replacing some planks and ribs is fairly common and not that hard. As you get into the stem areas and as you get into boats that have a lot of broken ribs and planks or that have lost some of their shape things start to get more challenging.

[Bruce Hooke]

If you really want to immerse yourself in the wooden canoe world you should consider attending the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association Assembly in Paul Smiths, NY (a little north of Lake Placid) in early August. Details can be found on the WCHA website, listed above. As you might expect, there are lots of canoes to look at and lots of people to talk to about canoes. Last year they were rebuilding a wood canvas canoe during the assembly and anyone who wanted to could help with the project and learn about how to do it.