Canoe Filled

[Fitz]

Well, the most recent wood canvas canoe project got it's filler today. This is a 1970's vintage Chestnut Prospector destined to be my tripping canoe.

Son Brendan, age 6 took the photos

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid154/p249ae35e7c97da8e16b55e9dc9980987/f575ceda.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid154/pe05afcba525dd239c850ce614cfd30ac/f575cee0.jpg

Now it should dry six weeks before paint. The waiting is the hardest part. :D

[Barry]

Looks great Fitz.
You always hve such great canoes.

I see your enjoying the weather. :D :D
I was back in Cambridge and up in Montreal over the holidays, can't say I miss it. Although we had a foot of snow on Gabriola just over a week ago. Happens about once every eight years.

Back in Northern California now, was sunny and almost 60 today-middle of January. Man I love it.

Barry

[Paul Scheuer]

Good job, Brendan smile.gif :cool:

[Paulyboy]

Do you have any more pics? This looks really good!

[Fitz]

Hi Ho Barry, I didn't realize you had relocated from the People's Republic of Cambridge. Great! Winter this year has mostly been a "Mix". This week it will be cold however.

Paulyboy:

There are some more pics in an Album here (Prospector):

http://community.webshots.com/album/230378032VtcVTM

[Paulyboy]

What do you use for the filler? The pics looked really nice. Is this as strong as covering with glass cloth and epoxy?

[Fitz]

The filler is oil and silica based. It goes on thick like a slurry and you hand rub it into the weave of the canvas. It dries very hard such that you can't scratch it with a fingernail and is tough to sand. The filler I used is lead free.

I get the filler from canoe building pros that sell it by the gallon. The canoe in the picture took a gallon and a quart. There are some traditional filler recipes here:

http://www.wcha.org/tidbits/filler.html

Filled canvas is surprisingly durable and general consensus is that canvas is better for wood canvas canoe preservation. I don't know how to compare it to fiberglass. The canvas holds up very well on remote river trips I've taken. I've also seen canvas on 40 to 80-year old canoes that was still doing the job.