EM White Square Stern Canoe

Here are some pictures of the EM White square stern canoe under going restoration in our shop.  The first shows the 15 inch wide maple deck steam bent on the bending jig.

Once the deck has dried on the jig, it is removed, shaped to fit, and installed.

15 ribs were replaced.  8 in a row are shown here.

The planking is beveled and each strake over laps the adjoining plank.

The new plank is shaped and the bevel is cut along the edge.

The structural work on the hull is complete.  15 new ribs, the bow has been reconstructed, new inner gunwales, etc



Shop updates 11-5-2011

We are cooking along pretty well in the shop with a good diversity of restorations that include canoes and boats by makers such as EM White, Old Town, Rushton, Kingsbury, Chestnut, Peterborough, and more.  Here are some pictures.  First is a picture from the morning of October 30th looking out the shop window from the workbench.  24 inches of snow!

These pictures come from a canoe we built about 10 years ago.  It's back in the shop for repair work and recanvassing.  It has been used every summer for 50-60 consecutive day canoe trips that have been done in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Labrador.  It has descended some of the biggest rivers in the Hudson Bay watershed and crossed some of the most rugged overland routes Labrador has to offer.  It has traveled on the bottom of float planes, inside rail road cars, and freight planes from the Arctic.  The stem bands are the original ones that we put on when it was built.  This is what they looked like when we took them apart.

This photo shows the last screw securing the end of the stem band. Where is the slot?

This photo shows what a stem band screw should look like.

This photo shows the screw from the first photo above.  You think this canoe has been used? Not bad, eh?

Here is Emily taking apart the sailing Dingy.  This is going to be a fun restoration.  Stay tuned for this one.  We will show rib replacement, steam bending white oak, inner stem replacement, sail rig construction, and many other aspects of restoration.

Mahogany decks from a Rushton Indian Girl

Here is some cedar that was milled up this past week.  Nice tight growth rings.

It was a scary Halloween around here.  We had a paint thinner thief raid the shop!

Here is Emily working on replacing ribs in a 1930's Chestnut cruiser.  This one will get 16 ribs replaced in a row!

Here is Emily again.  Does Dylan ever work?  This time she is taking apart the Kingsbury.

That's all folks.  Time to go back to the shop and keep up with Emily!

Shop Updates 9-26-2011

We have started the restorations for the upcoming fall and winter.  These will get pushed along and then we will start a crop of new canoes and roll into the winter canoe building classes.  Here is what the outside of the shop looked like the other day......

......here is the inside........

.......and here are some of the many projects we will be working on in the following months. This is a 12 foot Old Town Sailing dinghy.  We have done several these sailing dinks before and can't say enough good things about them.  This one will undergo some major work including fabricating the entire sail rig from scratch to the original specs. 

Couldn't resist showing this photo of the painter ring on the dink.  Think it was used much?

Here is a nice pair of Peterborough 15 footers from the same family waiting to be taken apart...............

.............A nice Charles River courting canoe.................

...............And several more including Old Town, Rushton, EM White, an early Temagami, more from the Charles River, etc.

Here are two recently completed restorations.  You will recognize this canoe from an earlier post.  It is a circa 1902/1903 Robertson/Old Town.  Before, after, and completed.

Here is a completed Gerrish

Finish Room

The finish room. Love it or hate it.  In the winter it is the warmest room and in the summer it is the coolest room in the shop.  For the past 10 years we have been using the same varnish buckets.  You can see the 10 year build up, about a ½ inch thick, along the inside.

We have also been using the same screw driver to open varnish and paint cans for eons.  Now wait a minute, where did that screw driver go?

A late model Old Town

Here are some pictures of a later Old Town. The other end of the spectrum from the 1902/03 canoe seen below.

Fiberglass removal.

Emily working on rebuilding one of the rotten ends.

The completed canoe. All finishes are applied by hand.

Shop Updates

It has been a busy 2 months since the last post.  Not only have we gotten over 5 feet of snow so far but we have a great line up of canoes we are currently working on.  These include a Thompson, Gerrish, Carleton, Penn Yan, Chestnut, Rushton, and a very early Old Town to mention a few.  The Old Town was one of the very first canoes to ever roll out of the Maine factory.  It bears a three digit serial number 4XX. We are also working on a few new canoes to include a decked canvas covered sailing canoe.

Here are three photo's of the early Old Town.   

It was really beat up when it came into the shop.

Fortunately we were able to restore the original shape of the hull which was altered due to poor storage.

The new seats being made as per the originals; mortise and tenon joinery.  While the topic is up, we make all of our seats for new canoes with mortise and tenon joinery.  It is much better than the ridiculous dowel joinery commonly used.

I guess we owe a picture of the month for both December and January. How about some video footage instead?

This short video is a compilation of footage that was taken during building a new Chicot earlier this winter.  The 17’ Chicot (pronounced Shee-koh) is our own design and since building the first canoe off the form several years ago there was somewhat of an instant and insatiable appetite for this model. We have built several and there are a lot of placed orders on the queue. If you enjoy this video, check back here in the near future as plan to put up several more.

The Chicot is favored by wilderness canoe trippers and general use paddlers all over.  Here are 2 pictures of it in use up north on the Great Whale during an 8 week canoe trip.  You can visit our website  http://www.wood-canoe.com/ to find out more information on the Chicot and the 8 other canoe models we build. While we are on the topic of the Chicot, we have an order for one to be built as light as possible for an 80 day canoe trip.  The target goal is a fraction under 60 pounds! This one is on the queue for next year and we certainly highlight this canoe as it is being built.