Current Projects and Shop Updates 11-17-2014

We have some very exciting projects going on in the shop.  We are working on a sweet 1929 all wood cedar strip Peterborough Admiral, a nice range of Old Town Canoe Company canoes that include canoes from 1905, 1917, 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's, a couple Boston canoes from the Charles River including a Brodbeck, some Chestnut's, a sailing dinghy, a double ender, and of course a slew of new canoes.

Our business continues to grow and we are currently doing work for customers all over the country  from states such as Texas, California, Illinois, Vermont, Utah, Connecticut, and of course Massachusetts. We are very excited about this.

If you are thinking of having your canoe or boat restored, a new canoe made just for you, or would like to come build your own canoe we would love to hear from you.  Just give us a call or ping us an email.  It's that easy!

 

Here are some of the projects we are working on

 

A nice grade AA Old Town from the 20's

 

 

 

 

 

This one had seen some work in the past.

Notice how the scrafs on the inner gunwales are cut.

 

 

Here is another look at the scrafs

They really shouldn't be cut like this.

 

 

They should be cut like this, with the scarf angling in towards the deck.

It is a little more difficult to execute but this pins the new wood between

the inner gunwale and the deck making a stronger joint.

 

 

A look at the interior as it is being varnished.

 

 

A 16 foot Old Town Double Ended Rowboat

 

 

On the left is an amazing 1905 Old Town

The right is an equally nice 1952 Old Town

 

 

Emily starting to take apart a Brodbeck canoe.

Brodbeck was a Boston, Massachusetts builder.

This canoe, along with other Brodbeck's we have worked on
are about the best built canoes we have ever seen.

 

 

Another Charles River canoe.

This one a long decked courting canoe by Waltham 

 

 

This is a Peterborough Admiral
built by The Peterborough Canoe Company.

What a boat!

To see several more pictures of the restoration click here

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.440150332755012.1073741836.114140115356037&type=1

 

 

A view from inside the shop

 

 

Another view

 

 

More canoes coming in the shop

 



 

A Penn Yan cartopper getting canvassed. 

This marks at least one Penn Yan a year being restored by

us for more than the past 15 consecutive years, with as many as 7 in one year.

 



 

An Old Town sailing dinghy

 

 

This one will require much work to get it back on the water.
  

 

It took several paint baths over the years.  The last being red. 

 

 

Once stripped out, the first order of business

is to replace the badly broken inner gunwales.

Here Emily works on fastening in the new steam bent

mahogany gunwales

 

 

The sheer is now nice and fair and the hull is strengthened up.

 

 

The next order of business is to replace the

rotten inner keel that houses the center board trunk.

Above Emily makes a pattern to steam bend the new keel onto.

 

 

The old inner keel is removed

 

 

Cooked with rot, the keel had run its' course

 

 

The new keel next to the old, on the work bench.

 The new keel is marked out to match the old one.

We will follow up with the new keel and more in the next post.

 

Parting shot:



Our pooches enjoying an early morning

while on a canoe trip in Northern Canada. 

Shop Updates 9-11-2014

Has it really been almost a year since the last update?  This is a testament to how busy we have been in the shop.  Emily and I have been working long days to keep up with demand.  We continue to do work for people all over the country and abroad too.  We finished a record number of restorations and new canoes the past 10 months, our classes have been full, and we have some very exciting projects coming up.

It will be nearly impossible to cover everything from the past 10 months.  I will show a quick synopsis. Later in the month or early October I will get some of our newer projects up.  Enjoy.

OLD TOWN OTCA

 

A grade AA Old Town OTCA, meaning all mahogany trim. 

 

 

The inner gunwales needed to be replaced. 

Emily starts by trimming the off the top inch of planking

 so the fasteners holding in the inner rails are exposed.

 

 

 

The new inner rails steam bent onto there bending forms

 

 

The ends of the rails are tapered at the bench

 

Not all old canoes and boats where built with the skilled craftsmanship that everyone thinks they are.  Here is a shim between the inner rail and rib to make up the difference of a poorly cut bevel on the inner rail for the tumblehome.

 

One of the reasons why the inner rails where replaced.  

The inner rails where poorly spliced during some previous work by someone else.

 

The new inner rails being installed.

 

The inner rails are in.....

 

....and the planking is installed. 

The OTCA in the finish room receiving its' first coat of varnish.

Here are the before pictures..........

.....and here are the completed pictures.

 

 

 

NEW CANOE BUILDING

 

Here a couple new canoes being built.

 

 

The ribs are mill out, cut to length, and shaped.

 

 

This is for another closed gunwale canoe

 

The inner rails are tapered and planed smooth

 

The bevel on the stem is cut on the band saw....

 

 

...and then faired in with a plane and scraped smooth.

 

 

Two canoes being built.  On the right is an extra deep Windigo.

http://www.wood-canoe.com/18_windigo.html

 

On the left is a Temagami Traveler.

http://www.wood-canoe.com/temagami_traveler.html

 

 

The Windigo ready to be planked.

 

The Temagami Traveler is ready too.

 

 

Emily shaping planking at the bench.

 

 

The Windigo almost planked and ready to come off the form.

 

 

It is always exciting to lift a hull off the form.

 

 

The Temagami Traveler off the form

 

 

A look at both hulls

 

 

The hull is leveled off and plumbed to make sure the

decks, stem, and inner rails all come together nicely.

 

 

Emily shaping the decks.

 

 

 

The hulls are hand clinched and the hammer blossoms soaked out. 

A very important step if you want a fair, well built hull. 

 

 

The hull being oiled prior to canvassing.

 

 

A look at the Temagami Traveler

 

The Windigo being canvassed.

 

Filler time - putting on the canvas filler.

 

 

Emily working on a pair of inner rails for the next new canoe.

 

 

 

AROUND THE SHOP

 

 

A little form tuning

 

Emily starting work on an all wood wide board canoe

 

Three Canadian canoes from three very different locations. 

Left is a Fraser Prospector, center is a Temagami Canoe Company,

and right is a Peterborough rib and batten canoe.

 

An 18' EM White getting new outer gunwales

 

A little shop cleaning revealed how many bending jigs we have. 

We lost count at 200.

 

More Jigs.

 

A little shop rearranging for some new machinery. 

Boy, it looks like Emily does all the work around here.

 

 

 A view from the corner of the shop.

 

 

 Caulking the deck seams on a Penn Yan Swift.

 



 

Inside the finish room

 

 

COMPLETED CANOES AND BOATS

 

 

A couple of Chestnuts.  Are the Pals or Chums?

A BN Morris

A Thames River mahogany Lapstrake from Englan

 



 

A few courting canoes

 

 

Foreground to background:

17 foot Chicot extra deep, an 18 foot Windigo regular depth,

and an extra deep Windigo.

If you are looking for great family paddling canoes that double up

as some of the best canoe tripping canoes, check these out.

http://www.wood-canoe.com/17_chicot.html

http://www.wood-canoe.com/18_windigo.html

 

 

More new canoes headed out the door

 

 

A look at the bow of a Chicot headed for Gravenhurst, Ontario.

 

 

A 1920's Old Town with all the accoutrements (seat backs, paddles, etc).

 

 

Are you exhausted?  I am.  The cat has the right idea. Time for a nap.

See you soon with some new and exciting fall projects.