Shop Updates - Old Town, EM White, Penn Yan Swift and more

Yesterday morning it was 50 degrees and raining.  We lost the two feet of snow we had.  This morning it is 20 degrees and it has snowed 3 inches so far.  Typical New England weather.  At least the shop is dry and warm with lots of canoes and boats being restored and built. Here are some of the projects we are working on.

1907 Old Town HW

 

This one required a fair amount of work from the get go. There was not much left of the bow.

 

 

 

 

New ribs to replace some of the old broken ones are bent around the hull to gain the proper shape. 

 

New inner rails, several ribs, a new stem, new decks, planking, etc.

 

Here it is in the finish room being varnished.  All the structural hull work is done.

 

 

New canoe building

 

Here are some pictures of Emily building a new canoe.  One of the first steps is bending the stems.

 

Stems being pulled out of the steamah.

 

The compression strap is set on.

 

The stems are lined up on the bending jig...

 

...and with a little persuasion....

 

....viola!

 

 

 

The ribs have been bent around the form and the planking is started.  Here Emily is finishing up on the garboard, shaping the end with a draw knife.

 

Emily shaping a plank.

 

Emily is about 300 tacks into a total of about 2500.

 

The hull has been planked as much as it can on the form.  It is know lifted off and planking will continue off the form.

 

 

In and around the shop

 

Luckily we have only one canoe that had fiberglass on it.  Thankfully the aliens came down from above and yanked it off in no time!

 

 

Hard at work removing the fiberglass

 

Hey, were did my bow go? This one lost it's bow on the Otoskwin river in Northern ontario

 

The only thing holding on the front 5 feet of this 18' EM White was the canvas and half of an inner gunwale.

 

Another view of the White. Lots of work to do on this one.

 

Here is another 18' EM White on the right being railed.  This one was in better condition than the one above.  On the left is an Old Town OTCA waiting for outer gunwales.

 

 

This was one of a few 20' ash logs we milled up.  This produced some nice clear lumber. 

 

 

14' Penn Yan CUTM Swift

 

This one will need a little bit of work but overall a very nice swift.

 

 

The transom suffered a little storage rot.  This will require almost an entire new back end - transom, ribs, knees, keelson, etc.

 

It will also need a new electrical system to replace the rats nest that was there.

 

This is the first transom rib being shaped.  It tapers in width and thickness....

 

........and has a rolling bevel at the same time.

 

Fits like a glove.

 

 

 

Here is a video we took of stem bending spruce gunwales.

 

Stay tuned for more.....