Nice Old Town find yesterday

[MacCamper]

No Title

Great boat. I restored a 1972 Trapper w/f (they advertised it as plastic on the flyer that I will post if I can locate it) my brother and Dad had picked up in Maine at the Old Town factory in the early 1970's. Originally painted green and shipped to St. Paul, my father wanted a red one so it was shipped back to OT for the re-coat and pick up. My older sibling had stored it outside for many years on a community rack in Minneapolis where it was vandalized on multiple occasions. Refinished with repaired ribs, new seats a replaced thwart and some TLC, it is my "go-to" solo canoe when I don't have any, or at least many, portages to carry. It is a bear at a few ounces shy of 75 pounds, especially with my bad right shoulder. My long distance and portage canoe is a kevlar Winona Adirondack because it is much lighter. However you can't beat the beauty of wood. The Trapper planted the bug and now I'm building my first strip canoe. This is really a nice water craft and I'm glad you are bringing it back to life.

 

[Robin]

Nice story M'Camper, what a sweet looking dog. Looks like a great tripping buddy for the solo tripper.

I installed the other inwale this afternoon, I need to repair a few more rib tips before I begin to install the gunnels.

 

[Robin]

Finished the gunnels today, I added the center thwart (34" outside of plank to outside of plank) which helped eliminate most of the hogging.Decks, sanding and varnish next.

 

[Robin]

I got one deck in but the second deck just gave me fits so I gave up at O beer thirty this evening. When things start giving me fits it's best I step back and open a cold one...always tomorrow.

 

[Robin]

Finished the gunnels/inwales and decks, all sanded too, varnish this week. I had to use G-flex on the stems, hopefully the varnish and stem bands will do it justice

 

[Robin]

First coat of varnish in and out on the OT Trapper, and the Bell Northstar has a coat of varnish on her rails also. The repairs to the Northstars hull came out pretty solid and smooth on the outside, inside will always show the repairs. I picked up some Interlux gloss black and some reducer to flatten the paint some. I'm looking for some paint for the Bell's interior also, I like that color, not sure if I can match it.






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[yellowcanoe]

One of the "hacks" for preserving a Kevlar interior is varnish. I varnished my Peregrine when I had it. and it was showing floor wear.

 

[Robin]

The Northstar has some Watco stains on the floor, along with the fiberglass patches. I'm hoping the paint would improve "first impressions".

 

[Iskweo]

Robin....14 ft chestnut on kijiji in Barrie ON...$500. right up your alley.

 

[Robin]

Robin....14 ft chestnut on kijiji in Barrie ON...$500. right up your alley.

I looked but couldn't find, unless you mean that 14' runabout?

 

[Mihun09]

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-canoe-kayak-...oe/1149350013?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

 

[Robin]

Nice canoe, wish I was closer to look at it. But are you sure it's a Chestnut? The thwart is in the wrong place and the decks are curved, plus wide ribs.

 

[rider1]

No Title

Good morning Mr. Robin,
I been looking at your project and was inspired.
I fount this yesterday and thought you might like to see it. I was thinking about taking it on, but wanted to see what your thoughts were. 1939 16ft. Old town wood and canvas.

 

[Robin]

Well, you have a good end with the correct curve in the stem to help you make a new stem for the other end, you can buy a deck from Old Town or Northwoods canoe, you have some ribs and plank also.
Do you know any local restorers to help you out? I couldn't find any here http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply/index.php

wcha.org is an excellent place to gather information.

A 16' Old Town is a nice paddling canoe. I would try to restore it if was my first wooden canoe. I like Chestnuts but they all have their good points.

Another good source of information is Canoeguys blog, he covers it all.https://canoeguybc.wordpress.com/

He also has a book out, good luck and let us know how it goes, let me know if you have any questions, better yet just ask in the wooden canoe area of this forum, lots of restorers hang out here and are willing to help out.

 

[Iskweo]

Good morning Mr. Robin,
I been looking at your project and was inspired.
I fount this yesterday and thought you might like to see it. I was thinking about taking it on, but wanted to see what your thoughts were. 1939 16ft. Old town wood and canvas.

That one has seen better days but is relatively doable. If you take your time you should be able to revive it.

 

[Iskweo]

Nice canoe, wish I was closer to look at it. But are you sure it's a Chestnut? The thwart is in the wrong place and the decks are curved, plus wide ribs.

I am not sure it is a chestnut but it has the correct look for a Pleasure model. Decks are like ours were ...although it could be a Pete. It looks to have disappeared ...

 

[Robin]

Finished, I'm hoping to give it a paddle tonight if the rain holds off, new ash inwales, gunnels, decks, thwart and varnish. I used G-Flex to rebuild the ends where the fiberglass had split. It has alot of stress cracks in the glass but the wood underneath is not rotted at all. I would say this makes a really nice cabin canoe, hanging in a Great room when not in use.

 

[MacCamper]

Looks great Robin, as my Trapper did before I applied the red tinted ironsides varnish. How much is your finished weight? I noticed that your canoe has no keel. The original model came with one. Did you remove it? I left mine on as it still had its integrity. Enjoy

 

[Robin]

It weighs a bit over 60lbs, I had the keel installed, but the canoe has a small bit of hogging in the middle and when I laid the canoe on the horses the hogging increased dramatically. I guess it (the ribs and fiberglassed hull) has weakened over the years, so to avoid any more damage I removed the keel.
I filled the holes with G-Flex epoxy.

 

[MacCamper]

Found this today in my canoe file. Maybe you can use it as a sales flier. Interesting that the natural finish was more expensive than the painted versions. Also the term reinforced plastic rather than the common fiberglass.

Mac