Northern Ontario W/C, but who made it?

[dogbrain]

I posted some pictures on the WCHA forum of a canoe I picked up last week. Supposedly it came from somewhere in northern Ontario, but has no markings. It has some things in common with a Langford from the 60's, but I think the decks don't quite match. It certainly isn't a Lakefield regardless of the deck sticker.

According to the previous owner, it originally had slat seats that were mounted to the gunwales with a horizontal rail instead of typical drops. Overall, the build quality appears to be more utilitarian, although all fasteners are either brass or bronze. There are no broken ribs, but the canoe has a few ribs with creases in them from poor steam bending. The canoe is in surprisingly good shape, having no rot in either stems, so it must have been very well taken care of. The canoe is a bit heavier without canvas than my OT HW, but it does have a bit more wood in the construction and the hull seems to be quite saturated with oil.

The canoe is 16' long overall and 36" wide at the widest part of the hull. Ribs are un-tapered and 1-7/8" wide, roughly 5/16" thick and spaced 1-1/8" apart. I can't tell if they are made of white cedar, but may be something else. Planking is 5/32" thick and 3-3/4" wide and is definitely western red cedar. Some of the planking and ribs are nice quality quarter sawn stock, while plank at the bilge area is flat sawn for some reason. Decks and thwarts are ash. I think the decks are original. Gunwales are some species of soft wood, spruce or fir and are built quite heavy being 1-1/16" high. Inwales are 15/16" thick and have a minimal bevel since the canoe has almost no tumblehome. Outwales are 7/8" wide.

At center, the canoe is approximately 14-1/2" deep, and at the ends is 25" . The keel line is almost flat and raises only near the stems. It's profile is similar to an Abenaki canoe in the Adney book, but is built more full in the ends like a prospector.

Any other ideas of a maker from our friends north of the border?

 

[latremorej]

I have no clue at all, but I do know that it was, as you said, very well kept! Looks beautiful!

 

[Pook]

The planking, seat attachment and utilitarian nature is similar to our Langford from late 1960's. Ours also has a couple of "kinky" ribs.
Different decks though.
I'm afraid I don't have more -or better pictures- to compare as its on Lake Simcoe and I'm in Northern Alberta right now.

Bruce

 

[dogbrain]

OK Pook, there must be at least one more canoe we have in common. I agree, the decks are not the same, but the shape is similar. Other pictures I've seen of Langfords have the decks like yours, which seem to have the cutout just a little deeper than mine. Everything else seems to point to Langford, so for now that's what I'll cal it. Thanks, Mark

 

[memaquay]

I have nothing to add, other than calling Lakefield a part of northern Ontario is a pretty big stretch.

 

[dogbrain]

Yeah, the guy I bought if from didn't think it was a Lakefield either.

 

[Iskweo]

Those decks look like replacements ...the grain is very open and one is definitley a replacement with the dead straight edge. If the hull is well oiled it has probably seen some repairs. The Langford I am working on right now looks nothing like that one. Which means little really. Mine has red cedar planking and that maybe your best clue as not too many builders used it, preferring white cedar.
Canadian was the only other company I have seen using red cedar planking in all the ones we have done.

As for hull shape, mehhhh, mine looks much more like a Pete. Decent rocker and recurve on the ends. Your bow reminds me very much of a Tremblay. I would venture a guess and say Rilco? Martin 2007 had one that he may be able to compare for you. Rilco being Richardson, a successor to Lakefield. There are some internet images that look a lot like the bow shape of yours with the red planking.

Christine

 

[dogbrain]

Hi Christine. That lengthwise picture of the inside is deceiving. Both decks are identical. Also, looking underneath the decks looks like really old wood, so my bet is that the decks are original. I don’t think this boat has ever been taken apart. All ribs and plank look original, nothing looks replaced. I’m almost positive the plank is WRC. No scarfs on the stems and there is no rot there. I can’t imagine someone would replace decks just for the look. The previous previous owner said he got this from a summer camp 30 years ago. He replaced the canvas at some point and did some lousy repairs to the outwales with plastic wood. I think he’s the one that soaked the Hull with oil.

I looked at Richardson/Rilco but the pictures I’ve seen of those have unique planking, not like this canoe.

Mark

 

[Iskweo]

This is the Langford I am working on currently and as you can see the hull shape is totally different from yours. Decks too. This was a camp boat and suffered horribly over the years in the back of a barn...literally.
I have a 16.5 foot frieghter that was a one off made by some guys and you may have something similar?

Bottom line is you have a nice collection of cedar and tacks that will be fun to paddle.

Keep searching.

Christine

 

[dogbrain]

Here are examples of Langford decks I found on the internet. The shape is sort of like mine, but not like yours. One of them is even an extension of the inwales, so who knows? There seems to be enough variation that maybe Langford was just a name used to sell boats made by different people. There's really not much info to be found about that company even though canoes are still made under that name.

Mark

 

[Pook]

Dogbrain!

I'm laughing at your earlier comment- I didn't note the poster before replying.
I didn't put the "Northern Ontario W/C" thread and "Pal" thread together. And in another coincidence- I can solidly confirm that boat is no Richardson.
Why? Cause I have one! A longterm project...

Richardson's have narrow lap strake planking, cedar decks etc.

I'm still thinking yours is a Langford.
Langford is an "interesting" company. Making canoes for over 75 years but they don't seem to celebrate or promote their heritage as much as some other much newer companies do. I've stopped at their Dwight shop a couple of times and always been underwhelmed- unlike a stop at Swift, for instance.
And though there is variations in the builds over the years I'm not aware of others building for them.

And the current wood canvas Langfords are beautifully built.
Bruce

 

[dogbrain]

I walked by this poor thing again today just a couple blocks from my house and realized it too is a Langford. Slat seats, aluminum stembands, decks..... I thought the guy would try to repair it when he first brought it home, but then all of a sudden it's a flower bed.

Mark

 

[memaquay]

It's a fine looking canoe anyway, despite questions as to its pedigree. Is there a canvas job in the works?

 

[Iskweo]

That one looks a bit more like mine. Langford. From what I can gather, the original ones were made by the founder of the company up until his death. At that point the land the shop was on was sold and the business and name went with it. At that poing another entity began sub contracting the builds out to Abitibi canoes in Quebec. I am not sure what the current state of the company is other than I see them occasionally at trade shows and they still supply canoes to the HBC for outlandish prices. Requests for information mostly go unanswered. There were a bucket full of little canoe companies...Minto, Temagami, Langford, Omer Stringer, Wm English, that all went under.. Quebec has a bunch too. Lots of little guys doing one or two a year also. Once I die and the estate tries to sell our Pecaco it will no doubt cause lots of head scratching also.

Mine is very Pete like in hull design but with pretty narrow ribs and as you noted some of them are quarter sawn and some are flat sawn. Not sure about the planking as it is very very weathered. Those deck shapes are from what I can tell the later type once Abitibi took over production. The original and later logos are diferent too. You are likely a second generation Langford of sorts. Still a pretty good deal and a good paddler.

Anyone who keeps the old wc canoes alive is ok in my books.

 

[dogbrain]

I do really enjoy learning the history of these watercraft as much as anything else. Getting a beautiful old canoe back on the water, or at least to a place where it won't be left outside to rot is the other half. Either way, this old canoe will get fresh varnish and a new canvas next winter.