Just purchased a 1975 18ft Chipewyan and the gunwales are cracked. I checked with Old Town and they no longer manufacture replacement gunwales. Any suggestion on replacing them. Been thinking about using wood.
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Old Town gunwales
- Thread starter cbdeajr
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Where are you located? Any place that sells and ships wood rails will have to truck freight full length, so cost can get high. If you have any canoe dealer nearby they can order in gunwales with another shipment so you won't have to pay freight. If you have a table saw or circular saw you should be able to find local lumber and rip your own.
Yea, remove those gunnels and go with ash. If you can't find a 18' plank (which is hard to find) find a 10' plank of ash, rip them a heavy 3/4 by 3/4 inner (inwales) and outer (gunnels), then make long splices and epoxy them. A belt sander will make every thing look good in the end.
You can also mix spruce inwales with ash gunnels, lots of options. Go to WCHA.org and search gunnels. Or pm me, I have done a few and can help ya out.
Bear in mind, once you go with wood, the canoe should be stored inside imo
Wood gunnels really make an old canoe look good, well to me they do.
You can also mix spruce inwales with ash gunnels, lots of options. Go to WCHA.org and search gunnels. Or pm me, I have done a few and can help ya out.
Bear in mind, once you go with wood, the canoe should be stored inside imo
Wood gunnels really make an old canoe look good, well to me they do.
G
Guest
Guest
Interesting that OT no longer has vinyl gunwales for 18 foot canoes, but the longest boat they currently offer is the 174 (17 feet, four inch), which would come up short on an 18 foot boat.
If you are/were planning to use vinyl gunwales you might be able to find them available from other manufacturers of plastic canoes (well, just poly now), especially if they still manufacture 18 foot or longer canoes. There’s a question. Is any manufacturer currently producing an 18 foot poly canoe?
Some well stocked outfitters even carry replacement vinyl gunwales, Blue Mountain Outfitters in Marysville PA for one, but I do not know if they have lengths for 18 footers.
Having them shipped would be ridiculously expensive, so they are a pick it up yourself item. They are also awkward to transport; unattached vinyl gunwales, even those with aluminum inserts, are floppy as hell and need some lengthy support on the roof racks. I usually bring a long tandem canoe on the racks and stuff them bent under the seats, with several feet hanging out either end. If you don’t have a spare tandem you might bring a long ladder on the racks.
If you go vinyl you will also need the appropriate deck plates, with a groove that fits the vinyl gunwale profile and a stem tip that fits the ends of the Chipewyan. IIRC the Chip has recurved stems, so the tip of the molded deck plate should have an angle / that accommodates that recurve. Vinyl decks for plum stems will be straight tipped |, and decks for stems with layout will be angled back at the bottom \ .
To get an accurate measurement for replacement vinyl gunwales just measure along the sheerline ( ). That distance from tip to tip is more than the boat length, but vinyl gunwales don’t reach all the way to the tip of the stems. They usually fit into a slotted reveal in the deck plate that ends 6 inches or so from the stem.
Does the Chipewyan by chance have white vinyl gunwales? Old Town’s white vinyl gunwales from back in the day had less UV resistance than modern black vinyl gunwales and most of them I have seen were brittle and cracked.
I'm with Robin. I also prefer wood, but then I've got Ash and the tools to machine it..
Check Northwest Canoe, in St Paul Mn.
Dennis might have them.
Shipping is expensive because of the length.
If you are anywhere near. I'd stop at Northwest Canoe.
Do a google search.
Jim
Check Northwest Canoe, in St Paul Mn.
Dennis might have them.
Shipping is expensive because of the length.
If you are anywhere near. I'd stop at Northwest Canoe.
Do a google search.
Jim
I have some of the ash gunwales from northwest canoe. The one I just measured is 18' 9" long, but that can vary somewhat. Some of the ends aren't really pretty, so make sure if/when you order them to specify that they are going on an 18' canoe. That way Dennis can pick out the best set for you. My first canoe has the "knockdown" gunwales that northwest sells. I'm not very pleased with them. Functionally, they are fine but the odd scarf joint they use doesn't match up well and it's painfully obvious to me.
Other than that and while on the subject, Northwest is great and Dennis is very helpful and willing to talk to you on the phone if you have any questions. They also make really cool voyager style canoes that really take the cedar stripper to a new level incorporating carbon and kevlar and vacuum bagging into the layup.
Other than that and while on the subject, Northwest is great and Dennis is very helpful and willing to talk to you on the phone if you have any questions. They also make really cool voyager style canoes that really take the cedar stripper to a new level incorporating carbon and kevlar and vacuum bagging into the layup.
I am going with wood. I think it will look better than plastic. Thanks for the input.
Cecil
Cecil
I would try to get full length lumber for the gunwales, rather than scarph it.
Tough finding long length now a days, I used to buy 18' 1 x 10 from Condon Lumber in White Plains NY but no more. I have been searching here on the east coast but to no avail. I found a sawyer who can mill long length logs but I have to deliver the log. I have a nice ash on my property but no way of moving an 18' log.
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Goosebay Lumber in NH carries planks of ash, almost always 20 footers by 8 to 10 inches by over an inch thick. I buy a couple a year and mill out my own. With the Ash Borer eating up our ash trees I'm thinking I might need to stock pile a bunch for future use. I can buy them from Millbrook when he has them but it's a relaxing job to make a bunch of gunwales. My problem with buying them is the cost of shipping usually costing more then the gunwales themselves. Vinyal gunwales are just as hard to find without a shipping or travel cost usually into Boston. No thanks. Good luck on whatever you choose.
dougd
dougd
Long lengths is one reason I am using Mahogany. I bought two 20' 1" x 8" planks, enough to do three boats. I should share my hooked scarf jig, they don't slide apart when clamped. That will be a couple weeks away if I do go with cherry rails for my green hull with the cracks.
Jim
Jim
You can buy wood gunwales from edscanoe.com. They come in sections so can be delivered by UPS. Use Tite Bond III as the glue. If you are going to use oil take the time to oil the side that will be next to the hull many times. Wont be able to get to them easy again. Should not have to say this but ..... do not get oil on the scarf joints before gluing.
As to getting a full length piece of wood much less ash at a good price. Well that is nigh on impossible for some of us who have a small budget. If you have the ability and the tools to shape your own gunwales I like spruce. Cheep, easy to work with, readily available, light, and works well. The hardest part of using scarf joints to put the least stress on them.
As to getting a full length piece of wood much less ash at a good price. Well that is nigh on impossible for some of us who have a small budget. If you have the ability and the tools to shape your own gunwales I like spruce. Cheep, easy to work with, readily available, light, and works well. The hardest part of using scarf joints to put the least stress on them.
Back in the shop after having my shoulder cut on. Going with the ash but will need to scarf it as the longest I can find in NE Missouri is 10ft. Started build on a couple of replacement seats today out of ash also. Going to use caning as I like the looks and use Boiled Linseed oil finish. I think linseed oil will work but if anyone has a suggestion I can use all the help I can get. This is my first rehab on a canoe.
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