Peterborough Restoration & Copy

[Kliff]

Well, I've finally decided on my next canoe project, and it might be a bit ambitious. I've had a 75th anniversary Peterborough wood & canvas canoe in storage for close to 30 years. It's in relatively good shape, but does need some work. I'm going to restore that, and in the process create a table of offsets to make station forms, and eventually a cedar strip copy. I'll be starting the restoration in about a week.

My primary goal with the restoration is to bring it back as close to original as possible. One item I'll need to recreate is the logo. I have a decal printer/cutter. If need be, I can recreate the logo, but hoping not to, as I am not a graphics expert, and it'll take me more than a couple hours. Anyone have a high quality image like this?

 

[Benson Gray]

I have the image shown below but yours is in better shape. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/product-page/peterborough-canoe-company-deck-decal if you just want the basic decal. The list at https://wcha.org/catalogs/plans.html includes several Peterborough designs so you may not need to recreate the plans for the copy. Good luck with the project.

Benson

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Sounds like a great project, Kliff. Since this first stage is a restoration of a wood/canvas canoe, I'm moving the thread to that forum. @Murat V has a lot of knowledge about Canadian canoe decals, so maybe he'll chime in.

 

[kahel]

have a look ...

Peterborough logo1

Peterborough logo 2​

​

 

[recped]

Not relevant to me but the Logo 3 is not loading (the others are fine).

I only looked to see it matched my Peterborough that was stolen in 1965....probably does but I really can remember what the original looked like. Sadly my parents bought a Lakefield as a replacement (still "sleeping" in my garage), nowhere near as nice a boat as the Peterborough but I do remember that we paid the extortionate price of CA$265 in '65.

 

[Kliff]

Kahel. Logos look great. Missing the 75th year banner, but I can add that with Illustrator or Photoshop. My dad bought this canoe before I was born, he died when I was 2. Don't remember him much, one photo, this canoe, and an old .22 rifle are all I have from him. Hopefully I can do the restoration justice, make a stripper copy, and give the original to my older brother.

 

[Patrick Corry]

Buckhorn Canoes, Ontario, CA and the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association sell Peterborough decals. Neither lists the 75 year decal, but they may have an image suitable for you.

 

[Murat V]

The back cover of the of the 1954 Peterborough catalog has the the 75th anniversary logo, but it is not colorized. You might be able to to just add some of the colors to it and get a relatively clean copy. Here is the image:


The current Peterborough reproduction decals are based on an earlier era design where the words "Registered Trade Mark" appear at the bottom of the red oval. For the 75th issue, Peterborough changed the design so that "Registered Trade Mark" was positioned above the main text that now read Peterborough Watercraft instead of "The Peterborough Canoe"

If you're interested, there's a great thread on the WCHA forum with a timeline of different versions put together by Roger Young:

Dating Peterborough Canoe Co. decals

Over the years, from 1892 to the 1960's, the Peterborough Canoe Co. decal has undergone a number of iterations and variations - some slight, some more extensive. If we can get them into some semblance of correct sequence, perhaps it could help to suggest an approximate date of manufacture for...

forums.wcha.org

 

[Kliff]

Wow. Thanks Murat. My graphics skills aren't good, but they aren't non-existent either. I can easily give it a transparent background, and fill the red & yellow with the appropriate shades. Thanks again. You made that part of the job much simpler.

The canoe is currently in my barn "up north", which is my summer place 4 hours away. I'm going there in 5 days, and still toying with whether I want to do the restoration there, or at my main home. I have a shop at each. In any case, I'll be starting hopefully a week from today.

 

[Kliff]

just a quick update, in case anyone is following. this project is on hold for a month or so. i fell off a roof and broke my foot, cant stand for long times. then, cut finger, severing nerves. needed surgery. not shop related, but result is he same. hoping to get started later in the summer

 

[Boatman53]

Sorry to hear that Kliff. Yes in sure many like myself follow along on these projects. Hope you heal quickly.
Jim

 

[Kliff]

Well, it's been a longer delay than I had hoped, but I'm finally ready to get started. I decided to bring the canoe back to my main house, and work on it here. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the canoe is in much better condition than I had remembered. It's largely been in storage for the last 30 years, only being used a half dozen times or so since.
Here's an overall view.


According to the stem #, I believe it is one of the "trapper" series.


What remains of the 75th anniversary decal. I'll be creating a new one. Thanks again Murat for the clean artwork.


The only apparent rot at this point is in the bow. Inwale and outwale will need repair/replacement.

A few of the rib ends are split, but the wood all seems solid. I'm thinking once I get it cleaned up, and the skin off, I'll decide whether I can cleanly repair the splits, or replace the ends. When I was in High School (more than 30 years ago) I recaned the seats. More on that later, but In removing and reinstalling them, I'm not sure I put them back at the original drop. Bow seat is tight to the inwale. Stern seat is tight to inwale front, and about a 1" drop to level the seat in the rear.

My goal for this project is to restore the canoe as close as possible to original condition, with it ultimately being used as a light day paddler on Northern Wisconsin Lakes, 500 acres or less. At some point, I'll be creating a table of offset data, so I can create a duplicate in cedar strip. I have no experience working on wood & canvas canoes. I've built exactly one stripper. I am what most people consider a master wood worker, with access to virtually any tool imaginable.

So here's what I'm thinking for next steps. If I'm out of order on this, please let me know.

1. Remove seats & Thwart
2. Chemically strip the inside and gunwales.
3. Remove stem band, outwale, keel
4. Remove skin
5. Remove decks & inwales
6. Stop and assess repair needs

I typically use Kutzit wood stripper. It's fairly thin and runny, but I'm thinking for the inside of the boat, with the skin still on, that won't be an issue. I've seen others recommend TotalBoat Total Strip. Never used it.

I also want to start looking at and ordering materials I'll need when I get to the "putting it back together" phase. I'm assuming with my overall goal of restoring it to original I'll be using canvas & filler, over a synthetic skin. Thoughts? Assuming canvas, what weight? What filler?

Keeping the old saying: "You don't know what you don't know" in mind, any and all advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Robin]

That looks like it’s 14/15’ with only one thwart?
I’m a “new” big fan of Total Strip, but everyone has their preferences.
I remove the canvas before striping to be able to wipe and wash the gunk off the outside of the canoe as it seeps thru the spaces between planks.
I assume you will be replacing the inwales after you remove them? New inwales really improve the looks of a wc canoe imo.
I use #10 canvas on my tripping canoes, and I recently used lighter #12 on a lightweight 14’ Chestnut Fox replica.
I mix my own filler, based off of what was suggested in the book “This Old Canoe” The same recipe is available at WCHA.ORG.

 

[Kliff]

It's just shy of 15'. Actual length: 14'-10 1/2". My thinking on leaving the canvas on during stripping is, it'll prevent the stripper & dissolved finish from dripping all over the place through planking cracks, especially if I go with Kutzit. The stuff is like water. Great for getting into every crack and crevice, but it drips through every crack and crevice. I agree, I'd get it cleaner being able to wipe/rinse inside and out.

The inwales are in good enough shape that I could probably scarf join a piece in to repair the ends, and heavy sand to clean up and remove the dings. Easier and less time consuming to replace with new, so that's most likely what I'll be doing. Trying to match new wood with 70-80 year old, and not notice the transition is nearly impossible. The gunwales also seem a bit beefier than needed for this size canoe. I may lighten them just a bit. New gunwales seem so far down the road, I hate to spend too much time thinking about them.