Restoring a Chestnut Bob's canoe

[Robin]

Bob and I had a good morning in the shop today We brought the canoe out of the drying room and trimmed around the top of the filled canvas to make room for the new gunnels.




We then cut new 16' spruce gunnels and clamped then on, one side at a time. We pre drilled and installed bronze screws. I will be removing these screws when I get the canoe home and installing proper Robertson Head (square drive) bronze screws, one at a time. Heres Bob lining up the new gunnel,



Here is the canoe after the new gunnels have been sanded and varnished, coat one of 4 coats of varnish applied. Getting there, we are off for the weekend and Bob will apply the first coat of paint Monday.

 

[Guest]

That looks nice. Has anyone ever painted their canoe to look like an old pack; a non-shiny tan or khaki colour?

 

[Robin]

Not yet, but I like the idea.

 

[Seeker]

I wish my OT was green (vs red), but I'm just happy to own one of any color. My stitch and glue/cheapie is a natural finish (just 'natural' epoxy over the luan, no paint/pigment/stain).

I think an old, washed-out green canvas coloration would be pretty neat.

 

[Mihun09]

Robin, is there any flex in the canvas after the 4 coats of epoxy or is it a hard shell type of thing? I also note that it looks like the gunwales are screwed on about every 6 ribs? I've always done every other rib as I am doing now. That is a pretty flat sheer line for a Chestnut too.

 

[Robin]

Ummm, ya got me on the screws, I want to say every other rib but the picture looks like that's not the case. I just put gunnels on my other Bob's yesterday and they where every other rib, but there is a long space between the first two screws in the deck and then it goes every other rib with a screw. I'm not sure until I see the canoe on Tuesday for it's final coat of paint (4th). It looks VG, the 3rd coat is Kelly green, but the 4th will be a little lighter.

The epoxy is advertised as flex able but the epoxy canvas seems harder than an Old Town filler canvas. It won't crack if stressed, and the hull is almost flawless, much better than anything I have produced at home. Unfortunately, I skipped the sanding of the hulls here at home (Prospector and Bob's) for lack of a proper orbital sander, big mistake as both have a few plank lines. Live and learn.

My fix for those lines is to run those two canoes hard this summer till they need new canvas and do a better job next winter!

Yes, the sheer line on a Bob's is almost nill, both this 1930 above and the 1970 I have in my shop are the same.

 

[Mihun09]

I have a lot of planking lines in the Canadian despite sanding it prior to canvas. I think that might partly be due to failing eyesight and the fact the boat had been fiberglassed. I can see where some planking is cupped through the canvas that I hadn't seen before.

The only flawless hull I will ever do will be when I build a new hull off a form I will build once we decide which boat to build. It may be from the Canadian, it is going to fly when done, only 32" wide, 16 feet long and 12" deep. Not a lot of rocker but it should go straight fast.

 

[Robin]

Bob and I put the final coat of paint on the Chestnut Bob's this morning. I got off to a rough start, the paint wasn't covering and then I dropped my brush, but Bob had a good day and when he finished his side, he came over to my side and managed to touch things up before it was too late.
Tomorrow we clean up the gunnels and add the final coat of varnish to them, then Thursday we add the stem bands.
I'm not putting the seats back yet, I made a "solo" seat to try out with clamps and blocks. If I like how it fits on a test paddle I might just go with a single seat.

 

[Robin]

Bob and I finished the Bob's Special up this morning, put the stem bands on without too many problems (I hate drilling holes in a perfectly water tight canvas). Here's Frank on the left with Bob and Myself,



Here's the canoe on day 1,



Even the chicken likes the canoe,




No seats yet, I have a solo seat I want to try first. Trim it to fit and clamp it in for a test paddle. This canoe is 34 1/2" plank to plank, my Chestnut Chum is also 15' but 30". This canoe is lighter than the Chum, but not built as solid as the Chum.

 

[Murat V]

Beautiful job Robin. Enjoyed this thread from start to finish. Seeing all these restorations & builds really helped get through the winter. Now we need to see these things on the water!

 

[rpg51]

Gorgeous.

 

[Guest]

Ouch! That looks beautiful. Your photo pre-stem band had me wondering "Why bother? It looks fine without it." That shiny brassy stem band looks classic.
Thanks for taking us on this ride, Bob & Robin.