What's happening in your shop this winter?

[Robin]

I finished the gunnels yesterday and started sanding for the final coats of paint. I used light weight canvas on the Farber, #12 and I'm not thrilled with the results.
When I sanded the Chum I found a piece of plank had broken off and slipped in between the hull and the canvas while applying the gunnel. Need to remove the gunnel and get it out today.
So I'm not sure if these canoes will see the WCHA assembly at his point. I need to keep my work sessions shorter to prevent these errors

 

[dougd]

Big move this summer! The old Canoe Shed is finally coming down before it falls down. Has a serious lean to it. A few years ago the center carrying beam broke under a very heavy snow load and I put some band aids on to buy some time. Well, that time has gone and then some so it's getting torn down and rebuilt. It started out as a 4' x 8' chicken coop and over 17 years grew to 17' x 20'. Nice thing is I used a lot of rough cut for the walls and roof so I can save a lot of those boards for future use.

The new Canoe Shed is going to be 16' x 20' and although that is small for a work shed I work alone most times and it will work for me. And IT WILL HAVE HEAT and some good Anderson windows AND a level floor. Being cheap I used pallets for the floor with pieces of left over plywood on the old shed. heck, I'm almost feeling giddy thinking about that!

Worst part is not the building part, it is the emptying out of all the tools and small stuff I've accumulated over the years. What I've been doing is taking boxes and loading them up with all the small stuff asking myself as I sort through stuff, where in the heck did that come from?, I've been looking for that for two years now!, why am I saving this since I've moved it 27 times! I make a list for each box as to the contents so when I do go looking for "that" item I can refer to the list instead of rooting through all the boxes causing me great angst!

All the tools I need for the rebuild are going in another shed for easy access. Am hoping to have the shell up by beginning of Sept and then will slowly insulate the inside. Of course all of this means no work on boats and I have some work to do on my hulls but heck first things first!

The last boat I'll be working on will be the Satan Boat, the Rob Roy down in Maryland at McCrea's place and when I get back demo begins. Should be interesting as this will be a solo project and my old back is aching but it will get done.

dougd

 

[Canotrouge]

No Title

A client brought in that nice and unusual cedar strip canoe yesterday for me to fit in a new foot brace. The canoe was made by Douglas Ingram from Lorette Manitoba more than 20 years ago. The craftsmanship is top notch. I like all the little details that makes it different than the usual stripper, like the wide strips and the way he went at it above the water line, the nice wide beveled seat stays, the nicely shaped decks and yoke. Over all a really well made boat!!

 

[Odyssey]

I'm envious of all the workshops I see here. I may poke fun at dining room tables and canvas colour choices, that's just my way, but please know that I take everyone serious. (I learned my lesson from the Finn axe thing.)
Must be pretty cool to see a modern piece of history pass through your shop and your hands Canot et al. History is a fluid thing, with new tributaries and springs feeding our cultural mosaic maze all the time. I love seeing forgotten flotsam remembered and restored; new artistic and crafty interpretations added to the flow. I'm just along for the ride. I have nothing to add but everything to gain.
Thank you.

ps When you restore something for someone, do you have carte blanche, or is there an agreement of what materials and methods will be employed?

 

[Mihun09]

Brad, when we did the one repair last year for an actual paying customer, they just wanted it fixed to paddle. I did my best to match the colour of the wood and repair the glass in a way that they wouldn't see it. They loved it. It was already glassed so it was easier than fixing canvas that had had an air conditioner dropped on it.

 

[Iskweo]

I have quoted prices for recanvassing for a couple of folks but they seem to think 400 is a fair price....well yeah if I am doing it for MYSELF. I usually ask 700-800 to recanvas.
Canvas..........75.00
Filler...............100.00
Mildewcide......50.00
Varnish............60.00
paint supplies...20.00
paint.................50.00
hardware..........30.00

That is close to 400.00 for materials without considering the shop equipment we have and the space to work in...heat and light eh.
Sooooo 25.0 hours labour give or take ...you get $300....that is like $12/hr.....minimum wage. If we could find someone to do it for 500.00 a boat we would never do another one ourselves.

 

[Mihun09]

If someone were going to do canvas for $500 I would want to watch to see if they do all the steps correctly. Skip the mildewcide and you have a short lived canvas job. For any restoration you might consider buying, I would like to know "Who" did the work.

I did the filler on the Y-stern yesterday, mix a batch and 2 coats, 3 hours labour. What I would like to know though is, the first Bastien we did 6 years ago and sold, how is the canvas holding up? That couple haven't found us again but I'm curious you know.

 

[Odyssey]

This helps. As a tradesman of sorts (far below your standards) I understand how customers with low expectations and low values can be more challenging than perfectionist high maintenance customers. Way more. How often I've wished the customer actually cared as much as I. The common care for me is the job quality, not the customer's attitude. Maybe that's a broken business model nowadays.
In canoe restoration terms I'd be afraid of seeing craft canoes fudged with haphazard repairs to meet low quality low expectations. (Oh FFS just sell me your canoe and go buy a plastic bucket, and let me pass this on to someone who cares.) But...
I'm currently working on a century home reconstruction project, uncovering many half-arsed alterations over decades of neglect. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Finding nicotine stained walls, no insulation and rotten floors I tend to fight tears as I work. Peeling back layers of history is wonderful, feeling like an urban archeologist interpreting changes in domestic use and layout, but the fudged low budget changes make me weep. Extension cord wiring, masking taped leaky windows, newspaper insulation...I know a home is not a canoe; the pressures of life differ. But the appreciation remains the same, how important is this to me? What can I afford? What will I leave behind, a legacy or another desperate job? A canoe is just a toy, a recreational object of joy. But in the past it was more, and in the present it is so much more, and what of the future? How judgemental should I be, and do I have a right to be? I don't know these answers, and dare not judge yours. If someone holds on to an old decrepit canoe, making do with duct tape and spit to keep it, maybe that ought to be enough. All I know is after a week of dusty tears I'm back at it this week. Tearing out the old and refurbishing the now, and hoping the next generation will appreciate it, however they see fit and honour it. And I'm trying not to look down on those who've gone before me, no matter how low their expectations might have been, but look up to how high their aspirations might have been.
I think I'm starting to understand the frustration some of you must feel when you come across slapdash repairs and junk carpentry.

 

[Iskweo]

I hear you Brad. My house is a conglomeration of errors. Every time we start on something we find crap that would have Mike Holmes curled up in the corner crying like a little girl. I call it alligator ranching. " All I wanted to do was drain the swamp,next thing you know I am up to my arse in alligators " .
My favourite canoe butchery is when guys cut the shearline down because the tips are rotted. It's right up there with flatbacking a double ender.

 

[Magnus919]

Late July is the dead of Winter somewhere, right?

Otto the Schnauzer & Mrs Magnus are exhausted from our ~100F heat. We were in and out of the shop cutting down & drilling out the replacement seats for the OT Camper. We're expecting thunderstorms every day for the next week or more, so there won't be any family paddling going on. I think the next thing for inside of the shop is to construct a proper boat rack. The kayak is suspended from the wall by some J hooks, which will give way to something that will let me stack maybe four boats against the wall. Reckon I can suspend two more from the roof joists without having to duck.

 

[sweeper]

@ Jim Dodd I sold my first canoe stand this weekend's craft show, $200. The new owner proudly show me a pic of his American Traders w/c canoe and I showed him how it wasn't just a show stand, flipping the canoe upside down, telling him he could also use it as a work stand. So I've given one away and sold one. I think it's time to take the 3rd one up to American Traders.


Thanks for the idea Jim it may have also gotten into the annual Crafts of Colrain show.

http://www.craftsofcolrain.com

Sorry Jim there's no finders fee for the idea, SWMBO has a daughter in vet school, I got enough for beer which I would gladly share should you ever come this way. But then isn't that the offer when any of us show up?

 

[Magnus919]

On the to-do list:
* New, relocated seat for Old Town Pack
* Install kneeling thwart in Old Town Camper
* Skid plates for Wenonah Advantage.
* Wood maintenance for all boats.
* Figure out better arrangement for butt & feet in the Advantage.

 

[dougd]

Not1 much because I had to tear it down. Materials are ordered for the new one and will starting the floor next week for the new shed. The old one started out as a 4 x 8 chicken coop and was an add on after add on until it was roughly 17' x 21'. New shed is going to be 16' x 20', enough for my needs and by Gawd it's gonna have freaking heat!! Once that's done I have a Bell Mystic to work on as well as the ol' Adirondack canoe in Kevlar. Hoping to be done with the shed by the end of October.

dougd

 

[Jim Dodd]

Yeah! I know it's an Old Thread, but still a good one !

We can't just build canoes ALL the Time !

Live edge table, and bench, for my oldest son's new house.

 

[Mason]

I'll bite. Dining room table for my daughter's birthday this month.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I'll bite. Dining room table for my daughter's birthday this month.

For some reason, I can't enlarge your pic.
It says I'm not authorized.

 

[lowangle al]

I need to stop a leak in my 18' OT Guide. I believe it's leaking at the keel, possibly caused by being outside in freeze and thaw conditions in November. My plan is to scrape any loose paint, sand, seal the base of the keel with silicone and repaint a couple inches on each side of it. I am open to suggestions if anyone has a better idea. I am not concerned about how it looks.

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

Al, I was in the same boat so to speak. Check out Dolfinite Bedding Compound to use instead of silicone. [h=1][/h]

 

[Mason]

For some reason, I can't enlarge your pic.
It says I'm not authorized.

Dunno--it's worked before. I don't have anything in the cloud, so no links. I checked my settings and nothing seems awry.

 

[Mason]

For some reason, I can't enlarge your pic.
It says I'm not authorized.

Uploaded again.