Peter and Christ Thompson built wood-canvas canoes in Peshtigo, Wisconsin (about 50 miles north of Green Bay) as the Thompson Brothers Boat Manufacturing Company. The company built canoes from 1904 until 1962.
The specifications I present here are for the Ranger model ̶ a 16′ canoe designed for general recreational use. As in all of my blog articles presenting specifications for canoes, I do not present the lines for the hull.
That said, the hull has a shallow-arch bottom with lots of tumblehome through the full length of the canoe. The ends have very little rocker and are quite full. I am presenting specifications of component parts for anyone faced with the restoration of a Thompson Bros. canoe. As such, it is not a builder’s guide but rather a restorer’s guide. The specifications for various components changed over the years, so if possible, base your dimensions on those of the original piece from your canoe.
One little note here: I am listing all of the dimensions in inches. I apologize to all of you who are working in metric. The canoes were originally built with imperial measurements, so I find it easier and more accurate to stick with the original measurements.
One more note: You may notice that some of the canoes featured in this article do not have external stems. Although they came into the shop with external stems, the clients did not want the keel re-installed. Without a keel, the external stem is out-of-place.
Inwales – Thompson Ranger inwales are made of mahogany with chamfered edges. The ends are tapered to ½”. The sheer-line of the Ranger is flat with no rise at the ends. Therefore, the gunwales do not require any pre-bending.
Outwales – The outwales are also mahogany and are well rounded making for a comfortable and good-looking rail on the canoe.
Decks – Thompson Bros. decks were originally made of softwood (probably spruce) with a metal strap secured across the underside for extra stability. When faced with the task of replacing the decks, I chose to use maple which foregoes the need for a metal strap.
Stem-Top – It is unlikely you will ever have to replace the entire stem. However, I rarely see an original stem-top that is not partially or completely rotted away. The top of the stem-profile is straight thereby making the repair fairly straight-forward. The end assembly is held together with a 1½” #8 bronze wood screw. The external stem is attached with the same 1½” #8 bronze wood screws.
Keel – If you want to keep the keel as part of the canoe, it is a simple piece to make. Use a piece of hardwood (originally white oak) and taper each end gradually to join smoothly with the external stem. Since the external stem protects the canvas seam at the ends, there is no need for brass stem-bands.
Ribs – The ribs are 5/16” thick and 2¼” wide. The edges are chamfered 15° on both sides with the top corners rounded off slightly. The ribs are tapered to 1¼” wide at the tops. One distinctive feature of Thompson Bros. canoes is clipped corners on the rib-tops.
Planking – The planking is another distinctive feature of Thompson Bros. canoes. The boards are usually 3¾” wide, 3/16” thick and beveled to make for a very tight fit.
The planking pattern also identifies Thompson Bros. canoes. The sheer planks run straight from end-to-end. The bottom planks run up to the sheer planks and are cut to form a sharp point near the ends of the canoe.
Seats – The Ranger was built either with hand-woven cane in white oak frames or with extra thwarts placed where the front edge of the seats would normally be located. If present, the seats are woven with standard warp and weft weaving in the six-stage pattern. The bow seat is hung from the inwales with 10-24 carriage bolts and solid blocks of mahogany as spacers. The front edge of the stern seat is attached directly under the inwales while the back edge has ¾” hardwood dowels as spacers.
Thwarts – The thwarts are made of 7/8” white oak that is 2-1/8” wide. They are shaped with tapers for hand-grips and are nicely rounded but not elegant. Canoes built for use at summer camps were set up with four thwarts and no seats. Presumably, this avoided the need to repair or replace seats two or three times a season due to the inevitably heavy wear-and-tear from hundreds of kids at the camps.
Here are specification sheets with most of the components presented together for easy reference.
All of this (and much more) is described in my book – This Fancy Old Canoe: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring Antique Canoes.
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