by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes
email: artisan@canoeshop.ca
Wood-canvas canoes are works of art. However, in Canada, they are also working boats. They help their owners navigate large, rapid rivers on a regular basis. In the course of these journeys, the stem-bands will knock against rocks. After a while, the canoe will begin to leak as water seeps in through the screw-holes. I restored a canoe for a client a few years ago and now he brought it back to the shop for a little repair work.
The screws holding the bow stem-band to the hull had worked loose and the seal had broken between the hull and the stem-band.
I started by removing the stem-band. Some of the screws had been worn down to the point where a screwdriver was no longer effective. A cats-paw pry-bar and a mallet popped the stem-band off in short order. The stem-band was set aside to be re-installed later.
The location of every screw-hole was marked with a grease-pencil.
Small pegs were whittled from a scrap piece of cedar. The pegs were dunked in water, coated with polyurethane glue and tapped into the screw-holes with a mallet. The glue was allowed to cure overnight.
Each of the cedar pegs was cut flush with a Japanese cross-cut saw.
The entire painted surface of the canvas was sanded with 120-grit paper on a random-orbital sander. Most of the bottom was scuffed and/or gouged by encountered with rocks. The sanding smoothed out the surface and prepped it for a fresh coat of paint.
The stem-band was re-installed with new bronze screws (in this case, ¾”- #4 flat-head, slotted screws). It was sealed with Dolfinite marine bedding compound and allowed to set overnight.
The outwales were masked with tape before a fresh coat of oil-based alkyd enamel paint (thinned 12% with paint thinner) was applied with a disposable foam brush.
The masking tape was removed about an hour after the paint was applied. Any paint that ended up on the outwales was removed with a little paint thinner on a clean rag.
All of this (and much more) is described in my book – This Old Canoe: How To Restore Your Wood Canvas Canoe.
If you live in Canada, CLICK HERE to buy the book.
If you live in the USA, CLICK HERE to buy the book.
If you live in the UK, CLICK HERE to buy the book.
Si vous habitez en France, CLIQUEZ ICI acheter le livre.