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How to Paint Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Once the canoe has been canvassed, the filler has been applied and the keel and stem-bands have been installed, it is ready for paint....
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How to Replace Pocketed Inwales in a 1905 J. H. Rushton Indian Girl...
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca In the early days of wood-canvas canoe construction (late 1800’s until about 1906), builders (primarily in up-state New York and Maine)...
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How To Make Solid Hardwood Stems for a J. H. Rushton Indian Girl Wood-Canvas...
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca During the restoration of a wood-canvas canoe, it is rare to have to replace the entire stem in the canoe. However, when faced with the...
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How to Remove Fiberglass from a Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca For those of you new to this blog and have not heard me on this topic before, let me be as clear as I can be: To anyone thinking about...
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A Restorer’s Guide to a Chestnut Bobs Special Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca The blogs I do on the specifications of canoe components for various types of canvas-covered canoes seem to be quite popular....
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How to Repair a Rib-and-Batten Canoe — Part 1
by Sam Browning edited by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Note: In 2016, I put out a call for someone with a wide-board raised-batten canoe to bring it to my shop in...
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How to Repair a Rib-and-Batten Canoe — Part 2
by Sam Browning edited by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Note: In 2016, I put out a call for someone with a wide-board raised-batten canoe to bring it to my shop in...
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Coming in July 2024: This Fancy Old Canoe: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring...
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca This Fancy Old Canoe: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring Antique Canoes picks up where This Old Canoe: How to Restore Your Wood-Canvas...
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This Fancy Old Canoe – Best Selling New Release in its category
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes This Fancy Old Canoe is now available on Amazon. It is the number one best selling new release in the category of Antique & Collectible Care & Restoration....
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How to Repair a Long-Framed Veneer Deck in an Antique Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoesemail: artisan@canoeshop.ca Note: If you happen to be a master cabinet-maker who repairs Chippendale furniture for fun, this project will be pretty straightforward....
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How to Make and Install Half-Ribs in a Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca photo from “Tales from Misery Ridge: One Man’s Adventures in the Great Outdoors” by Paul J. Fournier. (Island Port Press, 2011) About...
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How to Make Wide Outwales for a Fancy Antique Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca The outwales found in early versions of production canoes (both all-wood and canvas-covered canoes) built in the late 1800’s and early...
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A Restorers’ Guide to a Thompson Brothers Ranger Wood-Canvas Canoe
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...
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The Evolution of Factory-Built Wooden Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca (Photo by Nick Dennis.) Fundamental to any canoe restoration is understanding what you are dealing with. The scope of this blog is...
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How to Get Information About Your Old Wooden Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Fundamental to any canoe restoration is understanding what you are dealing with. This blog examines a number of ways to answer some...
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How to Rebuild Solid-Wood Long Decks in Fancy Antique Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Many “fancy” antique wooden canoes have beautiful up-swept sheer lines at the ends. The curved end profile in many canoes built by canoe...
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How To Repair Highly Curved Ends on a Wood and Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Many fancy canoes have “pretty” end profiles. Canoes such as the Old Town HW, Yankee, Charles River and Otca models are familiar...
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How To Weave a Standard 6-Stage Pattern for Caned Canoe Seats (Old Town,...
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca In my book, This Old Canoe: How To Restore Your Wood-Canvas Canoe, I describe how to weave natural cane (rattan) in Chestnut canoe...
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How To Weave the Stern Seat in a Rushton Indian Girl Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca While restoring a 1905 J.H. Rushton Indian Girl canoe, I made new seat frames and wove natural cane (rattan) in a standard 6-stage...
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How to Repair Cracked Ribs in a Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Sometimes, in the course of your restoration, you may discover a cracked rib in your canoe. The damage may not warrant replacement of...
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