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How to Rebuild the Ends of an Old Town Otca Wood-Canvas Canoe — Part 1
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Water tends to collect in the ends of wood-canvas canoes when they are used on a regular basis. This moist environment creates perfect...
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How to Rebuild the Ends of an Old Town Otca Wood-Canvas Canoe ̶ Part 2
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca I started describing the process involved in rebuilding the end of a 1967 18′ Old Town Otca canoe in part 1 of this blog. In it, I...
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How to Make Pocketed Inwales for a Double Gunwale Canoe
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 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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A Restorer’s Guide to an Old Town Otca Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca The brand name Old Town is synonymous with canvas-covered canoes in the United States. They are one of the only canoe companies to...
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A Restorer’s Guide to a Rushton Indian Girl Wood-Canvas Canoe (c. 1905)
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca John Henry Rushton built canoes and small boats in Canton, New York, from 1875 until his death in 1906. His son incorporated the...
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Bill Greenwood and his Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoesemail: artisan@canoeshop.ca Unless you live in British Columbia, you have probably never heard of Bill Greenwood or Greenwood canoes. And if you want to start a...
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How to Repair Rotted Rib Tops in Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca While repairing your wood-canvas canoe, you may come across some ribs that are perfectly good except for a small portion attached to the...
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How to Strip Old Varnish from Antique Wood Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Without a doubt, the most horrible job in the restoration of a wood-canvas canoe (or an antique all-wood canoe) is stripping the varnish...
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A Restorers’ Guide to the 16′ Chestnut Pal Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca If you are preparing to restore your wood-canvas canoe – especially in Canada – you are often looking at a canoe built by the Chestnut...
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How To Weave Rawhide (Babiche) Seats for “Huron” Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca If the seats in your canoe are laced with rawhide similar to that in old snowshoes, chances are you own a “Huron” canoe – the generic...
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How To Photograph Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca People email regularly asking me to identify their canoe and/or give them an estimate on a restoration. When I ask them to send me some...
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How To Buy or Sell a Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Frequently, I get an email from someone who is looking to sell their wood-canvas canoe. Typically, they tell me, “The canoe has been...
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A Restorers’ Guide to Tremblay Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Of the lesser known canoe manufacturers in Canada, Tremblay Canoes Limited (Les Canots Tremblay Limitée) from St. Félicien, Québec stand...
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Chestnut Canoe Company: A Brief Guide to their Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca In Canada, the canoes from the Chestnut Canoe Company set the standard by which all others are measured. Now, forty years after the...
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Weaving Pattern for Cane Seats in Peterborough Canoe Company All-Wood Canoes
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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The Keel Question in Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca If there is an area of controversy in the world of wood-canvas canoes, the question of the keel would be it. Historically, canoes (and...
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How To Assemble a Repair Kit for a Wood-Canvas Canoe
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca As I was completing the restoration of an 18′ Chestnut Prospector Vee-Stern canoe for a client, he asked me to create a wood-canvas...
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How To Build Cradles (Display Stands) for Wood-Canvas Canoes
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes email: artisan@canoeshop.ca Once you’ve got your canoe out of the shed for the season, you’ll need some way of supporting it off the ground when it is not on the...
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