Need Help Old canoe

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jra1100
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Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 10:54 pm

Need Help Old canoe

Post by jra1100 »

I have recently aquired an old strip canoe. It is in very bad shape as far as the finish coat of epoxy goes, but the wood seems to be in very good shape. There is only one tear in the fiberglass and it is very small, less than 6 inches I'd say. Some have advised taking all of the glass of and sanding and repairing the wood if needed, but I am planning on just sanding of the old epoxy for right now and reapplying the finish coat for this summer. I will then remove fiberglass this winter. I hope to attach a link to pictures. I was told that it was made from redwood not WRC. JR
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Jim Dodd
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Location: Iowa

Post by Jim Dodd »

By the looks of the photos, it appears to be Poyester, and not epoxy.

If that is the case, it is much easier to strip the glass from the hull!

Remove the gunnels, and strip the old glass, you may have a diamond in the rough!

Try a heat gun, but be VERY CAREFUL! Wear a GOOD air filter!

Putting epoxy over poyester, will just compound your problems later!

Good Luck!

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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Jim Dodd
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Location: Iowa

Post by Jim Dodd »

Sorry for the miss spelling!
POLYESTER
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
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hoz
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Location: Indiana

Post by hoz »

Here's a link to easier glass removal:

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/how ... /index.htm

Image

Image

You can do the samething with a heat gun.
someday I'll fly, someday I'll soar
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Arctic
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Post by Arctic »

That boat may have seen better days, but what stories it could tell! Do you know anymore about the provenance of it?

Mark
"The journey is the reward"- Tao saying
jra1100
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Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 10:54 pm

Post by jra1100 »

Mark: The answer to your question is mostly no, I don't have much history for the canoe. I had purchased a fireplace insert on ebay from a man in Albert Lea, MN. As we were loading it into my van I noticed an old canoe hanging on the back wall. I mentioned that it looked like quite the old campainer. He told me that it was an old strip canoe, but the strips were redwood not cedar. I was surprised because only the bottom was visable and it was so scuffed up that you couldn't see the strips, plus the light was pretty bad. I went back and looked at it after we got the wood burner into the van. He said that he had purchasd it about 10 years ago at a rummage sale and had used it at a cabin up north since then, and now had thought about restoring it, but knew nothing about fiberglass and wasn't sure he wanted to learn. After an inspection of the bottom I told him that he had quite a job ahead of him. The strip work was done very well, and the fiberglass had held up OK, but the finish coat was toast and at the very least needed to be redone. We took it down and took it out into the light, more bad news, whoever did the stripping must have become impatient to get it in the water. I know that feeling! He had attached really klunky gunnels, and the thwarts and the seats were less than wonderful. The seats were just chunks cut out of an old piece of counter top, the kind that looks like a butcher block only plastic. Later on the guy I purchased it from installed a portage yolk and did it pretty poorly. He asked me what it was worth, and I said if it was fixed up it would probably be worth a pretty fair price. He asked if I was interested just as it was, that his son had taken it on several very remote wilderness trips over the years, but his son had moved away and he just wanted to get rid of it. I said I really didn't need another project, and my wife would probably kill me if I brought something like this home so soon after finishing my Guillemot kayak. He just wanted to get rid of it and wanted to know how much I'd give. I replied between 100 and 200 dollars, to which he answered $150 is between and I'll help ya load it. When I got home Susan said wow great potential how much? When I told her she said "great deal, looks like your going to be in the shop a lot." I'm sure that is way more than you wanted to know, but now you know everything that I do. JR
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hoz
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Location: Indiana

Post by hoz »

Hmmmmmm, you bought an old worn out stripper AND a woodburning fireplace at the same time? Kindling comes to mind...
someday I'll fly, someday I'll soar
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