Just1moredave
Enthusiastic about Wooden Canoes
I have an Old Town HW 16', #140711, built in 1944. More details in my post in the guestbook forum. It has steel tacks throughout. A lot of them don't come out without a fight, particularly on the flatter floor of the canoe. Those tacks seemed to rust more, expand and split the planking, as well as starting rot in the ribs. I hope that I'll get better at tack removal but in some cases, I just have a hole larger than a brass tack head.
So my idea is to make a Dutchman for the holes that are too large. I have western red cedar, the same as the planking. I have glued them in with Titebond III which is waterproof. They will eventually be covered by ribs on the inside and canvas on the outside, so not visible. I think the way I'm doing it is structurally sound. I just wonder if I'm overlooking some issue?
The first photo is just after removing the fiberglass and stripping. The second photo is after I removed the first rotted rib. The third photo is of my first Dutchman experiments.
So my idea is to make a Dutchman for the holes that are too large. I have western red cedar, the same as the planking. I have glued them in with Titebond III which is waterproof. They will eventually be covered by ribs on the inside and canvas on the outside, so not visible. I think the way I'm doing it is structurally sound. I just wonder if I'm overlooking some issue?
The first photo is just after removing the fiberglass and stripping. The second photo is after I removed the first rotted rib. The third photo is of my first Dutchman experiments.