Recognizing the value of the wood and canvas canoes after years of restoring them, I have decided to offer the Torpedo and the Courting Canoe built on original Kingsbury molds from the Boston area.
Wood and canvas canoes are designed to be flexible and give a little when beaching or encountering obstacles such as rocks or logs. The ribs are flat and wide and made of cedar. The canvas is not glued to the hull but is fastened under the gunwales and at the stems, producing a strong, yet giving hull.
These canoes are built over a large form that has metal straps where the
ribs are to go. Spruce inwales and ash stems are first steam bent and placed
on this form. The ribs are of cedar 1/4" to 3/8" thick and 2 1/4" wide, and
are tapered toward the gunwales. These are steamed around the form at the
proper spacing over the metal straps and nailed to the spruce gunwales.
Planking is 3" wide cedar planks that are fastened by nailing them over the ribs with brass tacks and clinched as they hit the metal straps. Each plank is carefully selected and fit so the grain does not run off in areas where it could weaken the canoe.
When the planking is complete, the hull is removed from the form, and the
decks, thwarts and seats of ash or cherry are added. The canoe is then sanded
and oiled and allowed to dry. Canvas is stretched around the outside of the
hull and fastened with brass tacks. Two or three coats of an oil based filler
is applied to the canvas and allowed to dry for two or three weeks, this
waterproofs the canoe. A keel is attached to the canoe at this point, and the
hull is sanded and painted with several coats of colored enamel. The insides
are oiled and varnished and brass stem bands are placed on the ends to protect
the canvas. Outer gunwales finish off the trim and can be left open or closed
with a cap rail. Options available include floorboards, outer stems, long
decks, paint striping and lettering, backrests and sail rigs.