Transition from outer stem to keel

[mmmalmberg]

My '51 OTCA has a separate piece about 4-5" long, that transitions from the smaller cross-section of the outer stem to the larger size of the keel. Is this standard or was it a repair? Would that transition normally have been part of the keel or part of the stem? Thanks...

 

[Michael Grace]

Can you post a photo? Not sure what you're referring to - is it something that bridges the stem/keel junction, or a piece of wood that fills a gap between the keel and stem? In my experience on standard canoes (i.e., not war canoes), keels have always been one piece, and and if outside stems were there, the keel and stem joined directly with (most commonly) a scarf or lap joint. If there's an extra piece of wood in there, it's probably not original. Rarely there were some fixes that occurred during a build, but I've never seen one like what I think you're describing. When you find what could either be a factory "fix" or a later repair, look at the quality of the workmanship and whether the materials match. Poorer quality and/or mis-matched materials usually means a post-factory repair.

 

[Benson Gray]

My '51 OTCA has a separate piece about 4-5" long, that transitions from the smaller cross-section of the outer stem to the larger size of the keel. Is this standard or was it a repair?

My 1958 Otca doesn't have a piece like that so yours is probably a repair. The images below show this along with the build record.

Benson

 

[mmmalmberg]

Don't have a good picture handy but seems like it's a repair.

SO part two of the question. The keel looks like it's pretty much one constant size along its length, and the outside stems have a smaller profile. Can you tell whether the taper from big to small is in the keel, or does the bottom end of the stem get bigger? I'm going to splice something on to one or the other to put it back like it should be. It's just a section about 5" long, the size of the keel at one end and the size of the stem at the other. There are shallow angles of maybe 30 degrees or so between the stems and keel, and same with this piece.

Guessing a rock or something broke the end off of either the stem or the keel and someone cut a piece to replace it without making it part of one or the other.

 

[mmmalmberg]

Or, is the keel pretty much the same size as the stems? Maybe someone made a replacement keel, made it too short and added a short patch. I'll strip the keel to check the wood. The patch is a bigger grained piece than the stems which are very tight. The patch might even be oak... I guess I should check what happens at the other end, that should tell the story! Doh... next time I'm over there.

One thing, Benson, the angles on the ends of pieces aren't as nice as yours - they're only maybe a third the length of those in your pics (thanks!).

 

[MGC]

The outside stems widen to join the keel. The keel is the same width end to end. Your outside stems sound like they might be ginked.

 

[mmmalmberg]

Keel looks to be original (same tight-grained wood, presumably ash). Funny thing, I looked closely and the other end of the keel tapers down. So they may have been made both ways. 'Though wouldn't it be easier to cut down the ends of the keel than to bend outside stems with a wider profile at one end? Or was the idea to have more meat in the lower portion of the outer stems as well as in the keel? I'll be scarfing something, either way...