Hardware for 1947 18 ft Old Town canoe

MDailey

Curious about Wooden Canoes
I have an 18 ft, CS (Common Sense), HW (heavy water) model with red, western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, half ribs and a keel. It was built between April and June, 1947. What would have been on the bow and stern of this canoe? Would there have been paint rings? What hardware would have come with this canoe? Where can hardware for this canoe be found? Thank you for any information you can provide.
 
An Old Town canoe from 1947 would have had strips of brass called stem bands or bang plates on the bow and stern for standard equipment as described at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/specific.gif from an earlier catalog. Painter rings, bob stays, cleats, flag pole sockets, and other hardware were optional.

Original and reproduction versions of this hardware shows up on eBay regularly. Robert Ross has some painter rings listed currently but they are not inexpensive. The one at http://www.ebay.com/itm/281834980773 is his lowest cost listing. I believe that Robert gets them from Bob Lavertue at the Springfield Fan Centerboard Company as listed at http://www.wcha.org/buildsupply/ma.php but I’m not sure.

Rollin Thurlow and other restorers sell stem bands as shown at http://www.wooden-canoes.com/material.htm#hardware and elsewhere. Feel free to reply here if this doesn’t answer your question.

Benson
 
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