Help with ID from a single picture

[Jimbo]

We are in Lycoming County, PA, and are blessed with a stunning landscape, many rivers, creeks, etc. We've had extraordinary rainfall here lately....10 inches over ave. Also, to the north of here, the Marcellus natural gas industry is transforming the landscape...we are so worried about our water resources!
About the Morris, I was wondering what the plugged holes in the decks once held...and what type of wood I should be scouting to begin making wales and caps. Also, I was wondering of the interior finish looked original...and if I'd need to strip it, or just clean it up.

 

[pklonowski]

Don't know if you should make the decision on stripping or just cleaning the interior until after you clean it up. Once you get it cleaned up, you'll have a much better idea whether the exosting finish needs to be stripped, or if it's good enough to just do touch-ups, or whatever.

That's only a semi-educated guess, at best. Cool find!

 

[Jimbo]

last two pix

Here's the last two pix...plus one of our landscape.

 

[Greg Nolan]

Here are some pictures of a Morris stern seat, first as restored with new cane and repaired/reinforced rails, then with the plastic cane that was on them when I got the canoe, with measurements, and then as stripped, showing the damage that had to be dealt with. This seat is from an 18' Morris, so the seat for a 17' canoe might be slightly different in size, but I suspect it would be the same. I have similar pictures for the bow seat, on which is the front rail is about 24" wide, the rear rail is about 27 1/2" wide, and the seat is about 10 1/4" front to rear, and about 15 1/2" side-rail to side-rail.

If your one seat is, in fact, original to the boat, but with grooves cut for machine-woven cane outside the original holes for weaving cane in place, you might consider turning it over to hide the grooves, reshape the bottom edges of the seat frames to match the top edges, and then weave new cane. I think I would also consider cutting splines to glue into the grooves to perhaps add some strength.

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks so much for the great info, and sorry so long in replying. I'm gonna pull my seat tomorrow and see how it compares to yours. The correct seats should be mahogany?....Also, should the rails/caps be mahogany as well? Looking forward to getting this old gal back on the water!

 

[Ed Moses]

Jimbo,

Rail and caps should be spruce for that Morris model, i believe..