Penn Yan with 'mahogany trim' - are inwales mahogany too?

Howie

Wooden Canoe Maniac
I am in the middle of stripping a PY Rainbow and notice that when the finish is removed the inwales appear to be oak or ash. Definitely not mahogany. Yet the seats, thwarts, and outwales certainly are mahogany. Before I started stripping all the wood was quite dark, yet when stripped the wood is the normal cedar colors. This suggests that the woods weren't stained but instead the varnish had a 'mahogany' stain added to it - like today's Minwax Polyshade product. This stain might also help hide the difference between ash & mahogany grain appearance.

Have others noticed this on Penn Yans? Makes sense: They'd make all the canoes the same except for the trim woods. If someone ordered fancier woods they'd slap on the tinted varnish to make everything match (sort of).
 
Prior to 1948, mahogany-trimmed Penn Yan canoes had mahogany gunwales. from 1948-1949 (at least, maybe also 1950), gunwales are spruce with mahogany trim (thwarts, seats, decks). By 1951 through end of production, gunwales are oak.
 
Back
Top