perhaps
I have no personal knowledge aside from what I read in Stelmok’s “The Wood & Canvas Canoe”.
Rereading the reference it appears your experience is correct as spruce was commonly used for the inwales and occasionally used on the outwales, even though a harder stock, usually ash or mahogany, was used on the outwales where wear resistance was a concern.
Availability
– Last Updated: Jul-26-07 7:41 PM EST –
The easy way out is to measure so you know what length is needed, then call Ed's Canoe Parts, 802.334.5130 or Essex Industries, 518.942.6671 and order ash, cherry, or whatever else they may have.
The four piece set will come milled, rabbeted and, maybe pre bored.
black walnut on my yellow prospector
tough, and gorgeous. my canoe is a stunner. too bad it’s a few thousand kilometers away…
Thanks and interesting points
Appreciate the input.
Will get some spruce, cherry and cedar to fool around with.
Thanks for the 6:1 scarf joint info and the shiplap joint from ed’s canoe looks interesting, but maybe harder to cut precisely.
see ya on the water
People steal walnut trees, and copper
from houses… I wonder if someone is eyeing those walnut gunwales of yours with bad intentions.
walnut gunwhales
and not only are they walnut, they are 16 foot uncut lengths. stunning wood. fortunately, the boat is hidden away in the folks garage. unfortunately, that is 4 provinces away…
i liked the walnut so much, i got walnut seats and thwarts in my royalex river boat from the same company. it’s the only Evergreen Prospector with walnut trim. mind you the gunwhales are vinyl. this boat lives with me on the coast here, needs to be paddled more often though.
Research
– Last Updated: Jul-28-07 6:51 AM EST –
Since you cited references, I had to go look too.
I thumbed through Sue Audette's history of Old Town Canoe. The catalogue pages in the back promote the qualities of spruce for both outwales and inwales. Early Old Town catalogues suggest birch and oak were also available for gunwales. I didn't find mention of ash for wales, but you could special order about anything.
Stelmok's "Building the Maine Guide Canoe" devotes a page to the use of Northern White Spruce as gunwale material. He says Sitka is a close second, but since it is usually kiln dried it is not as preferable.
On Pages 43 and 44, of "The Wood and Canvas Canoe", the praises of spruce are again uttered forth: "Both eastern and western spruce make ideal gunwale stock because their ratios of strength to weight are unsurpassed and they are available in long lengths. Spruce is noted for its ability to take a fair curve and keep it (hence its popularity as battens for lofting), a characteristic that makes it superior to tougher woods such as white ash for inwales.
In fairness, Stelmok and Thurlow in both books do mention the suitability of ash and other hardwoods (mahogany and cherry etc.) for outwales due to toughness.
However, I still maintain that in terms of Tradition, spruce was more commonly used for outwales than ash during the heyday of wood and canvas canoe production. I have a dozen canoes lying around in the yard. The ones that don't have spruce have mahogany. In my experience spruce is also tough and probably more flexible than most hardwoods. I trip with these antiques and the gunwales are original and in good shape.