In case someone is interested

wood canvas canoe project

I restored my grandfathers w/c Thompson rowboat (circa 1943 as near as we can tell) about 12 years ago. If that were near Chicago I'd be pretty interested.

I saw this also. I was wondering how you could "brighten" up the interior cedar before refinish without having to sand with a toothpick in those nooks and crannies.
CB

Looks like some parts may be getting a little "punkie".

I got a 'recipe' from Ralph Freese at the Chicagoland canoe base. I don't remember it verbatim, but it was something to the tune of buy the nastiest paint stripper you can find, heat it to near boiling without blowing yourself up, and then add bleach and TSP to it. I don't have any digital pictures of what it did to the inside of my W/C, but you would be amazed. That 60 year old wood looked brand new.