Subj : Re: Restoration project
To   : rec.sport.rowing
From : carl
Date : Sat Jun 13 2020 05:04 pm

On 13/06/2020 03:46, John Greenly wrote:
> On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:42:59 AM UTC-4, sully wrote:
>   
>> I believe racing style hulls predated sliding seats by a couple decades, no?
>>
>> I still suspect this boat to be well under 100 years old, I recall reading
about George Pocock on the Thames that Eton students first learned to scull in
fixed seat boats before they moved on to sliding seats.
>>
>> This would suggest an ongoing production of fixed seats boats at least into
Pocock's time.
>>
>> What is that dark brown patchy scaling?  Is that old varnish?
> 
> I've seen old degraded finishes like that before.  I talked with a friend who
 has done a lot of restoration of antique furniture and he recognized that look
 too.  It is some kind of old varnish formulation, and as it dried out and aged
 it eventually shrank into those separated patches.  Apparently it is possible
to use some kind of solvent to re-soften and spread it out into a smooth finish
 again, and restorers sometimes can do that. Anyway, my friend thinks it likely
 dates from no later than 1930's, and most likely earlier. But he is not sure,
not familiar with British usage.
> 
> When was George Pocock there?  Could it be that older fixed-seat boats
continued to be used for a long time into his era, but built earlier?
> 
> Interesting!
> 
> John
> 

A traditional varnish based on drying oils cures slowly by cross-linking 
through the agency of atmospheric oxygen.  This continues indefinitely, 
progressively hardening & embrittling the varnish. And the bond with the 
flexible underlying wood degrades under this & from solar UV.  So the 
varnish hardens, fractures, buckles and curls away, like a discarded 
bread crust.

If instead of drying oils (tung or linseed are examples) the finish was 
from something like Shellac (made by beetles) it might once have been 
possible to soften and re-flow it with alcohol but, after so many years, 
that seems improbable (Shellac degenerates over time).

On closer inspection of the rather tricky enlarged images on that 
website, I agree that the length available for a sliding seat is short. 
The main rigger shoulders are well forward of typical racing singles of 
the late 1800s to early 1900s, as I can confirm having built new riggers 
for the boat used in the 1890s by Rupert Guinness so that Peter Haining 
could test it's performance after John Russell (noted cabinet-maker) had 
overhauled it.

On Guinness, see here:
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Rowers_of_Vanity_Fair/Guinness_RECL

Interestingly, I think this particular boat did once have slides, I'd 
guess that, as Eton's traditional way of introducing young scullers to 
the wonders of the sliding seat, they may only have been 15" long. 
Sweep rowing took a very wary view of slides at that time!

Cheers -
Carl

-- 
Carl Douglas Racing Shells        -
    Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing Low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories
Write:   Harris Boatyard, Laleham Reach, Chertsey KT16 8RP, UK
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Email: carl@carldouglasrowing.com  Tel: +44(0)1932-570946  Fax: -563682
URLs:  carldouglasrowing.com & now on Facebook @ CarlDouglasRacingShells

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