Wood Canteen

[Nighthawk]

Bill is being extremely modest about the canteens he used to make. Back in the day there were several guys in the N-SSA fielding Bill's canteens and they were some of the best I've ever seen. Bill , you had them all licked on wooden canteens!

[maillemaker]

I am curious about the construction of these after viewing the pictures.

Did the slats around the perimeter have a slot in them to secure the turned faces of the canteen?

The faces appear to be turned, bowl-like structures, correct?

Steve

[hanktrent]

Did the slats around the perimeter have a slot in them to secure the turned faces of the canteen?

Yes. Picture a very short barrel. Same idea. The pressure of the swelled wood (supposedly) keeps it from leaking by pressing against the non-expanding metal bands.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[TheQM]

Did the slats around the perimeter have a slot in them to secure the turned faces of the canteen?

The faces appear to be turned, bowl-like structures, correct?

Steve

Steve,

Yes, there is a slot in the back of each stave, that fits over the face of the canteen. Just imagine a very small barrel. As an aside, when I was making canteens, cutting that slot was the most difficult operation involved with making a good, water-tight, product. That slot had to be a uniform depth across a curved surface. The staves were only 5/16" thick and the slot was 1/8" deep and 1/4" wide. I'm still using up a box of broken staves as kindling wood!

You are correct. Most of the canteen faces were machine turned. It's almost impossible to get the edge of the face to exactly match the cut in the staves by hand and eye. I had a gage to measure the exact thickness along the edge of the face. I have seen some originals, where only the edge of the face was turned down, leaving a flat area in the middle of the face. Most are tapered from the center out.

A good many of these canteens were made from cedar, or cherry. I used cherry for my canteens. It was easier to work, stronger than cedar, and just looked a lot better.

It should be pointed out that many of the orginial canteens were very poorly made. I examined an original, where one face was stove in. On this canteen, the faces were lathed down to a knife edge and the staves were just wrapped around the faces and held tight by the iron bands. The maker expected the water expansion of the wood to make a water tight seal. I sort of doubt his plan was very successful, but hey, he was the lowest bidder!

[maillemaker]

Thanks for the info.

I think this would be a fun wood-working project. I don't have a lathe, though.

I did not realize that the staves were curved. Makes sense though otherwise the groove would not conform to the turned faces. What kind of tool do you use to make a curved groove in the curved face of the stave?

For that matter, how do you make curved staves?

Steve

[TheQM]

Hank,

It seems we were typing at the same time!

Steve,

Yes, you can make a canteen by hand, using only hand tools, but that's not how the orgionals were made. In fact, that's how I learned to make canteens. To make the staves, cut pieces of wood to length and then round out the inside, using a wood rasp. Then cut out the groove using a 1/4" wood chisel. You then have to cut an angle on each stave, so they fit together. My wife is telling me it's time to go out for dinner, so I'll write more later.

[maillemaker]

Hi Bill,

Oh I'm sure they can be made by hand, I was wondering what kind of machinery they used to make the slats with when they were made by machine. Were the slats perhaps mounted to a fixture on a lathe and circular cut that way?

Steve

[TheQM]

Well, the Hooter's chicken wings and fried pickles were great; now where was I? When I was making canteens for sale, I had knives cut to make the staves on a moulding machine. A couple of hundred feet of of stock will make a lot of canteens! To cut the grooves in the staves, I made a fixture that attached to my router table. It was designed to hold the curved stave against the router blade at the proper depth. All of my canteens were exactly 7 1/4" in diameter. Otherwise, the parts wouldn't fit together.

I used a lathe to make face plates, spouts, and stoppers. All could be made by hand, using rasps, but not as well. I used a drill press to bore the hole through the spouts. It was rare to get the hole exactly in the center of the spout. The drill bit tends to follow the grain of the wood. From the origionals I have examined, the old boys had the same problem!

I fitted the iron bands to every canteen. You can't make them too loose, or too tight. Too loose and the canteen won't seal. Too tight, and the band rivets will pop when the wood expands. None of this stuff is an exact science. No two pieces of wood react the exact same way.

[robinslm]

I am currently repairing a Gardner Pattern canteen (unknown maker). I have a plan for repairing it, but would like to get any advice or helpful tips. One of the face plates is split along the grain almost half-way around one entire face. The spout is also split and I need to replace two of the strap loops. I have provided a few photos of the project.