ALL-WOOD SNOWSHOES - Bob Welsh or anyone?

[Steve Sanford]

Bob~

In light of your extensive knowledge of traditional canoes - and your geography - I thought of you when a friend brought over these old "raquettes"...... (As you can see, I should have put the right-footed shoe to starboard - and vicey-versey with the left footed litter-mate.)





These are very well-crafted. I cannot ID the wood - but it looks too fine-grained for Ash. I'm thinking maybe Maple.

All the joints are perfectly tight. Fastening is iron (steel?), and clenched in numerous places. Cross-pieces look to be blind-mortised into the frame. There is a lead weight on each tail. Leather bindings are still supple. The sole-plates (?) pivot on a wooden dowel. There is not any upward lift/sweep to the toe sections (as I see on more traditional wood-and-rawhide/leather shoes.) And, there is a T-shaped wooden block beneath each sole for traction.

I have found only one other fully wooden shoe on-line (brief search) - and it was a small bear-paw style.

Your thoughts? Age? Land of origin? Other sources of information?

All the best,

SJS

 

[Chuck J]

I do not believe I have ever seen such snowshoes in person, but believe I have seen them in a book, probably when I was a kid. I know I did quite a bit of researching snowshoes as a teen, and since I do not have that book here, it is either still at my parents home (which I do not believe) or more likely it was in the school library.

Anyway, wood used was always based on local availability, so could be maple as such things were typically made from green wood as you likely know. Between the wood choice and those flat slats, what do they weigh? Cannot be light. Additionally I would think the slats could gather snow on top more than a webbing of hide like we typically think of (but some traditional shoes had a full piece of hid lashed around the frame, so...)

This looks like one of those projects where someone who likes to work in one medium and not another thought they could build their way around things they don't like to do. Seems if it were "better", as in easier to make, better to use, or longer lasting, we would see more like these.

Regardless of all that, coolness factor is 11/10!

 

[bob welsh]

Hi Steve, My first thought was the construction was similar to the slat style canoe seats that were used until the woven cane became the standard more or less. They had all the material already on hand. Canoe and boat companies built snowshoes as an of season product. I would guess ash or spruce.

 

[Capt Rich Geminski]

Bob~

In light of your extensive knowledge of traditional canoes - and your geography - I thought of you when a friend brought over these old "raquettes"...... (As you can see, I should have put the right-footed shoe to starboard - and vicey-versey with the left footed litter-mate.)



View attachment 64577

These are very well-crafted. I cannot ID the wood - but it looks too fine-grained for Ash. I'm thinking maybe Maple.

All the joints are perfectly tight. Fastening is iron (steel?), and clenched in numerous places. Cross-pieces look to be blind-mortised into the frame. There is a lead weight on each tail. Leather bindings are still supple. The sole-plates (?) pivot on a wooden dowel. There is not any upward lift/sweep to the toe sections (as I see on more traditional wood-and-rawhide/leather shoes.) And, there is a T-shaped wooden block beneath each sole for traction.

I have found only one other fully wooden shoe on-line (brief search) - and it was a small bear-paw style.

Your thoughts? Age? Land of origin? Other sources of information?

All the best,

SJS

Love the construction. The bending of the toe is great with the relief cut for easier bending, but the croos pieces give strength. Tried snow shoeing once, thought it would be easier.

 

[Jeff Reardon]

I'm no snowshoe maker, but I got my first pair of snowshoes at age 7, live in snowshoe country, and have used lots of styles. Never seen anything like those. To me, the oddest thing about them is not that they are all wood, but those wooden foot supports. There are as many styles of snowshoe binding as there are of shoes, but have never seen one with a solid foot base. Is it hinged so the foot can pivot? If not, those would be very hard to walk in. (Think downhill ski bindings with locked down heels vs. cross country bindings attached only at the toe.) Also detracting from function is that the toes of the shoe do not look they are bent are up. Recipe for tripping a lot unless primarily used on packed trails. What's the length and width? If those foot supports are 10-12" long, looks like 30+ inches long (not counting tails) by 12" wide? That's small for a deep/soft snow backcountry use, but pretty big for "racing snowshoes" that used to be very common in French Canadian winter festivals in New England. https://www.mainehistory.org/maine-connection/lewiston-snowshoe-conventions/