After first trip - BIG PROBLEM!!

[Erik]

Hello,

I am hoping to find some insight and help. after my first trip where we were playing alot in the boat (we fliped her a few times while playing around) the bow seat has delvelloped a large split, comming from the bolt hole and running on an angle towards the tennon joint. I will try to get some pictures to post tomorow.

I am guessing that perhaps this is a result of the hole not being well varnished? the wood got wet and then drying cracked it?

The seat is hard maple. it had 4 coats of sprayed varnish, then laced with rawhide then one heavy coat of varnish brushed on, then 3 coats lightly sprayed. a freind sprayed the seats for me, so i cannot be certain how well the holes were varnished.

I have some extra material that matches, so i could cut this off, make a mortice and tennon joint and put new piece there. or i could cut along the split, past the end of the split with a band saw and fill it with glue. or i could cut the pice off along the split and glue it back on.

any thoughts?

Thanks very much.
Erik

[canoeblderinmt]

Erik,
What a let down after all the great work you've put in. I think a fix-up shouldn't be too tough. Without seeing any pictures, I think I understand what you are facing. My guess is that rather than being a wet/dry problem there was simply some tension or instability in the maple (the grain is often very swirly) and the stresses of the tumbling combined with the bolt hole gave it an avenue to relieve its stress. Now that it has been relieved, you might be able to saw it off cleanly, sand or better yet plane it dead flat, make another piece to match, and glue it on, reshaping it to the proper curves and thickness, etc. Consider using a biscuit or two for alignments sake. That would probably be the easiest way to go. If you try to simply re-glue the old piecs, you might be subjecting the piece to the same stress that pulled it apart, and you'll never get it to line up right.

I would suggest making another piece if you can. This will no doubt be tedious work, especially cutting and re-dressing the existing joints, which aren't going to want to come apart. You will have to cut, rout, chisel, plane and sand the old broken piece off and re-dress the tenons (I assume they are on the shorter cross pieces) so that you can get a good joint this time around. You might consider stress testing the new cross member prior to application by standing on it while it's suspended between two blocks. Then you can get on to enjoying your boat and not worrying if that piece is going to let go again.

I hope the repair goes well and you are back in the water soon,

Greg

PS: Of course use waterproof glue like Gorilla Glue or thickened epoxy.

[Erik]

So you are suggesting to completely remove the broken one from the seat? the problem is... how would i remove the rawhide?

a freind told me that i might be able to take a fine drill bit and drill at the end of the split to ensure it wont continue and to flow some epoxy into the crack and leave it the way it is... he also said that water should not have been the problem.

[Glen Smith]

Erik, I have heard of drilling a hole at the end of the crack and gluing a dowel in the hole so the crack won't progress. The crack could be filled with epoxy and clamped.

[Erik]

Thanks Glen. I think i will try something like this before i go and cut it off as this would be a pile of work. i was thinking about putting in a dowel across the crack also, so that if the crack does continue, it would be held together untill i got back.

[Glen Smith]

It sounds like you are worried about it breaking again during use. If you are going to worry every time you should be enjoying the boat, maybe you should do a more permanent repair by building a new seat so you can eventually replace it.