Canoe seats - screw or staple

[Wheeler]

Just got the inwales installed on my 15' Bob Special, doesn't look like it'll be in the water this year but will be ready for the spring. Now it's time to prepare the seats and install them. I was given a set of brand new ash seats with damaged cane webbing and wanted to replace the cane with nylon webbing. My question is, will ½`` staples be enough to hold the straps or should I use screws and convexed washers to hold them in place on the bottom of the frame? Thanks for any info.
Zac Wheeler

[Glen Smith]

How is the cane webbing presently held in place? Can you post a photo of the seats?

[Wheeler]

The cane webbing is currently held into place by a groove on the top side of the seat frame. Sorry no pictures. It could be repaired by simply hammering the strip back into place but it doesn't look like a very sturdy design to me. I was going to flip the seat frame over so that the groove was on the bottom, out of sight, and weave 1 1/2" nylon webbing onto the frame. My fear with staples is 1-they might not be strong enough and 2-they would rust out over time and allow the strapping to come loose.
Zac

[Glen Smith]

You can purchase pre-woven cane and spline material to replace the current seat cane or you could flip it over and install the webbing with stainless steel screws and cup washers in predrilled starter holes. There are stainless and monel staples available but the screws would be an easier route.

[Wheeler]

As I thought, thanks for the reassurance.
Zac

[sedges]

This seat is 22 years old and has stood up to a lot hard use, wet and dry.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/s ... e_seat.jpg

[KenC]

This seat is 22 years old ......

Cool ... can you post a pic of the underside of that seat? ... I've tried to puzzle out the weaving pattern, but it has me stumped.

[sedges]

This probably isn't the best picture, but you ought to figure it out anyway. It took me a couple of tries. It takes about 100 feet of 3/16 braided nylon to weave a standard seat, so its not cheap. They will probably out last the canoe, however. When I was making a lot of these seats I bought the cord in 2000 foot spools and brought the cost down a lot. If you intend to build or repair a lot of seats a spool is worth it. Look around for a rope wholesaler.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/s ... seat_2.jpg