Bolts for Seats

[Bruce (Australia)]

Hi Folks,
Hopefully a quick question from Downunder … I’ve had trouble finding 3/16 bolts long enough to attach my seats to the inwales so I’ve decided to make my own out of stainless. Rather than use simply threaded stainless rod I’ve used plain 316 marine grade rod and was going to cut a thread at the top/bottom, attach nuts, drill and pug the hole at the top. Today however, I’ve been assured by several boat builders (yacht/ies in contrast to canoes builders) that there is no need to attach any nut at the top and that it is normal practise to simply allow the epoxy to hold the bolt/rod in place – clearly a threaded end would be beneficial in that it would give the epoxy something to attach to.
So my question is has anyone simply epoxied their bolts for their seats into the inwales (threaded or otherwise). If this is possible then it will solve several problems most importantly the size of the plugs at the top which I need to keep as small as possible since I’ve used Australian eucalypt timber for the gunwales, and given the density of our hardwoods - in this case spotted gum - has required that I reduce the dimensions considerably from those normally recommended in North American canoes.

[Stu]

G'day Bruce,

I replaced the gunnels and seats on an old fibre glass 16' Canadian.

I used Jarrah garden edging (from Bunnings) which i ripped in half for the gunnels - cost less than $40 Au to do both sides. I dropped Stainless coach bolts to hang the front seats and galvanised coach bolts (from the Bolt Bloke) for the rear - I could'nt source stainless long enough for the rear - although I didnt really look too hard. The head of the stainless coach bolt grips the gunnel very well and the stainless head is not unattactive.

Stuart
Melbourne Australia