Filling Staple holes

Jim in Texas · Post by **Jim in Texas** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 5:37 pm

Does anyone out there fill in the staple holes or like Ted says do you just leave them?I have two other books on building stip canoes, and both say to fill them in with plastic wood filler.Thanks guys you have been a lot of help to me on building my Huron,and it is coming along great.

Doug · Post by **Doug** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 7:29 pm

Depending on how far along you are, you may be interested in this;
Stapless construction http://www.greenval.com/FAQnostaples.html

Doug

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:49 am

Jim,

When you're working on the hull up close, you'll notice the staple holes. When you actually start using the boat actively on the water, it's more than likely that any memory of staples will fade away fairly quickly. I've paddled my Huron about a half-dozen times since last Labor Day, and the staple holes have ceased to exist. The Huron is a real pleasure to paddle, and the inevitable scratches and dings on the hull are much more noticeable than any staple holes. The great thing about strippers is that they're easy to repair, so I imagine down the road my boat will accumulate plenty of character.

If the intended purpose of the canoe is showboat quality, as indicated above, it's best to build without staples. OTOH, if regular use is the reason for building, the time could be better spent adding abrasion resistance to the high-wear areas. Filling in the holes could actually make them more visible, if the filler turns out to be too light.

You've picked a great design to spend some quality time in on the water, enjoy your boat, and don't sweat the small stuff!

Tom in MN · Post by **Tom in MN** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 12:55 pm

I leave them alone, the epoxy will fill them. One think you can do is to wet your hull lightly with water after you finish sanding. This will do two things. It will show imperfections, glue, etc. as if the hull were varnished. The second thing it does is the wood fibers, where the staple hole is, get wet and swell back into place to close the hole a bit. Just make sure you done wet the hull too much, and give the boat time to dry before a final light sanding and epoxy.

Erik, Belgium · Post by **Erik, Belgium** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:14 pm

What stapleholes ?

I work sapleless, and it's saving me time.
No removal of the staples
No filling the stapleholes.
No nasty dark holespots in the hull afterwards either.

What stapleholes ?

Erik, Belgium

Denis · Post by **Denis** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:06 pm

Depends how anal you are I guess. Staple holes are no big deal. I would not fill them in however unless you are sure the colour will match the hull colour as the boat ages.

Denis

miguellondono · Post by **miguellondono** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 9:23 pm

If you are worried about strenght don't fill the staple holes. air will be trapped inside (making it weaker)since there is no way you will be able to completely fill the holes. Wait until you do the glass layup, the epoxy will completely fill the holes (capillary effect). The only thing you have to make sure is that the molds are taped so that the epoxy that goes through the holes won't bond with the edge of the molds.

Alan in Wisconsin · Post by **Alan in Wisconsin** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:49 pm

I just left the staple holes in mine to fill with epoxy. Wood filler can make holes more visible than unfilled ones; epoxy will change the wood color, and it will continue to change over time, so it's hard for filler to match. Sawdust from the same wood is a poor color match, since it finishes darker, like endgrain. I have heard that steaming the wood with a clothes iron over a damp cloth to raise the grain before the last sanding can make the wood swell to close up the staple holes. I've not tried it.