Screws

davidb54321 · Post by **davidb54321** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 11:36 am

John, you are probably right about that! Now, does anybody want to buy some SS screws cheap??????????

STINGRAY8T · Post by **STINGRAY8T** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 11:47 am

John,

Could you explain the PVC "C" clamps. Cheap and effective sounds good.

Tom

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 1:53 pm

An outwale glued on permanently will probably be OK if the canoe won't get damaged. OTOH, if the outwales do need to be replaced because of an accident, it'll be tough and time-consuming to chisel and sand out wood as hard as ash without damaging the soft cedar underneath. Ash also decays easily, so rotting out through the end grain is another possibility.

I encapsulate the entire outwale in epoxy and give the screw holes some epoxy as well, and hope that nothing will ever happen to them. But the outwales still take a lot of abuse above the waterline, and so they get, uh, screwed, and are easily removable. I've had to do this with a couple of old canoes because of rotting ash and was most thankful they weren't glued on along a glue joint 32 feet long - and nothing got, ahhhh, screwed up.

John E · Post by **John E** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 3:49 pm

Good point about the replacement made easier. He could still epoxy the inwales and screw them in place through the outwales with out gluing the outwales in place. hopefully his SS screws are long enought.

In a case like that you could then make plugs to cover the screws on the outwale which could be drilled out to unscrew them if damage occured.

Mine I just glued them and look out for things that might damage the boat.

John E · Post by **John E** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 4:03 pm

STINGRAY8T wrote:John,

Could you explain the PVC "C" clamps. Cheap and effective sounds good.

Tom

Sure,

Take a Length of 4 Inch PVC pipe (available at Lowes, Home Depot, ect...) and cut it into 2 inch wide lengths.

Take each one of those and cut once across the 2 inch width.

When done you have a C-Clamp which can pinch a finger quite good.

Now each clamp does not have great pressure like a quick clamp does but with one every couple on inches what you're clamping won't move. I did my wales in and out with em and only needed something different at the stems because they are closed in.

BTW I found my band saw made quick work of an 8 ft length of 4 inch PVC made about 48 clamps for under $10

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 7:17 pm

Regarding the screw question - I epoxied mine on, but did use 3 screws on each side of each seat for some extra beef. I simply used drywall screws dipped in epoxy, then plugged the hole and glued the plug in with epoxy as well. No broken brass, no expensive stainless. I did the same thing for my decks, basically as a clamp to hold everything together while the epoxy cured.

Doug · Post by **Doug** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:27 pm

Why are we using both epoxy & glue?
Epoxy is stronger than any screw.

I plan on epoxying on my gunwales, with no screws.

The only advantage in using only screws, is that you can remove the gunwales at a later date.

I do not believe that you need both, today.

Doug

John E · Post by **John E** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:37 am

Doug, if you see Ricks post you are correct, however IF he wants to be able to replace the outwale then he should use screws. I used screws under my outwales to hold the inwales because I had a special case. The design of my canoe was a stitch and glue construction with two forms glued in which also act as thwarts. by the time I even considered wales it was too late to modify the forms to incorporate full length inwales. I was thus forced to use 3 shorter pieces per side, custom fit as inwales. The result was each short piece was not as flexible as a single longer piece and I need the added pull of the screws to hold the inwales in place while the epoxy cured.