Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Chime replacement or repair on Chrenshaw Douglas Fir driftboat
Hi all: I am now to this site and to restoring boats, but thanks in advance. We are restoring a Chrenshaw 12' driftboat I have been using for about 7 years. All appears to be in good shape, except the chimes. I am looking for advice on whether to try to repair or replace these.
The chimes are of oak, the bottom is of formica. In only one place are the chimes really broken but they are badly worn in many places, as the attached photos show. The split shown could probably be repaired, but I am more concerned about the worn places that are so far gone that the formica bottom is no being protected. I am almost certain that the chimes are overlaid on top of the connection between the boat's sides and the floor. That is, replacing the chimes would not require opening up the bottom of the boat fully.
Should I try to restore function to the existing chimes or replace? If restore, what would you recommend? If replace, I have never done this before, so could use advice here.
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December 2011 019.jpg, 978 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by eric stevens on
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I have never seen Formica on the bottom, did it hold up good ? To make things easy, you can just fill in the cracked rotten spots in the chine with thickened epoxy. The boat will look good having the original wood, and your thickened epoxy will end up almost the same color as the wood if you use wood flour to thicken the epoxy. Epoxy is your best friend in boat building. It sticks to wood pretty good and is fairly water proof
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Permalink Reply by mitchell on
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Joe,
seems by looking at your photos that you don't need to make a mountain out of mole hill. I'd sand a varnish the chine and call the project done. If there is a crack in there somewhere, I did not see it in the photo's. But if there is and the area around the crack is solid (no soft wood/rot) you could inject some thickened epoxy into the crack. Sand and varnish when the epoxy has dried.
Others may have a much better method of fix and I'll be interested in seeing their replys.
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Permalink Reply by Terry E Walsh on
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Hey that chine doesn't look that bad. But if you really want to repair it,...take off the chine, glass the bottom and add some graphite. Replace the chine and you will be good to go for along time!
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Permalink Reply by Joe Kerkvliet on
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Terry: Thanks for the reply. What do you mean, "add some graphite"?
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When u r glassing the bottom u add graphite to the epoxy and it makes the bottom super tough and slick!
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Permalink Reply by chris towles on
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that formica skid show looks awesome!. i woulden't waste your time with glassing the bottom, the bottom looks to be in fine shape. just gussy those chines back up, sand and paint the sides and the outside should be good to go. whats the insiude like? any rot?
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The inside is in decent shape, freshly sanded and hit with Penofin marine oil, though I assume it was originally a "boat soup" treatment. I should have taken a pic before turning the boat over, it looks pretty good.
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Sorry to be so dense, but what is "uhmw"? The formica bottom has performed well, but the only thing I have to compare it to from actual rowing experience is aluminum, which seems stick to rocks much more.
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Joe,
it's that plastic material that you see used as kitchen cutting boards.
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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on
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UHMW is Ultra High Molecular Weight plastic. It can be purchased at most industrial supply outlets and has many industrial uses for high use areas that need low friction. It is so slick that no glue or epoxy will stick to it. It must be fastened to the boat. It is the combination of the use of fasteners below the water line and the radical expansion and contraction of the plastic that causes rot problems around the screws.
Formica was used by many builders in the 60s here in Oregon. I'm not sure if it was used anywhere else. I have a Kaarhus boat with a Formica bottom. It is indeed very slick; almost as slick as UHMW.
The 20oz cloth and epoxy is by far the strongest. The cloth helps distribute impact and protects the bottom from damage.Both Formica and UHMW transfer energy from an impact, so while slick, they do not add extra strength to the bottom to protect from a big rock hit.
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