Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
I'm changing over to carriage bolts
I was really jealous of you guys that are getting to do new builds and I've been just wishing that my boat would give me some problems. OK, not really but you have to deal with what comes your way. Most recently this meant remanufacuring a fly line deck. (I lost my plans, doh!)
On my way to fishing the Umpqua I got out for a needed rest stop and looked in the boat to find that my fly line cross brace was laying in the bottom of the boat, the receiving piece attached to the cross brace was a bit broken, and the deck--well, it was plain gone. I've had the standard knobbed bolt to a female claw foot set up--you know, the one that allows you to conveniently remove the deck so you can stack another boat? Well, I've never stacked a boat but 5 or 6 times everything has toggled loose and one time before the deck flew out, I just happened to see it when it happened.
So, in the name of saving five minutes in the incredibly unlikely event that I want to play babaushka dolls with a couple of wooden boats I now have many hours into fabriating a new fly line deck and brace. I am replacing the other set up with two carriage bolts on each side.
Anyways, I didn't care for fit of the cross brace brace I had so I made a new one out of some quater sawn white oak I picked up at urban lumber co. for a good price. I also filled in the previous bolt holes with a wood flour epoxy mixture and finished filling in a crack in a rib while I was at it. Everything fits really well now though and I suppose the morale of the story is to consider using carriage bolts-you might save yourself some work.
On my way to fishing the Umpqua I got out for a needed rest stop and looked in the boat to find that my fly line cross brace was laying in the bottom of the boat, the receiving piece attached to the cross brace was a bit broken, and the deck--well, it was plain gone. I've had the standard knobbed bolt to a female claw foot set up--you know, the one that allows you to conveniently remove the deck so you can stack another boat? Well, I've never stacked a boat but 5 or 6 times everything has toggled loose and one time before the deck flew out, I just happened to see it when it happened.
So, in the name of saving five minutes in the incredibly unlikely event that I want to play babaushka dolls with a couple of wooden boats I now have many hours into fabriating a new fly line deck and brace. I am replacing the other set up with two carriage bolts on each side.
Anyways, I didn't care for fit of the cross brace brace I had so I made a new one out of some quater sawn white oak I picked up at urban lumber co. for a good price. I also filled in the previous bolt holes with a wood flour epoxy mixture and finished filling in a crack in a rib while I was at it. Everything fits really well now though and I suppose the morale of the story is to consider using carriage bolts-you might save yourself some work.
Views: 302
- Attachments:
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on
-
Brother Karl,
I'm a fan of the carriage bolt... such a fan I used two on each side. I can still remove the dashboard if I want to do that little babushka thang. Keep us posted on the progress....
GH
-
Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on
-
I also skipped the knob and and went with the carriage bolt... only one per side but it is plenty sturdy.
Jason
-
Permalink Reply by Karl Mueller on
-
Jason, good on you for making a good choice on your first build.
-
-
I mainly gave up on the knob bc the threaded anchor portion that goes into the frame went in way crooked and I couldn't get a tight fit. So I just drilled it out and ran s straight carriage bolt through with a cap nut on the end on the inside. Plenty strong - and I don't even know anyone who I could stack boats with anyways.. ha.
-jk-
-
Permalink Reply by Jonathan Clarke on
-
I check the knobs for tightness now and then and have never found them loose, but I can't believe how often errant fly line has wrapped around them. Carriage bolts would eliminate that problem.
-
-
Thats good. Mine were loose after pretty much every trip. I tightened them really rgular, alas to no avail. Things went from bad to worse with the boat today though, I'll be seeking advice on that shortly. . . .
-
-
-
Very nice !! I like what you've done there!!
GH
© 2024 Created by Randy Dersham.
Powered by
