Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
finishing chine caps
I'm building a Rapid Robert 14 foot and I'm putting the outside chine caps on. They are made of white oak and I bedded them in life-caulk. I counter sunk the bronze screws just below the surface and I'm wondering if i should fill the screw holes and what would I use to fill them. My other question is whether you would epoxy the caps and then finish them or just oil them or paint them. I plan on putting a strip of ss on top of the oak caps. l'll try and post some pictures of the boat soon
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on
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Warren, since chine caps are the most commonly damaged parts of a drift boat an easily repaired finish is important in my mind. Also the ability to easily remove and replace these parts can be handy. I feel that oil is an easy to apply finish on chine caps and all that is required to reapply is either a rag and some oil or if you want a smoother finish some wet or dry sandpaper. I just finished a fireplace mantle with Daly's Seafin Teak oil and used 220, 400 and 600 grits. While I won't be subjecting my mantle to the same punishment I do like the look of the finished product.
I used Penofin Marine Oil on my inner chine logs and they came out fine.
Good luck on your build, we look forward to pictures.
Rick Newman
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Permalink Reply by Warren Gibbs on
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Thanks, Seems like the best bet is to use oil on them. Anyone used the Sikkens Cetol Marine natural teak oil?
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Permalink Reply by Dave Z on
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You'll want to leave the screw heads accessible. Oil em. I wouldn't put a "hard" surface finish on the chine caps. They will get dinged and a hard finish will trap water beneath it. Oil lets the wood drain itself. White oak will hold up nicely with oil. I use plain ole linseed/turp/pine tar. Slop it on. all my boats doen this way now and no SS strips either. Good luck with the boat. RR is a nice design.
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Thanks, any special ratio for the linseed/turp/pine tar oil?
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Warren, there's numerous recipes for "boat soup" on here and on the web. Good luck!
Rick Newman
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Warren : I have had good results with the following; 16 oz linseed oil,16 oz turpintine, ( I have heard of guys using kerosene but this sounds nuts to me- besides turps smells a lot better than kero) 4 oz of pine tar and 2 oz of Japan Drier. The pine tar is to your liking- such as salt on a steak. The drier is important to let the stuff "set up"- don't ask me why I know. After a few minutes of soaking in wipe off the excess with a cloth. After a day or 2 you can give it another coat- wipe off untill it is "dry".
Good luck
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Permalink Reply by Kurt Selisch on
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Hi Warren, not sure if other members have had a problem with bronze screws. I took an old UHMW shoe off my boat last spring that I had attached with bronze screws. When backing them out to get the shoe off, most of them broke midway out. Bronze is very soft. If you are planning to replace the chine in the future, you might consider using stainless steel wood screws instead.
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How did the UHMW do, since it seems that folks here don't like using it. I do have a UHMW shoe on the bottom and I've been thinking of taking it off and going with epoxy,fiberglass, graphite. The other alternative is to wait until it fails and replace it then.
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well.....there are a lot of folks on this site with a bunch more experience and knowledge about this then me. There is also a lot of info in past forums if you want to do searches on the topic. Personally, if the shoe is already on, I would leave it on and you should get many years out of it. UHMW is very slick and extremely tough. The drawbacks are the expansion and contraction with temperature change and like all plastic it becomes brittle over time. I think if you keep an eye on it and when you see any cracking, especially around the screw heads, it will be time to replace it. Hope this helps!
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Warren, depending on where your boat has spent it's life the is a good chance that the UHMW sheet could have expanded and contracted causing the mounting screws to loosen. You have a good opportunity to check on this while you are working on the boat. The major issue is the possibility that either screws have come out or enlarged the original holes. The outside of your plywood bottom may be well protected. However if; there are holes, loose screws, or no bedding compound then there are potential entry points for water in the plywood. As you probably know water allowed to enter plywood often brings in bacteria that can form rot or actually eat the inner layers of the plywood.
If you decide to accept this assignment you may find the above conditions. To repair badly damaged holes you may have to drill out each location and replace the damaged wood with a plug. A 3/8" hole can easily be filled with a plug cut from some rot resistant wood. Some epoxy, trimming it to match the surface, drill a new hole and replacing the screw with a new coating of polysulfide bedding compound and you are good to go until the sheet loosens the screws again.
Polysulfide bedding compounds never harden and don't adhere the surfaces together making removal difficult if not immpossible. Boat Life and 3M 101 are poylsulfide products. You should be able to find those in numerous places in the Seattle area. 3M 5200 is not polysulfide and is also a very strong adhesive. When I have tried to separate wood joined with 5200 the wood fractured and caused damage.
So the "bottom" line is to ensure longer life of your boat you can either do these repairs and the continued maintenance or remove the UHMW and replace it with epoxy and paint or epoxy with graphite mixed in. If you lived on the Olympic Peninsula and only boated there the UHMW sheet would stand a much greater chance of minimal expansion and contraction. However if you drive over the pass and fish the Yakima in the mid-summer heat chances are your bottom screws will move.
Good luck with your project, we would love to see some pictures.
Rick Newman
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I have to say that this has been a long long time project. It is a kit from Ray and Cy which I bought about 17 years ago from someone who had started it. He had gotten divorced and lost his place to work on it. I started working on it about 17 years ago, on the day that my wife and I received a fax to go to China to adopt a little girl. About 15 1/2 years later I have finally gotten around to finishing it.
In regards to the shoe, the boat has been in my garage all these years and the screws seem to be in place and do not appear to be loose and the holes appear to be intact. Can't say anything about the bedding, but I'm assuming that there was bedding compound put in the right places. I'm tempted to go with what i have for now, and see how if does once it's been in the water.
I have posted a few pictures. Thanks for all the comments. I've learned a lot and now know what to do for my next boat. Cy has also been quite helpful, when i've called him with lots of questions.
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Warren, what a nice looking boat. I really like the doug fir plywood and lumber, something you don't see very often. The Purple Heart is a nice touch. I also can appreciate taking your time and delays in getting a boat built as mine has taken four plus years, my son and daughter just left the nest in the last few months, I wonder if there is any correlation?
Thanks for the pictures. Knowing where your boat has been for the last seventeen years does suggest that the UHMW should be stable and the holes not damaged. Where do you plan to fish this beauty? I plan to bring my boat to the "Coast" and the OP to fish. Perhaps we will see each other on the same rivers. Growing up in Ellensburg makes the Yakima my home river even though I live two miles from the Spokane.
Rick Newman
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