About 10 or so of my stitches became permenely stuck in my epoxy welds. Best I can do is sheer them off nearly flush from the outside of the hull.
What kind of issues will I run into here? Is this a common thing?
When this happened to me, I heated the copper wire with a soldering gun and then was able to pull the wire out.
There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of S&G hulls out there with small bits of copper stitching in them. Not to worry! If you can't pull yours out with a little heat, you'll hear a little change in your sanding melody as you prep your hull for glass. Keep building.
On my first boat (ches17), I left the stitches in because I liked the look. However, it did contribute to overuse of epoxy. My first, like most others, was heavy. I have built a few boats since then and always pull the stitches and make the fillets as small as possible.
The soldering iron trick works really well - I did this on my builds and they pulled out easily.
I used a disposable lighter (three for a pound) very carefully, and they pop out a dream.
Or just leave them in and sand down - they look like little bright rivets.
The CLC manual says to just leave them there permanantly. I am reading the book preparing to start my build.
Well CLC legals might not want to advise playing with fire around a wood boat, but heating the wire with a butane lighter is easy breezy for removal.
Untwist wire, cut off one side, heat leftover side for few seconds, yank = done. I have removed keel wires with the butane flame going vstraight up - yes, occasionaly a dribble of goo will flame up, easy to snuff, and usually the flame leaves a black smudge of the wood, but the smudge goes away the minute it sees sandpape.
When glassing over empty wire holes remind yourself to check back shortly after you finish for bubbles at the wires holes - tip with a cheap brush.