I followed the instructions and used the planning guide for the aft section and I was happy with the results. That was until I looked inside the boat and noticed I planned the shear clamp down to about a 1/4 inch in one section. I don’t see how I could have avoided this since the shear clamps were oriented at slightly different angles. If the planning was optional I wish I took that option. Should I add ½ battens under the thin shear clamps to add strength and more bite for the deck nails?
Why would you use nails instead of thickened epoxy?
David,
Using nails is in the instructions (albeit, from a 17 year old manual). I was planning on using both.
Rob
Not sure how you did that. The shear clamps were originally 1” high and were supposed to be glued 1/4” proud of the side panels. As a result, after planing they should be a minimum of 3/4” high in the back of the boat, with more height in front.
In any event, this is certainly fixable so don’t get too worried.
The first thing to do is to go around the boat and measure how much shear clamp height is remaining. The ring nails in the kit are 3/4” long and the deck is 3/16” thick, so anyplace where the shear clamp is less than ~ 3/8” high is a location where the nail will stick out of the bottom of the shear clamp. In the very bow or stern, this is probably not an issue but not something you want in the cockpit or near the hatches.
If the problem is very localized, I’d probably glue some wood strips to the bottom of the shear clamps in the offending areas then proceed per the directions.
If the problem is pervasive, you could choose to not use the ring nails at all. Before installing the deck, you are going to slather the top of the shear clamps with thickened epoxy. The bronze ring nails are just used to hold the deck tightly against the shear clamps while the epoxy cures and could actually be removed afterwards if you really wanted. Instead of nails, you could use straps/tape to hold the deck in position while the epoxy cures. This is normal technique for designs where the precut deck shape has little overhang, but much harder on the Chesapeake because there is a lot of overhang (look at the picture). As this is your first build, I recommend against this approach.
Maybe a better approach would be to buy shorter ring nails. I found some marine grade Silicon Bronze 1/2” long from a company called Fair Wind Fasteners and they may be available elsewhere. With 1/2” long nails, the should only stick out the bottom in locations where the shear clamp height is less than about 5/16”.
Hope that this helps.
Mark,
I am not sure either. I checked with the planning guides as I worked. The planning guide for the stern is right on the angles. It is about a foot section in the stern and in the bow also but not as low. They are both suspiciously on the port side. I was thinking I could clip the nails in the cockpit and around the hatches as far as I can reach. Frankly I rarely use the hatches on my fiberglass kayak anymore. Or I look for the ½ nails. I am starting to get a little less panicky recovering from mistakes. Thanks.
Rob
I’ve made my share of mistakes Rob. These guys helped me find my way through them. It’s going to be okay.
just some thoughts to add:
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as mark mentioned, measure carefully the thicknesses of the shearclamp around the boat so you have control of the situation. but what you definitely do not want to do is have nails that pass outside of the shear clamp becuase the nail is too long. the main reason for that is you have now opened up raw wood to the interior of the boat with no reasonable opportunity to ensure its water proofness any more…which becomes an opportunity for rot and other bad things.
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i would, if you need to use nails, go with the half inch nails in the areas of concern if you cannot safely accomodate the 3/4 inch nails. if you are considering mixing nails and going with a bright finish, check that the nail head size is identical between the different nails. if you are painting over them, not an issue.
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remember that the rear deck is relatively flat and does not need a lot of bending pressure to hold the deck in place. so if the problem is isolated to the rear section, i would consider using strapping tape to hold the deck down and dispense with nails. it’s easy to do, especially on the rear, and i have built several chesapeakes without nails using strapping tape instead to provide the bending force.
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the foredeck is another situation entirely with significant force required to bend the deck to the required curve. this can be done with strapping tape but to do this section with strapping tape you would need to trim the deck to be a closer fit to the hull. otherwise, your strapping can easily break the deck with the significant overhangs in the untrimmed state.
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depending on your finish scheme you can easily mix and match - my chesapeakes were all painted with the paint coming up onto an outside ring on the deck. so none of my nails, or non-nails, are showing. a bright finish requires a lot more care to make it all look nice with the nails. a bright finish without nails is easier with straps and no nails becuase you don’t have to worry about perfect nail placement and driving them all perfectly straight.
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below is picture of chesapeake in yellow livery nailed but nails not showing. this was an early boat and several of the nail placements were way less than on the money.
Mark,
I found the Fairwinds nails. West Marine sells them too but apparently they are out of the ½”. The manual says to use either 14 or 15 gauge ring nails. Which gauge would you recommend?
Rob
Howard,
I started the project thing I wanted a bright finish but was holding off a final decision to see how things went. So I think I am at the point now to decide that painting the hull up to the deck with a ring, as you have done, is the way to go. I was actually considering a light yellow (Fighting Lady from Petit) since our fiberglass boats are yellow. We like the visibility. I’ll use the shorter nails in the low spots and/or snip the ends off where I can. I was going to dry fit the decks and see what I am dealing with. Thanks again.
RobSent from for iOS.