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Len Tate
| | Posted on Sunday, February 15, 2004 - 07:36 pm: | 
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First, thanks to all who answered my earlier plea for advice. I haven't tried any of the suggestions just yet, due to "pressure of other business" -(I'm also building a steam boat).
One other idea I've been told about is to fit dome nuts on the studs, and then use an air driven hammer on top of the dome nut to rattle the living daylights out of the rust on the stud. Also loosens the threads in the block. Sounds interesting and as I have one of those cheap air hammers, I'll give it a try. |
peter ogborne
| | Posted on Monday, February 16, 2004 - 08:15 am: |
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Len ......interested to hear your news ,ie building a steam boat. I also have that on my things to do list . I have the boat and i have the engine [steam] . The engine is a vee Bell and Bower . My boat is a wooden [Carvel] craft in pretty good condition . But of course as expected being out of the water it has opened up . This I expected ,this winter i will be resealing it with Thiko flex . Have you used this at all , interested to know your thoughts .
BTW , I have the remains of a flash boiler .
THe ''Rattle gun on the obstinate head might do the trick ......good luck .
The steam project will take a while to come to fruition ,in the mean time i will refit the original P 55 Stuart Turner that was in it . |
marks
| | Posted on Monday, February 16, 2004 - 06:22 pm: |
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Hi Peter,
What is Thiko flex,I assume it is some sort of polyurethane.
My experience with polyurethanes has been somewhat mixed.
The marine sikaflex is too hard and inelastic for seams and is really a glue. I've used the high elasticity stuff for small running repairs to seams on the slip in the past.
However all the polyurethanes have one big problem, that is they stick with tenacity to clean wood but do not stick very well at all where there is oil present(such as in the vicinity of engines etc).
What often happens is practise is that you do all of the seams with the stuff and then it falls out where oil is present. The boat then leaks like a sieve.
You are then faced with a difficult job in trying to reef out the well stuck stuff and redoing in a traditional fashion.
What I now do is where the plank edges are good is to do it traditionally with oakum, cotton and seam putty. Initially it is worthwhile to get the help of a shipwright for some training as caulking is something that can't really be explained well in a book.
I currently have a boat (20' seam batten carvel) which has bad plank edges. After we have replaced all of the ribs and refastened(about 50% of the way thru at the moment) we will "wedge seam" it.
Wedge seaming involves cutting all seams to a consistent thickness and gluing wedge shaped strips of wood to one edge of the plank only.
Peter is you boat straight carvel or does it have a longitudinal batten backing it up?
One way I use to stop opening up is to fill the bottom of the boat up with saltwater to a depth of a few inches and throw a few hessian sacks around the inside. Also keeping it in a cool shady place over a dirt floor helps, though check for termites!
Best regards
Mark S. |
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