Chesapeake 17

I'm looking to start my first kayak and I want to do the chesapeake 17 but I had a question. when attaching the deck can you just epoxy it down? Or do you have to nail it as well? I've noticed a lot of builds I have looked at online nailed theirs, but I don't want to have the nail heads, raher just have a clean looking deck.

Thanks


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RE: Chesapeake 17

Some members here have said they simply "clamped" the decks on, no nails.  You can do that by wrapping the deck/hull with rope, straps, tape, etc., to hold the deck down while the epoxy cures.  The nails are unnecessary, structurally speaking, they just everything in place while the epoxy cures.  The difficulty, it seems to me, is getting the deck down completely and evenly.  Any overhang of the sides means the possibility of pressing the deck up off the bulkhead and beams... perhaps triming your deck very close before you "glue" it on would help with this.

I'm building the 17 also and plan to nail mine into place, only because my paint/varnish scheme includes a stripe around the edge of the deck, which will cover the nails.

Good luck,

Larry

RE: Chesapeake 17

I want to emphasize Larry's point about getting the deck down completely and evenly.  Especially on the foredeck, you're bending a pretty strong radius into the deck, and it will naturally want to pull away.  Unless the deck is clamped *very* completely and evenly along its entire length, the deck will "pucker up" along the sheer clamps and you'll get a series of permanent, epoxied-in-place waves along the edge of the hull which you *will not like*!  The nails (or screws, if you use them instead) are a pretty effective way of reducing this problem to insignificance.

Larry's propoosal to wrap the deck should work, but the wraps will have to be very close together, and under pretty even tension.  Bear in mind that wet epoxy is a pretty good lubricant (until it cures!) and as you wrap the deck, its going to want to slide out of position. I suspect you'll find that you're playing whack-a-mole trying to get it to stay put while you wrap it up.  Even if you are able to corral it, you're going to learn some new vocabulary!

If you do go this route, heed Larry's suggestion about trimming the deck closely, as that should facilitate dealing with the puckering ... but that's going to make the game of whack-a-mole that much more difficult.

Personally, I'd suggest also heeding Larry's suggestion about the finish; for my tastes, that narrow paint strip along the sheer nicely frames the varnished deck, and adds rather than detracts from its appearance. Just generally, remember, we're making boats, not fine furniture! 

RE: Chesapeake 17

JimC,

Thanks for the vote of confidence!  I haven't put my deck on yet (glassing the hull this week) but everything's ready for that installation (planing the sheer clamps was something of a treat!).

For Knitron,

Jim mentioned playing whack-a-mole while getting the deck to stay put during the installation; my plan (as it stands) is to super-glue some square wood "stays" inside the boat where the deck meets the deck beam or bulkhead corners... doing this when dry-fitting.  The logic (if it holds) is that these small squares will aid in aligning the deck when I actually glue it down, and keep it from sliding around whilst I nail away.  It's a trick I used on a marble-top coffee table - the marble simply sets on top; the squares keep it in place on the wooden frame.  (I'm gonna use super-glue gel because it'll hold in place for the time it takes to set.)

 FWIW, my (additional) 2 cents,

Larry

RE: Chesapeake 17

I dry-fitted the deck first, getting all the straps in just the right position to give an even distribution. I didn't trim it particularly close since epoxy makes a space-filling glue. Once it was just the way I liked it, I let it sit for 3 days so the wood could "learn" its new shape. Then just before removing the deck for final assembly, I drilled 4 1/4" holes in each deck panel down into the sheer clamp and pushed pieces of 1/4" dowel into the holes. These acted as alignment pegs. The holes were at the "corners" of the deck panels.

Then off came the straps and deck panels and out came the pegs. The pegs were glued back in place, the sheers were covered with glue and everything was carefully replaced. Since I'd practiced beforehand, the placing of the straps went quickly. The pegs aligned the deck panels so there was no whack-a-mole.

Once everything was cured, I trimmed and sanded the pegs flush with the deck. They ended up slightly lighter than the  deck, but much less obtrusive than a line of nails.

Laszlo

RE: Chesapeake 17

Laszlo,

I like your idea better (than my squares).  And since I'm painting a stripe along the deck, I could actually use more than 4 of the pegs... never to be seen after glassing/painting.  I also never thought of leaving it clamped up for several days to pre-shape the deck... another idea I'll use.

Thanks for the tips, will definitely help,

Larry

RE: Chesapeake 17

I think Lazlo's approach is truly elegant and would produce a beautiful varnished boat ... but Larry, if you're going to paint the edge of the deck anyway, why do you want to abandon the easier, standard approach?  The nail heads won't be visible at all, being hidden beneath the stripe. I would definitely apply that old engineer's maxim of KISS if you aren't going for an all-varnish finish.

RE: Chesapeake 17

Thanks for the help guys. I like Lazlo's dowel idea that seams it would be very unobtrusive than a line of nails. I might have to cinsider the painting a line idea over the nails. Haven't really considered painting the boat at all, they are just so beautiful as plain wood I hate to cover it up.  Anyone have any pics showing what the nails look like just varnished?

RE: Chesapeake 17

I don't have a picture, but I can say this...

 I thought the nails would look ugly on my 16 LT, but after using a pin punch as a countersink to get them to sit flush with the deck, and putting the glass and resin over the nails, I think they look fine. As a first-time builder, I can't imagine how difficult it would be to get the deck attached to the sheer clamps without the nails.

 

RE: Chesapeake 17

"...but Larry, if you're going to paint the edge of the deck anyway, why do you want to abandon the easier, standard approach?" 

JimC,

You're right, I'll use the dowels for alignment, but for attachment, I'll be using the nails.  I don't trust 4 or 8 dowels to hold the deck down smoothly, so nails it is.

Sorry if I wasn't clear about that.  It's the alignment I'm interested in... the attachment was always meant to be nails (covered by a fancy pin-stripe!).

Larry

 

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