Re: fuller bits

Posted by terry on Oct 25, 2005

Being cheaper than Scrooge's accountant, I don't use fuller bits. They are nice, and have the added advantage of being tapered like the wood screws you use them with, but I've never had a deck fitting pull-out, so I don't spring for the fullers. They are great if you're mounting screws in hard material like solid fiberglas.

Mac's advice to do a seat-of-the-pants counter-sink is well stated. I also have a bunch of the old fashoined small hand augers that I inherited from my dear, departed Dad. They do a nice, quick counter-sink with a bit less splintering than the power drill. They can also be controlled a bit better to avoid over drilling.

Either method works, however. Maybe I just like to use some of my Dad's old tools. Gives me a reason to reflect on how much he would like S&G boat-building if he were still here in the shop with me.

On the wood screws, I believe there are some Forum old threads on the advantages of wood screws versus sheet metal screws (threads on screws? Now there's a pun if I ever saw one). I tend to like the sheet metal screws on my smaller boats that have thin decks and sheer clamps. The full length thread seems, to my very amatuer mind, to be more secure. I'm sure there are other opinions on this topic.

I also have been getting away from screwing the deck-rigging loops into the sheer clamps. Instead, I drill through the deck inboard of the clamps and use a short SS pan-headed bolt with a small washer on the deck side and a larger fender underneath for backing. This, to my unprofessional and age-failing eye, seems to make for a neater deck without the rigging loops interering with the painted stripe at the shear or with your knuckles when you paddle. But many other ways work fine also. Also makes it much easier to remove rigging for painting, in that you don't have to worry about stripping and re-filling the screw holes. Or maybe i'm just weird (no comments, Mac).

terry

In Response to: fuller bits by Eric on Oct 24, 2005

Replies:

• Re: fuller bits by Laszlo on Oct 26, 2005