Yngve,

You absolutely can skip the nails. The glue is plenty strong to hold the deck on without needing the nails. In my opinion, it's probably stronger because the wood fibers aren't broken and because nails are stress concentrators. The big advantage of nails is that they make the assembly process easier for a single person.

If you do go without the nails, you'll need lots of straps, packing tape or shrink wrap packaging to hold the deck on until the glue cures completely (usually at least 2 days to be safe, depending on the temperature). You also need to be careful to apply the pressure evenly so that the joint won't be wavy.

What worked well for me was to put the deck on without glue and let it sit for 3 days to take the proper shape. Then I took it off, put on the glue and put it back on permanently.

Good luck,

Laszlo

Great reply Laszlo!  I build model ships where wood bending is commonplace.  How much spring back did you get when you removed the deck after letting it sit three days.  In ship modeling we typically soak or steam the wood to soften it and then bend it using bending irons.  How do you think plywood would repond to similar treatment (ie wet the wood and perhaps heat with a hair dyrer or clothes iron while bent on the hull)?  Do you think it would delaminate?  Is the springback that big of an issue? 

Scott

There was a fair bit of spring back, but nothing worth steaming or heating for. 

When I had the wood on for those three days I drilled 4 1/4" holes through the deck into the deckbeams. Then I put dowels in to use as alignment guides. Once the deck was on, I sawed & sanded the dowels flush with the deck.

Laszlo