Dories, what else?

[doryguy]

Here goes, a bunch of niggling questions about technique and sources. I'm building, come spring, an 11-foot bank dory from Gardner's book. I've got the yellow cedar planking resawn and stacked in my boatshop next to the Missus' jeep along with some wonderful v.g. Douglas fir for the frames and skillet (I'm having an 'experience' every time I go out there to smoke). I am building this boat using traditional hand tools and materials down to using Uncle Billy's pine tar for boat sauce. Which brings me to my first stumbling block and that is nails to fasten the garboard to the skillet. Can't find galvanized boat nails but I can get bronze (the good stuff with silicon) annular shank and spiral shank. Can I use these in a 10 or 12 ga. and which shank would be best? Okay, we've covered that pratfall, now on to number two and this is for Canadians only because I want to avoid sending a bucketfull of money to cover a $10US purchase. The question is, where can I buy red lead paint in Canada? Lastly, but most important in the safety at sea dept., I want to use a resorcinol glue and have almost convinced myself to buy Aerodux 500 judging from the posts here about waterproof glues. But, and a big but, the stuff only has a shelf life of 12 months according to their website. Has anyone used this stuff and had experience with the very short, in my view, storage life? If not Aerodux 500 then what glue? I believe I have exposed enough ignorance for one post and I'll leave it up to my betters to set me straight.

Best regards, Cecil Nickerson

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

The nails that go into the bottom from the garboards can be bronze ring nails. you can get galv. boat nails in jamestown distributers, but the ring nails will drive easier.
In the past I have used ring nails of about 3/16" diameter to go into a 6/4 bottom. That might be a bit heavy for your dory.

[Ian McColgin]

Given your traditional real wood planking approach, what's the glue for?

I spent lots of time in a banks dory made, oddly, all mahogony where the only glue used was a thin smear of Sitka flex between garboard and bottom. The builder didn't trust more rigid glues in a boat that would dry out time to time and he'd learned in a pervious dory that that seam needed a little help.

The other seams would weep a little for a few hours if submerged but no biggie. The stem wept not at all. The landing of the planks on the tombstone never ceased weeping.

But then, dories are supposed to be wet.

G'luck

[doryguy]

The stickum would be for the planking scarphs, yellow cedar being shorter these days. I kinda got scared off from the other glues being thought of as not waterproof.

Regards, Cecil Nickerson

[Ian McColgin]

Ah ha.

Personally, I'd use a good propriatary epoxy - WEST, Smith, System 3, ColdCure. The 'waterproof' bit is a boiling water test and I don't boil my boat.

'Course, if you're gonna hop your wee dory over to Iceland (a not unheard of feat) you might well row on boiling water . . .

For this sort of scarfing, the accuracy of your work should really good, whether epoxy or whatever, so any of the good glues ought to be fine.

[rbgarr]

For a REALLY old fashioned approach, rivet your scarfs together with brown paper soaked in pine tar between the scarf faces, and skip the glue altogether. It works!

[doryguy]

You know rb, that appeals to my luddite nature. Just how practical it is is another question, I am using rose head copper boatnails and domed roves to fasten the planks. Hmmmm…

Regards, Cecil

[paladin]

Heck Ian, no worry about the boiling test in Iceland. By the time that supersteamy water gets to the shoreline it's just enough heat to be comfortable swimming amidst the ice chunks........

[rbgarr]

Rose head rivets are perfectly suitable, and domed roves desireable. A dory isn't a 'speed merchant' and the scarf fastenings don't go in the lap anyway, so it works fine. And you've got the pine tar already, so have at it.

[doryguy]

Well Ian it's about to be in excess of -30c in the coming weeks so boiling the dory isn't much of a possibility, burning it for heat might be. rb, you've just confused the issue 'cause I'm going to try just that solution. As I said it kinda appeals to me. Sometimes I wonder if 'making it better' doesn't lead us down paths not meant to be trodden. Composite material tail fins seem to be the latest example of exceeding one's grasp.

Regards, Cecil

[gary porter]

rb, So by brown paper do you mean like that in paper sacks? I have yellow cedar and white oak plus an Atlantic 8hp engine for a St. Pierre dory that I'll be starting soon. All this info is a big help. gary

[rbgarr]

That's right... brown paper sacks. Cut out a piece wider than your plank that can be folded like a business letter to make three thicknesses and almost as wide as your scarf (1/2" wood on each end exposed) and hollow out the scarf faces very slightly so it pulls together when rivetted through the paper and pine tar.