During lunch breaks in the domestic building biz, mainly roofing stuff, we would have compulsory lunch time silly games. These would range from chin ups on the scaff to the Indian Rope Trick and one handed pushups to finger tip pushups. Who could carry the most tiles up on their quoit, who could pull whatever up on the pulleys etc, who could carry them up on their back etc etc. Wasn’t trying to teach you how to drill holes bud, just trying to tell you as you quite rightly put the easiest way to do it is with mechanical leverage as you and I probably couldn’t drill enough holes to give ourselves tennis elbow nowadays , I’d be knackd after two holes anyhow. Ozziedog,,,,,,, you can still borrow me drill if you wants P.S. Edit. Ozziedog 2 ,,,,Fab idea of the foam and the extra adhesion that goes with it.
In a word - no. In more words - I'm doing this bit up to a point, then the bathroom, the wiring and plumbing is in place and I have reasons to be in a hurry with a deadline..
TEK screws previously... I'm feeling daft again, must be going senile! No idea on the tidy one, no doubt the same.
Isn’t the wood work effectively a cage, for want of a better word, that supports itself so you don’t need to join it to the boat except for a couple of anchor point? Happy to be shot from the sky on this….my boat expertise is surmised best by formative years deliberately sinking the rowing boats at the knapp lake in Barry and outpacing the parky.
That kind of thinking is why I'm having to start again. It did hold together until it didn't. There are screwed battens bottom half of the sides and the roof, but the top half of the sides were glued with cheapo grab adhesive. The woodwork was joined together ish. Once the top half sides came loose that fooked the lot because air could circulate behind and form condensation which wrecked everything. I have investigated - it's not unusual for all the battens to be glued to the hull and it works fine... if you use the right glue, which is not the cheapest grab adhesive you can find. Still, belt and braces for me - Tek screws and correct adhesive, but I have little faith that the rusty hull can be prepped adequately to trust adhesive only without getting it back to shiny steel so rust treatment/Tek screws is, I believe, the easy option.
Wooden wood from the wood shop. Just unplaned stuff for battens (so it really is an inch) and a good quality ply which will be painted after. I'm not making a boat hull or outer cabin skin so I don't need marine ply. but I will treat the backs and... the woodyard chap says use Vaseline to proof the edges. That's a new on on me.
To reduce the amount of drilling/glueing, can you perhaps form a series of frames using a noggin system of cross pieces - like forming a box section around an 'I' lintel, with the noggins forced/hammered in?
I've also got to drill enough holes big enough to fill the cross beams with squirty foam... but so long as he's still around I have a young enthusiastic hard working paid mate to help @ a bargain tenner an hour. We start de-rusting today at 9am. I can see me fitting 1st layer of insulation (pre battens) over the weekend... maybe.
I think anyone in my position would be doubling up on the fixings rather than trying to cut down to be honest. The glue is as much about sealing as it is fixing.
Concrete Fixing Torx self-tapping concrete screws, rapid and effective anchoring system. Come with a Torx screw bit for your driver.
The rust and the fact that its a boat implies damp and water - living in rural Wales, even the treated softwood lasts maybe 4 years, appreciate the water and sun cycle make an impact. Just wondered if you need special wood is all.
Ok, I see. Well my gut feel is that those TEK self-drilling fixings sound great, provided you are familiar with using them and the application is straight forward ie nice open/flat elevations across large areas. Driving in a self drilling screw into your thickness of steel, using effectively a pozi-drive drill bit in the application you are requiring - possibly 6mm box/U sections at differing angles using a hire drill you are not familiar with will IMHO be far more of a challenge. Good luck.
I'm not really a stranger to this sort of thing, I've just aged rapidly lately and feeling sorry for myself! I was thinking I might get a hex head version if I can get the right length and drill a wee hole for the heads, I reckon I'd be splitting the battens if I tried to drag them in flush. Tools are tools, I don't use them every day but I can hold a drill straight. I'll probably get a selection of TEK screws and do a trial run to see how it goes first off, then I'll get a feel for what I'm up against. Mate Dave has a few to try and someone round here will have a 240V drill to borrow for test drilling. The object of this thread was to see if yous guys would come up with an easy peasy way I'm not familiar with and there have been some good suggestions, I thank you all. As usual though, tried and tested wins the day, the "hard" -ish way is the best way.
Never come across these either looking at the photo on Westfield fasteners site it looks like the first part drills the hole. They aren't that expensive either. Learn something everyday. Someone else mentioned about whether softwood was the right stuff to use. Hardwood would be prohibitively expensive. I'd probably give the softwood battens a coat or two of paint before fixing any boarding over it, but then my background was warship not canal boat construction.
When I was a steel window fitter and we had a high up hole to drill horizontally with nothing to brace against we'd have a guy on the drill, next guy pressing his shoulder, next guy pressing his shoulder, repeat as many as needed/available, all balanced on step ladders. Where ther'es a will there's a way. This is in reality easier than many things I've had to do in the past.
I might buy treated battens, but from looking at pics on the internet PAR untreated softwood is used 10/10 times.
Same here Zed, hanging off triple extension ladders, drilling at high gable ends, holding on to the ladder with my knees. An indestructible electrician - day in, day out. Forearms like Popeye, but 35 years ago........that was my point.
I've got helpful Dave now - me 40 years ago, great guy! I'll be the "working" foreman. I love it when a plan comes together. Got to go, I've an internet meeting starting now
